Respiratory Emergencies for Internists

Dana Clarke, VMD, DACVECC
Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Clarke graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 2006. After graduation, she completed a one-year rotating internship at Michigan State University, followed by a residency in Emergency/Critical Care at University of Pennsylvania. Upon completion of her residency in 2010, she spent one year observing in Interventional Radiology Service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She then became the director of the IR program at PennVet and has a dual appointment to both the sections of Surgery and Critical Care. In 2015, she was appointed to the first faculty position in Interventional Radiology in veterinary medicine. Her research and clinical interests include better understanding of the progression and physiology of tracheal collapse, improving tracheal stent design and sizing, vascular malformations and obstructions, and all forms of respiratory disease within the ICU. 

Francisco O. Conrado, DVM, MSc, DACVP (Clinical Pathology)
Assistant Professor, Tufts University

Dr. Conrado received his DVM Degree from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, in his hometown, Porto Alegre, in the far south of Brazil. He remained there for a 2-year residency in Clinical Pathology, before moving to Curitiba for a Masters in Molecular and Cell Biology at the Universidade Federal do Paraná. After completing a second Clinical Pathology residency at the University of Florida, and receiving his board certification from the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), he moved to beautiful New England to join the Department of Comparative Pathobiology at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. His main interests are cytology, hematology, and clinical chemistry, as well as the clinicopathologic features of infectious and oncologic diseases. When he is not busy teaching, reading cases, or directing the 4^th Year Pathology Rotation, Francisco enjoys taking his rescue Pitbull, Georgie, for hikes and grabbing a beer at local breweries.

Ian DeStefano, DVM, DACVECC
Clinical Assistant Professor, Tufts University

Dr. DeStefano graduated from Western U and completed a rotating small animal internship in NYC prior to practicing as an ER clinician for several years. He then completed an ECC residency at Tufts and joined the faculty thereafter. Ian's primary interests involve infectious disease/antimicrobial stewardship, mechanical ventilation, and coagulation/fibrinolysis.

Kate Farrell, DVM, DACVECC
Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis

Dr. Farrell received her veterinary degree from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. She undertook a small animal medicine and surgery rotating internship at Colorado State University, as well as an emergency internship at UC Davis. She completed a residency in small animal Emergency and Critical Care at UC Davis and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2018. Dr. Farrell is now an Assistant Professor of Clinical Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care at UC Davis. Areas of interest include mechanical ventilation, respiratory physiology, transfusion medicine, and blood banking.

Guillaume Hoareau, DVM, PhD, DACVECC, DECVECC
Assistant Professor, University of Utah 

Dr. Hoareau earned his veterinary degree from the Toulouse National Veterinary School, France. He completed a residency from the University of California-Davis and is now board-certified by both the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. Dr. Hoareau holds a PhD from the University of California-Davis in Integrative Pathobiology, specifically in resuscitation and hemorrhage control. He is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and an investigator at the Nora Eccles-Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute at the University of Utah, School of Medicine. Dr. Hoareau also cares for patients in the Salt Lake City area. 

Lynelle Johnson, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Professor, University of California, Davis, CA

 Dr. Johnson received her veterinary degree from The Ohio State University, was in private practice in New York, and completed a Master’s Degree and residency program at the University of Illinois. She received her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Missouri.  Dr. Johnson’s research is focused on validation of diagnostic tests for respiratory diseases as well as identifying novel respiratory conditions.  She runs a busy respiratory service and routinely performs endoscopic and interventional procedures.  Dr. Johnson has published multiple articles and book chapters on respiratory topics and a second edition of her textbook, Canine and Feline Respiratory Medicine. 

Emily Karlin, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology)
Clinical Assistant Professor, Tufts University

Dr. Karlin is from a small town in Massachusetts and obtained her DVM from Tufts in 2008. She had initially planned to be an equine/mixed practice veterinarian, but then fell in love with cardiology during vet school. She still went on to do an equine internship and to practice large animal ambulatory medicine for several years before working at a small animal emergency and specialty hospital in Florida. Ultimately, she returned to Tufts in 2015 to do a cardiology residency and has continued to work there as a faculty member since 2018.  

