Speaker Biography

Jordan Towns

DVM, PhD, DACVP

Lectures

• Thursday, October 29, 2026 9:00 - 9:50 a.m. Auditorium

  Sus or Not Sus? Identifying Infectious Organisms on Blood Smears Small Animal I

  The overall lecture objective is to help practitioners identify infectious organisms on blood smear evaluation, and to be able to differentiate infectious organisms from common artifacts and other blood cell abnormalities. By the end of the lecture, the attendee should know how to set up their microscope to successfully identify abnormalities on a blood smear, and they should be able to identify and differentiate common blood smear artifacts and abnormal morphologies from infectious organisms. The lecture will include discussion and images of the most common infectious organisms that can be identified in a blood smear and the confirmatory tests that are available if one of these infectious organisms is suspected. 

• Thursday, October 29, 2026 10:00 - 10:50 a.m. Auditorium

  Please Sir, May I Have Some Cells? Getting the Most from Your Cytology Submissions Small Animal I

  The overall lecture objective is to help practitioners improve needle aspiration and smearing technique to maximize the results from cytology submissions. We will also discuss how to evaluate a cytology slide prior to submission to maximize the potential for obtaining useful information from the slide. There will be a short discussion about the advent of digital cytology scanners and the advent of artificial intelligence cytology machines, including information about the current technology and the future potential.