Natalie Isaza is a Florida native who grew up in Orlando, Florida. She completed her undergraduate degree in Zoology from Auburn University, and her DVM from the University of Florida in 1994. Following graduation from veterinary school, she completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine. After completing her internship, Natalie moved to Los Angeles, California where her husband Ramiro (a zoo veterinarian) was working at the Los Angeles Zoo. She practiced in southern California (small animal with some exotics) for two years. In 1998, Natalie and her family moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where she and her husband accepted positions at the veterinary college at Kansas State University. Natalie worked in Community Practice and soft tissue surgery at KSU, where she supervised senior veterinary students performing elective spays and neuters. In 2003, Natalie accepted the newly formed shelter medicine clinician position at the University of Florida. She has been the program chief for this elective clinical rotation since August, 2003. Since its inception, the students on this clerkship have spayed and neutered over 10,000 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens. She and her husband have two children; Erin, who is 15, and Ben, who is 12. They also share their home with 4 cats, a dog, a goldfish, and a boa constrictor.

Dr. Stephanie Janeczko received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2000 and her DVM from Cornell University in 2004. Following graduation, Dr. Janeczko spent time in general small animal practice, where she worked with cats, dogs, and small mammals. She was the first resident in shelter medicine at Cornell University where she worked with a wide range of animal shelters, oversaw cases at Cornell University Hospital for Animals, and trained veterinary students through the community practice service and on ambulatory shelter medicine trips. She has a particular interest in infectious disease, and while a resident earned a master's degree in epidemiology for her thesis research on the prevalence and zoonotic potential of Giardia infections in shelter cats. She has worked closely with a variety of shelters investigating outbreaks of infectious diseases, including canine influenza virus and Streptococcus equi subsp zooepidemicus. She is board certified in canine and feline practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. Following completion of her resident, Dr. Janeczko worked for Animal Care & Control of New York City first as the Medical Director and later as the Director of Operations. She currently works for the ASPCA as Senior Director of Community Outreach Shelter Medicine programs, working locally in NYC as well as nationally to help shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare groups develop and improve their medical programs.

Dr. Cynthia Cox has been a shelter veterinarian for 8 years, for 2 years at a large open-admission shelter in South Carolina, and then at the MSPCA's Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center, where she manages the Shalit-Glazer Clinic. Prior to studying veterinary medicine at Washington State University, she attended Northwestern University as an undergraduate and PhD student specializing in Sri Lankan history. While living in Sri Lanka as a Fulbright Scholar, she had many encounters with the homeless animals so visible there that made her take a closer look at the problem at home. This eventually led to her decision to study veterinary medicine and a commitment to spay-neuter programs and shelter medicine. She has been a member of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians since 2002. She lives with 4 cats and 2 humans.

Dr. Brian DiGangi received a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in Nutrition from North Carolina State University in 2001 and graduated from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006. While at UF, Dr. DiGangi completed clinical externships in both shelter medicine and exotic animal medicine and co-founded the University of Florida Student Chapter of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. He volunteered at the county animal shelter on a regular basis, organized spay-neuter wet labs for students, regularly participated in a large feral cat trap-neuter-return program and fostered animals for local rescue organizations. Dr. DiGangi became the first resident in Shelter Medicine to graduate from the University of Florida in 2010 and shortly thereafter, became a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in Canine and Feline Practice and received a Master of Science degree in Veterinary Medical Sciences. Dr. DiGangi has published research on feline adoption assessment, feline pregnancy detection and feline immunology. Other special interests include cleaning and disinfection; high quality, high volume spay-neuter and enhancing the welfare of animals in shelters. Dr. DiGangi joined the faculty of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Shelter Medicine in 2010.

Dr. Martha Smith is a graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Following veterinary school, she completed an intensive internship at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in small animal medicine. After a short stint in private practice, Dr. Smith began her career in shelter medicine. She has worked in multiple shelters and in multiple areas of shelter medicine as a staff veterinarian for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Her current position is as Director of Veterinary Medical Services for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. In addition, Dr. Smith has been active in teaching veterinary students through problem based learning modules since her graduation. She has traveled internationally promoting population control through establishment of spay and neuter facilities and training, and been an advocate for the humane treatment of racing greyhounds. Dr. Smith joined the board of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians in January of 2007.

Dr. Jeanette O’Quin graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993. She has practiced in small animal clinics, but has spent most of her career working in animal shelters. In addition to teaching veterinary students and providing medical and surgical care for shelter animals, she has been active in the investigation and prosecution of animal abuse. Currently, Dr. O’Quin is employed as a Public Health Veterinarian with the Ohio Department of Health and as a contract veterinarian with the Franklin County Dog Shelter. She is a member of the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association’s Disaster Preparedness and Shelter Animal Committees and also serves on Ohio Homeland Security’s Animal Health Emergency Tactical Advisory Committee. As a board member for the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, Dr. O’Quin has been involved in planning continuing education, developing shelter standards, creating a shelter medicine board specialty, and moderating the ASV list-serve. Married for 17 years, she and her husband, 3 children, 7 cats, 2 snakes, and 3 horses live near a small town in central Ohio. She enjoys hiking, camping, horseback riding, and sterilizing animals.

