Cynthia Otto, DVM, PhD

Dr. Otto, a tenured Professor of Working Dog Sciences and Sports Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine is board certified in veterinary emergency medicine/critical care and canine sports medicine/rehabilitation. As executive director and founder of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center (www.vet.upenn.edu/WDC ), she oversees fitness and medical care of the program’s detection dogs, provides rehabilitation and conditioning for police and other working dogs and conducts vital research on and by detection dogs. With over 120 peer reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters, she is an internationally recognized expert in both emergency medicine and working dog science. She was Pennsylvania’s 2002 “Veterinarian of the Year”, received Ohio State’s Alumni Recognition Award (2006) and Distinguished Alumnus Award (2008), AVMA’s Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year (2018), Mark Bloomberg Award (2019) and Asa Mays DVM, Excellence in Canine Health Research award (2021).