How About A Career In Veterinary Pathology

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How About A Career In Veterinary Pathology?

• Opportunities in
• Diagnostic Labs
• Academia
• Industry
• Government

From the American College of Veterinary
Pathologists
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We are looking for some excellent veterinarians
who would like to specialize in an exciting field!
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Veterinary pathologists study everything from
live animals to proteins
Live animals
Diseased organs
Cells
Organelles
Chromosomes
Molecules
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Emma Cantor, daughter of Dr. Glenn Cantor,
contemplates her career path during a necropsy
on a musk-ox in Palmer, Alaska.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Finding the causes of diseases in animals of all
  species
• Duties of a diagnostic pathologist
• Diagnosis (for one animal or a group)
• Prognosis predict the outcome and report risks
  to animals and humans
• Written report to primary clinician

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Maylee Peterson, CVT, and Dr. Donna Hertzke work
in a large diagnostic laboratory, helping
hundreds of veterinarians, animals, and owners
every day.
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A diagnostic veterinary pathologist will be
critical in determining what is causing disease
in these animals, and whether there is a risk to
humans handling the animals or consuming the milk
or meat.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Divisions
• Clinical Pathology
• Cytology
• analysis of cells in tissue or body fluid
• Clinical chemistry
• body fluid analysis
• Hematology
• blood cell analysis
• Microbiology
• agent identification

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Dr. Laura Andrews and Cindy Frey, MLT, discuss
fluid analysis preparation.
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Cytology slide Cells from a lymph node cancer
Blood smear Lymph node cancer cells in blood
(leukemia)
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Divisions cont.
• Anatomic Pathology
• Necropsy (Autopsy)
• gross (naked eye) and microscopic examination of
  whole animals
• Surgical Pathology
• gross and microscopic examination of biopsies
  (tissue removed from living animals)

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Horse with a melanoma of the eyelid
Microscopic melanoma
The tumor is removed by a veterinary clinician
and submitted to a diagnostic laboratory. The
diagnosis is made by the pathologist.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Training Required
• Bachelors degree or equivalent
• 2 to 4 years
• DVM or equivalent
• 4 years
• Residency training or other advanced training in
  veterinary pathology
• 3 to 5 years
• ACVP Board Certification in Anatomic and/or
  Clinical Pathology
• achieved by passing an examination

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Dr. Betsy Aird and Dr. James Carpenter examine
cytology slides together on a double headed
training/consulting microscope.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Employment Opportunities
• Private diagnostic laboratory
• State or provincial diagnostic laboratory
• Academic institution
• veterinary or medical school
• Contract laboratory
• laboratory for assessing product safety
• Zoo
• Other agencies
• serving the needs of wildlife and/or the
  environment

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Veterinary diagnostic laboratories use state of
the art equipment. Stan Krogman, MT, and
CellDyn 5300

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Diagnostic veterinary pathologists can work for
zoos and wildlife agencies. They play an
important role in protecting endangered species.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathologist

• Rewards
• Your work is critical to quality veterinary care
  you will be a key team player.
• Your contributions will benefit a very large
  number of animals and humans every day.
• You could be the first to recognize a new disease
  or public health hazard.
• You will embark on a lifetime of learning and
  face exciting new challenges daily.

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Veterinary pathologists discovered that the West
Nile virus had invaded North America. Critical
work was done at the Bronx Zoo.
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Veterinary pathologists at Colorado State
Diagnostic Lab are studying Chronic Wasting
Disease in deer and elk, a disease that has
spread to several states. The disease is caused
by prions similar to those which cause Mad Cow
Disease.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Rewards cont.
• You can
• build on the vast knowledge you acquired in
  veterinary school, becoming extremely
  knowledgeable in the diseases of numerous animal
  species.
• specialize in one area of veterinary pathology
  (for example, diseases of fish, or diseases of
  the skin).
• work in a large laboratory with many
  pathologists.
• perform some or all of your duties at home.

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Diagnose disease in all species.
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Or specialize. Dr. Sherman Jack is an expert in
catfish pathology, of economic importance in
southern Gulf states in the USA.
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Work in a large diagnostic laboratory. The
workload is shared and it is easy to consult with
others before releasing the results.
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Because Dr. Maron Calderwood Mays works for two
veterinary diagnostic labs in different states,
she does most of her work at home.
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Diagnostic Veterinary Pathology

• Is often a stepping stone to other career choices
  in veterinary pathology
• Academia
• Industry
• Government

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Careers in Academia
College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State
University
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Careers in Academia

• Combinations of
• Teaching
• Research
• Service

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Careers in Academia

• Traditionally, all three areas
• Many positions now combine only two areas
• Research and diagnostics, or
• Research and teaching, or
• Teaching and diagnostics
• Or, only research

