Meet our Collaborators.

Click an image to read a bio.

Dr. Cathy Bauman, DVM, PhD

Dr. Cathy Bauman is an Assistant Professor of Applied Clinical Research in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph.  She completed her DVM at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) and practiced veterinary medicine for 15 years before returning to the University of Guelph to do her MSc and PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology.  Dr. Bauman’s areas of expertise include diagnostic test evaluations (especially using Bayesian methods), epidemiology, dairy small ruminants, and clinical trials.  (Return to top)

In memory of collaborator Dr. Theresa Bernardo, DVM, MSc (1958-2024)

Dr. Theresa Bernardo held the IDEXX Chair in Emerging Technologies and Preventive Healthcare at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) and was a Professor at OVC. She completed her DVM at OVC, and her MSc in epidemiology at University of Prince Edward Island. Dr. Bernardo was a globally connected innovator in addressing complex health problems through technology with more than a decade of experience in the United Nations and Inter-American systems in health informatics (humans/food/animals/plants), and another decade in academia. With a focus on the intersection of health and information technology, more broadly referred to as health informatics, she tackled challenges related to access and integration of veterinary health data from various sources, demonstrating practical use of data for patient health monitoring and preparing veterinarians for success in a tech-enabled world. Dr. Bernardo’s research team continues this valuable work.  (Return to top)

Dr. Katie Clow, DVM, PhD

Dr. Katie Clow is an Assistant Professor in One Health in the Department of Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. Her research focuses on the ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. She also conducts research more broadly on One Health, including pedagogy and community-level applications. Dr. Clow has worked in private small animal practice as well as at the national and international level in One Health. She regularly collaborates with public health professionals and veterinarians in private practice and industry.  (Return to top)

Dr. Karen Cornell, DVM, PhD, DACVS

Dr. Karen Cornell is Professor and Associate Dean for Professional Programs at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.  She graduated from the Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988, and achieved her PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 1998.  Dr. Cornell has more than three decades of experience in clinical and academic veterinary medicine and is the recipient of numerous awards recognizing her excellence in teaching.  Through her demonstrated commitment to leadership in veterinary communication, mediation, and facilitation, Dr. Cornell is respected as an expert in veterinary leadership spanning a breadth of areas within the field. (Return to top)

Dr. Alex German, BVSc, PhD, CertSAM, DipECVIM-CA, SFHEA, FRCVS

Dr. Alex German holds the position of Royal Canin Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the University of Liverpool. He qualified with honours from the University of Bristol in 1994 and completed his PhD at the same institution in 2000. Dr. German’s main clinical and research interest is management of obesity in pets, and he is established as a leading researcher in this area. For over 15 years he has run the Royal Canin Weight Management Clinic at the University of Liverpool. This specialist clinic aims to improve the quality of life of all overweight pets through clinical excellence, research, and education. (Return to top)

Dr. Basem Gohar, PhD, MSc, C. Psych

Dr. Basem (Bas) Gohar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph and a clinical psychologist. He completed his PhD in Health Services at Laurentian University, and his MSc in clinical psychology at Springfield College (USA). Dr. Gohar leads the University of Guelph’s Research in Occupational Health & Wellness (UGROHW) lab, which examines occupational risk factors with an emphasis on workplace mental health.  His current research focuses on the psychological impact of the pandemic on various healthcare providers. He is also interested in the impact of moral injury and moral distress on human and animal healthcare professionals. (Return to top)

Dr. Lauren Grant, PhD

Dr. Lauren Grant is an Assistant Professor of Environmental and Public Health and an epidemiologist in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph.  She completed her PhD and a post-doctoral fellowship in public health at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, respectively.  Dr. Grant’s research program investigates the social and environmental determinants of One Health in animal and human populations using quantitative and qualitative approaches.  She is especially interested in using novel, linked data to understand how these determinants impact health and health inequalities. (Return to top)

