CAPC Board Members
Member Bios
Introduction
The activities of the Companion Animal Parasite Council are directed by a board of directors that consists of both practicing companion animal veterinary professionals and research/academic parasitologists. These individuals are leaders in their fields and provide extensive practical and technical knowledge in their respective areas of expertise.
Lora R. Ballweber, MS, DVM
Associate Professor of Clinical Parasitology
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology
Colorado State University
Ft. Collins, Colorado
Dr. Ballweber earned her MS in Parasitology from undergraduate alma mater the University of Wyoming, as well as a MS in Veterinary Science/Epidemiology from Oregon State University. She earned her DVM from both Oregon State University and Washington State University.
Currently Dr. Ballweber teaches clinical parasitiology as well as acts as an affiliate research wildlife biologist at Colorado State University. Her active research includes predictive geospatial-based models for parasitic diseases, ticks, and tick-borne diseases, the study of zoonotic and other diseases in feral hogs and anthelmintic resistance in equine and food animals. Dr. Ballweber also conducts assessments of Cryptosporidium and Giardia spp. in Mississippi, Alaska, and other marine environments.
Byron Blagburn, MS, PhD
Department of PathobiologyAuburn University
Auburn, Alabama
Byron L. Blagburn holds the appointment of Distinguished University Professor at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. He received his doctorate in parasitology from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Blagburn instructs first, third, and fourth-year students of veterinary medicine, directs graduate student research, serves as director of the clinical parasitology diagnostic laboratory and oversees a research program which focuses on parasite-induced diseases of food and companion animals. He is past president of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists, the Southern Conference on Animal Parasites and the Southeastern Society of Parasitologists. He has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Parasitology and has served on the editorial boards of Veterinary Parasitology and The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. He currently serves on the editorial board of Veterinary Therapeutics.
Dr. Blagburn is the author of more than 300 publications in scientific journals and has served as a speaker at more than 400 national or international meetings. Dr. Blagburn is the 2001 recipient of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitiologist’s Distinguished Veterinary Parasitologist Award, the highest honor bestowed by this international scientific society. He is also a 2003 recipient of the Auburn University Student Government Association “Teacher of the Year” Award.
Gary Block DVM, MS, DACVIM
Ocean State Veterinary Specialists
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Dr. Gary Block received his DVM in 1991 from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. He then completed an internship at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston and residency training in internal medicine at Purdue University. He became board certified in small animal internal medicine in 1994. In 1997, he obtained a master's degree in Animals and Public Policy, focusing his thesis on the teaching of veterinary ethics.
Dwight Bowman, MS, PhD
Professor of Parasitology
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Dr. Bowman has established an impressive body of work at Cornell University, examining various compounds for treating parasites in dogs, cats, cattle and sheep, with primary emphasis on soil-transmitted parasites.
Dr. Bowman earned his MS and PhD in parasitology from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. He completed post-doctorate work on ocular larva migrans at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. He has been at Cornell University since 1987 where he teaches veterinary parasitology and continues his research on animal parasites.
Annette Bredthauer, DVM, MS, DACVPM
Public Health Veterinarian
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
Lincoln, Nebraska
Dr. Bredthauer received her DVM in 1982 from the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She owned and operated a rural mixed animal practice for 17 years. After working 3 years as a Veterinary Medical Officer for the USDA-FSIS, Dr. Bredthauer accepted the Public Health Veterinarian position with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
She obtained a Masters of Public Health Degree (KSU) in 2005 and a Masters Degree in Entomology in 2008 (University of Nebraska). Dr. Bredthauer became board certified in veterinary preventative medicine in 2008 and also serves as adjunct professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Gary Holfinger, DVM
East Suburban Animal ClinicToledo, Ohio
Dr. Holfinger maintains ownership in three veterinary clinics and a boarding/grooming facility in Ohio: East Suburban Animal Clinic, South Suburban Animal Hospital, and West Suburban Animal Clinic. He earned his DVM degree from The Ohio State University, and practiced as an associate veterinarian at South Bend Animal Clinic in South Bend, Indiana.
Dr. Holfinger is past president of several professional associations, including Michiana Veterinary Medical Association, Toledo Veterinary Medical Association, the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, and The Ohio State University Veterinary Medicine Alumni Society. He served as the College Representative to The Ohio State University Alumni Advisory Council. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the AVMA Group Health and Life Insurance Trust.
