Kate Bailey is an anesthesiologist who became board certified in 2013. She completed a small animal rotating internship in private practice and her residency training at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine where she then stayed on as faculty until 2021. During her time as faculty, she pursued advanced training in veterinary medical education and received a post graduate certificate from the Royal Veterinary College in 2019.

She has recently transitioned to a company called United Veterinary Care as the Vice President of Education and Quality. In her new role, she continues to provide veterinary medical education, and supports others who provide that education.

She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, daughter, dog, cat, and fish. She enjoys knitting, reading, camping and hiking in her spare time. 

Dr. Annatasha Bartel is a Board Certified Specialist in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, having completed her residency in 2015 at Cornell University. She has worked in a variety of practice settings, including small animal general practice, emergency medicine, academic referral practice, and her current position at a private small animal referral practice in Toronto. Her clinical interests include local & regional anesthesia, anesthesia of the critical patient, and the gastrointestinal effects of anesthesia.

Growing areas of interest include Just Culture approaches in veterinary medicine and removing inherent bias to clinical practice. Aside from the NAVAS Board of Directors, Annatasha also serves on the ACVAA Exam Committee and is a Councillor for the College of Veterinarians of Ontario.

During her sparse free time, Dr. Bartel enjoys adventuring abroad, baking, and SCUBA diving.

Dr. Gianluca Bini graduated from the University of Perugia, Italy. He then moved to the United Kingdom, where he completed two internships, one in anesthesia and one rotating, at Dick White Referrals, one of the largest referral centers in Europe. After completing his residency at North Carolina State University, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at The Ohio State University.

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After realizing how limited the access to a board certified anesthesiologist was, he decided to found Safe Pet Anesthesia.

Due to his passion for teaching and devotion to spreading safe anesthetic practices, he speaks at many national and international conferences while also working as an anesthesiology and pain management faculty at Oklahoma State University.

Ludovica Chiavaccini, an ACVAA board-certified anesthesiologist, graduated from the University of Pisa (Italy) in 2003 and obtained certification in veterinary acupuncture in 2004. After several years practicing as an equine veterinarian, she completed a Master's degree in veterinary science (2010) at Colorado State University and a residency in veterinary anesthesia and analgesia (2014) at Mississippi State University. She has been a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia since 2015.
 
Ludovica was an Assistant Professor in Clinical Anesthesia at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2018. After being part of the anesthesia team at North Carolina State University for a few years, in 2021, she joined the University of Florida as Associate Clinical Professor in Anesthesia and Pain Management. Ludovica has been an Associate Editor for Elsevier Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia since 2018. In addition, she has been an instructor for Narkovet Consulting® LLC since 2016 and a consultant in veterinary anesthesia and analgesia for VCA since 2018. Her research interests focus on the understanding of pain mechanisms in animals and novel techniques of loco-regional anesthesia.

Dr. Egger received her DVM (with distinction) from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1990 and worked in small animal clinical practice for 3 years before returning to WCVM to complete a residency and Masters’ program in veterinary anesthesia and analgesia. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia in 1998 and obtained certification in veterinary acupuncture in 2004 and Chinese herbal medicine in 2006. 

Following her residency, Chris worked as an assistant professor at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine (1996-97), a tenured associate professor at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine (1997-2003), and a tenured professor at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (2003-2019). Her research interests included development of sustained release opioid formulations, acupuncture analgesia, education theory, and the anesthetic sparing effects of various drugs. Chris served on the ACVAA Examination Committee for many years and served as ACVAA President from 2018-2019. 

In 2019 Chris retired from the University of Tennessee and returned to Canada.  She is currently living in Saskatoon with her husband and two lively pups and is working as a clinical anesthesiologist at WCVM where is continues to train veterinary students, interns and residents.

Her outside interests include traveling, dog training, crocheting, and reading. 

Lisa Sams Ebner, DVM, MS, DACVAA, CVA, is a 2006 graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. This was followed by an Anesthesia Specialty Internship at the University of Georgia and a rotating internship at a small animal referral hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She completed her combined residency in anesthesia and Master of Science in Comparative and Veterinary Medicine program from The Ohio State University in 2011.
 
She began her career working part-time in the specialty referral setting and providing anesthesia services for MRI patients. When an opportunity became available to teach at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and live outside of the United States, she started as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology in 2013. When a new veterinary school was opened in the heart of Appalachia, she was able to return to her roots and is now currently an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee.
 
Her research interests include drug pharmacokinetics studies, medical student education, acupuncture, and the relationship of wellness in the human-animal bond. She was humbled to receive the Zoetis Distinguished Teaching Award for 2021 and The Center for Innovation in
Veterinary Education and Technology (CIVET) Award for Excellence in Teaching Veterinary Medicine in May of 2021. She was also the recipient of the Class of 2020 Teacher of the Year Award in April of 2018.
 