Dr. Lisbeth Hektoen, DVM, PhD

Dr. Lisbeth Hektoen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.  She also holds a position as Head of Teaching at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, focusing on the development and implementation of the curricula in Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Nursing.  Dr. Hektoen graduated as a DVM from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Medicine in 1995.  In her role as professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, she teaches production animal medicine, including internal medicine, herd health medicine, and animal welfare.  Dr. Hektoen has a particular interest in ruminants (especially sheep), clinical parasitology, the connection between the individual animal and the herd health perspective, and the role of the human in veterinary medicine. (Return to top)

Dr. Emma Källerö, DVM, PhD Student in Clinical Communication

Dr. Emma Källerö is PhD Student in Clinical Communication in the Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).  She completed her DVM at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in 2010 and became a Swedish Specialist in Diseases of Dogs and Cats in 2021. Dr. Källerö’s research interest is to understand how communication in Veterinary Medicine impacts adherence and ultimately medical outcome.  Currently, she is involved in a project which aims to explore the communicative challenges Norwegian vets experience in the disciplines of small-animal practice, production-animal practice, and aquaculture, respectively.  Outside of work you’ll find Dr. Källerö outdoors enjoying the company of her family – preferably on a pair of skis. (Return to top)

Dr. Jackie Parr, DVM, MSc, DACVIM

Dr. Jackie Parr is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Nutrition at University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she has lead the Small Animal Clinical Nutrition Service since 2020, providing nutritional consults for cats and dogs. Dr. Parr is a 2009 graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) and a Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Following the completion of her Masters in biochemical and molecular nutrition at Tufts University, Dr. Parr returned to the OVC in 2013 to establish the first Clinical Nutrition Service in Canada for the OVC Health Sciences Centre. From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Parr gained valuable experience working in the pet nutrition industry, and her ability to draw on her experiences from private practice, industry, and academia provides a well-rounded perspective when teaching veterinary professionals. (Return to top)

Dr. Mary Beth Spitznagel, PhD, C. Psych

Dr. Mary Beth Spitznagel is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University and a Fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars national leadership program. She completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Ohio University and fellowship at Brown University. Specializing in neuropsychology, Dr. Spitznagel began researching caregiver burden in families of dementia patients. After caring for her dog with cancer, she developed a research line examining caregiver burden in pet owners, and how owner burden impacts stress in the veterinary healthcare team, and methods to systematically reduce client-related stress and burnout (i.e., Burden Transfer) in the field. Dr. Spitznagel maintains a science blog describing her lab’s work to the layperson at Pet Caregiver Burden. (Return to top)

Dr. John Tegzes, VMD, MA, DABVT

Dr. John Tegzes is the Interim Dean and Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences.  He completed his VMD at the University of Pennsylvania and his MA in Applied Psychology at the University of Santa Monica.  As a veterinarian, Dr. Tegzes specializes in Toxicology.  As an academic, Dr. Tegzes is recognized as a leading expert in veterinary curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation, and in the field of Health Systems Science.  He is actively involved in advancing the veterinary field through the development and promotion of the competencies that are necessary to deliver high-quality and value-based care which is both patient- and population-centered. (Return to top)

Dr. Lori Teller, DVM, DABVP

Dr. Lori Teller is a Clinical Associate Professor at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she previously completed her DVM. Dr. Teller is also a practicing veterinarian. With a passionate for teaching and veterinary telemedicine, she and her colleagues were awarded a grant from the USDA to explore the role of telemedicine in veterinary education, and a grant from the Petco Love Foundation for a program to improve access to veterinary care for low-income, elderly pet owners in a rural Texas community. Dr. Teller is currently the President of the American Veterinary Medical Association and has a monthly radio spot in Houston, Texas, discussing veterinary care for dogs and cats.  (Return to top)

“Collaboration is key to our work process.”
Dr. Kirsten Blokland, PhD, Research Staff