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Careers in Academia

• Training required
• DVM
• Pathology residency and ACVP boards
• PhD (recommended and required if you choose a
  research career)
• Post-doctoral training (recommended if you choose
  a research career as a principal investigator)
• Note Post-DVM graduate students and post-docs
  are paid much better than traditional graduate
  students

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Types of institutions

• Veterinary schools
• Medical schools,
• Research universities

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Dr. Krista La Perle, a veterinary pathologist at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Weill
Medical College of Cornell University, and
Rockefeller University, works on genetically
engineered mice to identify genes involved with
human diseases.
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Research

• Pathology training teaches flexibility, broad
  approach to problem-solving, ability to learn new
  techniques and ways of thought

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Research

• Research by people with comparative pathology
  training includes a wide variety of fields
• molecular biology,
• toxicology,
• infectious diseases,
• physiology
• Principal investigator or collaborator
• Funded by government or private grants

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Research

• You can pick your own field of expertise and
  research
• Academia allows you to follow reason wherever it
  may lead
• - Dr. Patrick Caplazi

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Dr. Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate and veterinary
pathologist
A T killer cell (upper right) attaching to and
sensing the antigens on a target cell. If the
target cell carries the correct antigens fitting
the receptor of this particular T cell, the "kiss
of death" will follow the target cell will be
destroyed.
Peter C. Doherty, BVSc, PhD, St. Jude Childrens
Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
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Teaching
Small group case-based problem solving
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Teaching

• Veterinary students
• Lectures
• small groups (clinical rotations, case
  simulations), or
• one-on-one

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Professor of the Year stresses love of medicine,
love of life Monday, December 11, 2000 SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF As a child, Steve
Hines would crawl under houses to pluck out feral
felines he heard crying for food. So it
wasn't surprising that his love for animals led
him to become a veterinarian. And when he was
a doctoral student, he realized that solving
actual problems, rather than answering
multiple-choice questions, made it fun to learn
how to treat sick animals.
Dr. Steve Hines, Professor of Pathology
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Teaching

• Pathology residents
• Small classes, lots of one-on-one
• Graduate students
• Research mentoring, small classes
• Undergraduates
• Lectures, research mentoring

Dr. Terry McElwain and Dr. Esther Trueblood
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Service

• Many universities are associated with state
  diagnostic laboratories
• Diagnostic laboratories also serve veterinary
  teaching hospitals
• Laboratory animals from the university research
  community

Cryptosporidia in the intestine of a foal
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Rewards

• Highly diverse and challenging work

Academia offers a nice balance. Truly
significant research that helps people and
animals is the 20-year plan that makes my life
meaningful. But I also need day-to-day immediate
satisfaction - solving a case in the diagnostic
lab or teaching a student. -Dr. Glenn Cantor
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Rewards

• Teaching smart students is fun, keeps you
  constantly thinking, has a huge impact on young
  peoples lives
• Service has short-term satisfactions and rewards
  solving problems for real animal owners and
  practitioners

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Rewards

• Research has long-term satisfactions and rewards
  discovering something important!
• Opportunity to be truly creative
• Its intellectually exhilarating to have smart
  colleagues who challenge ones ideas and push for
  further accomplishments.

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Academic environments can be very pleasant
Necropsy students show prowess with their knives
by carving pumpkins
Lake Alice at the University of Florida. A good
place to watch alligators and egrets or to go
sailing or swimming.
Rafting on the Salmon River, near Washington
State University
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Careers in Industry

• Play a key role in discovery and development of
  new drugs for major health problems
• Human diseases
• Animal diseases

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Careers in Industry

• Type of Business
• Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology (focusing on
  treatment of humans)
• Small chemical entities, proteins, vaccines, gene
  therapy products
• Regulated by FDA and its international
  counterparts
• Chemical and agrochemical industry
• Regulated by EPA

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Veterinary pathologists participate in the
short-term and long-term animal testing of drug
development. The contribution by pathologists
is key in the selection process and development
of drug candidates.
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Careers in Industry

• Types of business (cont.)
• Animal health
• Medicines and vaccines for food and companion
  animals
• Regulated by FDA
• Food and consumer products
• Regulated by FDA
• Contract Research Organizations (CROs)
• Provide service in all aspects of work for
  industry

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Dr Judith Saik, a pathologist working on the
development of animal health products, at a
research farm with animals that are on study
there.
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Careers in Industry

• Type of activities
• Safety assessment of compounds/products
• Studies required by regulations
• Conducted under Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
• Investigative pathology
• Determination of pathogenesis in support of
  studies
• Earlier and faster prediction of toxic effects
• Use of molecular biological tools
• Integration of gene and protein expression with
  morphology and function

