Meet the NVCR Founder

Theresa (Terry) W. Fossum was appointed January 2014 as the Vice President of Research and Strategic Initiatives at Midwestern University. She was formerly the Vice Chancellor for Global and Corporate Partnerships for the Texas A&M University System and is a co-founder of Rescue Therapeutics, Inc. (a TAMU spin-out company developing novel therapeutics for cancer and immune-mediated disease). Dr. Fossum is the Chief Scientific Officer for Aviex Technologies, LLC, a One Health company developing novel, cost-effective vaccines to improve human and animal health. Dr. Fossum is the founder and served as Director (2007-2013) and as the Executive Director (2013-2014) of the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS), a 60 million dollar venture at TAMU which promotes public-private partnerships to speed the development of medical devices and drugs. Dr. Fossum’s leadership was integral in conceptualizing and funding the Institute. Dr. Fossum is a world renowned veterinary surgeon and served as the Clinical Director for Cardiothoracic Surgery and Biomedical Devices in the Michael E. DeBakey Institute at TAMU.  Dr. Fossum holds an honorary chair from Swansea University in the UK.

Dr. Fossum graduated from Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982.  After completing an internship at Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital the following year, she went on to do a surgery residency and Master’s degree at the Ohio State University.  She received board certification in Surgery (ACVS) in 1987 and joined the faculty at Texas A&M University later that year.  In 1992, she completed a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology.  Dr. Fossum has authored or co-authored over 90 manuscripts in referred journals and is the author of Small Animal Surgery, which is in its 4th edition. She was named a Distinguished Alumnus at The Ohio State University in 2007 and received the Texas A&M University System Innovator of the Year Award in 2008. Dr. Fossum sat on the Board of Directors of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute for over 10 years and is the Chair of the Board of Governors for the Foundation for Biomedical Research. Dr. Fossum is a previous recipient of the Wiley Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Medicine Award and the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award at Texas A&M University. In 2004, she received the Texas Society for Biomedical Research Award in recognition and appreciation for her many years of dedicated service to the science, research and medical communities in the State of Texas. Dr Fossum, along with Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, founded the CARE Foundation in 2004 in order to provide an infrastructure for veterinary medicine to perform research using animals with naturally occurring disease. She serves as President of the organization and founded the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry in 2011. In May 2013, the registry went national; National Veterinary Cancer Registry (https://nationalveterinarycancerregistry.org/).