Executive Committee Officers 2025-2027

My interest in this role stems from my desire to support anatomy education and the development of the next generation of veterinary anatomists and anatomy educators. As an Associate Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University (CSU), I serve in various capacities, including as the Assistant Department Head for DVM Teaching and Clinical Services and the Director of the Animal Anatomy Programming and Strategic Planning, all aimed at enhancing both animal anatomy and veterinary education. As the Program Lead for CSU’s Virtual Veterinary Educational Tools, I have spearheaded the ongoing development of Virtual Canine Anatomy into Virtual Animal Anatomy, pursuing translations into Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese, while also expanding the virtual resources for learning equine, feline, and bovine anatomy. This initiative has created a platform for worldwide distribution, ensuring that over 12,000 anatomy learners at more than 140 schools globally had free access to the VAA during March-July 2020 when access to cadaveric learning was restricted due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

My passion for anatomy and anatomy education ignited under the guidance of Dr. M.S. Amarendhra Kumar at Tufts University, where I first edited his Equine Dissection manual as a veterinary student. At CSU, I am fortunate to collaborate with remarkable anatomists and benefit from the legacy of those who have shaped anatomy education. I recognize and appreciate the vast spectrum of veterinary anatomists and anatomy educators within this organization. Through my PhD research and veterinary specialty training, I have become a systems-thinker, problem-solver, and dedicated educator. Recently, my research has centered on evaluating instructional methods, including Virtual Reality, and developing strategies for supporting student learning, allowing us to apply evidence-based methods in our decision-making as anatomy educators. Over the past decade, I have also advised and graduated 15-20 Master of Science students per year, focusing on Animal Anatomy and Physiology, many of whom now contribute significantly to anatomy education. I understand the importance of providing our students, regardless of their academic journey, with a solid foundation in anatomy. I look forward to utilizing the same collaborative and collegial approaches I practice at CSU to equip this community with the necessary tools to ensure anatomy remains a cornerstone of biomedical and veterinary education.

Karen is a lecturer in the Departments of Comparative and Pathobiological Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her PhD in Virology at Harvard University and then conducted post-doctoral research on influenza at UW-Madison. Karen earned her DVM at UW-Madison in 2010. Driven by her passion for veterinary education, she taught veterinary technology at a small school before joining the faculty at UW-Madison in 2017. One of her favorite aspects of teaching is demonstrating the practical application of anatomy education to clinical procedures. In addition to teaching both large and small animal anatomy, Karen is involved in research on ultrasound-guided regional anesthetic blocks and serves on the executive committee focused on supporting veterinary anatomists. Outside of her academic responsibilities, she frequently participates in local spay-neuter clinics, providing vital veterinary services to patients in underserved communities.