Jessica Lawrence joined the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016 as an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology. She earned her DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College and completed advanced training in radiation and medical oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the MCVM, Dr. Lawrence spent 3 years as an Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Georgia before spending 3.5 years as the Head of Oncology at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Lawrence has a strong interest in comparative oncology, and she aims to provide exceptional quality of life for pets with cancer and their owners. Dr. Lawrence is particularly interested in tumor and normal tissue radiation sensitivity and developing methods to improve tumor control with radiation therapy while minimizing side effects.

Dr. Lawrence is a clinician researcher fully engaged in the “One Health” directive as she strives to improve our understanding of the pathobiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human and animal cancer and treatment-related toxicities. In particular, she is keen to improve radiation killing of cancer cells while limiting radiation-induced injury to normal tissue that may result in treatment-related complications such as organ fibrosis and bystander injury. As cancer survivors (pet or human) enjoy improved outcomes after radiation therapy for many tumor types, it is important that cancer researchers investigate treatment methods to maintain or improve quality of life after treatment. By furthering our understanding of the signals that occur after radiation in normal and cancer cells, Dr. Lawrence and her collaborators hope to develop strategies that mitigate radiation-induced injury to normal tissue.