AKC Canine Health Foundation Welcomes Diane Brown, DVM, PhD, DACVP as Chief Scientific Officer

Comparative Clinical Pathologist to Continue Foundation’s Commitment to One Health

The AKC Canine Health Foundation, a nonprofit organization celebrating 20 years of preventing, treating, and curing diseases in all dogs, has named Diane Brown, DVM, PhD, DACVP as its Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

The CSO cultivates the Foundation’s research and education strategy in collaboration with its grants committee, external peer reviewers, principle investigators, board of directors, and staff to ensure strategic application of donor funds. 

“As we celebrate 20 years of awarding important research which continues to lead to numerous breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatment, Dr. Brown’s unique background in comparative and translational medicine is a game changer for the Foundation’s science program moving forward,” Susan Lilly, CEO said.

Lilly introduced Dr. Brown on Friday, August 7 during the Foundation’s 2015 National Parent Club Canine Health Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Generously sponsored by the Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, the biennial Conference draws veterinarians, researchers, dog club members, dog owners, and breeders eager to hear from featured speakers on the latest medical and scientific advances in preventing, treating, and curing canine health issues.

“For the past 20 years, the Foundation has been at the forefront of advancing excellent science and good health for all dogs,” Dr. Brown explained. “With today's rapid advances in biomedical science, genomics and medicine, it can be difficult to keep up. But I'm confident the time is now, and this is the Foundation that will be able to address and impact the important problems that face our canine friends and their human caretakers.

“As a veterinarian and scientist, I am excited to be joining such an enthusiastic, committed and tight-knit team,” she added.

Prior to coming to the AKC Canine Health Foundation, Dr. Brown served as CSO for the Denver, Colo.-based Morris Animal Foundation, where she provided oversight for their scientific programs including the canine lifetime health project.

She is a board-certified veterinary clinical pathologist who holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and PhD in pathology from Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Dr. Brown’s background includes serving as a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School and director of the Comparative Clinical Pathology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been a consulting pathologist in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado and at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has taught high school science. She is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and has previously held affiliate faculty appointments in the veterinary schools at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University and Purdue University.

Dr. Brown also boasts experience in the corporate world, having served as senior pathologist at Lilly Research Laboratories for Eli Lilly and Company.

Her numerous research projects have focused on comparative hematology, or the study of blood cells and disease in many different species, and range from developing micro-volume blood assays to studying host-pathogen interactions and hematopathology in Salmonella infections, to investigating bone marrow transplantation in cats with inherited metabolic diseases.

Dr. Brown will begin serving in her new role on August 17.

The AKC Canine Health Foundation bridges the gap between veterinary research and dog lovers by raising funds to support over $1 million per year in new canine health research grants dealing with issues related to behavior, epilepsy, cancer, cardiology, musculoskeletal injuries and disease, and bloat, among others, for all dogs regardless of breed. Currently, over 100 active research projects are being supported by funds raised by the Foundation from corporate donors, dog clubs, and dog lovers throughout the U.S.