After becoming a diplomate of the ACVAA, she wanted to give back and has been on the Residency Training Committee (2015-2017), Written Exam Committee (2018-2022, Serving as the Chair in 2021), and was a Regional Director on the Board of Directors from 2019-2022.
 

Dr. Freitag obtained his DVM degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR) in 2015, graduating with honors, first of the class. After graduation he completed a 2-year residency in Anesthesia, with parts in Critical Care, from 2016-2018 at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR) where he also then obtained his Master of Veterinary Science in 2019.

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He then moved to Canada in 2019, to pursue his Anesthesia Residency and Doctor of Veterinary Sciences at the Ontario Veterinary College, 2019-2022. After residency, Dr. Freitag practiced at the Veterinary Specialty Centre of Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was the first veterinary anesthesiologist of the province. In 2023 Dr. Freitag become a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia and started a pain clinic at the hospital.

Dr. Freitag’s professional interests include ultrasound guided loco-regional anesthesia, with focus on TAP block, use of pain catheter, CPR, pain management, chronic pain, anesthesia in different species (small animals and equines). And he has published over 20 manuscripts as first author.

I have been a veterinary technician for over 45 years. I have worked in both private practice and at the university level. I performed anesthesia at the University of Georgia for almost 10 years before moving to Texas to join Dr. William Rhoads and Premier Equine Veterinary Services  in 2006. At Georgia, I worked with small and large animals as well as exotics and did a large portion of the emergency anesthesia cases.

In 2024, I moved to Utah and joined the staff at Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine as an Education Specialist in clinical skills and veterinary technician supervisor.  I have spoken at several national and international conventions.

I enjoy horseback riding and traveling and attending football games with my daughter and grandson.

Andrew Schultz, Jr. is currently the Director of Business Development & Clinical Services for Midmark Animal Health and Project Director for Midmark Academy.  Midmark Academy delivers in-clinic dentistry and anesthesia training to more than 500 veterinary practices each year and its RACE approved courses amount to more than 100 hours of CE.  He currently also serves on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Veterinary Dentistry as a member of the Outreach Committee.  
 
He started his work at Midmark as Director of Monitoring & Critical Care following the 2008 acquisition of Sharn Veterinary, maker of the Cardell® Vital Signs Monitor.  He was President and CEO of Sharn Veterinary, which was recognized nationally as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing privately held companies, and was finalist for Small Business of the Year.  He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing & Entrepreneurship, and began his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co.  
 
He lives in Tampa, FL with his wife of 20 years, Irma, three children, Sofia, Drew and Nicholas, two dogs, Nola and Atlas, and a new kitty named Luna.  He enjoys cooking, boating, and vacationing in Hilton Head Island, SC.
 

My passion for anesthesia began at the University of Florida in 2006 following completion of my Bachelors of Science at Murray State University in Animal Health Technology/Pre-Vet. I acquired my veterinary technician specialty certification in anesthesia and analgesia in 2010. From there, I continued to develop as a Clinical Associate in Anesthesia at Louisiana State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Additionally, I served as an adjunctive professor at Baton Rouge Community College instructing Anesthesia for Veterinary Technicians. Returning to the home state of Indiana, I joined Jurox Animal Health, recently acquired by Zoetis, where I serve as the Think Anesthesia Content Coordinator. Additionally, I maintain my clinical competencies as a relief anesthesia technician at IndyVet Emergency and Specialty Hospital (NVA), Indianapolis, IN.

My greatest accomplishments are my children, a supportive husband and publications including Small Animal Anesthesia Techniques (Wiley & Blackwell, 2014, 2022).

My passions are personal and professional development and improving the anesthetic experience for the patient and technician through continued education. I have specific interest in pain management, anesthesia for critical patients, emergency and interventional cardiology procedures as well as changing the culture of the veterinary profession towards a sustainable career for all!
 

Dr. Strahl-Heldreth graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014. She completed a specialty internship in anesthesia at the same institution in 2015 and went on to complete a one year private-practice small animal rotating internship in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Strahl returned “home” to Illinois in 2016 for a three year residency in anesthesia and pain management with a combined Master’s of Science degree. She became a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist in 2020 and has remained at the University of Illinois as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Veterinary Anesthesia and Pain Management.

Her professional interests include the advancements in safe and effective anesthesia for unstable patients, non-traditional species, and farm animals as well as offering acupuncture and other non-pharmacologic pain management therapies to her patients. Danielle also believes in making didactic and clinical training of anesthesia available outside of an academic setting and enjoys the opportunity to provide on-site training to veterinary professionals in private practice and zoological institutions.