As a board-certified veterinary surgeon, Susan sees clinical surgical appointments, perform surgery at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and teach small animal surgery to veterinary students. Her clinical interest focuses on cutaneous wounds and reconstruction with specific expertise in regenerative medical therapies. She has a specific interest in cell-based therapies and hopes that her research focus in this field will lead to the development of novel approaches to improve healing of various organs/tissues in her veterinary patients as well as humans. The goals of the Volk laboratory are to understand regulatory mechanisms governing dynamic interactions between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix in the wound healing-fibrosis-cancer progression triad and to apply this knowledge to develop innovative regenerative and oncologic therapies for veterinary and human patients.