Team
Innovating to Help Pets Live Better Lives
Meet the ElleVet Team!
Christian Kjaer
Board Chair, CEO & Cofounder
Former senior executive at IDEXX Laboratories: President of OPTI Medical Systems; VP and GM of Water Division; VP and GM of South Asia/Middle East/Africa Region. Former CEO of European tech companies. Christian is also Board Chair and CEO of Cultivate Biologics and TevElle Pharmaceuticals and holds a Master of Business from Copenhagen Business School.
Haley Israelson
Chief Financial Officer
Prior to joining ElleVet, Ms. Israelson served as a finance and investment professional in Venture Capital and Private Equity, where she worked with numerous high growth startups. Ms. Israelson is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maine. She earned her Master of Business and BS in Accounting from Husson University.
Ryan Shadrin
Chief Commercial Officer
Ryan Shadrin has held the roles of Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Global VP of DTC at some of the world’s most loved brands, including Patagonia and Timberland. He holds a BA in History from Hamilton College and certification in AI and Machine Learning from Stanford School of Engineering.
Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM
PhD, DACVN, DACVSMR Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Joseph Wakshlag is Professor of Nutrition and Sports Medicine at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Joe conducted the first ever clinical trial on dogs using ElleVet CBD and continues to lead the way in hemp research.
Stacey Evans, JD
VP General Counsel
Former federal attorney, legislative counsel, ethics official, and member of the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health. Stacey chaired the Animal Law Committee of the American Bar Association. She holds a JD from Tulane Law School.
Austin Fish
Director, Human Resources
Austin leads the global human resources and people functions for ElleVet, where he draws upon extensive experience garnered from diverse settings including global animal health organizations, startups, and publicly traded companies. Austin earned his BS from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, where he doubled majored in Business Management and Human Resources Management. A native to Maine, he enjoys exploring all New England has to offer with his family, friends, and mini goldendoodle, Fitz.
Unmatched leadership in the pet CBD industry
Advisory Board
Leilani Alvarez, DVM
DACVSMR, CVA, CCRT, CVCHM
Dr. Alvarez is the Director of Integrative and Rehabilitative Medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. She is a board-certified diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation and certified in veterinary acupuncture, canine rehabilitation, and advanced Chinese herbal medicine. She is the 2017 recipient of the prestigious John Sherman Award for Excellence in Veterinary Rehabilitation.
Lindsay Elam, DVM
MPH, DACVSMR
Dr. Lindsay Elam is an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Medicine and Mobility at Colorado State University. She concurrently obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health Degrees as well as post-graduate specialty training at University of Florida. Dr. Elam has been involved in a clinical trial evaluating ElleVet CBD in post-operative dogs and serves as ElleVet’s Director of Pharmacovigilance.
Dr. Stephen Ettinger
DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Cardiology)
Dr. Ettinger graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in 1964. He received specialty training in Cardiology at the Bronx Veteran’s Administration Hospital and the Animal Medical Center. He practiced at the AMC until moving to California where he co-founded the Berkeley Veterinary Medical Group, the first group veterinary specialty practice in the United States. Dr. Ettinger served as Chief Medical Officer of PetDRx, was medical director of the California Animal Hospital Veterinary Specialty Group and was an elected member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University. Dr. Ettinger has been the author and editor of the Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine since 1975. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Cardiology and Small Animal Internal Medicine) and is an Emeritus Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from both the ACVIM College of Veterinary Cardiology and the VCA Emergency and Veterinary Specialty Group.
Dr. Gabriel A. Garcia, DVM
DACVIM (Neurology)
Dr. Gabriel Garcia is Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology at University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Garcia has been involved in a clinical trial evaluating the use of ElleVet CBD in epileptic dogs.
Dr. Marc Gurtman, JD, DVM
JD, DVM
After three years of uninspired practice as a New York City attorney, Dr. Gurtman enrolled in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. A 1998 graduate, Dr. Gurtman is an owner of the Towne Line Veterinary Group, a six doctor practice on Long Island.
