Dr. Otto, a tenured Professor of Working Dog Sciences and Sports Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine is board certified in veterinary emergency medicine/critical care and canine sports medicine/rehabilitation. As executive director and founder of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center (www.vet.upenn.edu/WDC ), she oversees fitness and medical care of the program’s detection dogs, provides rehabilitation and conditioning for police and other working dogs and conducts vital research on and by detection dogs.  With over 140 peer reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters, she is an internationally recognized expert in both emergency medicine and working dog science. She was Pennsylvania’s 2002 “Veterinarian of the Year”, received Ohio State’s Alumni Recognition Award (2006) and Distinguished Alumnus Award (2008), AVMA’s Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year (2018), Mark Bloomberg Award (2019) and Asa Mays DVM, Excellence in Canine Health Research award (2021).

Dr James Guthrie is one of the most highly qualified veterinarians in Europe and the only veterinarian in the UK to be a diplomate in both small animal surgery (orthopaedics, soft tissue and neurosurgery) and canine sports medicine and rehabilitation.

James practices as an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Fitzpatrick Referrals and his clinical passion is to maximise patient outcomes with minimally invasive surgery coupled with regenerative medicine and rehabilitation therapies.

James graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2010 and was awarded as the best student of his class in veterinary orthopaedics. He then completed a one-year rotating internship at Northwest Surgeons; a veterinary referral hospital in Cheshire. Following this, he spent two years working in a small animal hospital in Berkshire where he obtained the RCVS Advanced Veterinary Practice Certificate in Small Animal Surgery.

In 2013, James joined Fitzpatrick Referrals as a duty vet and completed a one-year surgical internship. Following this, James stayed at Fitzpatrick Referrals to pursue his goal of becoming a specialist surgeon and completed a three-year residency programme in small animal surgery in connection with the VRCC.

James became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2018, and shortly afterwards was recognised as a specialist in small animal surgery by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

On the day James completed his surgical residency he began a residency in canine sports medicine and rehabilitation. James completed the residency and became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2021. In 2021, he also became certified as a canine rehabilitation therapist by the Canine Rehabilitation Institute. James became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2022.

James is involved with the training of residents and interns at Fitzpatrick Referrals to help develop the specialist vets of the future. He is also a guest lecturer and clinical instruction mentor for the veterinary students at the University of Surrey. James has published multiple research papers and presented his findings at international conferences. James is Education Co-chair of the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association and on the Examination Committee of the European College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Leilani Alvarez is the Director of the Tina Santi Flaherty Rehabilitation & Fitness Service and head of our Integrative and Rehabilitative Medicine Department. Dr. Alvarez is one of few specialists worldwide that is board certified in canine sports medicine and rehabilitation. She has been practicing rehabilitation medicine for over a decade. Her advanced training specializes her skills in diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries such as joint injuries, ligament and tendon tears, and spinal injuries. Dr. Alvarez utilizes Integrative Medicine, which combines modern conventional approaches with Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Integrative Medicine includes therapies such as regenerative medicine (stem cells and platelet rich plasma), physical rehabilitation, acupuncture, spinal manipulation and herbal medicine, which help to increase the overall health of a patient and can often increase the success of conventional treatments.

Dr. Alvarez was the founder of a successful Integrative Medicine service at Katonah Bedford Veterinary Specialty Hospital prior to joining the staff of the AMC. She completed her rotating surgical and medicine internship and residency at AMC. She is also fluent in Spanish. Dr. Alvarez is a renowned national and international lecturer, research scientist, and accomplished author of peer-reviewed articles. She is the 2017 recipient of the prestigious John Sherman Award for Excellence in Veterinary Rehabilitation.

She leads one of only 5 accredited residencies nationwide for training residents in canine sports medicine and rehabilitation. Her research interests include soft tissue and sports injuries, geriatric medicine, joint supplements and nutraceuticals.

Bio to follow.