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Laser capture microdissection
Danielle Diaz, BS is identifying areas of
interest for microdissection of a tissue section
to be used for RNA recovery.
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Microdissected tissue
RNA isolation
Microarray
Hierarchical clustering ofgene expression
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Careers in Industry

• Type of Activities (cont.)
• Lead optimization
• Assist in selection of best compound/product in a
  series, based on pathologic parameters
• Research
• Characterize animal models of diseases
• Including transgenics and knockouts
• Assess efficacy in animal models
• Compound/product sponsorship
• Participate in multidisciplinary development teams

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Luciferase-based non-invasive imaging and
microscopic localization of metastatic cells in
oncology research
Metastatic prostate cancer cells are demonstrated
by imaging in knees and rib (left) microscopic
section of rib (right).
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Careers in Industry

• Species/specimens studied
• Rodents
• Mice (including transgenics, knockouts), rats
• Non-rodents
• Dogs, non-human primates, mini pigs, rabbits,
  guinea pigs, horses, cattle, chickens, fish
• In vitro systems
• Cultured specimens cells, tissue slices, organs
• Specimens from in vitro physiologic experiments

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Light microscopy and ultrastructure of liver
slice culture
Crystalline and granular mitochondrial inclusions
C and cup-shaped mitochondria
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Careers in Industry

• Clinical pathology
• Hematology, coagulation, clinical chemistry,
  cytopathology, laboratory instrumentation and
  methods, and quality control/quality assurance
• Seek out patterns and correlations between
  laboratory data in treated and non-treated groups
• Technical familiarity with wide range of modern
  instrumentation, laboratory principles, and
  statistics

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Clinical pathology flow cytometry for
immunophenotyping
Dr Laurie ORourke and Jill Omerza, MT are
reviewing dot density plots of peripheral blood
lymphocytes.
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Careers in Industry

• Anatomic pathology
• Recognize changes on gross, light microscopy, and
  ultrastructure
• Ancillary methods include immunohistochemistry,
  in situ hybridization, laser applications (laser
  scanning microdissection, confocal microscopy),
  computerized morphometry
• Participate in study design, study conduct, and
  data analysis

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Paul Grosenstein, BS, EMT is working at the
morphometry station using the KS400 system.
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Immunohistochemical stains for B and T
lymphocytes in spleen
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Anatomic Pathology - Transmission Electron
Microscopy
Dr. Natasha Neef reviews ultrastructural images
taken by a Zeiss electron microscope using the
Soft Imaging System software.
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Careers in Industry

• Studies requiring specialized expertise
• Reproductive toxicity
• Staging of spermatogenesis
• Immunopathology
• Assessment of function/response
• Phenotyping cells
• Neurotoxicity
• Detailed assessment of function and morphology of
  central and peripheral nervous system

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Plastic embedded, Toluidine blue stained sections
of peripheral nerve from a control animal and an
animal with neuropathy
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Three-dimensional reconstruction of MK801-induced
neuronal degeneration in rat brain (red)
ventricles (light green)
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Careers in Industry

• Rewards
• Be a key participant in the development of safe
  and innovative products that
• Meet unmet medical needs
• Increase agricultural productivity
• Have positive impact on customers business
  and/or life
• Constant learning, new scientific and
  intellectual opportunities

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Careers in Industry

• Rewards (cont.)
• Compared to general veterinary practice
• Opportunity to manage or influence others without
  being responsible for a small business
• Flexible hours provide a family friendly
  environment
• Ample resources for scientific investigation
• Great diversity of workforce assures an enriching
  environment
• Generous compensation package
• Makes student loan and house payments more
  affordable

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Careers in Industry

• What type of person excels in industry as a
  veterinary pathologist?
• Able to integrate data from other disciplines
• Scientific creativity and curiosity
• Be a team player
• Good communication skills
• With peers, associates, management, and
  regulators
• Flexibility and ability to accept change

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Careers in Government

• Duties overlap those of pathologists in
  diagnostic, academic, and industry settings
• Function as an anatomical pathologist or a
  clinical pathologist
• Function may be specialized, e.g., toxocologic
  pathologist or molecular pathologist

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Careers in Government

• Training
• DVM
• DVM with board certification in anatomic or
  clinical pathology
• DVM and PhD
• During PhD studies, may obtain training in
  toxicology or molecular biology which allows
  pathologist to become specialized

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Careers in Government
MARKER OF CELL PROLIFERATION
APOPTOSIS PROTEINS
Growth Factor Staining
Dr. Dixon, DVM, PhD specializes in
understanding the cellular and molecular causes
of neoplasia in the female reproductive system at
the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
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Careers in Government Employment Opportunities

• U.S. Army Veterinary Corps
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

