Heather Wilson-Robles

Heather Wilson-Robles is a well-established veterinary medical oncologist specializing in canine models of human cancer. She has two main areas of scholarly interest. The first is bench-top research focusing on identification and characterization of tumor initiating cells in solid tumors with a one health perspective (i.e. tumors similarities and treatment implications across species). The second focus of her research involves clinical trials in client-owned dogs with spontaneously developing tumors as a basis for informing human clinical trials. Much of this research also has a one health implication designed to streamline drugs or therapies for human trials decreasing the cost of drug approval while improving therapeutic options for canines afflicted with cancer. She seeks to improve canine models of pediatric and adult cancers and translate these findings to the mutual benefit of both species. Her basic research focuses on the identification and targeting the tumor initiating cells in osteosarcoma, melanoma and mammary/breast cancers in both canines and humans. She is an associate professor and Dr. Fred A and Vola N Palmer Chair in Comparative Oncology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She earned a DVM from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and completed medical residencies at the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin.