Meet the Team

Tim and Nancy Speaker Chair in Canine Health

I graduated from Glasgow University in Scotland in 1990 and worked in general veterinary practice for a few years before moving to London, where I completed a PhD and served as a lecturer in Ophthalmology. I crossed the Atlantic in 2000 to join the faculty at UC-Davis, then Iowa State University before moving North to Wisconsin where I currently hold a joint faculty position in both the School of Medicine and Public Health and School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A European Specialist in Veterinary Ophthalmology, I am a Past-President of the European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ECVO), serve on the Editorial Board of the Journal Veterinary Ophthalmology, and have co-authored two textbooks: the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Ophthalmology and Veterinary Ocular Pathology. My main research focus is comparative glaucoma but I treat the full spectrum of eye disorders in veterinary patients in my clinical practice at UW Veterinary Care. Outside of work, I enjoy live music, good food and spending time outdoors (wind-chill permitting) with my husband and very energetic twin boys. We share our family home with four cats and a chinchilla.

I earned my BVSc (equivalent to DVM) in 2012 from Azabu University in Japan. For three years in the veterinary school, I worked in the veterinary ophthalmology department to assist with ophthalmic examinations and surgical operations. After earning my Japanese national veterinary license, I moved on to Nippon Veterinary Life-science University where I completed a rotating internship at the veterinary teaching hospital and joined a clinical pathology lab where I conducted an investigation of somatic gene mutational status in feline diffuse iris melanoma. I joined Dr. Gillian McLellan’s lab in September 2014 as a PhD student. Since completing my PhD, I continue to study the pathophysiology of glaucomatous optic neuropathy utilizing next generation sequencing and biomolecular techniques. Back home in Japan, I have a shiba dog and four domestic tabby cats who I’ve grown up with and my career goal is to become a veterinary ophthalmologist clinician-scientist.

I’m a Researcher with over 20 years of experience in glaucoma research and have worked closely with Dr. McLellan in her studies of feline glaucoma since 2008. I earned my BA in Psychology at UW-Madison. After graduation, I joined Dr. Paul Kaufman’s lab studying the ocular diseases glaucoma and presbyopia. In 2003, I received my MS in Veterinary Science, while in the Kaufman lab. My graduate work focused on a possible association of intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering drops in decreasing flow through the conventional aqueous humor outflow pathway. In 2012 I obtained a Master’s certificate in project management from the UW School of Business and have been involved in the planning, conduct, and data analysis for a number of key studies including validation of rebound tonometry in monkeys and cats, as well as non-invasive in vivo electrophysiology, IOP, and in vivo imaging (fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and OCT) studies. When not in the lab, I enjoy playing with my 2 standard poodles and 2 cats, biking, hiking, and playing bass in a couple of local rock/pop/alternative bands.

Since joining Dr. McLellan’s lab as an undergraduate student in 2019, I have been assisting with electroretinography and intraocular pressure measurements in cats. In 2020 I graduated from UW-Madison with a B.S. in chemistry and a certificate in art history. After graduation, I decided to continue my work in the lab as a research intern. Currently, I am  assisting with exploring the mechanisms of glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease using electrophysiology and microscopy techniques,  and I have also learned characterize and culture feline and canine trabecular meshwork cells, which are believed to play a role in regulating intraocular pressure. In my free time, I can be found frequenting the public library, hiking around Madison, or painting.

I graduated in Veterinary Medicine (similar to DVM) in 2016 from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Early on my professional career, specifically during my last year externship at Texas A&M University, I developed an interest in comparative ophthalmology. Since my graduation I attended several international ophthalmology-related meetings like ECVO, ACVO and ARVO. In 2019 I completed a rotating internship in the biggest small animal hospital in Spain (Ars Veterinaria) during which I was involved in a project related to funduscopy teaching models and presented it at the ECVO conference in 2019. After that, I decided to pause my clinical training in favor of basic research to contribute to the scientific community and get a better understanding of this fascinating world of eye diseases. As a graduate student pursuing a PhD in the McLellan lab, I’m working on multiple projects related to glaucoma, including cell culture of the trabecular meshwork and imaging the aqueous humor outflow pathway via immunolabelling and tissue clearing, applying advanced imaging techniques.   My dream is to pursue a vision research career as veterinary clinician – scientist. When I am not working I enjoy outdoor activities. Whenever I can I go out for a run with my dog Zoran, but I also enjoy playing volleyball, listening to music and eating at good restaurants (I love Mediterranean cuisine).