Genna Atiee | Scientific Advisory Panel

Genna Atiee is a boarded small animal internist currently practicing at Texas A&M University. She completed her rotating internship and internal medicine residency at North Carolina State University. Upon completion of her residency, she went into private practice and spent several years practicing in Texas and Arizona. After a few years in private practice, she went back to academia and completed a fellowship in interventional radiology at the University of Georgia. She enthusiastically went back to her alma mater, Texas A&M, to help start the interventional radiology service in addition to joining the internal medicine faculty. She has a strong interest in nephrology and urology, and of course, RAAS. She is also the clinical veterinary liaison for the Dog Aging Project.

Jonathan Mochel | President-Elect and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr. Jon P. Mochel obtained his Veterinary Medical Degree from the National Veterinary School of Alfort (Paris, France). He completed his Doctorate studying Neurosciences in collaboration with the College de France and received the Silver Medal from Paris XII for his work. Dr. Mochel holds a MS in Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics and is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology (ECVPT). He completed his Ph.D at Leiden University (Netherlands), with a focus on the mathematical modeling of the cardiovascular system for optimization of ACE inhibitors dosing schedules in patients with congestive heart failure. He is a founder of the Animal Health Modeling & Simulation Society which aims at promoting the dissemination of mathematical modeling in Veterinary Sciences. Dr. Mochel is a Professor of Systems Pharmacology in the Department of Pathology at the University of Georgia (UGA) and the Inaugural Director of the UGA Precision One Health Initiative. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and an ad hoc Study Section Reviewer for the US National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the UK Medical Research Council and the CNRS/INSERM ATIP-Avenir Program. He is currently the President of the European Association of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology and the recipient of the 2022 Research Award from the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Mochel’s research pertains to the analysis of (pre)clinical data obtained from spontaneous animal models of human diseases to bridge the knowledge gap between experimental models and patients. He has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications in select biomedical journals and has attracted more than $16M research grants as lead PI or Co-Investigator. Jon is the co-founder of LifEngine Animal Health, a Y Combinator company developing gene editing solutions for canine oncology, and 3D Health Solutions, a platform for efficient drug screening in pharmaceutical research.

Mandy Coleman | Scientific Advisory Panel

Mandy Coleman is an Associate Professor of Cardiology at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Melanie Hezzell | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr Melanie Hezzell grew up in Boston, England and studied veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge. Following some years in practice, during which she worked in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, she undertook an internship at the Royal Veterinary College, London. She then undertook a PhD in the epidemiology of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) at the RVC, followed by a cardiology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr Hezzell became board-certified in 2016, after which she joined the faculty of the University of Bristol, where she is a Senior Lecturer. Her research interests include ventricular remodelling and the genetics of MMVD.

Merrilee Small | Treasurer

Dr. Merrilee Small is a native of Norfolk, VA. She received her DVM from North Carolina State University in 1997. She spent 5 years as an emergency veterinarian, then completed a residency in Cardiology at NCSU and obtained Diplomate status in Cardiology in 2005. She is the Co-founder of The Center of Veterinary Expertise – a privately owner emergency/specialty hospital in Suffolk, VA.

Luis Dos Santos | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr. Luis Dos Santos obtained his DVM from the Federal University of Uberlandia-Brazil, and after graduation he joined the experimental Electrophysiology Lab at the Federal University of Sao Paulo-Brazil, where he studied models of arrhythmias and impact of drugs on cardiac tissues. He completed a small animal rotating internship at The Oregon State University (2018) and his Cardiology residency at Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine (2021). Dr. Dos Santos became board-certified in 2022 and is now an Assistant Professor at Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine. His research interests include mechanistic link between arrhythmias and cardiac metabolism, and biomarkers for monitoring cardiac disease and heart failure.

Jan Danser | Scientific Advisory Panel

Jan Danser studied pharmacy at the University of Amsterdam. In 1985, as a student, he worked at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA. After obtaining his pharmacist’s degree, he joined the Department of Internal Medicine at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam as a PhD student. He defended his thesis in 1992, and then joined the Department of Pharmacology at the Erasmus MC. He currently is Professor of Pharmacology and heads the Division of Pharmacology within the Department of Internal Medicine at the Erasmus MC. His research focuses on the pathogenesis and therapy of hypertension, with special emphasis on the renin-angiotensinaldosterone system, its local function(s) and the synthesis of its components at tissue sites. He has supervised more than 60 PhD students. In addition, he teaches pharmacology as well as pharmacotherapy. He has published more than 500 papers in internationally refereed journals, and he has presented more than 280 invited lectures worldwide.

Johan Schoeman | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr Johan Schoeman is currently the Chair of the Internal Medicine Chapter of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. He obtained a BVSc from Pretoria, South Africa and a PhD in the endocrine changes in critical canine illness from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He is a recognized specialist in small animal internal medicine in Europa, United Kingdom and South Africa. He is a full professor at the University of Pretoria, where he leads the pathobiology research group. He has a special interest in the metabolic changes accompanying inflammatory disorders.

