The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Cornell University Veterinary Specialists are pleased to be the official veterinary care providers to the canine participants for the second year in a row at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City.

Meet the veterinarians at the show who are ready to provide excellent clinical care and advance the training of our veterinary students.

Dr. Denae Campanale

• Intern and resident in diagnostic imaging

Dr. Denae Campanale completed a rotating internship at Cornell and is continuing her training with a specialty internship and residency in diagnostic imaging at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals.

She received her D.V.M. and M.P.H. degrees at the University of Florida and previously worked as an emergency technician. She continues to enjoy emergency medicine as well as orthopedic imaging and interventional radiology.

Campanale has two cats and three dogs — a beagle, a golden retriever mix and a three-legged Staffordshire terrier. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, almost all outdoor activities and playing the ukulele with her husband.

Dr. Marnin Forman

• Head of internal medicine

Dr. Marnin Forman is the head of the internal medicine department at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists. He graduated from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and completed an internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Following a residency in internal medicine at the University of California at Davis, he stayed on to complete a fellowship in nephrology. He received board certification from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2003.

Forman worked for several years at a large multispecialty practice in Ohio. His clinical focus is rapid and minimally invasive diagnostic testing and therapeutics that utilize advanced lab work, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, computed tomography, endoscopy and laparoscopy.

Dr. Christopher Frye

• The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Lead Veterinarian

Christopher Frye, D.V.M. ’11, is an assistant clinical professor and Chief of Service for the Cornell University Hospital for Animals Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Service. He graduated from Cornell with a D.V.M., completed a residency in sports medicine and rehabilitation and has achieved diplomat status in the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation.

His clinical interests include orthobiologics, gait analysis, orthotics/prosthetics, musculoskeletal imaging and sporting dog medicine. His research interests include management of osteoarthritis, nutrition of sporting dogs, orthobiologics and physiology of the canine athlete. Frye also enjoys teaching, hiking and spending time with his kids and wife. He is excited to help lead the veterinary team this year.

Dr. Anthony Gonzalez

• Staff criticalist

Dr. Anthony Gonzalez ’09 is a staff criticalist at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists. He did his undergraduate work at Cornell, received his D.V.M. from Tuskegee University and completed both an internship and residency. Gonzalez worked in a busy specialty-emergency hospital in Los Angeles before joining Cornell in 2018. He is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care.

Gonzalez has expertise in both emergency care and in managing critical patients. His special clinical interests are focused on pulmonary medicine and trauma. He believes strongly in practicing the highest level of medicine and going above and beyond for his patients. He has two Chihuahuas.

Dr. Susan Hackner

• Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Cornell University Veterinary Specialists

Dr. Susan Hackner serves as the chief medical officer and chief operating officer at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists. She earned her veterinary degree in South Africa, followed by an internship, residency and fellowship in the United States. She was board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1992 and by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 1994. 

Hackner’s primary area of clinical interest is hematology. As one of the first criticalists in the country, she has been actively involved in the initiation and development of emergency-critical care as a specialty, establishing standards in the field, and in mentoring and training all levels of trainees. 

Hackner lives in Stamford, Connecticut, with her partner, cats and dog.

Dr. Elisa Mazzaferro

• Staff criticalist

Dr. Elisa Mazzaferro is a staff criticalist at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists. She graduated from Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, earned her Ph.D. at Colorado State University and went on to complete internships and residencies in trauma and emergency care. Mazzaferro was board certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2002, and worked as the director of emergency services at a multispecialty practice in Colorado for 10 years before joining Cornell in 2012.

Mazzaferro shares her home with her three dogs Mikey, Plum and Kramer and a cat named Scarlett. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking and gardening.

Dr. Adam Miller

• Internal medicine resident

Dr. Adam Miller is a third-year internal medicine resident at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. He graduated from St. George’s University in Grenada and consequently completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at a busy referral hospital outside of New York City. His clinical interests include nephrology, immune mediated disease and hepatology.

Miller’s interests outside of work include spending time with his Newfoundland Isabelle (“Izzy”), hiking and cooking. He is especially excited about this year’s Meet the Breeds event with all of the large dogs.

Dr. Aaron Percival

• Resident in diagnostic imaging

Dr. Aaron Percival is a resident in diagnostic imaging at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. Her grew up just outside of Toronto in Mississauga Ontario, Canada, and earned his D.V.M. from Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. The following year, Percival completed a small animal rotating internship at a private practice outside of Toronto.

His interests in veterinary medicine include education, interventional radiology and advanced imaging. In his spare time, he enjoys watching and playing basketball, hiking, snowboarding and cooking.

Dr. Jennifer Poplarski

• Resident in sports medicine and rehabilitation

Jennifer Poplarski, D.V.M. ’17, is a second-year resident in sports medicine and rehabilitation at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. She earned her D.V.M. from Cornell in 2017, completed a small animal rotating internship in New Jersey and then returned to Cornell as resident.

Her clinical interests include management of geriatric patients and osteoarthritis, post-operative rehabilitation and pain management. Outside of the clinic, Poplarski’s hobbies include powerlifting and spending time with her menagerie of animals, which includes cardigan Welsh corgi Lexi, pit bull Sig, Maine coon Harley, appendix quarter horse Parker and ball python Carl.

Dr. Lacey Rosenberg

• Theriogenology resident

Dr. Lacey Rosenberg is a second-year theriogenology resident at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. She earned her bachelor’s in dairy science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and completed her veterinary training at Kansas State University. After an internship, Rosenberg spent a year working as a general practitioner before starting her residency at Cornell. Her special interest in canine reproduction has encouraged her to pursue advanced training as a theriogenologist.

Rosenberg has dabbled in showing one of her rough collies in conformation, has exhibited several of her family’s cavalier King Charles spaniels and has been involved in her family’s breeding program since her late teens.

Dr. Stephanie Smith

• Resident in internal medicine

Dr. Stephanie Smith is a resident in internal medicine at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and her D.V.M. from Colorado State University. After graduation, she moved east and completed her small animal surgery and medicine rotating internship at Cornell before beginning her current position.

Smith’s clinical interests include gastroenterology and immune-mediated diseases. Outside of veterinary medicine, her interests include swimming, hiking, reading and, most of all, spending time with her family and dog Sage.

Dr. Meg Thompson

• Director of the Cornell University Hospital for Animals

Dr. Meg Thompson serves as the director of Cornell University Hospital for Animals. A member of the Cornell faculty since 2006, Thompson earned her D.V.M. degree from the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and completed her clinical training at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital and the University of Florida. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Radiology.

Thompson’s primary area of clinical interest includes informatics and emerging veterinary information technology, education technology, entrepreneurship, preclinical imaging and small animal abdominal ultrasound. Thompson, her partner Cindy and their dogs spend their leisure time hunting for fossils and hiking in the woods and gorges around their Finger Lakes home.

Dr. Carissa Tong

• Emergency and critical care resident

Dr. Carissa Tong completed her veterinary degree in Scotland. Following practice in London, she moved to the United States to complete an emergency and critical care specialty internship in Wisconsin. She then joined Cornell University Veterinary Specialists to pursue a specialty residency in emergency and critical care.

Tong enjoys the challenges of emergency medicine as well as the complexity of critically ill intensive care unit patients. She is dedicated to providing compassionate care to her patients and their families, partnering with them to develop a medical plan that is in their best interest. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking and relaxing with Luna, her tuxedo cat.