Advanced Endocrinology

Course Leader
Patty Lathan, VMD, MS, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor, Louisiana State University

Dr. Lathan earned her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania, then completed an internship at Mississippi State University and a small animal internal medicine residency at Purdue University. She taught at Mississippi State for 16 years before moving to LSU. Dr. Lathan specializes in endocrinology, specifically adrenal function testing, diabetes mellitus, and the mitigation of side effects of glucocorticoids. She is a past-president of the Society for Comparative Endocrinology.

Ellen N. Behrend, VMD, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor Emerita, Auburn University.  

Dr. Behrend is the Joezy Griffin Professor emerita in the Department of Clinical Sciences, Auburn University.  She currently is a consultant for Veterinary Information Network.  Dr. Behrend received her VMD degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and her PhD from Auburn University in 2001.  She has authored numerous scientific publications, including journal articles, book chapters and abstracts and served as a section editor for several textbooks.  She has provided 100’s of continuing education lectures at national and international conferences.  Dr. Behrend has won the Zoetis Distinguished Teaching Award three times.  

Andrew Bugbee, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Chief Medical Officer, Associate Clinical Professor, Texas A&M University

Dr. Bugbee is originally from Dallas, Texas.  He received both his BS and DVM from Texas A&M University. He completed a rotating internship and an internal medicine residency at the University of Georgia, becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2013.  After residency he was on faculty at Purdue University before returning to the University of Georgia in 2014. During his time at UGA, he Co-founded and Directed the UGA Veterinary Diabetes Clinic in addition to his role as an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine. In July 2023, he joined the faculty of the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences now serving as an Associate Clinical Professor and Chief of Internal Medicine.  He also serves as the teaching hospital’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of the TAMU Veterinary Endocrine Clinic and research program.  Dr. Bugbee serves on the Board of the Society for Comparative Endocrinology and his current research interests are focused on novel therapies for canine diabetes mellitus and pituitary dysfunction in disease states.  Dr. Bugbee is married to a veterinary radiologist and has 3 children, 2 dogs, and a cat.

Christopher G. Byers, DVM, DACVECC, DACVIM (SAIM), CVJ
Founder & Editor, CriticalCareDVM.com

Dr. Byers is a practicing board-certified veterinary emergency & critical care and small animal internal medicine specialist, as well as a certified veterinary journalist, based in Omaha, Nebraska. He received his Bachelor of Science degree as a University Honors Scholar in Animal Sciences from Colorado State University and his DVM from Cornell University. Dr. Byers is the Co-Editor of the textbook, Feline Emergency & Critical Care Medicine, and has published chapters and articles in numerous textbooks and peer-reviewed medical journals and is a renowned international speaker. Dr. Byers's clinical areas of interest are hematology, immunology, sepsis, and endocrinology.

Federico Fracassi, DVM, PhD, DECVIM-CA
Associate Professor, University of Bologna

Dr Fracassi graduated in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) “cum laude”  at the University of Bologna, Italy. In 2005 he defended his Ph.D. thesis and then completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Zurich, Switzerland and became ECVIM-CA (internal medicine) diplomate in 2012. He is now an Associate Professor of Veterinary Internal Medicine at the University of Bologna. His main research focus is the field of small animal endocrinology. He is director of the international II level master “Canine and Feline Endocrinology” and organizes every 2 years the ESVE Summer School in Bologna. His publication list consists of more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 14 book chapters. He is the editor of “Veterinaria”, a peer-reviewed journal and associate editor of Journal of Small Animal Practice. In 2017 he co-edited “Feline Endocrinology” (a book translated into 6 languages) with Dr Feldman and Dr Peterson. In 2022 has edited “Diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms in internal medicine for dogs and cats” (book translated in 7 languages).  In 2024 he co-edited “Canine Endocrinology” with Dr Sara Galac. Dr Fracassi has lectured in 22 countries. 

Sara Galac, DVM, PhD
Associate Professor, Utrecht University

Dr. Galac achieved her DVM degree from the Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She completed two PhD studies and is currently an associate professor at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht, Utrecht University, where she leads the veterinary oncology research group. Her main interest is endocrinology and in research focuses on adrenal tumors.

Daniel Langlois, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor, Michigan State University

Dr. Langlois is a tenured professor at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is originally from Baton Rouge, LA, and he received his DVM from Louisiana State University in 2009. He then completed a 1-year internship at The Ohio State University which was followed by an internal medicine residency at Michigan State University. He obtained board certification from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in 2013, and he has been an MSU faculty member since that time. Dr. Langlois has strong clinical and research interests in companion animal endocrinology and canine hepatology. He has authored peer-reviewed manuscripts in these fields, frequently lectures on these subjects, and routinely serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for various veterinary journals.

Jayme Looper, DVM, DACVR
Professor of Veterinary Radiation Oncology, Louisiana State University

Bio coming soon!

