Professor of Microbiology Emeritus
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Dr Rankin obtained her PhD in Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, while working full time at the Scottish Salmonella Reference Laboratory as a “disease detective” investigating outbreaks of foodborne disease in humans. She came to the United States in 1999 as a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, to study
the surveillance of Salmonella in livestock, from a One Health perspective. She was the Chief of Clinical Microbiology for the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) on Penn Vet’s New
Bolton Center campus from 2006 – 2013. Passionate about her “why” - which is to make infectious disease diagnostics faster and more accurate - she designed, developed, and validated many molecular diagnostic tests over the years. She is a Wharton Mack Technology Fellow and an American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges One Health Scholar. From 2013 to 2021, Shelley was the Head of
Diagnostic Services and Chief of Clinical Microbiology at Penn Vet’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital in Philadelphia. Shelley spent her entire academic career at Penn Vet, attaining the rank of full Professor in
2018. Her research focus was the “wicked problem” of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. She has published more than 100 peer reviewed papers on that topic. She has also co-authored numerous
guidelines on antimicrobial use for veterinarians, in addition to multiple book chapters on the diagnosis of infectious diseases in animals. In 2019, Shelley and her colleagues described the presence of
carbapenem resistant bacteria from dogs and cats in the US. She is now more committed than ever to medical education for veterinarians on the practice of antimicrobial stewardship, to prevent the
continued emergence and spread of these antibiotic resistant superbugs in pets. She joined Zoetis in August 2021 as Director of Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics. The microbiology labs at ZRL will
use the principles of diagnostic stewardship to ensure that results are clinically relevant and delivered with supportive antimicrobial susceptibility test reports. This will enable veterinarians to practice the
best medicine they can, while continuing to preserve the use of critically important antimicrobials for many years to come. Shelley lives in Philadelphia with her cat Jack – who is a monster, but she loves him. She enjoys working out daily, casual dinners with friends, and loud electronic dance music.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2023
6:30 AM – 7:30 AM
