VETS DEN Presenter: Dr. Tara Harrison

Dr. Tara M. Harrison, DVM, MPVM, Dipl. ACZM, Dipl. ACVPM, Dipl. ECZM (Zoo Health Management), CVA and serves as a Professor of Zoo and Exotic Animal Medicine at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Tara Harrison is an internationally recognized expert in exotic and zoological animal medicine, with interests spanning global health, infectious diseases, oncology, and integrative therapies. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine from the University of California–Davis, where she also completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Linda Munson in the Contraceptive Advisory Group.

Dr. Harrison completed internships at the Toledo Zoo and Wildlife Safari before spending over a decade at Potter Park Zoo as a veterinarian, curator, and Director of Animal Health, while also serving as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. She later returned to UC Davis as an Assistant Professor and veterinarian at the Sacramento Zoo.

Currently, Dr. Harrison is a Professor in the Zoo and Exotic Animal Medicine Service at NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she chairs the Admissions Committee and advises the Holistic Club. She is board certified in the American College of Zoological Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.. A Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist through Chi University, she teaches acupuncture laboratories and lectures internationally on integrative medicine for zoo and exotic species.

Her research focuses on neoplasia, infectious disease, and veterinary acupuncture in exotic and zoological animals. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, including in the Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice and Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine. Dr. Harrison is also a co-founder of the Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance and an active member of the AVMA, AAZV, WDA, ACZM, ACVPM, and ECZM.