Pathology Services Update at the Animal Diagnostic Lab

Dear Clients of the ADL,

On behalf of the Animal Diagnostic Lab (ADL) at Penn State, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation for your understanding and patience during the recent disruption in our mammalian necropsy service. I am pleased to announce that effective immediately livestock and equine cases can be submitted to ADL without calling ahead. Until mid-August we will still be somewhat restricted in the number of small, companion, and exotic animal cases we are able to accept, so please call 814-863-0837 before submitting those.

I am also very pleased to let you know that on August 1, 2024 we will be adding a second mammalian pathologist to our team.  Dr. Andrew Thiel is a native Pennsylvanian, hailing from Hermitage, a city in Mercer County in far western PA. He graduated from Lehigh University and went on to earn his DVM from the University of Florida. He spent some time in small animal practice before beginning a pathology residency at the University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in 2020. For the last 10 months he has been working as a contract anatomic pathologist and instructor at Illinois, averaging almost 5 cases per day - including food animal, equine, companion animal, and exotics cases.  At the same time, he averaged more than 70 surgical biopsy cases per week! His references speak very highly of him as a knowledgeable, even-keeled, and reliable pathologist, who is no stranger to a heavy and busy caseload. In his free time, Dr. Thiel enjoys fly fishing, carving wooden wands, playing the saxophone, and smoking meat. (We hope to make extensive use of one or more of those talents for our lab lunches!)  I very much look forward to having Dr. Thiel join our excellent team of faculty and staff at the ADL, and providing you with mammalian diagnostic pathology services alongside Dr. Dane Rahoi.

Comprehensive avian/poultry necropsy services continue to be offered by Drs. Lighty and Niel. I'd like to offer my congratulations and thanks to Dr. Jonathan Elissa as he successfully wraps up his poultry pathology residency. At the same time, please join me in welcoming Dr. Emily Frye, a recent DVM graduate from Colorado State, who will be our new resident effective July 1st.

For any questions, please feel free to reach out via email at adlhelp@psu.edu, or by phone at 814-863-0837. You can also contact me directly at eph1@psu.edu or (814) 769-0061 (cell).

Sincerely,

Ernest

Ernest Hovingh

Director, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory

Extension Veterinarian and Clinical Professor