Education Course
Pathology for Nonpathologists

Speaker Bios

Torrie A. Crabbs, DVM, DACVP

Torrie A. Crabbs received her DVM degree from North Carolina State University, completed her anatomic pathology residency training at the University of California-Davis as an ACVP/STP Coalition Fellow, and studied as an Intramural Post-doctoral Fellow at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). She is certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in anatomical pathology and is a licensed veterinarian in North Carolina. Torrie is currently a Senior Pathologist for Experimental Pathology Laboratories (EPL), Inc., where she also serves as the Director of Pathology for the North Carolina facility. Torrie is an active member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), Society of Toxicologic Pathologists (STP), American College of Toxicology (ACT), and North Carolina Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (NCSOT). She has participated on numerous STP committees and working groups, including but not limited to, the Membership Committee, Scientific Programming Planning Committee, and INHAND Urinary System Working Group. Torrie has served as a member and Chairperson of the Board of Governors for the ACVP/STP Coalition of Veterinary Pathology Fellows. She has served as Chair/Co-chair for numerous sessions / CE Courses hosted by the STP, ACVP, and ACT and the Research Triangle Park Rodent Pathology Course. Torrie has extensive experience in toxicology pathology, within both government and industry, and was awarded the Distinguished Early Career Award by the Society of Toxicologic Pathology. She has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and was invited to present various topics nationally and internationally. She has served as a reviewer for several journals in the field of toxicology and toxicology pathology.

Tracey L. Papenfuss, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVP

Tracey L. Papenfuss is a veterinary pathologist and immunologist with over 20 years of experience developing and evaluating immunotherapies in academic and industry. Tracey is currently a Senior Pathologist at StageBio where she focuses on the immunosafety space and provides immunopathology expertise. Tracey has worked across multiple sectors in drug and immunotherapy development from discovery to safety assessment and has evaluated translational and animal model systems that evaluate compounds and support the development of new therapies that impact human and animal health. Prior to her current position, she was a toxicologic pathologist in safety assessment evaluating multiple species and drug/chemical modalities at Charles River Laboratories and was a faculty member at The Ohio State University (OSU). In her position at OSU, she developed and directed a discovery-focused immunology research laboratory that evaluated novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and both autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. She is currently an active member of the Society of Toxicologic Pathologists (STP), Society of Toxicology (SOT), American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), and the Health and Environmental Sciences Immunosafety Technical Committee (HESI-ITC). She has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has been invited to present on topics of immunology, pathology, and related topics nationally and internationally.

Deepa B. Rao, BVSc, MS, PhD, DABT, DACVP, FIATP

Dr. Deepa Rao is a veterinary toxicologic pathologist with over 20 years of experience in the evaluation of chemical and drug toxicology data from animal studies as applied to human health risk assessment. Dr. Rao’s career includes service as a toxicologist and a veterinary pathologist, with a focus on regulatory neurotoxicology/neuropathology. Dr. Rao currently works through Greenfield Pathology Services, Inc.

Dr. Rao began her career as a study director in preclinical toxicology at Covance Laboratories, Inc., following which she completed her residency in veterinary anatomic pathology at the University of Wisconsin – School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rao then moved to serve as a staff toxicologic pathologist for the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reviewing data from chemical carcinogenicity studies. Following this, she then joined the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a toxicology reviewer for animal toxicology data in Investigational New Drug (IND) and New Drug Applications (NDA). Dr. Rao has maintained her focus in her area of interest in neuroscience throughout her education, training and career as evident from over 50 publications (peer reviewed manuscripts, invited reviews, book chapters), honors and awards, invited lectures, participation in NTP Pathology Working Groups and FDA Advisory Committees impacting public health. Dr. Rao serves on professional committees, symposiums, and scientific workgroups for the Society of Toxicologic Pathology and the American College of Toxicology, and actively enjoys highlighting science, toxicology and toxicologic pathology within her local community and among early career professionals.

Dr. Rao received her veterinary degree (BVSc, 1992) from Mysore Veterinary College, her master’s (MS,1995) from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, and her doctorate (PhD, 2000) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Oklahoma – Health Sciences Center. She completed her residency in veterinary anatomic pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008). She is certified by the American Board of Toxicology (Diplomate ABT), the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (Diplomate ACVP), and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Toxicologic Pathologists (Fellow, IATP).

