He has received the Congressional Recognition Award three times, from bipartisan House members for his work on health care policy, and was named a Nebraska Admiral, by the Governor of the State of Nebraska, in recognition of service to the community.

He has experience with medical news production, having worked with Sanjay Gupta, M.D. at CNN’s medical unit, assisting with medical programming. Additionally, he has been a medical contributor for the Discovery Health program, “Dr. G: Medical Examiner”.

Dr. Handler is a recipient of the prestigious Tatotsu Imaeda M.D. Ph.D. Academic Scholar Award for his extensive academic work, which includes greater than 30 peer-reviewed publications and 5 book chapters. Dr. Handler is the only person to be first author on back-to-back cover articles in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the leading American journal in the specialty of dermatology.

Focused on improving health care access both locally and abroad, Dr. Handler has provided volunteer medical care with Project MediShare in earthquake stricken Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His experience in Haiti led to an invitation to assist the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in Washington, D.C., on USAID expenditures. He has since been a volunteer physician at the HIV hospital in Accra, Ghana and a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in Hoboken, New Jersey. Dr. Handler has been an invited guest lecturer around the globe, including Montenegro, New York, Miami, Kuwait, Iran, and Jordan. Dr. Handler holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, San Diego, and received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Handler completed a research fellowship in pediatric dermatology at the University of Miami with department chairman, Dr. Lawrence Schachner, author of Pediatric Dermatology. He completed his residency in dermatology at Rutgers University with Dr. Robert A. Schwartz, providing needed care for the underserved patients of Newark, New Jersey and military veterans at the East Orange Veterans hospital. He was selected to serve as the program’s Chief Resident his senior year. He completed a Mohs micrographic surgery and Procedural Dermatology fellowship at Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY and NJ, under the direction of Dr. David J. Goldberg.

The second category is linoleic acid (omega 6), known as the n-6 series. Their double bond falls between the sixth and seventh carbon atoms. Gamma γ-linoleic and arachidonic acid are members of the n-6 series. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) belongs to the n-3 series.Essential fatty acids are also essential because they are a component of cell membranes. They are incorporated into phospholipids that are a part of cell membranes and cell fluidity. They are necessary to prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Linoleic is a large part of ceramindes that are parts of the stratum granulosum and stratum corneum. Dietary EFA’s are precursors that serve as leukotrienes, prostaglandins and hydroxyeicosatetranoic acids (HETEs) that help modulate inflammation. EFA’s have been reported to provide benefits in cases of atopy, cornification disorders, sebaceous adenitis and symmetric lupoid onychodystrophy. Dosing and ratios will also be discussed.

Dr. Wilson went on to study Veterinary Medicine in 2010 at St. Matthew’s University and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatchewan, Canada. She continued at WCVM in a small animal rotating internship and afterward worked as a Clinical Associate in the Small Animal Internal Medicine Department until 2015. Dr. Wilson then attended the University of California Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to complete a Small Animal Clinical Nutrition residency in 2017. Dr. Wilson is a Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® and works as a private consultant for industry as well as a clinical consultant for individual patients. Dr. Wilson enjoys being able to help clients find ways to bring good nutrition to the pets we love, whether it is helping provide evidence-based nutrition guidance to companies so they can make nutritionally appropriate options for the public to purchase or helping customize options for individual animals.

Dr. Rollins is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition). She is also President of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition and a former President of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. Her research interests include obesity physiology, prevention, and treatment

Dr. Ramos became a board certified Dermatologist in 2020 and now serves the dermatology needs of pets in the New Orleans and Baton rouge area working at Veterinary Specialist of Greater New Orleans and Capital Area Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Ramos is very passionate about continuing to learn and teaching others within the field of dermatology.

Dana is board certified in small animal nutrition and currently works at Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Scientific Communications in addition to serving as the clinical nutritionist at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, MA. She has a particular interest in nutritional management for renal disease, geriatrics and the critical care patient. Dr. Hutchinson lives in Newbury, MA, USA with her husband Matt, daughter Hailey, son Blake, and dog Bosch. When she’s not working Dana enjoys traveling, running, hiking, and skiing.

From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Wernimont held the position of Clinical Research Platform Lead and Nutritional Scientist at Pfizer Nutrition, and from 2012 to 2016, Dr. Wernimont held the position of Principal Scientist in Clinical Research at Nestle Nutrition. In both roles, she served as the lead Clinical Scientist on multiple innovation and technology platforms. She joined Hill’s Pet Nutrition in 2016. Her areas of interest include wearable devices, quantified health technologies, and clinical research.

