Saturday, June 23, 8:00 am - 8:50 am in Ballrooms A and B

Plenary Talk 6: Dori Borjesson, Ph.D., Director, Veterinary Institute of Regenerative Cures, University of California, Davis

Introduction by Professor Josh Morgan

Dr. Borjesson earned her DVM degree from the University of California, Davis in 1995 and completed a residency at UC Davis in Clinical Pathology in 1999 followed by a PhD in Comparative Pathology in 2002. She currently serves as a Professor and Department Chair in the School of Veterinary Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Department at UC Davis. She is the Director of the newly formed Veterinary Institute for Regenerative Cures whose mission is to pioneer regenerative medicine cures for people and animals. She also co-directs the clinical Regenerative Medicine Laboratory. Her research primarily focuses on mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation. Her team works to define and develop naturally-occurring animal models of disease to test cell therapies to improve animal health and inform human medical practice. Her team-science focused research lab has studied stem cells for use in 1) equine orthopedic disorders, neurological diseases, wound healing and ophthalmologic applications, 2) canine inflammatory brain disease and inflammatory bowel disease, and 3) feline chronic gingivostomatitis. She has over 90 peer-reviewed publications and has been the recipient of the Zoetis Research Excellence award. She has 2 provisional patents in the area of mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation.