Dr. Tara Myers Harrison has joined the Zoological Health faculty at NCSU as the newest member of MSM (MultiSpecies Medicine) and EAMS (the Exotic Animal Medicine service) groups in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine, NCSU. Coming directly from an assistant professor position at the University of California at Davis, Dr. Harrison also brings her experience with northern species from over 10 years of teaching and clinical service at Michigan State University where she served on faculty in various roles and managed the health of the animals at the Potter Park Zoo.
Dr. Harrison brings many talents to her new role at NCSU. She earned her DVM from Michigan State University and holds a masters of preventive veterinary medicine earned at University of California, Davis where she worked onthe problem of infection of spotted hyenas with canine and feline viruses, working in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. She is dual boarded, having earned diplomate status in the American College of Zoological Medicine and in the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine.
Dr. Harrison’s species range is broad. Her publications range across the carnivora, but include papers on rhinoceros, gorilla and even tenrecs. She serves as the veterinary advisor for the Tenrec SSP. From rattlesankes to ostriches, she is happy to work on any species. She has a very special interest in the application of oncological therapeutics and diagnostics in zoological species and hopes to pursue studies to improve the application of advanced techniques to those cases.
Dr. Harrison’s 3 lively daughters and two able hounds along with husband Scott accompanied her on a family expedition across the Southern route of the US this July to arrive in Raleigh, stopping briefly to take in the grandeur of the Grand Canyon.
