Laboratory Animal Sciences 2020

Szczepan Baran, VMD, MS is the Head of Emerging Technologies at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. In this position, he leads global strategic initiatives focused on digital efforts to uncover new scientific insights, generate scientific breakthroughs and collect more ... physiologically and clinically relevant data & endpoints to optimize reproducibility and clinical translation. He has held multiple faculty and startup positions and has served on multiple boards. Currently he is serving as Board Member of North America 3Rs Collaborative and is a Chair of the 3Rs Working Group International Consortium for Innovation & Quality in Pharmaceutical Development. Witin the IQ he leads Digital Vivarium Scoping and Animal Studies Modernization Working Groups. Dr. Baran is a graduate of the University of Delaware and the University Of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. He completed a residency in Laboratory Animal Medicine and a Masters of Science in Comparative Medicine at the University Of Washington School Of Medicine.

Matt entered the research field over 20 years ago as a lab animal technician at the TSI/Mason contract research facility. He has worked at both contract facilities such as TSI and OREAD Biosafety as well in industry at Pharmacia, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis. During that period he ... has performed a variety of surgical procedures including device implantation, transplants, orthopedic defect, ocular and vascular implants, cardiac surgery, and brain and spinal procedures. His experience ranges from mice and rats to non-human primates and livestock. In addition, he holds four patents for novel surgical devices and implants and has been training technicians, scientists, veterinarians, and physicians in surgical techniques and procedures for over 15 years. Outside of the surgical realm, he has been a study director, sonographer, Safety Pharmacology scientist, and manager. Currently Matt supervises a team of technicians and surgeon-technicians at Genzyme who support the Boston hub and perform over 1250 surgical procedures a year. Matt was also on the board of directors for the Academy of Surgical Research for over ten years, serving as their program chair for three of them as well as educational chair for two. Currently he is the program chairman for the New England branch of AALAS.

Dr. Carolyn Henry serves as dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. An oncology researcher, Dr. Henry earned the DVM in 1990 from Auburn, and practiced small animal and emergency medicine in Alabama and Georgia before returning to Auburn to ... complete an oncology residency and a Master of Science degree. She is one of four Auburn veterinary alumni who serve as dean of veterinary programs: Dr. Calvin Johnson '86, Auburn; Dr. Jason Johnson '03, Lincoln Memorial; and Dr. Eleanor Greene '73, Texas A&M. Dr. Henry served as a faculty member at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine for four years and joined the faculty of the University of Missouri in 1997 as an assistant professor of oncology, becoming the first American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine board-certified oncologist at MU. In 2001, she received a dual appointment with the MU School of Medicine, and, in 2002, became the director of the Tom and Betty Scott Endowed Program in Veterinary Oncology. She served as the associate director of research at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center since 2011. "I am truly humbled to serve as the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine," Dr. Henry said. "This is not a responsibility I take lightly. I look forward to continuing the support of our mission to teach, heal, discover and serve."

