SPEAKERS
JAVIER NEVÁREZ DVM, PhD, DACZM, DECZM (Herpetology)
Dr. Javier G. Nevarez obtained his BS with a concentration in Animal Science in May of 1998, his DVM degree in 2001, and a PhD in 2007, all from Louisiana State University. In 2002 he completed an internship in zoological medicine at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU-SVM). Dr. Nevarez became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and the European College of Zoological Medicine (Herpetology) in 2011. He has been a faculty member of the Zoological Medicine service at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine since 2003. In addition, Dr. Nevarez has served as the veterinarian for the Louisiana Alligator industry since 2003. His primary interests are in herpetological medicine with a research emphasis on diseases of crocodilians.
Koranda Walsh, VMD, DACVIM (SAIM), DACVP (CP)
Koranda Walsh graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and was granted a BS with distinction in Biology. She then followed her dreams in veterinary medicine, graduating summa cum laude from PennVet. Her Small Animal Rotating Internship at University of Minnesota was followed by a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency and then a Clinical Pathology Residency, both at PennVet. After becoming double boarded in her specialties, she worked for several years in a diagnostic lab before returning to PennVet as faculty. She is currently an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology in the Department of Pathobiology at PennVet. Her interests include diagnostic cytopathology and hematopathology (with a special interest in hematopoietic diseases) as well as the implementation of innovative teaching methods.
María M. Soltero Rivera, DVM, DAVDC
Dr. Maria Soltero-Rivera is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Dentistry and Oral surgery at the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Soltero-Rivera completed her residency-training program in dentistry and oral surgery at PennVet and has worked as a visiting scientist at Dr. Joe De Risi’s lab, focusing on illuminating feline gingivostomatitis causative agents using metatranscriptomic next-generation RNA sequencing technology. She is a Diplomate of the American and European Veterinary Dental Colleges. Dr. Soltero-Rivera’s clinical and research focus is on oral medicine, and she is currently pursuing the Thomas P. Sollecito One Health Fellowship in Oral Medicine. Her lab investigates and uses innovative technologies, including next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence, to study the oral mucosa, the interkingdom interactions in the oral cavity, and the host responses to this biomass. This is done to advance diagnostic and treatment methods used in dentistry and oral surgery, harnessing companion animal disease models to provide individualized and more precise oral care.