33 CVM Students Named 2019-2020 Annable Scholars

This academic year 33 students from the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine have been named Annable Scholars. Each will receive a scholarship that covers up to half of tuition and fees. Recipients for the need-based scholarship are selected in part on the basis of volunteer service. 

The Michele M. and Ross M. Annable Scholarship Endowment is a result of a $5 million gift from the Annables in 2016 and has been matched by $5 million from the Randall B. Terry Charitable Foundation. 

Here is the list of the 2019-2020 Annable Scholars:

Class of 2020

• Juliana Mills 

Hometown: Arlington, Mass.

Career goal: Small animal specialty. Interested in internal medicine, emergency and critical care, surgery, anesthesia and ophthalmology.

• Regan Stoneburner 

Hometown: Goldsboro

Career goal: Small animal surgery specialty.

• Hannah Varnell 

Hometown: Gloucester County, Va.

Career goal: To improve food animal health and welfare through epidemiology. 

Class of 2021

• Mallory Brown 

Hometown: Tucson, Ariz.

Career goal: Complete a lab animal medicine residency and become board certified. Promote the One Health concept at research institutions.

• Chris Gaudette 

Hometown: Kanab, Utah

Career goal: Diagnostic pathologist with a focus on disease prevention in populations of animals.

• Dylan Harver 

Hometown: Carrboro

Career goal: Veterinary medical education researcher and professor.

• Cheryl Heitzman 

Hometown: Elkhart, Ind. 

Career goal: Small animal/exotics private practitioner with aquatics certification and the ability to provide medical and surgical intervention for wildlife. 

• Elisa Meier 

Hometown: Ann Arbor, Mich. 

Career goal: Specialist and clinical faculty member at a veterinary school, teaching and mentoring the next generations of veterinarians.

• Caitlyn Mullins 

Hometown: Beavercreek, Ohio

Career goal: Interested in a cattle practice, either domestic or abroad. Interested in pursuing animal welfare policy.

• Irina Perdew 

Hometown: Morrisville

Career goal: Fully develop and launch an original equine medical device shortly after graduation and to get board certified in neurology or animal behavior.

• Valerie Nelson 

Hometown: Apex

Career goal: A small animal rotating internship, a residence in emergency and critical care, and ultimately work in a university teaching hospital. 

• Amanda Sautner 

Hometown: Warrington, Pa. 

Career goal: Opening my own mobile small animal in-home hospice and euthanasia practice.

• Shawna Varichak 

Hometown: Hibbing, Minn. 

Career goal: To become a small animal practitioner in either general practice, emergency medicine or shelter medicine.

• Anne White 

Hometown: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. 

Career goal: Specializing in exotics or small animal internal medicine.

Class of 2022

• Caroline Balch 

Hometown: Fayetteville

Career goal: Working in a wildlife rehabilitation center, combining personal passions for medicine and conservation.

• Tahj Boston 

Hometown: Wilmington, Del. 

Career Goal: Clinical pathologist in either academia, diagnostics or global health work. Also, to work closely with historically black colleges and universities to advance diversity in veterinary medicine by preparing undergraduate students for the application process and providing valuable experience prior to application.

• Paola Cruz Ramos 

Hometown: Guayama, Puerto Rico. 

Career goal: Working in general practice as a small animal vet and encouraging fear-free techniques, and continue helping stray animals and animal shelters by promoting adoption and volunteering at free spay/neuter clinics.

• Brittany Dash 

Hometown: Miramar, Fla. 

Career goal: Small animal veterinarian in a large, multi-doctor practice.

• Samantha Frosch 

Hometown: Bohemia, N.Y. 

Career Goal: Mixed animal medicine. Completing a residency in either small animal internal medicine or equine soft tissue surgery and eventually going into academia as a clinical professor at a veterinary school. 

• Alex Grobman 

Hometown: Weston, Fla.

Career Goal: Equine clinician with a specialty in orthopedic or ophthalmic medicine

• Amy Le Blanc 

Hometown: St. Charles, Ill.

Career goal: To work in a small animal clinic that also sees exotic pets and assists with wildlife rehabilitation.

• Avnee Mistry 

Hometown: Naples, Fla. 

Career Goal: Veterinary global health.

• Aya Omar 

Hometown: Crestwood, Ky. 

Career goal: International medicine and One Health work, either training other clinicians or managing nonprofits. Also interested in either small animal or equine emergency medicine. 

• Allyson Patterson 

Hometown: Burlington

Career goal: Ruminant medicine with a special interest in advanced reproductive techniques.

• Meghan Rutowski 

Hometown: Waxhaw, N.C. 

Career goal: To work in general practice using less traditional therapies, including acupuncture and canine rehabilitation techniques, and a focus on socialization of puppies and kittens to ensure more positive veterinary experiences for clients and patients. 

• Tala Woodward 

Hometown: Seattle

Career goal: Small and exotic, possibly aquatic, animal medicine.

• Samantha Zurlinden 

Hometown: Denver

Career goal: Behavioral and shelter medicine.

Class of 2023

• Julia Carlin 

Hometown: Wellington, Fla. 

Career goal: To open a mixed-animal practice and become a board-certified specialist. 

• Daiannete Lopez 

Hometown: Isabel, Puerto Rico. 

Career goal: Small animal and exotic veterinarian working in shelter medicine with a focus on helping those animals and clients in need of affordable health care. 

• Alexis Roach 

Hometown: Dover, Del. 

Career goal: To enter a residency program to gain board certification in laboratory animal medicine and work for either a research facility or in academia.

• Sarah Scott-Cruz 

Hometown: Hendersonville, N.C.

Career goal: Wildlife veterinarian working with conservation medicine.

• Sidney Smith 

Hometown: Kings Mountain, N.C. 

Career goal: To work for an institution or university as a laboratory animal veterinarian who also conducts independent research, preferably focusing on disease management or reproductive physiology.

• Kyra Thornton 

Hometown: Tallahassee, Fla. 

Career goal: To provide comprehensive care to patients and increase owner education to impact the welfare of animals within the clinical setting and beyond.