Linda Rhodes, VMD, PhD; Independent Consultant
Dr. Rhodes received her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine, and her PhD from Cornell University.
After graduating from PennVet, she was a large animal practitioner for five years, with a focus on dairy cows. Her pharmaceutical career began at Merck in human drug development followed by a position at Merial as director of large animal development projects. In 2001, she left Merial to co-found AlcheraBio, a contract research firm specializing in developing new drugs for animals. AlcheraBio was acquired in 2008. She taught a graduate course in Animal Pharmaceutical Development in her role as an adjunct professor in the Rutgers Graduate School of Endocrinology and Animal Biosciences.
In 2011, Dr. Rhodes became the founding CEO of Aratana Therapeutics, and subsequently, when the company went public, she served as its Chief Scientific Officer. During her five-year tenure, she led the R&D team to achieve FDA approval of the pet therapeutics Galliprant, Entyce and Nocita. Dr. Rhodes serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Michelson Prize and Grants Program, the Board of Directors of Zoetis and the Board of Dalan Animal Health, a startup focusing on vaccines for honeybees. In 2017, she founded Feather in Her Cap Association, dedicated to recognizing high achieving women in the animal health industry, and in 2021 founded the Animal Health Gene Therapy Consortium, to facilitate discussions with the FDA on the regulation of gene therapy products for animals.
She lives in New Hampshire and is working on getting her memoir, Lady Cow Vet, published.