Dr. Bruce Kornreich, DVM
PhD, DVM
Bruce Kornreich received his DVM from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992, and after one year in private clinical practice, returned as Cornell’s first veterinary cardiology resident. He received board certification in veterinary cardiology in 1997 and was awarded his Ph.D. in pharmacology in 2005. After his time as a senior research associate in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell, he became a member of the faculty in its Department of Clinical Sciences in 2007. He was appointed associate director of the Cornell Feline Health Center in 2012 and became director of the Center in 2019.
Daniel G. McChesney, PhD
MS. PhD, Cell and Molecular Biology
Dr. McChesney received his MS and Ph.D. from the Medical College of Georgia. Upon completing his graduate work, he entered the Army as an Officer and medical researcher. He joined FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, Office of Surveillance and Compliance in 1990 and spent 28 years working on a variety of issues associated with animal food and drug safety. For the last 14 years of his career at CVM, he was a Senior Executive and Director of CVM’s Office of Surveillance and Compliance.
Kristen Messenger, DVM
PhD, DACVAA, DACVCP
Kristen Messenger is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at North Carolina State University. She is board-certified in both anesthesia and clinical pharmacology and currently works with each of these specialty services at NCSU. Dr. Messenger’s research interests are in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of analgesic and anesthetic drugs, with a special focus on NSAIDS and opioids in companion animals.
Michael Petty, DVM
CVPP, CVMA, CAAPM
Dr. Petty is the owner of Arbor Pointe Veterinary Hospital and the Animal Pain Center. Dr. Petty is the past president of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management. He has published articles in veterinary journals and serves as an advisor to several pharmaceutical companies on topics of pain management. He has been the Investigator/ Veterinarian in over 12 FDA pilot and pivotal studies for pain management products.
Lisa Radosta, DVM
DACVB
Dr. Radosta graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. She completed a residency in Behavioral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists Resident research award two years in a row. Dr. Radosta is the owner of Florida Veterinary Behavior Service, a specialty behavior practice in southeast Florida, and co-owns Dog Nerds, an online educational resource for owners whose pets have behavior disorders. She has co-authored several books and has published articles in multiple veterinary journals.
Domenico Santoro
DVM, DrSc, PhD, DECVD, DACVD, DACVM
Dr. Domenico Santoro is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He earned his DVM from the University of Naples “Federico II” in 2001 and his PhD in Veterinary Clinical Sciences from the University of Illinois in 2013. Dr. Santoro’s research focuses on host-microbe interactions in canine atopic dermatitis and the cutaneous immune response in dogs with leishmaniasis. He is a founding member of the International Committee on Allergic Diseases in Animals (ICADA) and serves as a clinical dermatologist at the University of Florida’s Veterinary Hospital.
Wayne Schwark, DVM
MS, PhD Pharmacology
Dr. Schwark initiated his Doctor of Philosophy studies at University of Ottawa Medical School and received his PhD in Pharmacology in 1970. Working as an Assistant Professorship at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, he progressed through the academic ranks and became full Professor of Pharmacology in 1987. After 41 years of teaching, Dr. Schwark retired and is currently an Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Cornell.
Dave Tittle
BVetMed CertVA (WVA&CPM) MRCVS Adv Practitioner in Vet Anesthesia
Dave Tittle qualified from the RVC, London in 2000 and has spent most of his veterinary career in private practice in coastal North Devon. In 2010, he passed the RCVS Certificate examinations in Veterinary Anesthesia and was subsequently awarded RCVS Advanced Practitioner Status in 2015. He attained his GPCert(WVA&CPM) from the ESVPS in 2018. Dr. Tittle runs referral chronic pain clinics utilizing a variety of techniques in addition to his anesthesia and analgesia commitments.
Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM
PhD, DACVN, DACVSMR. Chair of the Advisory Board
Dr. Joseph Wakshlag is Professor of Nutrition and Sports Medicine at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Wakshlag conducted the first-ever clinical trial on dogs using ElleVet CBD and continues to lead the way in hemp research in new areas of study.