Maj Angarano, DVM, PhD

Dr. Maj Angarano received her DVM degree from Texas A&M in 1992, and a PhD in 2007, after which she joined Hill's Pet Nutrition as a Professional Consulting Veterinarian in 2008.  In her current position, she educates veterinary and technician students, as well as health care teams in practice on advances in small animal dietary technology using a variety of platforms including national webinars.  Dr. Angarano actively assists with internal training and is often invited to speak at local and regional veterinary educational events.  During her career she has enjoyed a decade of practicing small animal medicine, instructing in several veterinary technician programs, and publishing her PhD research in peer reviewed journals.

Bert Dodd, DVM, DAVDC

Johnathon Robert (Bert) Dodd, DVM, Fellow of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry & Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College, received his DVM from Texas A&M University in 1979. Following completion of his DVM, Dr. Dodd began practicing in Austin, Texas. He opened his own clinic, Hiway 620 Animal Hospital in 1981. In 1991 after becoming a Fellow of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, he opened a dental referral practice. While continuing in practice, he completed his dental residency and became a Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College in April of 2003. August 2002 marked the beginning of his academic association with TAMU when on his day off he traveled there to lecture and perform dental surgeries as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Veterinary Dentistry. After being invited to join the faculty at the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005, he sold his practice and began working full-time there in March 2006 as a Clinical Associate Professor of Veterinary Dentistry. In September 2012 he was promoted to Clinical Professor.

Dr. Dodd is involved in multiple national and local committees and memberships, and was honored as the 2004 Academy of Veterinary Dentistry “Fellow of the Year”. Additionally, he received the 2006 TAVP Clinical Referral and Consultation Award, the 2008 TVMA Medical Specialty Practitioner of the Year Award, and the 2009 TVMA Faculty Teaching Award. In 2018, Dr. Dodd received the TAMU College of Education’s Dean’s Roundtable Transformational Leader Award and the Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching from the TAMU Association of Former Students.

Dr. Dodd is extremely passionate towards advancing the level of dental care and providing practitioners practical and easily implemented procedures to utilize in everyday practice.

Lore Haug, DVM, DACVB

Dr. Lore Haug graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993. She completed a one year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. In 2002, she completed a Master’s Degree and residency program in animal behavior at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and ran the Animal Behavior Service at the university from 2002-2007. Dr. Haug is one of only two practicing board certified veterinary behaviorists in the state of Texas. In addition, she has a Master’s Degree and is a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Currently, her practice focuses entirely on working with clients on prevention and solutions for behavior issues. These may range from minor nuisances to serious, life-threatening problems in a variety of species including dogs, cats, horses, birds, and exotics. Dr. Haug is also an active speaker, giving educational seminars for clubs, veterinary clinics, and various local and national animal-related organizations. She is frequently interviewed for local and national magazines, radio and television shows. Dr. Haug’s hobbies include equestrian activities, biking, scuba diving, travel, and reading. She currently shares her home with a pit bull mix and a Polish Arabian gelding.

Trent Hightower, JD

Trent Hightower is the General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for TVMA, a role he has held since October of 2021. In that capacity, he advocates for the profession before the Texas legislature and regulatory agencies, and provides legal resources to members of the association on a wide range of topics. Prior to joining TVMA, Trent held a similar role with the Texas Rural Water Association and served as Staff Attorney to a Travis County District Court Judge. He is a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M and a 2007 graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law.

Kristy Knowles, DVM

Dr. Kristy Knowles graduated with honors from Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine.  She began her career as an equine practitioner in an ambulatory performance horse practice in Orange County, CA, and later returned to Texas, joining a progressive small animal practice in Houston.

She discovered a passion for industry medicine, and she has held several technical and management roles throughout her 25+ year career, joining the Professional Services Veterinary Team at Merck Animal Health in 2024.  

Her professional interests are focused in the areas of technical education and people development.  This role allows her to broadly support the veterinary community and throughout the last 15 years, she has lectured extensively on a variety of topics.  She believes that she has been able to influence the care of companion animals by sharing essential information that can be utilized to enhance medical outcomes.  Dr. Knowles is also grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with veterinary colleagues throughout the country.

Outside of veterinary medicine, her personal interests include travel, cooking, the wine industry, fishing, and hiking.

Mike Lappin, DVM, PhD, DACVIM

Dr. Mike Lappin graduated from Oklahoma State University and then completed an internship, internal medicine residency, and PhD program in parasitology at the University of Georgia.  Dr. Lappin is the Kenneth W. Smith Professor in Small Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University (CSU) and the director of the Center for Companion Animal Studies in the Translational Medicine Institute at CSU.

Dr. Lappin is also the chair of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association One Health Committee.  His principal areas of interest are prevention of infectious diseases, the upper respiratory disease complex, infectious causes of fever, infectious causes of diarrhea, and zoonoses.

Chris Jones, DVM, DACVIM

Dr. Chris Jones received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Texas A&M University in 1990. He then joined a private practice in El Paso, Texas where he worked for seven years before deciding to pursue a career in internal medicine. Dr. Jones completed a one-year internship followed by a three-year residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Georgia. Dr. Jones became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2001 and that same year joined the internal medicine department at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston, TX. In 2020, Dr. Jones transferred to MissionVet Specialty and Emergency in San Antonio, Texas where he is currently practicing.  

Dr. Jones has a special interest in endocrinology and gastroenterology.  He truly values building relationships with the referring community. He enjoys exploring the hill country, listening to live music, going to the theater, and spending quality time with his kids and fiancée.

Lance Roasa, DVM, MS, JD

Dr. Roasa is a 2008 graduate of Texas A&M who has bought, operated and sold veterinary practices. He has completed a law degree from the University of Nebraska, and is the past president of the American Veterinary Medical Law Association. 

Dr. Roasa is a consultant on the Veterinary Information Network legal boards and founder of drip.vet, a veterinary continuing education provider that is part of the VIN family. He also lectures in 16 veterinary colleges on the legal aspects of medical recordkeeping, veterinary malpractice and veterinary business as part of the curriculum. He serves as a national co-advisor to the Veterinary Business Management Association and regularly lectures to regional VBMA chapters and to the national association on the topics of growth, business metrics, and technology implementation.

Ronald D. Tyler, Jr., DVM, MS

Dr. Tyler serves the state of Texas as the Region 11 Zoonosis Control veterinarian and has over 15 years' experience in diagnostic pathology and public health.  Dr. Tyler's general interests include application of new technologies to veterinary medical sciences, diagnostic pathology and studying disease trends.