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Jen Ward grew up in a spirited and often irreverent intellectual household where her bohemian university professor parents surrounded her and her four siblings with books, animals, and a passion for learning. Prior to becoming a veterinarian, Jen earned a BA and MA in English Literature, and thought she might live out her life as a writer. Along the way to morphing from the English lit major-aspiring writer to veterinary pathologist she worked as a gardener, roofer, farm hand, copy editor, bike messenger, high school English teacher, bartender, kennel assistant, veterinary assistant, and lab assistant, as she followed the trail of breadcrumbs leading her to find her true passion. During this journey, Jen’s dog Abraham was an important mentor. Abraham’s severe skin allergies eventually led her to the medical school library, where she spent hours researching and learning about allergy, immunology and immunopathology, and then as a natural progression, taking a lot of science classes, and leaving Hawaii to attend vet school at WSU. When she applied for her pathology residency there were three criteria: the school had to have a strong dermatology department, a dermatopathologist on faculty, and it had to be in a warm sunny place. At the University of Florida, she worked closely with Dr. Pam Ginn and the clinical dermatology team during her residency and in a subsequent dermatopathology fellowship. Jen then moved to Seattle, and in 2009 she founded SVP to pursue her vision of a way of practicing pathology that she couldn’t provide from within the university or existing commercial lab structures. SVP specializes in a relationship-based approach to companion animal pathology, grounded in clinicopathologic correlation, and offers a general surgical pathology and cytopathology service with particular subspecialty focus on dermatopathology, oncopathology, and GI pathology.

Cindy Bell is from a small Midwest town where she was influenced at an early age by a large rowdy family and her father’s herd of barn cats. Cindy made her way to veterinary medicine after forgoing plans for medical school, a brief career in engineering, and having made a happy but impoverished living as a farm hand. She discovered pathology early in veterinary school and immediately recognized that it was the shoe that fit Cinderella. She pursued many aspects of veterinary pathology but eventually found her niche in oral and dental pathology under the mentorship of Dick Dubielzig at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2012, she cofounded the Center for Comparative Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at UW-Madison then moved on to Kansas State University as Associate professor. In 2019, Cindy relocated to her hometown, created Specialty Oral Pathology for Animals (SOPA), and has since been serving her clientele of veterinary dentists as an independent pathologist. She has coauthored the first textbook on Veterinary Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and she is passionate about using case material to advance our understanding of oral disease in animals.

Dr. Reilly – who prefers to be called reilly (or Chris, if first names are your thing) has practiced ocular pathology extensively for 16+ years, and exclusively for nearly 4+ years. His reports are focused on anatomic detail, clinicopathologic correlation, meaningful risk assessment and communication, and logical ancillary diagnostic recommendations. Of particular consideration in reports is risk, lack thereof, or uncertainty therein, for the other eye – and of course pet as a whole. While dedicated to the best possible interpretation of every case, specific areas of diagnostic interest include: canine goniodysgenesis/primary angle closure glaucoma; feline iris melanomas; temporal relationship/sequence of lesions; and outer retinal degeneration. A Massachusetts native and recovering catholic, he has a direct-but-apologetic, communication style. His educational journey has crossed the country from Tufts Veterinary School, through the Animal Medical Center in NYC for a rotating internship, to the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin for an ocular pathology fellowship, and “finally” to the University of California, Davis for a pathology residency. Professional stints in corporate diagnostics and academia propelled him to Austin, TX, where he incorporated Insight VSP as a fully independent, solely ocular pathology practice. Insight VSP has since relocated back to Davis, CA, where he currently resides. In his free time, reilly collects and listens to records, neglects succulents, and struggles at two instruments, to varying degrees.He is committed to quality diagnostics, equality for all living things (except mosquitos), and general transparency. And, of course, rock and roll.

Attention Veterinary Professionals -

We Empower and Support Integrated, Specialized Pathology For Better Veterinary Care

Interested in joining us on this journey?

The Challenges We Face

**This drove us to form the Specialty Vetpath Alliance - Founded by independent, specialty-focused veterinary pathologists, the Alliance builds a pathway to solve these challenges.**

What We Do

Specialty Training Rounds

Workshops

Business Support

Specialty Skills Development

Community

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Meet Our Founding Team

Dr. Jen Ward

DVM, DACVP

SpecialtyVETPATH

Dr. Cindy Bell

DVM, DACVP

Specialty Oral Pathology for Animals

Dr. Chris Reilly

DVM, MAS, DACVP

Insight Veterinary Specialty Pathology

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