Alex Michael Lynch, BVSc(Hons), DACVECC, MRCVS
Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University

Dr. Lynch graduated from the University of Bristol Veterinary school in 2009 with honors. After a period in general and specialty practice in the UK, he undertook further clinical training in ECC at Tufts University. He became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2015. Following his residency, he spent 2 years at the University of Florida before joining NC State University in July 2017. In addition to his clinical duties, he undertakes research with a particular interest in coagulation and transfusion medicine.

Amy Molitoris, DVM
Clinical Instructor, University of Missouri

Dr. Molitoris was born and raised in northeastern Pennsylvania and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her DVM from Cornell University in 2018, completed a small animal rotating internship at Oradell Animal Hospital in northern New Jersey in 2019, and finished her Emergency and Critical Care Residency at Tufts University in 2022. She joined the team at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2022 as a Clinical Instructor in Small Animal Emergency & Critical Care. She has special interests in coagulopathies, respiratory emergencies, and trauma.

John Rush, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology), DACVECC
Professor, Tufts University

Dr. Rush is a graduate of The Ohio State University, and he has been a faculty member at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University for over 30 years. He is a diplomate of both ACVIM (Cardiology) and ACVECC, and he currently is a Professor at Tufts.  He helped devise the Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic in Worcester, MA.  His research interests include cardiac biomarkers, cardiovascular drugs, and dietary interventions for cardiac disease. He has numerous peer-reviewed publications in veterinary journals on various topics in cardiology and emergency/critical care medicine. 

Christine Rutter, DVM, DACVECC
Clinical Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Dr. Rutter is originally from Biloxi, Mississippi and received her DVM from Mississippi State University. She was a general practitioner before pursuing an ECC internship in Louisville, Kentucky. She completed an ECC residency at Tufts University and worked in private specialty practice for six years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is currently a clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency Critical Care and a member of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society.

Marc Seitz, DVM, DACVR, DABVP
Associate Clinical Professor, Mississippi State University

Dr. Seitz is an Associate Clinical Professor of Diagnostic Imaging at Mississippi State University (MSU).  He earned both his B.S. in biochemistry and his DVM from MSU.  After graduation, he spent eight years in private practice as an emergency clinician prior to returning to MSU as an emergency faculty member in 2015.  In 2018 he began working towards a second specialty in diagnostic imaging and is now a full-time board-certified radiologist at MSU.  In addition to clinical practice, he thoroughly enjoys teaching, with the ultimate goal of translating sound medical practices and current veterinary literature into useful clinical skills.  

Leslie Sharkey, DVM, PhD, DACVP
Professor and Chair of Clinical Sciences, Tufts University

Dr. Sharkey is Professor and Chair of Clinical Sciences at Tufts University. She received her B.S at the University of Michigan and her DVM and PhD from Ohio State University. Her primary research training is in animal models of cardiovascular disease and she has expanded that to a general interest in toxicologic and medical device related clinical pathology. Recent areas of interest include the effects of radiation and chemotherapy on the cardiovascular system. Clinically, she is interested in novel approaches in coagulation testing and optimization of other laboratory diagnostic modalities in veterinary species.

Andre Shih, DVM, DACVAA, DACVECC
Owner/Medical Director, Dogwood Veterinary Specialty

Dr. Shih graduated in Veterinary Medicine from University of Sao Paulo Brazil. He moved to the US and finished his DVM training at the University of Wisconsin. Upon graduation he worked as an Emergency veterinarian in Fox Valley Animal Referral Center WI. He completed his anesthesia residency became board certified in Anesthesia Analgesia. Was a faculty at University of Florida anesthesia service for 10 years. He decided to do a second residency in Emergency Critical Care, became board certified. After that he moved to private practice and is the owner and medical director of Dogwood Veterinary Specialty in Atlanta Georgia. His area of research includes cardio pulmonary resuscitation neuropathic pain and advanced hemodynamic monitoring.   

Lance C. Visser, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Cardiology)
Associate Professor of Cardiology, Colorado State University

Dr. Visser is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He obtained a BS in 2007 and combined DVM/MS in 2010 from Michigan State University. He then completed a small animal rotating internship at North Carolina State University in 2011. He completed a combined residency/MS program in Cardiology at The Ohio State University in 2014. Dr. Visser recently joined Colorado State University where he is an Associate Professor of Cardiology. Prior to this, he was at the University of California, Davis (2014 - 2021). His primary research interest is improving the noninvasive assessment of cardiac structure and function in animals with cardiovascular disease.