Michele Borgarelli | Scientific Advisory Panel

Michele Borgarelli grew up in Turin, Italy and is a graduate of veterinary medicine at the University of the same town. He completed his PhD at the same University. He became a ECVIM-CA Cardiology diplomate in 1999. He moved to Kansas State University in 2007. He is currently a professor of cardiology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. His main research interests are degenerative mitral valve disease and pathophysiology and treatment of chronic heart failure. He has participated in several clinical trials and cardiovascular research projects involving models of heart failure. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in selected biomedical journals.

Kursten Pierce | Scientific Advisory Panel

Kursten Pierce is currently an Assistant Professor of Cardiology at North Carolina State University. Following her cardiology residency at Tufts University she completed a two year fellowship in interventional cardiology at Colorado State University. Her interests include the diagnosis and management of congenital heart disease, exotics cardiology, cardiac biomarkers, role of RAAS activation and modulation in heart disease, and minimally-invasive fluoroscopically guided interventions.

Jessica Ward  |  Secretary

Dr. Jessica Ward hails from Idaho Falls, Idaho, though much of her training took place in the state of North Carolina. After obtaining her DVM from NC State University in 2011, she completed a small animal rotating internship at The Ohio State University before returning to NC State for a Cardiology residency. Dr. Ward became board-certified in 2015 and subsequently joined the faculty at Iowa State University, where she is now an Associate Professor. Her research interests include the use of point-of-care ultrasound for the emergency diagnosis of congestive heart failure, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of RAAS inhibitors in dogs and cats, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Bianca Lourenço | Cardiorenal Coordinator

Dr. Bianca Lourenço was born and raised in Porto, Portugal. She obtained her integrated DVM and MSc from the University of Porto in 2010. The year after graduation, she worked as a small animal general practitioner in Porto, and in Newmarket, UK. This was followed by small animal rotating internships at the University of Cambridge and North Carolina State University. She then moved to Athens, GA for her small animal internal medicine residency at the University of Georgia in 2013, and obtained her ACVIM Diploma in 2016. She continued at UGA to complete her PhD in comparative biomedical sciences with doctoral research focused on the mechanisms of progression of canine and feline chronic kidney disease. She graduated with her PhD in 2019, and joined the Internal Medicine faculty at UGA in September that year. Her current research interests include the roles of activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, chronic renal hypoxia, proteinuria, and systemic arterial hypertension in the progression of renal disease.

Darcy Adin | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr. Darcy Adin is from upstate New York and received her DVM from Cornell University in 1996. She was residency trained at the University of California, Davis and became board-certified in cardiology in 2000. Dr. Adin has held positions in academia and specialty referral practice and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Florida. Her research interests revolve around understanding the role of the RAAS and confounding factors in various disease states, and optimization of therapy for advanced stage congestive heart failure. She is also involved in investigations of nutritionally-mediated dilated cardiomyopathy.

Shelly Vaden | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr. Vaden is a Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia CVM and completed an internship at Cornell University, a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine at NCSU and a PhD program at NCSU. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. The focus of Dr. Vaden’s scholarly and clinical activities has primarily been diseases of the kidney and lower urinary tract of dogs and cats and she has extensively published in these areas.

Mark Oyama | Scientific Advisory Panel

Dr. Oyama is the Charlotte Newton Sheppard Professor of Medicine and Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania. His interests include neurohormonal and biomarkers aspect of heart disease in dogs and cats.

Clarke Atkins | Scientific Advisory Panel

Clarke Atkins, DVM, the Jane Lewis Seaks Distinguished Professor of Companion Animal Medicine (Emeritus) at North Carolina State University and Norden Outstanding Teacher Award recipient, is board-certified by the ACVIM (Medicine & Cardiology). He has served on 4 ACVIM or international Consensus Committees on systemic hypertension, canine mitral valve disease (2009, 2017), and cardiorenal syndrome, as well as being honored as a Lifetime Honorary Member of the American Heartworm Society in 2019.

His research involves canine and feline heartworm disease and treatment of cardiovascular disease in dogs, cats, and horses. He has over 200 publications and has provided well over 1500 hours of continuing education in the U.S. and many countries around the world. Dr. Atkins continues to be active speaking and carrying out clinically-oriented research in retirement.

Marisa Ames  |  President

Dr. Marisa Ames grew up in Hilo, Hawaii and Anchorage, Alaska and received her DVM from The Ohio State University. Following a rotating internship at Michigan State University and an emergency critical care internship at Tufts University, Dr. Ames completed a cardiology residency and the Jane Lewis-Seaks post-doctoral research fellowship at North Carolina State University. She is currently an associate professor at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests include neurohormonal activation in cardiovascular and kidney disease (specifically the pharmacologic modulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) and heartworm disease. She also serves on the executive board of the American Heartworm Society.