Biography
Dr. Ooms Konecny is currently in the position of Attending Veterinarian for both University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and Main Campus. In addition, she serves as the Attending Veterinarian for the New Mexico VA Health Care System.
Dr. Ooms Konecny joined Salida Veterinary Hospital (SVH) as a Veterinarian in May of 2020 to move out west during the pandemic. At SVH she gained significant medicine and surgery skills in dogs and cats.
Prior to this position, Dr. Ooms Konecny joined IITRI as an Attending Veterinarian in April 2013. IITRI is an animal focused contract research organization, specializing in toxicology and microbiology. She was responsible for the health, well-being, and husbandry of laboratory animal colonies in an approximately 55,000 square-foot AAALAC International-accredited animal facility including ABSL-3 select agent research. Species included rodents, rabbits, dogs, pigs, marmosets, cynomolgus, and rhesus monkeys. Additional duties included supervising and overseeing the Laboratory Animal Medicine Section of IITRI, including two Medical Technologists in the Clinical Pathology laboratory, a Facility Supervisor and 6 Animal Care Technicians. Dr. Ooms Konecny had a DOJ security clearance and was involved in a US Army sponsored biosurety program. In addition, Dr. Ooms Konecny participated in training the animal care staff, laboratory technicians, and investigators in hands-on techniques as well as Herpes B exposure protocols, IACUC Disaster Recovery Planning, and preparing various staff seminars including animal welfare and the history of the animal rights movement. Dr. Ooms Konecny was a liaison between the investigators, administrators, and the contact person for the USDA, OLAW, and AAALAC International. She advised sponsors and investigators concerning laboratory animal models, costs, surgical procedures, methods of anesthesia and euthanasia, and current legal and ethical requirements for using laboratory animals. She wrote policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and served as Attending Veterinarian on IITRI’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
As Director of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Tulane University, Dr. Ooms Konecny was charged with the humane care of all animals on a multi-disciplinary campus, including a School of Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Liberal Arts College. She oversaw several animal facilities and was responsible for the health, wellbeing, and husbandry of laboratory animal colonies in approximately 85,000 square-feet of AAALAC International-accredited animal facilities. Species included rodents, chinchillas, poultry, rabbits, dogs, cats, ferrets, and pigs. Her duties included serving as the Attending Veterinarian, serving as a liaison for all regulatory agencies, managing the Department’s $2M annual operating budget, and overseeing a staff of 19 persons. She conducted training for animal care staff, students, research technicians, residents, investigators and maintenance staff. She served on campus-wide committees including the IACUC, Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Card Services Committee, Emergency Preparedness Committee, and Laboratory Animal Medicine Resident Steering Committee. Dr. Ooms Konecny personally trained nine laboratory animal veterinary residents, three who were enrolled in the program, one of which was board-eligible, and five who have passed ACLAM boards. She also served as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Research at the School of Medicine of Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. She acted as a resource advising investigators concerning laboratory animal models, costs, surgical procedures, pain management, euthanasia, and current legal and ethical requirements for using laboratory animals. She wrote policies and SOPs. During this time, as a consultant, she served as Attending Veterinarian for the Southeast Louisiana Veteran’s Administration Health Care System Research Service, reviewing animal care and use protocols, attending IACUC meetings, conducting semi-annual reviews and gaining knowledge on the function of the VA research system.
From 2005 to 2007, while working as a Veterinarian at the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC), Dr. Ooms Konecny worked as a member of the research team conducting all animal related research medicine and surgery for several primate infectious disease studies. She was the Veterinarian in charge of the TNPRC small animal facility and provided part-time veterinary coverage for the Tulane Health Sciences Center and Uptown Animal Vivariums in New Orleans, LA. She was a member of the TNPRC IACUC, TNPRC Training Committee, and Resident Steering Committee. She also served as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the School of Medicine of Tulane University in Covington, LA.
In her Postdoctoral Fellow/Clinical Resident position in the Biologic Resources Laboratory (BRL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Dr. Ooms Konecny was part of the three-year ACLAM-accredited training program. She performed clinical rotations in primate, small animal, large animal, and surgery areas. She is experienced in management, diagnostic pathology, and research methodology. Dr. Ooms Konecny also managed the opening of a small animal satellite facility.
Personal Statement
As a laboratory animal veterinarian, I have extensive training and experience related to leadership, laboratory animal medicine, animal welfare, regulatory compliance, fiscal management, and infrastructural needs for diverse AAALAC accredited biomedical and behavioral research programs. In addition to completing a three-year laboratory animal medicine residency, I have over 15 years’ experience directing diverse and complex animal research programs utilizing a variety of models and species (aquatics, rodents, rabbits, agriculture animals, carnivores, wildlife, and non-human primates). My roles include teaching (animal models, animal care, biotechnology, and animal ethics), attending veterinarian, clinical veterinarian, and fiscal/operational program director for various shared animal resource cores (general animal resource facility, mutant rodent breeding barriers, biocontainment, behavior, and imaging). In addition, I have experience as a Study Director at a large contract research organization. I have provided oversight of design, construction and implementation of numerous successful animal research facility improvement projects including several installations of cage washer and autoclave equipment that provides a strong basis for my role in the current application.
Areas of Specialty
Veterinary Medicine
Surgery
Laboratory Animals
Rodents
Institutional Animal Care and Use
Gender
Female