Meet AVMA’s next congressional fellow

AVMA’s 2022-23 congressional fellow will be a California veterinarian with wide-ranging experience that includes exotic medicine, public policy, laboratory work, and more.

As an AVMA fellow, Dr. Jacob Merryman will spend one year in Washington serving as a full-time staff member for a congressional office or committee. Using his veterinary expertise, he’ll serve as a scientific advisor to help shape and influence legislation across a variety of policy issues.

Most recently, Dr. Merryman has been providing patient-centric care with an emphasis on exotic animals, reproduction, and public health for a small animal hospital in Sonoma County, California. He also has served as an academic prosector, preparing anatomic models for veterinary students, and as a laboratory technician at a small-scale lab producing vaccines for cattle with worldwide distribution. 

A former U.S. Department of Agriculture extern, Dr. Merryman brings firsthand public policy experience that will be useful during his fellowship. In 2017, he also participated in the Smith-Kilborne Program, where he received training on managing transboundary and emerging animal diseases that pose a threat to public and economic health, and how to communicate these important topics to the general public. 

Dr. Merryman received his veterinary degree from the Western University of Health Sciences in 2019 and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Minnesota in 2020.