The 2nd Annual Veterinary Virtual Care Summit

Dr. Aaron Wallace is a veterinarian and an entrepreneur.  As a Co-Founder and the Co-CEO of Lacuna Diagnostics Inc., Aaron and his Co-Founders were instrumental in bringing digital cytology to the veterinary profession.  This innovation disrupted the requirement to physically send clinical pathology samples to an outside reference laboratory for interpretation by being the leader in digitizing microscope slides within the veterinary practice and enabling board certified clinical pathologists to diagnose digital microscope images in nearly real time.  Pet patients, pet parents, and veterinary teams all benefit by cutting out the unwanted wait times associated with the historical reference lab model.  In February 2021 Lacuna was acquired by Heska Corporation, a leading global provider of advanced veterinary diagnostic and specialty products.  Dr. Wallace is an acting Director of HeskaViewâ Telecytology where he continues his passion to bring quality and speedy diagnostics to veterinary stakeholders around the globe.

Dave’s experience is nearly 40 years in information technology for both the federal and private sectors.  He concentrated predominantly in information systems, network and engineering operations, and within the last 18 years he focused on cyber-security initiatives. He has experience in developing and implementing strong cyber security management programs and has held security roles within national healthcare organizations. After leaving a 21-year federal career with the Department of Defense where he held various positions including the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Technical Representative for a major missile defense program, security data custodian, Information Systems Security Officer, Data and Configuration manager and Change Control chairman, he ventured into consulting and finally in the healthcare sector.

Dr. Sigesmund received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto in 1995 and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in 2000. She is currently completing her Master of Science at OVC fulfilling a lifelong dream of doing research in the field of communication in veterinary medicine. Dr Sigesmund has over twenty years of experience in clinical practice and veterinary industry. She was a senior veterinary communications manager at Nestlé Purina Canada where she supported the introduction of over 40 new veterinary products and programs into the Canadian market. In 2021, she created My Heart Pet Consultants to help veterinary practices connect and communicate with clients and their own veterinary team members.

Dr. Sigesmund is very proud to be the mother of two daughters and the pet parent of a feisty Jack Russell Terrier and a significantly calmer Boston Terrier.

Dr. Eleanor M. Green, Professor Emerita & Dean Emerita of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University, is Senior Advisor and Consultant for Animal Policy Group. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) and Diplomate Emeritus of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP).

Dr. Green received a Bachelor of Science (BS) from the University of Florida and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University. She established a veterinary practice in Mississippi as partner/owner. She became a founding faculty member of the newly approved College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University and contributed to the development of all aspects of a burgeoning veterinary college. Her other academic appointments have included: equine clinician scientist at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine; Head of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and Hospital Director of the Large Animal Hospital at the University of Tennessee; Chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and the Chief of Staff of the Large Animal Hospital at the University of Florida; and Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Dr. Hannah Lau practices small animal medicine with Adobe Animal Hospital based in Los Altos, California as a remote veterinarian, while living in southwest Virginia. She is an alumna of Virginia Tech and graduated from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine in 2017.

Dr. Lau has been practicing veterinary telemedicine and telehealth full time since 2019, along with a small team of remote veterinary technicians and assistants. Together, they have helped thousands of pets and pet parents solve their medical problems from the comfort of their homes. She takes a special interest in helping veterinarians and veterinary hospitals grow their own telehealth programs from the ground up, as well as working with telemedicine platforms to create tools that are specifically tailored to veterinarians. Dr. Lau is passionate about using technology to serve underserved pet populations, provide gold standard patient care, and create a healthier work-life balance for veterinary professionals.

Dr. Kerri Marshall’s true passion is innovation and acceleration of business growth through technology, operations, disruptive business models, strategic partnerships and team building. A recent winner of the 2020 Kansas City Animal Health Corridor Iron Paw Award and winner of the first VMX Veterinarian Innovation Award in 2018, where she spoke to a packed house of veterinarians about the exciting new opportunities to expand and transform the industry through telemedicine, mobile practice, millennial engagement, and nanotechnology.

Dr. Kerry O'Hara has proven expertise exploring the key sectors in the companion animal landscape: pet owners, veterinarians, vet hospitals, benefits decision-makers ... using their voices and behaviors as guideposts. With nearly 30 years of applied thought leadership, consumer insights and analytics experience creating content and strategies leading Fortune 100 businesses like Nationwide, HP, Disney, and Microsoft, utilizing research and analytics, she helps businesses build a complete story, a product/service customer journey. And with her unparalleled expertise with pet owners, she can help you ask: What are their real needs? How can we get there? With strong data paired with appropriate analysis, you will be empowered to make the best decisions possible. Dr. O'Hara identifies and helps establish connections between pet owners and your brand.

A long-time political strategist, lobbyist, corporate executive and former litigator, Mark focuses his advocacy practice on providing high-level strategic advice, state and federal lobbying, and consulting services to clients with needs at any level of government, and key trade/industry associations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He maintains offices in Portland, OR; Scottsdale, AZ and Los Angeles, CA.

Mark is the Founder and CEO of the Animal Policy Group, LLC. Since 2004 he has specialized in animal health, animal welfare, veterinary and veterinary educational issues, developing a cutting-edge practice across these sectors.  He also serves as Trustees Counsel for Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN and Policy Advisor to the Center for Animal Health in Appalachia.

Neil Shaw’s life has always been intertwined with Veterinary Medicine. Born in South Africa; he and his two brothers essentially grew up in their father’s small animal practice in Tampa, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, remaining in Gainesville for internship and residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine, and is a Diplomate of the ACVIM. He founded the nation’s largest group of specialty hospitals, BluePearl Veterinary Partners; and then served as the first Chief Medical Officer for the Mars, Inc Veterinary health Group. Neil subsequently founded SignalPET in 2018; an independent company dedicated to bringing the benefit of advanced Artificial Intelligence assisted diagnostics to veterinary practitioners in any location. The technology enabled: advancement of care, ability to set new standards of care, immediacy of information to practitioners, ease of implementation, and low cost is “proving to be exciting for veterinary medicine beyond the wildest of imaginations”.