Anatomic Pathology Residents
Luan Henker, DVM, MS, PhD
Dr. Henker was born and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He completed his veterinary school studies at Instituto Federal Catarinense – campus Concórdia (IFC) in 2016 . After graduation he joined the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), where he completed a Masters (2019) and a Doctorate (2022) in Veterinary Pathology. His Doctorate studies were focused on investigating causes of naturally occurring abortion in cattle and sheep in Southern Brazil. Dr. Henker is interested in numerous areas of veterinary pathology, including infectious diseases, parasitic diseases and neuropathology. He joined the combined anatomic pathology residency – Master’s program in 2022. Luan enjoys spending time with his family and friends and doing outdoor activities.
Patricia Titos Jimenez, DVM, MSc
Dr. Jimenez was born in Granada, Spain. She received her DVM from the University of Córdoba (Spain) and her master’s degree in Medicine, Health and Animal Improvement also from the University of Córdoba (Spain). Her master’s work is published in “Listeriolysin S is a Streptolysin S-Like Virulence Factor that targets exclusively Prokaryotic Cells In Vivo”, in collaboration with the Pasteur Institute (2017), published in mBio –American Society for Microbiology Journal. She spent three years in clinical practice and joined the combined anatomic pathology residency-PhD program at Auburn University in 2021.
Alana Kramer, DVM
Dr. Kramer graduated from Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Veterinary Medicine in 2020. In 2016, she completed her undergraduate studies at MSU where she received her BS in Microbiology. During her undergraduate studies as a research assistant (2014-2016) and in veterinary school through an NIH T-35 grant for summer research (2017), she worked in Dr. Katheryn Meek’s Lab on research regarding DNA double strand break repair with DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) in VDJ recombination and Fanconi anemia. She has a strong interest in cancer research and laboratory animal pathology. Dr. Kramer joined the combined anatomic pathology residency-PhD program in 2020.
Daniel Felipe Barrantes Murillo, DVM, MSc
Dr. Barrantes Murillo earned his DVM in 2016 from the National University of Costa Rica (UNA). He worked as a lecturer and research assistant for three years at the Pathology Department at UNA and started his Master’s degree program. He obtained his Master’s Degree in Microbiology in 2020 from the University of Costa Rica (UCR). His thesis topic was the histopathological findings associated with the evidence of natural infection caused by a selected arbovirus (DENV, ZIKV, CHIKV, WNV, EEEV, VEEV, SLEV, YFV) in free-ranging bats and birds. His research interests are arthropod-borne viruses, infectious diseases in wild animals, and neurotropic virus and viral pathogenesis. He joined the combined anatomic pathology residency-PhD program in 2020.
Cierra Starbird, DVM
Dr. Starbird is originally from California where she completed her BS in Animal Science, Pre-Vet at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2018. She then received her DVM at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2022 and completed multiple anatomic pathology externships before pursing her residency position. She has a strong interest in production animal pathology and hopes to pursue a career in governmental work. Her hobbies include keeping reptiles, houseplants, and hanging out with her two dogs Oscar and Frank. Dr. Starbird joined the combined anatomic pathology residency-Master’s program in 2022.
Ji-Hang Yin, DVM, MS, DACVP
Originally from Taiwan, Dr. Yin graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine of National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan and received her DVM and master’s degree in Microbiology and Public Health. Having a strong interest in veterinary anatomic pathology and wishing to gain more experience, she completed multiple externships at various veterinary schools in the United States. She joined the combined anatomic pathology residency-PhD program in 2019.