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Pathology Opportunities in the U.S. Army
Veterinary Corps
Diagnostic pathology support for all U.S.
Government-owned animals
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Pathology Opportunities in the U.S. Army
Veterinary Corps
Chemical, biological radiological
defense research programs
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Rewards of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps
Travel and Fun
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Role of the Veterinary Pathologist in an American
Ebola Outbreak
Lancet 346 1669-71, 1995 Jaax N, Jahrling P,
Geisbert T, Geisbert J, Steele K, McKee K,
Nagley D, Johnson E, Jaax G, Peters
C.Transmission of Ebola virus (Zaire strain) to
uninfected control monkeys in a biocontainment
laboratory United States Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases,
Frederick, Maryland 21702-5011, USA.
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Careers in Government

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• National Institute of Enviromental Health
  Sciences (NIEHS)
• National Toxicology Program (NTP)
• Major governmental agency that coordinates
  toxicology research and testing activities in
  cooperation with other governmental agencies
• World leader in designing, conducting, and
  interpreting assays for toxicity and cancer
• Provides information to the public about
  potentially toxic chemicals to safeguard public
  health and prevent unnecessary exposure to
  hazards

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Careers in Government NIEHS NTP

• Pathologists work on issues relevant to the
  American public
• Evaluate the safety of chemicals intended for
  human use
• Chemicals used in commerce
• Food additives
• Drugs, cosmetic ingredients
• Pesticides

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Careers in Government Responsibilities NIEHS
NIH

• Serve as pathologist responsible for gross and
  microscopic evaluation of laboratory animals
• Serve as director of large multidisciplinary
  studies
• Serve as researcher principal investigator or
  collaborator
• Teach undergraduate and graduate students

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Role of the Veterinary Pathologist

• Discovering Infectious Agents as a Cause of
  Cancer
• Retroviruses
• Cat leukemia virus (Bill Jarrett)
• Cat sarcoma virus (Stan Snyder, Gordon Eilen)
• Bovine leukemia virus (Janice Miller)
• Helicobacter species (Ward, Haines, Anver)
• Helicobacter hepaticus liver tumors

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Contributions of a Veterinary Pathologist to a
Nobel Prize

• Kuru (in humans) vs scrapie (in sheep)
• Nobel Prize in Medicine 1976 to Carleton
  Gajdusek, MD for showing the infectious nature of
  kuru
• Carlton Gadjusek, Nobel Lecture, 1976
• The clinical picture and histopathological
  findings of scrapie closely resemble those of
  kuru this permitted Hadlow (1959) to suggest
  that both diseases might have similar
  etiologies.
• William Hadlow, DVM 1959 letter in Lancet
• The natural history and general clinical
  aspects (and the neuropathological changes) of
  the two diseases are strikingly similar..Thus,
  it might be profitable to examine the possibility
  of the experimental induction of kuru in a
  laboratory primate

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Careers in Government Responsibilities of FDA

• Provide input into review of new molecular
  entities and new formulations for human and
  veterinary drugs, vaccines, devices
• Role in food safety
• Research the potential for cutting edge
  technologies (e.g., transgenic animals)
• Help design studies for understanding drug
  mechanisms of action and/or toxicity
• Participate in national and international
  initiatives for drug development (e.g., World
  Health Organization)

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• Research at the National Health and Environmental
  Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research
  and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection
  Agency
• a collection of research stations across the
  country where experiments are conducted to study
  the potential adverse effects of chemicals and
  environmental contaminants on human health,
  ecosystems, and wildlife.

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EPA Opportunities

• Opportunities exist to become a recognized expert
  in many relevant fields such as
• reproductive toxicology,
• neurotoxicology,
• respiratory toxicology,
• immunology, and
• carcinogenesis

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Lysotracker Staining for Cell Death
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Careers in Government

• Rewards
• Opportunity to serve the American public and be
  mentored by other pathologists
• Opportunity to serve as national and
  international advisors
• Opportunity of collaborate with colleges in
  academia, industry, and diagnostic labs without
  having to write grants
• Opportunity to make significant impact on
  protecting human health

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Careers in Veterinary Pathology

• For more information
• American College of Veterinary Pathologists
• 7600 Terrace Avenue, Suite 203, Middleton, WI
  53562-3174
• 608-833-8725
• www.acvp.org
• Society of Toxicologic Pathology
• 1767 Business Center Drive, Suite 302, Reston, VA
  20190
• 703-438-7508
• www.toxpath.org
• American Association of Veterinary Laboratory
  Diagnosticians
• P.O. Box 1770, Davis, CA 95617
• 530-754-5727
• aavld_at_email.com

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This presentation was created by these
individuals with the help of many other
veterinary pathologists.
Dr. Maron Calderwood Mays
Dr. Glenn Cantor
Dr. Judit Markovits
Dr. Robert Sills