Clinical pathologist receives national teaching award

Heather Wamsley, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of clinical pathology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has received the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s National Teaching Excellence Award.

The college’s sophomore veterinary class nominated Wamsley for the award. She was selected from many other faculty nominees submitted by veterinary colleges all over the country.

A board-certified clinical pathologist, Wamsley received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995 and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree with honors from the same institution in 2000. She performed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York from 2000 to 2001, followed by a residency in clinical pathology at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, which she completed in 2004. Wamsley continued her studies at UF after her residency and received her Ph.D. in the college’s department of infectious diseases and pathology in 2009.

Wamsley has received numerous Teacher of the Year awards from various classes of veterinary students, and last year was named Teacher of the Year and Pfizer Distinguished Teacher of the Year for the entire college.

She was selected by the students as Support Services Resident of the Year in 2003 and 2004. As a new faculty member in 2010, she received the prestigious C.E. Cornelius Young Investigator Award in recognition of her research contributions.

Her present research interests are in situ diagnostics and rickettsial disease.

Wamsley will be presented with the award during the American Veterinary Medical Association’s annual convention in August.