Our Staff
Our Ownership
Alison Bendele, DVM, PhD, DACVP
President & Founder
- Board Certified Veterinary Pathologist
- Over 30 years Industry Experience
- 18+ Years as CRO Owner
- Experienced in pharmacologic and toxicologic pathology
- Expertise in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, IBD, general inflammation, pain, pharmacokinetics and toxicity
- 175+ peer-reviewed articles
Curriculum Vitae 
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Phillip Bendele, BA, MBA
CEO
- 15+ years of CRO experience
- Highly experienced in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, general inflammation, pain, lupus, pharmacokinetics and toxicity
- 20+ years management experience
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Our Investigators
Jed Pheneger, BS, MT/HTL (ASCP)
Vice President of Research
Inflammation & Pharmacokinetics
- Board Certified Medical Technologist
- Board Certified Histotechnologist
- Over 15 years Industry Experience (4+ via CRO)
- Expertise in animal models of arthritis, IBD, general inflammation, lupus, pharmacokinetics and toxicity
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Robert O’Connell, BS, MBA
Vice President of Research
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- 8+ years of CRO experience
- 3+ years experience with histology, immunohistochemistry and ex vivo analysis
- Highly experienced in animal models of inflammatory bowel disease
- Validation of new models for the company including MDR1a Spontaneous colitis, Rat DSS induced colitis, Rat TNBS induced colitis & IL10rb KO DSS induced colitis
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Randy Howard, BS, PhD
Principal Investigator
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
- BS in Biochemistry, PhD in Pharmacology
- 20+ years in drug discovery, development and management
- Therapeutic areas include inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular,
pulmonary, CNS, reproductive, and infectious disease - Over 40 peer-reviewed publications
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Dave Emerson (Ret.), PhD
Oncology
- 30+ years of industry experience
- 20+ years in drug discovery, development and management
- Highly experienced in mouse and rat models of Oncology
- Over 50 peer-reviewed publications
Leyla Haygood, BS, MS
Principal Investigator
Pain & General Inflammation
- 5+ years of CRO experience
- 8+ years experience as veterinary and research assistant
- Ex vivo analysis specialist
- Highly experienced in animal models of Pain and General Inflammation
- Validation of new models for the company including:
- STZ-Induced Neuropathy in Mice and Rats
- Partial Sciatic Nerve Ligation in Mice and Rats
- IMQ-Induced Psoriasis in Mice and Rats.
Curriculum Vitae
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Julie White DVM, Dipl. ACVP
Pathologist
- 15+ years of veterinary pathology experience
- 25+ years as a Doctor of Veterinary medicine
- Highly experienced in mouse models of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Oncology
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Melissa Walker, PhD
Associate Principal Investigator
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- BA in Biology, minor in Chemistry, Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
- 10+ years (2+ years via CRO) of experience in mouse models of infectious disease, vaccinology, autoimmunity, and inflammation.
- Highly experienced in cell culture and in vitro assay development.
- Published in Immunological peer review journals.
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Jacob Favret BS
Associate Principal Investigator
- BA in Psychology
- Trained in the Maier/Watkins Lab at the University of Colorado
- 5+ years of CRO experience
- Focus on RA, OA and models of Acute Pain
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