Other professional affiliations include the American Veterinary Medical Association, Ohio Veterinary Medical Association and American Animal Hospital Association.
Julie Legred, CVT
Since graduating from the University of Minnesota, Waseca as a Certified Veterinary Technician, Julie Legred has served as owner and special projects coordinator for LSG Health Systems, as well as practice manager and consultant for the Byron Pet Clinic. She also is an instructor in the Veterinary Technology Program at Rochester Community and Technical College. In addition to her career advancements, Legred has also served a variety of volunteer roles with the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Minnesota Association and the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, where she additionally served as President in 2008. Legred was named Minnesota Veterinary Technician of the Year in 2002 and again in 2007.
Cathy Lund, DVM
City Kitty Veterinary Care for CatsProvidence, Rhode Island
Dr. Lund, owns and operates City Kitty Veterinary Care for Cats in Providence, RI. She is a graduate of Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, and is the past-president of the RI Veterinary Medical Association.
She serves on several boards and commissions, and currently, she is the president of the Companion Animal Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps low-income pet owners afford care for their pets.
Tom Nelson, DVM
Surgical Director & Co-Medical Director
Animal Medical Centers of NE Alabama
Anniston, Alabama
Dr. Nelson is a board member and a former president of the American Heartworm Society and is considered a pioneer for his clinical work in the study of heartworm disease in cats. In 1997-1998, after doubting the validity of the incidence of heartworm in cats, he conducted his own study by performing necropsies on 259 cats to determine true incidence. This study reported adult heartworms in 10% of the cats examined and exposure to heartworm larvae in 26% of the cats. He also determined there was a higher prevalence of heartworm than feline leukemia or AIDS and that there was no correlation between heartworm and AIDS. Dr. Nelson is a spokesperson for the KNOW Heartworms campaign, a national awareness program on Feline Heartworm Disease.
Dr. Nelson is a 1979 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. He has been in private practice for 28 years, beginning in Beaumont, Texas, then expanding to include the Animal Medical Center in Anniston, Ala., where he is a Partner, Surgical Director and Co-Medical Director.
Dr. Nelson is a member of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association and chaired several task forces and committees. He was awarded the 2002 Public Relations award by the Texas Veterinary Medical Association for his work in establishing co-operative marketing television campaigns for local VMAs throughout the state. He is also a member of the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Sharon Patton, MS, PhD
Department of Comparative Medicine
University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine
Knoxville, Tennessee
Dr. Patton is a Distinguished Service Professor of Parasitology and Director of the Clinical Parasitology Diagnostic Service at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She also serves as Leader of the Comparative Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory Section at UTCVM. She received her Ph.D. in parasitology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington where she was later a Post-doctoral Scholar in veterinary parasitology with Drs. J. H. Drudge and E. T. Lyons.
During her 30 years at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Patton has received several teaching awards including the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award for the Outstanding Teacher in Veterinary Medicine in North America in 1999, the “20 year Award” in 2004 given by the Class of 1984 to the Professor who has most impacted their lives, the SCAVMA Outstanding Educator Award (1984, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004), the Lindsay Young Outstanding Teacher Award (1983, 2001), the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award (1990, 1994, 1999), the Chancellor’s Teaching Scholar (1996-98), and the UT National Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award (1990). She also received the Southeastern Society of Parasitologists Meritorious Service Award (1996) and the UTK Faculty Women of Achievement Award (1995).
Dr. Patton is past president of the American Society of Parasitologists and the Southeastern Society of Parasitologists (SSP), a past member of the Executive Committee of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, the Secretary-Treasurer of SSP, and a contributor to several other scientific societies including the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists.
Dr. Patton’s research interests include diagnostic parasitology, zoonotic parasites (particularly toxoplasmosis), heartworms in dogs and cats, and parasite-induced diseases of farm, companion, and exotic animals. She is author or co-author of over 100 scientific papers and has presented over 150 scientific and service talks.
Dr. Patton is married to Dr. Raymond McCord, a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and has a daughter, Rachel, who is pursuing a PhD in Biophysics.
Jay Stewart, DVM
Aumsville Animal ClinicAumsville, OR
Dr. Stewart attended Oregon State University for his undergraduate studies and then went to Colorado State University where he earned his DVM. He practiced in Hawaii doing small animal and equine medicine for several years post graduation.
