INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

Sharon A. Center, DVM, Dipl ACVIM, Professor, Internal Medicine, Cornell University

Dr. Center received her undergraduate (BS) in Biological Sciences at California State University in San Luis Obispo, California, and her veterinary training at the University of California at Davis. She completed a rotating Internship in Small Animals and Residency in Internal Medicine at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. She joined the veterinary faculty at Cornell in 1983 and is currently a Professor of Internal Medicine. Currently she co-manages the Small Animal Internal Medicine referral service, provides didactic lectures in the areas of hepatobiliary and hematologic disease to 3rd and 4th year veterinary students, trains Small Animal Internal Medicine residents, and conducts focused research in the area of canine and feline hepatobiliary disorders, including disease characterization, diagnostic evaluations, and therapeutic interventions. She has authored many research manuscripts, clinical papers, and book chapters regarding liver disease in dogs and cats.

Sarel R. Van Amstel, BVSc, dipmed vet, m med vet (med), DABVP, DACVIM, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Tennessee

Dr Sarel van Amstel is professor and section head of the farm animal clinic with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. His area of expertise is farm animal medicine and surgery with particular emphasis on lameness in cattle. He manages large numbers of both local and referred lameness cases in beef and dairy cattle and is responsible for the clinical training and classroom teaching of pre-graduate and graduate veterinary students. He serves as consultant to practicing veterinarians, dairy operations and the allied dairy industry. He is actively involved in continuing education on a local, national and international level. Dr van Amstel received his veterinary degree from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.and was subsequently in a mixed animal practice. In 1973 he returned to the Onderstepoort School of Veterinary Medicine in Pretoria, South Africa where in 1982 he became board certified in Internal Medicine with the South African Veterinary council. In 1989 he was promoted to full professor and chair of the department of medicine. Dr van Amstel moved to the US in 1996. That same year he received a diploma in cattle lameness and foot trimming from the IPC Dairy Training center in Friesland, the Netherlands. He gained board certification with the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Food Animal Specialty) in 2000 and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2001. He has numerous publications in both peer reviewed journals and scientific proceedings. His current research involves factors relating to sole horn in cattle.