Meet the speakers!
dr. Craig Clifford
Medical Oncologist at BluePearl Malvern, Lecturer, Author, Clinical Scientist and Consultant.
Dr. Craig Clifford is a graduate of Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine and received an MS degree in Animal Science/Virology from the University of Delaware. After completing an internship and a medical oncology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, he became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology) in 2003. He is a medical oncologist and director of Clinical Studies at Blue Pearl Malvern in Pennsylvania.
He is active in clinical research within a referral setting and serves as an advisory board member with both industry and non-profit foundations. He is a renowned oncologist who has authored/co-authored over 70 papers and book chapters. He is a frequent lecturer at major veterinary meetings in the USA and abroad.
Dr. Clifford is a member of the VCA Pet Cancer Care Alliance Committee and has served on the VCS executive board, ACVIM Exam Rating Committee, Residency Training and Credentials Committee, Oncology Pathology Working Group, Co-chair of the Standards of Excellence in Residency Education Task Force and an Examiner for the Australian Scientist’s Oncology Specialty Exam.
Dr. Julius Liptak
BVSc MVetClinStud FANZCVSc DACVS-SA DECVS
ACVS Founding Fellow, Surgical Oncology
ACVS Founding Fellow, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology
Dr. Julius Liptak has a passion and commitment to surgical oncology. He developed this interest prior to and during his residency training in Australia. Dr. Liptak was then selected as Fellow in Surgical Oncology at the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University, the best recognized and, at the time, the only training programs in the world for veterinary surgical oncologists.
Dr. Liptak is an internationally recognized surgical oncologist. He is the co-editor of the seminal veterinary oncology textbook, Withrow and MacEwen's Small Animal Clinical Oncology, with Drs. Vail and Thamm. With three colleagues, Dr. Liptak is also writing the first edition of A Color Atlas of Surgical Oncology for Dogs and Cats. He has over 100 publications in veterinary and human peer-reviewed journals and veterinary textbooks; and is either the first or supervising author on seminal papers on oncologic diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma, retroperitoneal sarcomas, and chest wall tumors, and surgical procedures including chest wall resections and reconstructions in dogs, rectal pull-through surgery in dogs, ventral bulla osteotomies in cats, and maxillectomies in cats.
Dr. Liptak was the founding President of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. In 2010, he was awarded the Stephen J. Withrow Award for Advancing the Art and Science of Surgical Oncology. In 2012, Dr. Liptak became an ACVS Founding Fellow, Surgical Oncology - one of four in Canada and less than 100 in the world. In 2020, Dr. Liptak was accepted as an RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology, one of six in the world. In 2021, he became an ACVS Founding Fellow, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, one of only ten in the world. His main interests centre around maxillofacial surgery for oral tumors, chest wall resection and reconstruction for rib tumors, musculoskeletal oncology such as bone tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, and soft tissue tumors such as apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas. Dr. Liptak is one of the pioneers in sentinel lymph node mapping and using patient-specific, customized 3D-printed titanium implants for oncologic reconstructions.
Dr. Liptak is committed to providing optimum care for animals with cancer and their owners, continuing to provide education to veterinary professionals to optimize the treatment of cancer in animals (follow Dr. Liptak on Facebook at Animal Cancer Surgery and Instagram at animalcancersurgeon), and improving the outcome for animals (and people) with cancer through education and research.
dr. Sjoerd Klarenbeek
DVM, Dipl ECVP, PhD
Veterinary pathologist for Royal GD Animal Health in Deventer. Previous experiences include cancer research, experimental pathology, molecular pathology, and cancer immunology. My current role involves diagnostics, monitoring and investigation of diseases in domestic animals. (Co-)author of 35+ peer reviewed scientific publications.
I defended my thesis on 'PI3K signaling and adherens conjunctions in invasive lobular breast cancer'.
I'm motivated by teamwork with co-workers and clients! In my free time I play tennis and guitar.
(Picture: courtesy of 'De Gelderlander' (gelderlander.nl)
