Pathologists

Lisa Berman-Booty VMD, PhD, DACVP

Dr. Lisa Berman-Booty earned undergraduate (BA [summa cum laude], 2004) and veterinary medical (VMD [summa cum laude], 2008) degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. She then attended The Ohio State University, completing an anatomic pathology residency and board certification as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP, 2012) while earning a PhD in Comparative and Veterinary Medicine (2013). Her doctoral dissertation, with its focus on evaluating the efficacy and toxicity of a novel small molecule chemotherapeutic agent, allowed Lisa to gain important experience and insight into the early drug discovery process. After returning to Pennsylvania, Lisa spent a year (2013-2014) in academia (at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University) as a comparative pathologist exploring her own hypotheses in cancer biology as well as providing collaborative pathology and mouse phenotyping support to members of the Kimmel Cancer Center. She moved to the pharmaceutical industry, joining Bristol-Myers Squibb (2014-2018) as a principal veterinary pathologist in the Department of Discovery Toxicology. Her primary function at Bristol-Myers Squibb was to design and perform toxicologic pathology evaluations to support discovery research projects, but a major secondary role was phenotypic analysis of the novel genetically engineered mouse disease models. Family events in 2018 dictated that Lisa transition to home-based experimental pathology consulting. Lisa is an active member of the ACVP and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP), having served as a member of the editorial board of the latter’s journal Toxicologic Pathology from 2014-2019. Lisa joined SVP in 2021 as a comparative and toxicologic pathologist and is excited to offer clients her unique combination of discovery toxicology, research pathology, and mouse phenotyping experience and expertise.

Jennifer Ward DVM, DACVP

Dr. Jennifer Ward earned her undergraduate degree (BA English Literature) at Bryn Mawr College in 1989 and was pursuing a graduate degree in English Literature at the University of Hawaii when she discovered her true calling and began the journey of transitioning to a career in veterinary pathology. She gained her foundational love of the laboratory, along with a broad perspective of scientific research, while working as an assistant and volunteer in several laboratories at the University of Hawaii, where she completed her pre-veterinary coursework while simultaneously earning her MA in English Literature. As a veterinary student at Washington State University, she continued to explore her love of research as a participant in the Research Scholars Program, developing theoretical and practical proficiency in study design and in immunological techniques such as cell culture, antibody design and optimization, immunochemistry, and flow cytometry. After earning her DVM in 2002, Jen practiced small animal and emergency medicine in Washington and California for 2 years prior to pursuing a residency in Anatomic Pathology and an additional year as Dermatopathology Fellow, both at the University of Florida. She achieved ACVP board certification in 2007 and subsequently headed back west to Seattle, WA to be close to family. She founded SpecialtyVETPATH (SVP) in 2009. Collaborative research has always been a component of Jen’s vision for SVP, and she and Laura Black (SVP’s clinical pathologist) have been working to integrate collaborative research projects into their diagnostic practice since Laura joined the team in 2016. However, it was when Jen connected with Lisa Berman-Booty in 2020 that the full scope and potential of this vision came into focus. In 2021, Lisa joined the team to help launch and grow the SVP Collaboration Research Services. Jen is thrilled to offer the research community the same high standards of scientific expertise, communication, and client support that the diagnostic service at SVP has become known for.

Laura J. Black, DVM, DACVP (Clinical)

Dr. Laura Black was accepted into the Purdue Veterinary Scholars Program out of high school based on her strong math and science background and excellent scholastic record, and subsequently qualified to enter the veterinary program after completing her required pre-veterinary curriculum in only 2 years. She earned her DVM from Purdue, graduating in 2006, and spent the next years in small animal practice. During this time Laura discovered her love of pathology, which took her to the University of Florida, where she completed a residency in Clinical Pathology. While at UF, she pursued her special passion for the blood of all things, and in addition to traditional domestic and laboratory animal species, developed expertise in avian, reptilian, and amphibian hematology. Laura achieved board certification as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) in 2016. She joined SVP that same year, and has been integral to growing our cytopathology and immunocytochemistry programs. Laura is passionate about maximizing the value of all research animal lives, and welcomes the opportunity to assist in this by applying her expertise in comparative hematology and clinical chemistry to support and strengthen basic and applied research projects.