Mark E. Peterson, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)

Dr. Peterson is well known for his clinical research and teaching in small animal endocrinology. Mark is the owner and director of the Animal Endocrine Clinic, a specialty referral hospital devoted primarily to the diagnosis and treatment of cats with thyroid disease, where he conducts most of his clinic research. He also serves as adjunct Professor of Medicine at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University.

Carmel T Mooney, MVB, MPhil, PhD, DECVIM-CA, FRCVS
Professor, Clinical Director, University College Dublin

Dr. Mooney graduated from University College Dublin and spent several years working at Edinburgh and Glasgow Veterinary Schools completing both MPhil and PhD theses on feline hyperthyroidism.  Since 1998 she has been at University College Dublin as an academic clinician at professorial level and currently Clinical Director. Her major research and teaching areas are in endocrinology.  She has been Secretary and President of ECVIM-CA, founding Secretary of the European Society of Veterinary Endocrinology, and President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association.  She is a former Editor of the Journal of Small Animal Practice and Specialty Chief Editor for Frontiers in Veterinary Science Comparative and Clinical Medicine.  She was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2023 for meritorious contributions to knowledge.

Jocelyn Mott, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Associate Professor, University of Florida

Dr. Mott graduated from Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. After graduation, she completed an internship at Oklahoma State University and a small animal internal medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr Mott is board certified by the ACVIM in small animal internal medicine and fellow accredited by ACVIM in feline and canine diabetes. Dr Mott is currently an associate professor of small animal internal medicine at the University of Florida. 

Valerie Parker, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM and Nutrition)
Professor -Clinical, The Ohio State University

Dr. Parker is Clinical Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nutrition at The Ohio State University. She received her DVM from Tufts University, followed by a small animal internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. She then completed a small animal internal medicine residency at Iowa State University and a nutrition residency at Tufts University. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (SAIM and Nutrition). Dr. Parker’s primary areas of interest include gastrointestinal disease, kidney disease, obesity management, and vitamin D metabolism, as well as nutritional management of a variety of canine and feline diseases.

Ian Ramsey, BVSc, PhD, DSAM, DECVIM-CA, FHEA, FRCVS
Professor, Glasgow University

Dr. Ramsey is the Professor of Small Animal Medicine at Glasgow University Veterinary School. He graduated from Liverpool, completed his PhD at Glasgow and spent his residency at Cambridge. He is a British (RCVS) and European diplomate in small animal medicine. He has published widely in various aspects of small animal medicine but his main interest is in endocrinology. He was awarded the BSAVA Woodrow Award for contributions to small animal medicine in 2015 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2016. He has served on numerous professional bodies and was BSAVA President 2020-21.

Renee Rucinsky, DVM, DABVP (Feline)
Owner/Veterinarian, Mid Atlantic Pet Hospital

Dr. Rucinsky is a graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners as a Feline Practice Specialist.  She has written book chapters on various feline diseases and conditions and has been part of multiple AAHA guidelines task forces, including hyperthyroidism, nursing care, diabetes management, and uncommon endocrinopathies.  Dr. Rucinsky is active in ABVP leadership, including being president from 2023-2024. She owns a feline specialty hospital in Maryland, and sees primary and referral feline patients, and owns and runs a radioactive iodine treatment center. 

Catharine Scott-Moncrieff, MA, Vet MB, DECVIM, DSAM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor, Purdue University

Dr. Scott-Moncrieff received her Veterinary Degree from the University of Cambridge in 1985. She completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and a residency and Master of Science degree in internal medicine at Purdue University. In 1989 she joined the faculty of Purdue University, where she is currently Professor of small animal internal medicine. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (small animal), and the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (companion animal). Her research and clinical interests are canine and feline endocrinology.

Nadja S. Sieber-Ruckstuhl, Dr. med. vet., DACVIM, DECVIM-CA
Professor, University of Zurich

Dr. Sieber-Ruckstuhl is a professor specializing in endocrinology at the Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, and the Teaching Hospital at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Since 2006, she has been working as a senior physician and research group leader at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of various endocrine diseases in dogs and cats, lipid metabolism, and wound healing disorders associated with endocrine conditions.

Heidi Ward, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Veterinary Oncologist, Gulf Coast Veterinary Oncology

Dr. Ward earned her DVM Degree from The Ohio State University in 1989. She performed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Veterinary Specialists of Connecticut in 1989-1990, a residency in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 1990-1992 and completed a second residency in Medical Oncology at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1994.  She was a clinical assistant professor in the small animal internal medicine service at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine for three years and worked within the internal medicine department of Med Vet in Columbus, Ohio for 1 year prior to moving to Florida in 1998. She currently works at Gulfcoast Veterinary Oncology and Internal Medicine in Sarasota, Florida.