Dr. Perret-Gentil serves as University Veterinarian and Director of the Laboratory Animal Resources Center (LARC) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) as well as Attending Veterinarian for the South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics. His experience involves a ... Veterinary career since 1987, and Laboratory Animal Medicine since 1993. He has helped a number of institutions attain AAALAC International accreditation. Dr. Perret-Gentil received a B.S. in Animal Science & Industry, and a D.V.M. from Kansas State University. After obtaining his D.V.M., he practiced Veterinary Medicine in the U.S. Army. He later completed a residency in Laboratory Animal Medicine and an M.S. in Comparative Medicine at the University of Washington followed by an experimental/minimally invasive surgery post-doctoral fellowship at Ethicon Endo-Surgery. His industry and academic experiences include positions at Merck, Associate Clinical Professor in Animal Care Services and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine at the University of Florida. He also obtained an academic appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he also served as the Institutional Veterinarian and Director of the LARC. Past research interests focused on minimally invasive surgery. His current interests are in rodent experimental surgery and biomethodologies as well as preparing programs for AAALAC International accreditation. As of August 2015, Dr. Perret-Gentil has published or contributed to 53 papers, articles, abstracts, two book chapters. He has presented (including scheduled presentations) 310 special presentations and workshops at various academic and research institutions, including national and international meetings. He serves as ad hoc Specialist for AAALAC International and consultant to the government, biotechnology industry and other institutions of higher education in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Carol K. Robertson-Plouch leverages a unique background in executive R&D leadership roles in both human and animal health clinical research, and most recently as founder of Convergence Bioscience, LLC, a firm providing consulting and leadership services in clinical research ... and biopharmaceutical development. Dr. Robertson-Plouch is passionate about improving the efficiency of research while maintaining quality and delivering meaningful outcomes for patients. A seasoned clinical research leader, Dr. Robertson-Plouch has led programs from early stage to regulatory approval, and across multiple therapeutic areas including neuroscience, immunology, oncology and infectious diseases in human and in animal drug development. She led Lilly's first neuroscience pediatric indication through clinical research and approval process. Dr. Robertson-Plouch has also impacted numerous programs across animal health at Merck / Merial, and Elanco. A strategic innovator with vision for the future, Dr. Robertson-Plouch has effectively led numerous task forces and engaged cross-therapeutic and cross-functional working groups. A special interest of Dr. Robertson-Plouch is Translational and Comparative Medical Research (TCMR), which enables a "One Medicine" approach to drug development research - allowing for clinical research with spontaneous disease in animals to inform decisions for better success in the human clinic. Utilizing this comparative research opportunity can augment traditional preclinical research, de-risk drug development of new medicines for human diseases, improve chances of taking effective and safe drugs forward, and at the same time, identify new mechanisms that could also benefit animals. Dr. Robertson-Plouch is recipient of the 2017 Lilly Bioethics Award, past recipient of the Lilly President's Recognition Award and several research excellence and quality awards. She has held board of director and program chair positions in professional associations, currently serving on the executive board of the comparative oncology "Canines-N-Kids Foundation" and member of the "Paws for a Cure Symposium", which brought together ~200 pediatric and veterinary oncologists and cancer researchers and 36 speakers / panelists to discuss progress and challenges in comparative canine-human research. The goal of which is to progress science toward substantial improvements in treatments for children with cancer, and companion dogs with cancer. Dr. Robertson-Plouch is a member of the Indiana University Institutional Review Board and is an Executive Mentor for the Purdue University Foundry. Prior to joining Lilly human health, Dr. Robertson-Plouch played key roles in companion animal R&D at Elanco; and in multiple leadership roles at Merck / Merial research and professional services. An advocate leader for STEM and Music education in high schools, she has held executive board roles with these organizations, and personally exercises the 'other' part of her brain as an active musician. Carol received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Missouri, ACDRS certificate (Drug Development and Regulatory Science) from University of California - San Francisco, and certificate in Executive Leadership from the Kellogg School of Business.

Ulrike Szalay is Founder and President of the Canines-N-Kids Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to put an end to the cancers children and our canine best friends BOTH develop - devastating cancers including bone and brain cancer, lymphoma and leukemia. The goal is to ... raise awareness of the promise of comparative oncology - studying and treating cancer in man's best friend to better understand and treat cancer in children - and funds for well-directed and constructed translational and clinical research that can help both of these vulnerable populations. A social entrepreneur in this endeavor, Ms. Szalay is building a nationally-focused, dynamic organization at the intersection of pediatric and veterinary oncology, and forging new collaborations with pediatric and veterinary professionals, cancer foundations and industry, The aim is to bring new resources and funding to bear on these difficult cancers, and drive toward an integrated approach to cancer drug development that can speed new cancer medicines and a cure for kids and our canine best friends. Ulrike Szalay has more than 20 years of executive-level experience in corporate positioning, strategic communications, international government relations, trade, business development and strategic planning across a range of industries from biotechnology (oncology) and life sciences, to food and agriculture. She has a strong track record of developing corporate strategies that promote and reinforce branding, market position and reputation. Prior to founding Canines-N-Kids, she served as Vice President, Strategic Planning & Communications at Genelux Corporation, a privately-held, biopharmaceutical company in the emerging field of oncolytic viral immunotherapy, from the preclinical stage through the advancement of the company's lead compound through Phase I clinical trials. Ms. Szalay previously consulted in international trade matters with several Fortune 500 clients including Kellogg, Estee Lauder, McDonald's and Mars, Inc., helping them to achieve specific international market access and Supply Chain optimization objectives. Just prior, she managed international government relations for McDonald's Corporation on policy matters directly affecting the company's global business, and was a member of the company's international market development team. Ms. Szalay co-authored several health care policy and public opinion articles and a book during her tenure with Harvard University's Public Opinion Project, and is a member of Women in Bio. She earned her BA from Cornell University, and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University.