Barb graduated from Purdue University with her DVM in 1981. She then did a one year small animal internship at Colorado State University, and subsequently completed her pathology residency and PhD in 1986, becoming ACVP board certified in 1987. Barb then joined CSU’s Animal Cancer Center as pathologist and researcher in cancer and radiation pathology for 10 years. In 1996 she became Director of CSU’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, serving in that position for 22 years. She was president of Colorado Veterinary Medical Association from 2003-2004 and president of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) from 2006-2007. She served on AAVLD’s Accreditation Committee from 1998-2010.

At CSU, she and her colleagues validated an ELISA for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in cervids and established one of the country’s largest CWD testing centers. She cochaired the committee on the National Animal Health Laboratory Network from 2008-2018, helping to secure federal funding. Barb has authored or co-authored over 210 publications, mostly related to small animal oncology, radiation pathology or orthopedic pathology. Barb joined ANTECH in 2018. Her areas of interest are oncologic pathology, equine endometrial pathology, oral pathology and orthopedic pathology.

In her free time Barb enjoys spending time in her mountain log home that her husband built, spending time with her dogs, Summer and Tango, hiking, and gardening.

Dr. David Vail received his DVM from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984 and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Colorado State University prior to practicing in his native western Canada for two years. He completed a residency in Medical Oncology at the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University in 1990. Dr. Vail has served as President of the Veterinary Cancer Society, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Boards for the Morris Animal Foundation and the ACVIM Foundation, President of the Canine Comparative Oncology and Genomics Consortium (CCOGC), and past North American journal editor for Veterinary and Comparative Oncology. He is a founding member of the Comparative Oncology Trials consortium.

Dr. Julius Liptak has a passion and commitment to surgical oncology. He developed this interest prior to and during his residency training in Australia. Dr. Liptak was then selected as Fellow in Surgical Oncology at the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University, the best recognized and one of the only training programs in the world for veterinary surgical oncologists. Dr. Liptak is an internationally recognized surgical oncologist. He is the co-editor of the seminal veterinary oncology textbook, Withrow and MacEwen's Small Animal Clinical Oncology, with Drs. Vail and Thamm. With three colleagues, Dr. Liptak is also writing the first edition of A Color Atlas of Surgical Oncology of Dogs and Cats. He has over 100 publications in veterinary and human peer-reviewed journals and veterinary textbooks; and is either the first or supervising author on seminal papers on oncologic diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma, retroperitoneal sarcomas, and chest wall tumors, and surgical procedures including chest wall resections and reconstructions, rectal pull-throughs, and ventral bulla osteotomies.

Dr. Liptak was the founding President of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. In 2010 he was awarded the Stephen J. Withrow Award for Advancing the Art and Science of Surgical Oncology. In 2012, Dr. Liptak became an ACVS Founding Fellow in Surgical Oncology - one of four in Canada and less than 70 in the world. In 2020, Dr. Liptak was accepted as a RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology, one of six in the world. His main interests centre around musculoskeletal oncology and include bone tumors, maxillofacial surgery for oral tumors, chest wall resection and reconstruction for rib tumors, and soft tissue sarcomas, but also soft tissue tumors such as apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas. Dr. Liptak is one of the pioneers in sentinel lymph node mapping and using patient-specific, customized 3D-printed titanium prostheses for oncologic reconstructions.

Dr. Liptak is committed to providing optimum care for animals with cancer and their owners, continuing to provide education to veterinary professionals to optimize the treatment of cancer in animals, and improving the outcome for animals (and people) with cancer through education and research.

Neil received his Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney with honours and the university medal in 2008. Following veterinary school, he undertook an internship at the Veterinary Specialist Centre in North Ryde. He then completed a Medical Oncology residency at the Veterinary Specialist Centre and SASH. During this residency he became extremely interested in Radiation Oncology. This pursuit led him to a Radiation Oncology residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2014 he became board certified by the American College of Radiology in Radiation Oncology and accepted a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2016 Neil became a Fellow of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Medical Oncology making him a specialist in both radiation and medical oncology. Most recently Neil was an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Outside of work Neil spends his time with his two geriatric cats. They are all enjoying settling back into Sydney!

Nick qualified from Cambridge Vet School in 1997 and after two years in general practice returned to Cambridge as the Petsaver’s resident in soft tissue surgery and oncology. He then spent two years in soft tissue referral practice in the UK.

In 2005 he started a 12-month Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the Animal Cancer Centre at Colorado State University and then joined the faculty at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, working in the oncology department as one of three surgical oncologists, becoming Head of Oncology in 2011.

Nick is an ACVS Founding Fellow in Surgical Oncology and was previously the president of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. He is a Diplomate of the European (2003) and American (2009) College of Veterinary Surgeons and is the only surgeon in the UK to have completed a Fellowship in Surgical Oncology. In line with this, he is the only vet in the UK to be awarded specialist status in Small Animal Surgery (Oncology) by Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

In October 2014 he joined Fitzpatrick Referrals as a Senior Consultant and Clinical Director in the Oncology and Soft Tissue Service. Nick was Chair of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Fellowship Board from 2016 to 2019.

His surgical interests include head and neck surgery, musculoskeletal oncology, urogenital and endocrine tumours. He is regularly asked to lecture nationally and internationally on cancer surgery and has authored and co-authored multiple scientific manuscripts and book chapters.

Nick is delighted to be spearheading Fitzpatrick Referrals new oncology and soft tissue service launched in October 2014 and he is very happy to talk to your family veterinary surgeon about your pet’s cancer and possible treatment options should the need arise.