Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine

Ray Dillon, DVM, MS, MBA, DACVIM

Internal Medicine

Jack O. Rash Professor

Dr. Ray Dillon, a Professor in Department of Clinical Sciences at Auburn University, received his DVM from Texas A&M University in 1973 Magma Cum Laude. He was an intern and clinical resident at Auburn University earning his MS in Internal Medicine in 1977. He received a MBA in 2001 with Highest Honors from Auburn University. He was board certified in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1978. Dr. Dillon was the first recipient and continues to hold the Jack O Rash Chair of Medicine at Auburn University.

Dr. Dillon was Head of the Section of Medicine for over 20 years and was Interim Director of the Scott-Ritchey Research Center. In this role, he was the first Auburn University faculty to pass the certification examination and become a Diplomate of the America College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Dr. Dillon was given the charge by Dr. Hoerlein, Head of the Small Animal Clinic in 1978, to build a medicine section at Auburn University. With Dr.Dillon’s leadership, since that time, every faculty and resident trained in small animal medicine has been successful and are Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Medicine.

334-844-4690
dilloar@auburn.edu

Research Interests

Dr. Dillon has been active in cardiopulmonary research, with an emphasis on inflammatory lung disease and congestive heart failure of dogs and cats. In addition to his clinical duties, he has been directly associated with over 5 million dollars of research over the past 15 years including collaborative research with University of Alabama at Birmingham Heart Failure Center.

Currently, he is active in research involving the molecular mechanism of myocardial remodeling associated with cardiac mitral valve disease. In 2005, Dr. Dillon was the Principle Investigator of the Auburn University CVM project in a multi-center NIH grant with UAB Medical School for an 18 million dollar award investigating the Mechanism of Heart Failure.

Professional Accomplishments

Dr. Dillon's accomplishments as a clinical scientist have been recognized though awards such as the Phi Kappa Phi Scholar for Auburn University, Exceptional Achievement in Auburn University Outreach, and the Beecham Award for Research Excellence. He is considered one of the leading authorities on lung injury and heartworm disease of dogs and cats. In 1997, he was honored as the Comparative Medicine Scholar for Tuft's University College of Veterinary Medicine; and received the AVMA Foundation Award for Feline Research in 1999. Dr. Dillon was honored with the Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2003 by the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. Dr. Dillon was the founding President of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Foundation.

Dr. Dillon has over 100 scientific publications and 500 scientific presentations, many at international forums including lectures in 12 different countries.

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