Infectious Diseases: A Comprehensive Update

Dr. Linda Kidd received a DVM and small animal internal medicine residency training from the University of Wisconsin, and a PhD in Immunology from the Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, North Carolina State University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute, studying mechanisms of thrombosis. Dr. Kidd is a Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences. Her research interests include vector-borne and immune-mediated diseases, and mechanisms of thrombosis in proinflammatory states. Awards include the Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence, The Monica Menard award for Pathobiological Research, and The Zoetis award for Veterinary Research Excellence.  

Ed Breitschwerdt, DVM DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor
North Carolina State University

Dr. Edward B. Breitschwerdt graduated from the University of Georgia and completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri. He is currently a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and is an adjunct professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Breitschwerdt directs the Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory in the Comparative Medicine Institute at North Carolina State University and co-directs the Vector Borne Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory. He also serves as the director of the NCSU-CVM Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory. Dr. Breitschwerdt’s clinical interests include infectious diseases, immunology, and nephrology.  For over 30 years, his research has emphasized vector-transmitted, intracellular pathogens.  

Leah Cohn, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor and Associate Department Chair
University of Missouri

Dr. Leah Cohn earned her DVM at the University of Tennessee, followed by internship, residency, and PhD in veterinary Microbiology and Immunology at North Carolina State University. She is a Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri, where she has been on faculty for more than 25 years. Dr. Cohn enjoys all aspects of internal medicine but has a special interest in infectious and respiratory disease. She has authored more than 125 scientific manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, has written dozens of book chapters, and is the Editor-in-Chief of the textbook Clinical Veterinary Advisor: Dogs and Cats.  

Gregg Dean, DVM, PhD, DACVP
Professor and Department Head
Colorado State University

Dr. Gregg A. Dean completed his DVM, PhD and residency in clinical pathology at Colorado State University. He was a post-doctoral fellow and research faculty member at UC Davis. He spent 15 years on the faculty at North Carolina State University before returning to CSU in 2011. Since that time, he has served as head of the department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology. Dr. Dean’s research is focused on mucosal immunology, viral immunopathogenesis and vaccine development. He is currently investigating oral vaccine strategies against coronaviruses and rotaviruses.

Jonathan Dear, DVM, MAS, DACVIM (SAIM)
Assistant Professor
University of California, Davis

Dr. Jonathan Dear is a board-certified small animal internal medicine specialist at the University of California, Davis. A graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Dear completed his residency at UC Davis. He also completed a master's degree in clinical research at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Dr. Dear's clinical interests include urinary and respiratory medicine, while his research interests also encompass small animal infectious diseases. Dr. Dear is the current president of the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Disease.

Michael Lappin, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor
Colorado State University

Dr. Michael Lappin graduated from Oklahoma State University and then completed an internship, internal medicine residency, and PhD program in Parasitology at the University of Georgia. He is the Kenneth W. Smith Professor in Small Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University and is the director of the “Center for Companion Animal Studies”. He is the chair of the WSAVA One Health Committee. Dr. Lappin’s principal areas of interest are prevention of infectious diseases, the upper respiratory disease complex, infectious causes of fever, infectious causes of diarrhea, and zoonoses.  

Erin Lashnits, MS, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM)
Clinical Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin

Dr. Erin Lashnits is a clinical assistant professor in small animal internal medicine at University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. She received her MS in biology from Stanford University, DVM from Cornell University, and PhD in comparative biomedical sciences from NCSU. She did her internship at a private practice in Brooklyn NY and spent a few years in GP/ER (while simultaneously teaching high school chemistry) in Buffalo NY, before completing her internal medicine residency through the clinician investigator program at NCSU. Her current research focuses on the epidemiology of Bartonella and other zoonotic vector-borne diseases in a One Health context.

Jane Sykes, BVSc (Hons), PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor
University of California, Davis

Dr. Jane Sykes obtained her veterinary degree and PhD in veterinary microbiology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, her residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Minnesota, and an MBA from the University of Georgia. She co-founded the International Society of Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID), was the first President of that Society, and is currently their Secretary-Treasurer. She was President of the ACVIM Specialty of Small Animal Internal Medicine from 2012-2015 and is currently President-Elect of the ACVIM.  Her research interests currently include antimicrobial drug resistant bacterial infections, blood-borne infectious diseases, and deep mycoses. She is currently Chief Veterinary Medical Officer of the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and Professor of Small Animal Medicine. 

Dr. Scott Weese is a Professor at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Director of the University of Guelph Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, and Chief of Infection Control at the Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital. He focuses on a range of infectious disease issues of animals and humans, including antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, emerging infectious diseases and infection control. He also writes and speaks extensively about infectious (and often zoonotic) diseases.