About Dr. Michelle Oblak – Veterinary Innovation

Dr. Michelle Oblak is the first Animal Health Partners Research Chair in Veterinary Medical Innovation. Dr. Oblak is a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, where she also completed a rotating internship and combined Residency/ Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc) in Small Animal Surgery. She served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Florida where she received designation as an ACVS Fellow, Surgical Oncology prior to returning to OVC. Dr. Oblak is currently an Associate Professor of Soft Tissue and Oncologic Surgery in the Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College.

Dr. Oblak is an active and noted researcher with a focus on translational research and has several collaborations considering dogs as a naturally occurring disease model for cancer in humans. Her comparative oncology program at the OVC involves the use of innovative technology for staging and treatment including sentinel lymph node mapping, image-guided therapeutics, and 3D printing and rapid prototyping for surgical planning and reconstruction. She is an assistant co-director of the University of Guelph Institute for Comparative Cancer Investigation (ICCI), and an active member of the Dog Osteosarcoma Group: Biomarkers of Neoplasia (DOG BONe) and Rapid prototyping of patient-specific implants for dogs (RaPPID) working group. She also serves as the Chair of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology (VSSO) Research Committee, an international organization that works to advance the understanding and improve treatment of veterinary patients with cancer.

“Veterinary Innovation to me is really looking at what we do on a regular basis and trying to understand how we can do it better.”
Dr. Michelle Oblak – Animal Health Partners Research Chair in Veterinary Medical Innovation