Dr. Dottie Laflamme received her DVM, MS in ruminant nutrition, and PhD in nutrition and physiology, all from the University of Georgia. She completed her clinical nutrition residency as an ALPO Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Laflamme is a Diplomate and past-President of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. She is an author on over 200 scientific and technical publications, and has been a speaker at a number of veterinary, research, and continuing education programs worldwide. She worked for Purina (first Ralston Purina, now Nestlé Purina) in the Research and Development Department from 1990 until her retirement in 2015. Her research focused on therapeutic nutrition, especially obesity management, and geriatric nutrition. She currently works as an independent consultant. Dottie lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia.

Dr. Sarah Abood is a veterinary nutritionist consulting with the pet food industry and veterinary health care teams. She performs regular contract work for Veterinary Nutritional Consultations, Inc. and also offers nutritional coaching for members of health care teams. From 2018 to 2020, Dr. Abood taught small animal nutrition and supervised the Clinical Nutrition Service at the Ontario Veterinary College (University of Guelph). Dr. Abood served from 1999 to 2016 as Assistant Dean of Student Programs at the Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In that capacity she also taught small animal nutrition, communication skills, animal welfare and veterinary leadership. Between 1994 and 1999, she worked in Research and Development at Ralston Purina in St. Louis, MO. She completed her nutrition residency and PhD at The Ohio State University, a large animal rotating internship at the University of Minnesota, and her DVM degree at Michigan State University. Sarah enjoys teaching and speaking, as well as writing with colleagues; she has co-authored several dozen scientific articles and book chapters.

Dr. Julie Churchill completed combined residencies and her PhD program in small animal internal medicine and clinical nutrition at University of Minnesota. Dr. Churchill developed a small animal clinical nutrition service at the UMN Veterinary Medical Center and developed a model to make it the first financially self-sustaining nutrition service in an academic institution.

Dr. Churchill is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, a member of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN). Dr. Churchill teaches small animal nutrition courses throughout all 4 years of the DVM curriculum.

Dr. Churchill is passionate about all aspects of small animal clinical nutrition including the role of nutrition in maintaining wellness and preventive care, obesity prevention and treatment, the nutrition needs of geriatric patients, nutritional management of kidney diseases, and critical care nutrition. She is also interested in teaching and improving client communication to successfully integrate nutrition into the care of every patient. She served on the task force to develop the AAHA guidelines for weight management. She serves on the executive board of the Pet Nutrition Alliance (PNA) and on the educational tools committee of PNA working to develop a” Go-to” website for credible nutritional information for veterinary practice teams and consumers. Dr. Churchill also serves on the Board of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention and is a coauthor and advocate for a global pet obesity initiative, which has been endorsed by 23 veterinary professional organizations.