Dr. Stewart currently owns and operates Aumsville Animal Clinic where he enjoys both clinical and management responsibilities in his multi-doctor small animal practice.
Roger William (Bill) Stich, B.A.S., M.S., Ph.D.
Department of Veterinary PathobiologyUniversity of Missouri
Dr. Stich is an Associate Professor of Parasitology in the University of Missouri Department of Veterinary Pathobiology. Bill has worked with a diverse range of metazoan, protozoan and rickettsial parasites including ticks (Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus, Amblyomma and Ixodes spp.), Schistosoma mansoni, Babesia bovis, Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora caninum, Anaplasma marginale, A. phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia canis and E. chaffeensis. Most of Bill’s work currently involves tick-borne parasites and pathogens, for which he utilizes molecular, proteomic, cellular, immunological and clinical technologies to investigate interactions among such organisms and their invertebrate and vertebrate hosts.
Bill earned his academic degrees in Veterinary Parasitology at Oklahoma State University, where he studied Anaplasma marginale, a rickettsial pathogen of cattle. These graduate studies included a year of training in the Molecular Biology Division of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute in South Africa. Dr. Stich then studied Schistosoma mansoni, a human ‘blood fluke’, as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Georgia, before he moved to Washington State University to investigate innate and adaptive cellular immunity of cattle to Babesia bovis, an important protozoan parasite that causes a highly pathogenic form of bovine babesiosis. Bill joined the faculty of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University, and was continuing his work on large animal diseases caused by intracellular protozoan parasites, when he began to work with tick-borne pathogens of dogs and people. As an Associate Professor, Dr. Stich transferred to the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at the University of Missouri, where he teaches veterinary parasitology and continues to pursue his long-standing interest in contributing to the mitigation of vector-borne diseases of medical and economic importance. These efforts include the control of tick-borne rickettsial diseases through better understanding of the mechanisms underlying transmission and pathogenesis of their etiologic agents. This work has received support from several grants that were received from the National Institutes of Health. Bill also served as President for the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases, and he currently serves as a Councilor for the Society of Tropical Veterinary Medicine.
Michael Thomas, DVM
Noah's Animal HospitalIndianapolis, Indiana
Dr. Thomas owns seven veterinary hospitals, where recent additions include laser surgery, 24-hour emergency and critical care services and an internship program. He also owns a grooming facility, diagnostic company and a management company. In these combined businesses, Dr. Thomas employs 18 veterinarians and more than 100 support staff.
Dr. Thomas graduated from the University of Florida with an undergraduate degree and then went on to earn his DVM at Auburn University. He completed an internship at Lakeshore Animal Hospital in Chicago, then practiced at clinics in North Carolina and Florida. Dr. Thomas has veterinary licenses in six states.
He has worked as an American Animal Hospital Association volunteer leader for more than 10 years. In March 2003, Dr. Thomas completed his term as AAHA president. He still serves on the Associations' board of directors and a variety of project teams and task forces. His other professional activities and memberships include: American Veterinary Medical Association, American Heartworm Society, and National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Emeritus Board Members
(alphabetically)
Dr. Clarke Atkins
North Carolina State University
Dr. Mike Dryden
Kansas State University
Dr. Jeanne Eisenhour
Perrysburg, OH
Dr. Kathy Gloyd
Wilmington, DE
Dr. Kevin Kazacos
Purdue University
Dr. Charlotte LaCroix
Whitehouse Station, NJ
Dr. Susan E. Little, DVM, PhD
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Dr. Eugenia Marcus
Newton, MA
Dr. Leonard Marcus
Newton, MA
Dr. Peter Schantz
Atlanta, GA
Executive Director
Mike Paul, DVM
Executive Director, CAPCAnguilla, British West Indies
Dr. Paul is the Executive Director and CEO of CAPC. Following three decades of work across the veterinary spectrum Dr. Paul is currently retired from active veterinary practice. A former partner and co-medical director in large medical and surgical practice, he has extensive endoscopy and vaccine expertise, and publishes and speaks on these topics often. He also lectures frequently on burnout and life balance issues. In addition, he has served as a consultant for multiple corporate veterinary projects.
Professionally, Dr. Paul served as the AAHA representative on the AVMA Clinical Practitioner’s Advisory Committee to the Council on Biologics and Therapeutic Agents. He is also a former president of American Animal Hospital Association, and served on the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues.
