Pierce College veterinarian earns new national advising honor
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CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: Los Angeles Pierce College veterinarian and agriculture department chair Lu Dao, DVM, has been named the 2026 Community College Advisor of the Year by the Health Professional Student Association, a new category the group introduced this year to recognize advisors serving students early in their health professions pathways. In the same dvm360 roundup, UC Davis orthopedic surgeon Denis Marcellin-Little, DEDV, DECVS, DACVS, DACVSMR, was noted not only for receiving the 2026 AO North America Alan Ruggles Educator Award, but also for assuming the presidency of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons at the 2026 ACVS Surgery Summit. The roundup also reported that Karolynn Ellis, DVM, joined UC Davis as an assistant professor of clinical sports medicine and rehabilitation. (dvm360.com; dvm360.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the update highlights two workforce pressure points at once: the importance of strong advising earlier in the pipeline, especially at community colleges, and the continued buildout of academic specialty services and leadership roles that shape training opportunities for future veterinarians. Dao’s recognition points to the role pre-veterinary mentorship can play in widening access to the profession, while Marcellin-Little’s ACVS presidency and the UC Davis appointments underscore how teaching hospitals and specialty organizations are continuing to invest in educator leadership, governance, and emerging service lines such as sports medicine and rehabilitation. (hpsa.org; dvm360.com)
What to watch: Watch for whether recognitions like HPSA’s new community college category translate into more formal support for pre-veterinary advising and stronger transfer pathways into DVM programs, and whether leadership changes at groups like ACVS signal continued emphasis on specialty training and international representation in veterinary surgery. (hpsa.org; dvm360.com)
A community college veterinarian is getting national recognition at a moment when veterinary medicine is paying closer attention to its talent pipeline. Lu Dao, DVM, chair of the Agriculture Department at Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California, was named the 2026 Community College Advisor of the Year by the Health Professional Student Association, according to HPSA and dvm360. The same dvm360 roundup also spotlighted two UC Davis developments: Denis Marcellin-Little’s national educator award and Karolynn Ellis’ arrival in sports medicine and rehabilitation. A separate dvm360 personnel roundup added another leadership milestone for Marcellin-Little: he has also assumed the presidency of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. (dvm360.com; dvm360.com)
The Dao recognition is notable partly because the category itself is new. HPSA said its Student Advisory Council added a Community College Advisor of the Year honor for 2026, expanding an awards program created in 2022. That change matters because community colleges are often an early entry point for students considering health professions, including pre-veterinary tracks, yet those institutions can receive less attention in national workforce conversations than four-year universities and veterinary schools. (hpsa.org)
HPSA’s profile of Dao describes a full-circle path: he grew up across from Pierce College, attended the school himself, later earned his DVM from the University of California, Davis, worked in large animal practice and for a local animal shelter, and then returned to Pierce to teach. Pierce College records also identify him as pre-veterinary faculty advisor, reinforcing that his role extends beyond classroom teaching into career guidance for students preparing to transfer and compete for veterinary school admission. (hpsa.org)
The broader roundup places that advising honor alongside two UC Davis personnel updates tied to veterinary education and specialty training. UC Davis said Marcellin-Little received the 2026 AO North America Alan Ruggles Educator Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions to training medical professionals. Separately, the school announced that Ellis joined the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital’s Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Service as an assistant professor after completing a three-year residency at Cornell, adding depth to a service line UC Davis is actively building. (vetmed.ucdavis.edu)
Marcellin-Little’s profile grew further with his elevation to ACVS president at the 2026 ACVS Surgery Summit. According to dvm360, he had been elected president-elect in 2025 and advanced through the college’s standard succession process. In the role, he joins the 3-person ACVS Executive Committee, which handles urgent matters affecting the college, helps plan board meetings, oversees the CEO, and represents ACVS at national and international meetings, including the annual meeting of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. dvm360 also noted that Marcellin-Little earned his veterinary degree in France before specializing in surgery in the United States, and said he may be the first ACVS president to have trained in a European country whose official language was not English. (dvm360.com)
UC Davis leaders framed Ellis’ hiring as strategic. Chief veterinary medical officer Michael Mison said her expertise would help the hospital bring rehabilitation, performance medicine, and specialty services together more comprehensively, while Ellis said she was drawn to the chance to help grow an integrated sports medicine program. Those comments suggest academic veterinary centers are not only filling faculty positions, but also competing to define newer clinical niches that can attract referrals, residents, and research activity. (behavior.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, these updates connect recognition, recruitment, and workforce development across the training continuum. Early-stage advising at a community college can shape who even reaches the DVM applicant pool. At the other end, awards for senior educators, leadership roles in specialty colleges, and hires in specialized hospital services influence how students, interns, and residents are trained once they enter academic medicine. Marcellin-Little’s new ACVS presidency also adds a governance dimension, signaling who will help steer one of the profession’s key specialty organizations as it represents veterinary surgery nationally and internationally. Taken together, the announcements point to a profession that is still investing in mentorship infrastructure, educator leadership, and specialty capacity, even as it faces persistent questions about access, career pathways, and faculty capacity. This is partly an inference based on the institutions’ emphasis on advising and program-building. (hpsa.org; dvm360.com)
There’s also a practical takeaway for clinics and hospital leaders: workforce conversations shouldn’t start at veterinary school graduation. Community college advisors, transfer programs, visible faculty mentors, and specialty-college leadership all influence who enters the profession and which specialties gain traction. For practices struggling with hiring, retention, or referral access, these seemingly small personnel and award announcements can be early signals of where the next generation of veterinarians, and the next areas of clinical growth, are being cultivated. (dvm360.com; dvm360.com)
What to watch: The next question is whether organizations and schools build on these recognitions with more formal pipeline programs, transfer partnerships, and specialty training investments, especially in fields like rehabilitation where demand and program identity appear to be growing. It will also be worth watching how ACVS uses its new leadership to shape priorities in surgical education, representation, and international engagement. (hpsa.org; dvm360.com)