Brad Bolon DVM, MS, PhD, DACVP, DABT, FATS, FIATP

Brad earned B.S. (1983), D.V.M. (1986) and M.S. (1986) degrees in six years at the University of Missouri, “enjoyed” an anatomic pathology residency (1986-1989) at the University of Florida, and obtained a Ph.D. (1993) from Duke University while completing postdoctoral training at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (1989-1993). He was employed by Pathology Associates International as associate director of the Molecular and Immunopathology Division (Frederick, MD; 1993-1994) and later as staff pathologist at the National Center for Toxicological Research (Jefferson, AR; 1994-1996) before moving to Wyeth-Ayerst Research (Plainsboro, NJ; 1996-1997) as a senior scientist. Brad served as an experimental pathologist at Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA; 1997 to 2004) responsible for evaluating engineered rodents and the efficacy of novel biopharmaceuticals. He subsequently founded an experimental pathology consulting practice (GEMpath, for “Genetically Engineered Mouse Pathology”), working there from 2004 to 2011 in southwestern Utah and later Longmont, CO. Dr. Bolon worked for a time as an associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine (Columbus, OH; 2011-2015), after which he returned to Longmont, CO to re-launch GEMpath (2015 to date). Brad is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (DACVP, anatomic pathology; 1991) and American Board of Toxicology (DABT; 1996, re-certified 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016) and is a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (FATS; 2011), International Academy of Toxicologic Pathology (FIATP; 2007), and Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath, 2019). He has written or co-authored over 200 articles and book chapters, has edited or co-edited 5 books, and is a frequent speaker at national and international meetings on toxicologic pathology, especially genetically engineered and induced animal models and toxicologic neuropathology.

Dr. Sarah Cook completed her undergraduate degree (dual BS in biology and environmental science) in 2008 at Santa Clara University. Afterwards, she worked as an assistant in a number of veterinary clinics prior to entering and completing a master’s degree in animal public policy at Tufts Cummings school of veterinary medicine with research focused on the interface of wild avian species, their use of wastewater treatment plants and that subsequent impact on the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. She continued on to enter veterinary school at Washington State University, which she completed in 2014. During her time as a veterinary student, she was involved in a number of research groups, including the clinical veterinary cardiology department where she evaluated platelet aggregation kinetics in healthy client-owned cats. She remained at WSU an additional year to complete a rotating small animal medicine and surgery internship prior to continuing on with her professional training in anatomic pathology at UC Davis. During her pathology residency, she became involved with research focused on the development of a safe and effective viral-vector gene therapy approach to the treatment of feline nonregenerative anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease. Upon completion of her residency and board certification in anatomic pathology, she transitioned into a PhD program in integrative pathobiology at UC Davis which she is currently working towards completion. Her doctoral research is primarily focused on feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) pathogenesis and antiviral therapy for the treatment of FIP. In addition to feline viral research, she has experience with phenotypic evaluation of genetically deficient mouse lines at the UC Davis Comparative Pathology Laboratory. She particularly enjoys the breadth of fields research pathology allows her to explore, including most recently providing histopathologic support in a collaborative honey bee research project in Northern California. Sarah is delighted to be a part of the SVP team and looks forward to providing research pathology support and expertise in an effort to maximize the outcomes of research projects.

SVP Research Pathologists

Consulting Pathologists

Lisa Berman-Booty VMD, PhD, DACVP

Jennifer Ward DVM, DACVP

Laura J. Black, DVM, DACVP (Clinical)

Brad Bolon DVM, MS, PhD, DACVP, DABT, FATS, FIATP