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Dr. Nicole B.

Headshot of Nicole B.

Profile

Education

  • Degree: VMD
    School: University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
    Track: Mixed Animal
    Class of 2018
  • Degree: MS - Laboratory Animal Science
    School: Drexel University
    Class of 2012

Certification(s)

  • DACLAM

Location

  • Bethesda, MD

Bio in brief...

At present, I'm a Facility Veterinarian at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Division of Veterinary Resources in Bethesda, Maryland.

I went to the University of Maryland, College Park. After I graduated college, I knew I wanted to become a laboratory animal veterinarian. I completed a Masters of Laboratory Animal Science at Drexel University in 2012 and worked for a bit in industry and government, prior to matriculating into vet school at the University of Pennsylvania. I graduated veterinary school in 2018 and went on to complete a 2-year residency program in lab animal medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. I became board certified in lab animal medicine (DACLAM) in 2021.

I currently work with a wide variety of non-human primates, including squirrel monkeys, owl monkeys, Rhesus, Cynomolgus and Pigtail macaques. No day is ever the same! I occasionally cover my colleagues in other areas when needed, and work with rabbits, rodents, dogs and pigs. My day mostly entails providing clinical care to these non-human primates, working up cases and performing diagnostics as needed. I occasionally also assist in surgery.

Lab animal medicine is a very rewarding career, as you are not only providing clinical medicine to a variety of animal species, but also contributing toward research that may eventually help people and even animals that are burdened with various disease conditions.

Most of my experience is in laboratory animal medicine, and I have also worked as a vet tech in this field prior to going to veterinary school. My main focus now is on primate medicine. I'm happy to help students select residency programs (in lab animal/comparative medicine), discuss career options, and connect them with other folks in the lab animal field.

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