Clark promoted to USPHS rear admiral

U.S. Public Health Service officer Dr. Terri R. Clark was promoted to rear admiral this past November, becoming only the second female veterinarian in the USPHS Commissioned Corps to achieve the senior officer rank.

Dr. Clark is director of the Office of Animal Care and Use at the National Institutes of Health, where she oversees the intramural animal research programs and their compliance with the USPHS animal welfare requirements and national accreditation standards.

In addition to her NIH position, Dr. Clark was the chief veterinary officer for the USPHS from October 2011 to December 2015 and was responsible for providing leadership and coordination of USPHS veterinary professional affairs for the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Before working with the USPHS, Dr. Clark served 12 years in the Army Veterinary Corps with tours at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, and the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. She went on to manage animal research programs at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Diego Naval Medical Center, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., and was the deputy program director at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

In July 2000, Dr. Clark transferred to the USPHS Commissioned Corps and spent more than a year at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke as a clinical and facility veterinarian before transferring to the Office of Animal Care and Use.

Dr. Clark received her DVM degree from Auburn University in 1988 and became a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine in 1996.