AVMA Promotes Dr. Heather Case To Director Of The Scientific Activities Division

Main Category: Veterinary
Article Date: 02 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has promoted Dr. Heather Case to the position of director of the Scientific Activities Division.

Dr. Case assumes the position from Dr. Elizabeth Curry-Galvin, who was promoted to assistant executive vice president of the association.

As director of the Scientific Activities Division, Dr. Case will be responsible for overseeing one of the AVMA's most diverse and ambitious divisions, involved in important veterinary issues in the areas of pharmaceuticals and biologics, public health and food safety, agriculture and aquaculture, emergency preparedness and response, and the environment.

"This is an exciting new opportunity for me. Our work in Scientific Activities lays the foundation for many of the association's policies as well as AVMA's input into federal guidelines and regulatory issues, and I'm proud to be chosen to lead that effort." Dr. Case says. "I hope that the experience I bring to this position-including my work in the area of disaster relief and preparedness and as a practicing equine veterinarian-will serve the association well."

Dr. Case joined the division in 2007, and she has been the association's national coordinator for emergency preparedness and response, and the program coordinator for the AVMA VMAT teams. She has also served as staff support to the Committee on Disaster and Emergency Issues and the One Health Initiative Task Force. Prior to joining the AVMA, Dr. Case was a Public Health Resident at the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety and owned an equine dental practice in Minnesota. During Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Case was a member of a VMAT emergency response team, where she served as commander of shelter medicine at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center outside New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

"I was very pleased when Dr. Case decided to take the helm of the Scientific Activities Division," says Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief executive officer of the AVMA. "Dr. Case served heroically during the clean-up efforts following Hurricane Katrina, and she has been very active in the national movement to improve disaster response options for pet owners. I'm proud to have her as our new Scientific Activities Division director."

Dr. Case received her doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1998 from University of Minnesota, and she was an AVMA Congressional Fellow in 2006-2007. In 2006, she received a master's of public health, leadership and public policy focus from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. Dr. Case became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine in 2008.

Source
American Veterinary Medical Association