Dr. Katie Broaddus is a native Texan who grew up on the Texas coast. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin and is a 2004 graduate of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. After two years in private small animal practice, she began working as a part-time contract veterinarian for the Austin Humane Society in Austin, Texas. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Broaddus joined the Austin Humane Society team as the shelter’s first full-time staff veterinarian, where she established a shelter medicine and surgery program. In 2007 she helped launch the Austin Humane Society’s Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Program, which has served over 17,000 feral cats in the program’s first three and a half years. Dr. Broaddus’ professional interests include infectious disease management, teaching veterinary students and interested veterinarians about shelter medicine and high-quality high-volume surgical techniques, and exploring new ways for shelter veterinarians and veterinarians in private practice to work together to elevate the level of care for shelter animals. Dr. Broaddus and her husband have two young children, and they share their home with two rebellious retrievers and two miserly cats.

Phil Bushby is a 1972 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. He is a Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon and holds the Marcia Lane Endowed Professorship of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at Mississippi State University where he has been on the faculty for 32 years. For the past 17 years, his primary focus has been spay/neuter and taking veterinary students to shelters across north Mississippi. His interest in shelter medicine and spay neuter dates back to his internship and surgical residency at the Henry Bergh Memorial Hospital of the ASPCA in New York City. Dr. Bushby’s primary goal is to make sure that the next generation of veterinarians understands the problem of overpopulation of unwanted dogs and cats and recognizes their role in assisting in addressing this problem.

Dr. Tess Kommedal was born and raised in Stavanger, Norway. In 2003 she graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary medicine in Budapest, Hungary. Following graduation she worked at a small animal clinic in Norway for a year before being accepted to a rotational internship in small animal surgery and medicine in at the University of Florida. She completed her shelter medicine residency and graduated from the Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine program at the University of California, Davis in 2009. Upon completion of her training, Dr. Kommedal accepted the position of clinical assistant professor in shelter medicine at the Ohio State University, School of Veterinary Medicine, and Chief Veterinarian at the Capital Area Humane Society in Columbus, Ohio. In November of 2010 Dr. Kommedal returned to California to accept the position of associate veterinarian in shelter medicine in a newly created joint position at the Marin Humane Society and the Koret Shelter Medicine Program, CCAH, UC Davis. Dr. Kommedal is interested in infectious disease prevention and animal welfare, has a soft spot for Rottweilers and orange tabby cats, and enjoys traveling.
 

Dr. Karter Neal received her DVM degree at Colorado State University in 2000. After graduation, Dr. Neal completed an internship in equine medicine and surgery at Cortaro Equine Hospital in Tucson before accepting the position as Medical Director of Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales, AZ; operating a non-profit shelter, spay/neuter clinic, and full service rural practice for the next three and a half years on the border of Mexico. Dr. Neal then worked for about a year at a private emergency hospital and a local high volume spay/neuter clinic before becoming the Medical Director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona in October of 2005.

Dr. Neal’s professional interests are in indigent care and shelter medicine. She has extensive volunteer experience in international relief and spay/neuter work in rural areas of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Galapagos Islands. Dr. Neal is currently serving as Vice-President of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association and is chair of the Rural Affairs Task Force, a group created to address the need for basic veterinary services in rural and underserved areas in Arizona. Dr. Neal recently was honored with the AzVMA’s 2008 Young Practitioner of the Year Award, Compass Behavioral Health’s Dynamic Duo Award (2008), and was a YMCA 2008 Women on the Move Honoree. Dr. Neal enjoys camping and hiking with her husband and two small children, Madalaine, 6, and William, 4, and spending time with their eight shelter cats, her three-legged shelter dog, Lucky, and her four-legged shelter dog, Skittles

Dr. Newbury is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine with a special interest in infectious disease and population management as it relates to group health. Her graduate work has focused on clinical studies in immunology and population medicine to improve understanding of shelter animal health, disease response and animal welfare. Dr. Newbury joined the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis in 2006 where she works as the National Shelter Medicine Extension Veterinarian. Dr. Newbury focuses on partnerships between shelters, veterinarians and the community to improve health for homeless animals. Two such programs, The Dermatophyte Monitoring and Treatment Program and an ongoing study of Feline Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex, are four-year long clinical study partnerships. Dr. Newbury shares her home in Madison with several, minimally compliant beloved pets and her savage first grader son.

Dr. Tyson has worked in a variety of shelters since 1994. She graduated from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2003. Since 2004 she has been with the City of San Jose Animal Care and Services where she established a shelter medicine program and spay/neuter clinic for the city’s newly built shelter. In the spring of 2006 she contributed to the shelter’s launch of a high volume spay/neuter clinic serving the public. She is a member of the Veterinary Task Force to Advance Spay-Neuter.

Dr. Sara White graduated from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998. After spending a year and a half in mixed practice in Vermont, she began volunteering for her local shelter and has been working in shelter medicine and spay/neuter ever since. Dr. White is the founder, director, and veterinarian for Spay ASAP Inc., a MASH-style mobile spay and neuter clinic founded in 2006. Spay ASAP provides high quality, high volume spay and neuter at low cost through working with approximately 15 shelters and other humane organizations in Vermont and New Hampshire, providing over 4000 spay and neuter surgeries annually.

Dr. White is a founding board member of the Vermont Companion Animal Neutering (VT-CAN!) spay neuter clinic, as well as a board member of the Vermont Humane Federation and a board resource to the New Hampshire Federation of Humane Organizations. She is also a member of the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Welfare Committee, a role that bridges the gap between shelters and the veterinary community in a region with few shelter veterinarians.

Dr. White has been a member of the Veterinary Task Force to Advance Spay Neuter since 2006. Dr. White’s research interests include small animal (especially feline) population dynamics within communities, the population effects of spay/neuter programs, spay/neuter client demographics, and spay/neuter surgeon retention. In her spare time, she has enjoyed learning winter sports such as cross country skiing, Nordic ice skating, and snowboarding.