Dirofilaria Immitis, the Parasite

Dr. Learn grew up outside Philadelphia, PA and spent summers visiting family at the Jersey Shore where she still loves to visit. She attended undergrad in Bethlehem PA receiving a BS in Biology and worked at a wildlife conservation park in Texas before being accepted to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. After graduation, she completed an internship at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in NJ and then she went into general practice until 2017 at which time, she started a Residency in Clinical Behavioral Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Lisa Radosta in South Florida and Dr. Amy Pike in Northern Virginia. She completed her residency training and is currently the Chief of Clinical Behavioral Medicine at the Animal Behavior Wellness Center in Richmond VA where she counsels clients from Richmond, Charlottesville, Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach and North Carolina. She has have contributed to veterinary textbook chapters, journal articles, blogs and received the RK Anderson Resident achievement award.

Dr. Prior is the previous owner of VCA Murphy Road Animal Hospital, an eight-doctor practice in Nashville, Tennessee, and is currently a partner in three emergency hospitals in Middle Tennessee. His professional interests include small animal medicine and surgery and the operations and metrics of well-managed practices. He is the immediate past  president of the Companion Animal Parasite Council. He is a practice management consultant and has been a speaker at national veterinary conferences and with various national media outlets. He will present recommendations and best practices that veterinary professionals can use to increase heartworm preventive compliance in their practice.

Dr. Padgett practiced small animal medicine in Charlotte, North Carolina, for several years. Since then, she has served in the animal health industry in leadership and executive positions. She is the president of Unfenced, an animal health consulting business. She has been a speaker at national veterinary conventions, sat on various advisory boards, and was recently recognized by Pet Age magazine as a Woman of Influence. Along with Ceva Animal Health, she led the heartworm preventive compliance research project and she will discuss the research design, fielding, analysis and insights.

Dr. Johnson is Senior Director of U.S. Veterinary Services and Pharmacovigilance at Ceva Animal Health, LLC. He also has more than 30 years of veterinary practice experience. His experience as a practice owner prompted him to earn an MBA. He has been active in business education for the veterinary industry and with the AVMA Economic Advisory Research Group. Dr. Johnson will provide background for the research on heartworm preventive compliance that Ceva Animal Health funded and is now sharing with the veterinary profession.