Dr. Timothy M. Fan named recipient of 2020 AVMA Career Achievement in Canine Research Award
(SCHAUMBURG, Illinois) Aug. 20, 2020—The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) today honored Dr. Timothy M. Fan as the winner of the 2020 AVMA Career Achievement in Canine Research Award.
The award honors an AVMA member's long-term contribution to the field of canine research.
"Cancer strikes companion animals as well as the people who love them, and Dr. Fan is a visionary in the field of veterinary oncology," said Dr. Doug Kratt, president of the AVMA. "Not only does his expertise result in better outcomes for animals, but may lead to more effective treatments for cancer in humans, as well."
Dr. Fan has built an internationally recognized comparative oncology program at the University of Illinois, where he is a professor and serves as the principal investigator of the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory.
His work focuses on evaluating new therapeutic drugs and drug delivery strategies to treat cancer, particularly spontaneous tumors in dogs. He collaborates with fellow experts to explore malignant bone destruction, tumor cell metastases and the evaluation of novel anticancer agents.
Dr. Fan's expertise in the field of bone cancer is widespread, and his research has implications for both dogs and children. From 2012-2018, Dr. Fan served on the Children's Oncology Group's bone sarcoma section, a clinical trials group supported by the National Cancer Institute.
He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and completed an internship at the University of Illinois, a residency at Cornell University and a medical oncology fellowship at the University of Illinois. Dr. Fan also completed a PhD in Tumor Immunology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Fan is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in Oncology and Small Animal Internal Medicine, and is president of the Veterinary Cancer Society.
Most recently, Dr. Fan has been appointed as program co-leader of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) research program, Cancer Discovery Platforms Across the Engineering-Biology Continuum. He is also a core member to the Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People theme in the Carl Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.
For more information, contact Michael San Filippo, AVMA media relations manager, at 847-732-6194 (cell) or msanfilippo
avma [dot] org (msanfilippo[at]avma[dot]org).
Serving more than 100,000 member veterinarians, the AVMA is the nation's leading representative of the veterinary profession, dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of animals, humans and the environment. Founded in 1863 and with members in every U.S. state and territory and more than 60 countries, the AVMA is one of the largest veterinary medical organizations in the world. Informed by our members' unique scientific training and clinical knowledge, the AVMA supports the crucial work of veterinarians and advocates for policies that advance the practice of veterinary medicine and improve animal and human health.