Upon finishing her internship, she accepted a residency position with the Animal Dermatology Clinic’s Tustin, California location in 2011. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology in 2014. Dr. Bourgeois moved to Portland, Oregon in 2016 to help expand the company. She has a strong interest in autoimmune skin diseases, allergies, cytology, and otology.

Dr. Bourgeois is passionate about educating veterinarians in dermatology and work/life integration through her podcast, lecturing, and social media presence (The Derm Vet).

Dr. Weeth has been in specialty practice offering in-person or telemedicine nutrition consultations since 2007 and since 2018 has been heading the Nutrition Department at Metropolitan Animal Specialty Hospital in Los Angeles, California. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Weeth serves on the WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee; is on the Executive Board for the American Association of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN); and is a regular lecturer at regional, national and international veterinary conferences.

Since then she has been very active in the derm world as a member of the organizing committee, Charter Member and former regent for the Academy of Dermatology Veterinary Technicians. She is currently the only VTS (Dermatology) in Canada with 15 others in the United States. Jennie is also the only technician on the executive committee for the Canadian Academy of Veterinary Dermatology, and is an accomplished author and international speaker in her field of expertise. Currently, she is living the good life of semi-retirement as a member of the health care team at the Veterinary Allergy Dermatology Ear Referral Clinic (VADER Clinic) in Morriston, Ontario.

After graduation, she completed an internship at VCA Berwyn and Aurora Animal Hospitals in Chicago where she was awarded the Intern Abstract Award for her presentation on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Dr. Joya returned to Cornell University for a residency in dermatology and after completing her residency-training program served one year as an instructor of dermatology. She taught fourth-year clinical students as well as lectured to underclassmen on bacterial, fungal, and immune-mediated skin diseases. Dr. Joya became a Diplomate of the College of Veterinary Dermatology (ACVD) in August 2010 and joined the Animal Dermatology Group. She has a special interest in fungal and immune-mediated skin diseases as well as feline and equine dermatology. She enjoys lecturing to fellow veterinarians, mentoring residents and teaching the veterinary students who extern with her. Dr. Joya is the star of Nat Geo WILD television series, “Pop Goes the Vet with Dr. Joya,” which highlights the challenging and mysterious cases she encounters in veterinary dermatology. She is excited to tell her story and show the tremendous impact her practice makes on the community they serve in Kentucky and Indiana.

Dr. Joya always strives to care for her patients as if they are her own pets and loves building long-lasting relationships with their pet parents. Outside of work, Dr. Joya enjoys spending time with her family and pets. She is happily married to Dr. Forrest Cummings, a veterinary internal medicine specialist, and they have 3 children- Caden and boy/girl twins, Coby and Carter. They have a new kitten named Donut and two dogs, Guri and Magic. She loves traveling, eating the delicious meals her hubby cooks for her and working out. She recently completed her fourth half marathon and is excited for the next.

She was the Executive Director of the Veterinary Leadership Institute from 2011 until 2021 when she transitioned to a member of the VLI Board after accepting a position with Mission Veterinary Partners as the VP of Learning and Leadership Development.

She uses all her expertise to help veterinary professionals understand how servant leaders can facilitate the development of high functioning organizations. She has worked in general equine practice, specialty practice and was a faculty member at Western University of Health Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine for over 8 years. She has presented at over 75% of the veterinary colleges in the U.S., numerous state veterinary medical associations, the American Association of Equine Practitioners National Convention for several years, and the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Veterinary Leadership Conference for multiple years. She has been a keynote speaker for both veterinary audiences as well as non-veterinary audiences and has been a commencement speaker. She currently serves on the AAEP’s Member Engagement Committee and the Wellness Committee. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Lincoln Memorial University. She also absolutely LOVES her day job with Mission Veterinary Partners where she gets to help team members across the entire company develop the skills sets necessary to lead well.

She believes we all have the capacity to be exceptional people of influence by living into our true identities and learning the skills necessary to become emotionally intelligent and effective communicators, relationship builders and boundary setters. When she takes a break from trying to make a positive difference for the veterinary profession, she enjoys having meaningful and authentic conversations with all who cross her path, seeking adventure in the mundane, developing young entrepreneurs as they pursue their passions, spending time with her horses, and reading.