Dan graduated from Liverpool University in 1987. After eighteen months in practice at the Churchfield Veterinary Centre in Barnsley, he began a residency in small animal surgery at the University of Liverpool. Dan gained an RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Radiology in 1990 and a Certificate in Small Animal Orthopaedics in 1991.

Dan moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 as a Lecturer in Surgery and where he became Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1994. He became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1999. He joined the Royal Veterinary College as a Lecturer in Soft Tissue Surgery in October 2000 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2003. He was awarded his Professorship in 2007.

In addition to being an active small animal surgeon, Dan has held many administrative roles at the RVC: as head of the surgery service, head of small animal medicine and surgery, head of the department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and head of the department of Clinical Sciences and Services. He is currently Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Service which performed over 60 open heart surgical procedures over the last 12 months.