David E. Granstrom, DVM, PhD, DACVM (parasitology)

Assistant Executive Vice President

Biographical sketch

Dr. David Granstrom is assistant executive vice president and chief accreditation and certification officer of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). He received DVM and PhD degrees from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University in 1978 and 1988, respectively. He is a charter diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiology (parasitology).

Dr. Granstrom’s responsibilities include governance and administration. He sits on the AVMA Board of Directors as an invited participant and provides professional staff support to the Board Governance Committee. He also has oversight responsibility for AVMA accreditation and certification activities, the AVMA Finance and Business Services Division, and the Digital Services and Solutions Division. He also serves as a liaison to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation and as co-chair of the Partners for Healthy Pets.

Dr. Granstrom served as director of the AVMA Education and Research Division from 2008-2013. As director, he managed the division and provided professional staff support to the Council on Education, the official accrediting body for colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada. The council also accredits veterinary colleges in Europe, Australia, France, New Zealand, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

From 2001 to 2008, Dr. Granstrom was associate director of the Animal and Natural Resources Institute, USDA, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. The institute conducts research in many areas, including animal health, animal production, food safety, sustainable agriculture, air quality, and watershed management. Dr. Granstrom also completed a 21-year career as a public health officer in the Kansas and Kentucky Air National Guard during this period, retiring as lieutenant colonel in 2005.

From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Granstrom was assistant director of the AVMA Education and Research Division, where he provided professional staff support for several AVMA councils and committees, including the AVMA Council on Research.

He also was an assistant and associate professor of veterinary parasitology in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky from 1988-1997. His primary area of research was equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), a debilitating neurologic disease of the horse. He is recognized as an international authority on EPM and has given numerous invited presentations at national and international meetings. His research resulted in development of the first effective diagnostic test; identification of the method of disease transmission; development of the first FDA-approved treatment; and development of effective guidelines for the prevention and control of EPM. Two patents, a successful university-start up company, and more than 75 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and books have resulted from his work.

From 1978-1983, Dr. Granstrom owned and operated a solo mixed practice in Laurie, Missouri, before returning to Kansas State University to pursue graduate studies.