Kenneth A. Schafer, PhD, DVM, DACVP, FIATP

Dr. Schafer founded Greenfield Pathology Services in 2019 and has over 20 years of experience working for pharmaceutical companies and a CRO. He brings integrity and depth of knowledge to the field of toxicologic pathology in his support of clients.

Bhanu Pratap Singh, BVSc, MS, DACVP, DABT, FIATP

Dr. Bhanu Singh is currently working as Senior Director, Pathology, at Gilead Sciences. Bhanu is a board certified veterinary anatomic pathologist (DACVP) and toxicologist (DABT) and is also a Fellow of International Academy of Toxicologic Pathology (IATP). He has over ten years of industry experience, most recently as Scientific Director, Pathology at Janssen Pharmaceuticals supporting discovery and nonclinical safety of Oncology and Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases programs. Dr. Singh has a strong scientific interest in drug discovery (oncology and cardiovascular metabolism), molecular pathology, liver toxicity, development of animal models of human diseases, and chemical carcinogenesis. He has authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications, five book chapters, and 80+ regulatory and research pathology reports and delivered more than 70 presentations in various scientific meetings. Dr. Singh is actively involved in professional activities for various societies of toxicology and pathology, such as Chair for the STP education course committee, and in the past has served as Associate Editor for Drug and Chemical Toxicology, Chair for the IFSTP-IATP webinar committee, and Chair for Dog INHAND committee. Dr. Singh completed his pathology residency training at the Royal Veterinary College, London (United Kingdom). During his residency training, he did internships and externships at Bern University (Switzerland); the University of California, Davis (United States); the Armed Force Institute of Pathology (Washington, DC); and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). After finishing his residency, he worked at NIEHS/NTP (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) as a Visiting Fellow in Dr. Dave Malarkey’s laboratory. He received his veterinary training at G. B. Pant University (Pantnagar, India) and a masters at Utrecht University (Netherlands).

John L. Vahle, DVM, PhD, DACVP

Dr. Vahle received his veterinary medical degree from the University of Missouri in 1988 and his doctorate in veterinary pathology from Iowa State University in 1996. He became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 1995 and joined Lilly as a senior pathologist in 1996.

John has over 25 years of experience in pathology and toxicology and has served in a variety of roles including toxicology project leader, project pathologist, and regulatory toxicology advisor. In addition to nonclinical safety assessment, John has focused his efforts on carcinogenicity assessments of biotherapeutics and bone toxicology and pathology. He currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at Lilly. Dr. Vahle is active in various professional societies and consortia and is a past Councilor of the STP Executive Committee, past Chair of the BioSafe Organization, and a member of the steering committee for the international toxicologic pathology nomenclature initiative, INHAND. Based on his experience in carcinogenicity testing, John serves as a member of the ICH Expert Working Group assessing carcinogenicity testing paradigms for pharmaceuticals. Dr. Vahle’s publications have focused on toxicologic pathology of the endocrine and musculoskeletal systems as well as approaches to carcinogenicity assessment.

Justin D. Vidal, DVM, PhD, DACVP

Justin D. Vidal is a Senior Scientific Director of Pathology at Charles River. His specialties include male and female reproductive toxicologic pathology. He provides expert consulting on nonclinical male and female reproductive pathology and toxicology issues, including study design, data interpretation, peer review, clinical and regulatory interactions, and/or managing unexpected toxicity in pharmaceutical development programs as well as specialized and routine pathology support. He previously worked for GlaxoSmithKline with positions ranging from pathologist and drug development project team member to Head of Pathology. He received his DVM from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and his PhD in reproductive physiology/toxicology from the University of California, Davis. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and is a regularly invited speaker on the male and female reproductive systems at conferences and workshops around the world and has over 35 publications including INHAND, book chapters, and special issues on reproductive pathology.

Cynthia J. Willson, MS, PhD, DVM, DACVP, DABT

Dr. Cynthia Willson is an Investigative Pathologist for Integrated Laboratory Systems—an Inotiv Company, where she functions as an onsite National Toxicology Program (NTP) Pathologist (Contractor) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/NIH. Dr. Willson also leads the Division of the NTP Global Training Program in Toxicological Pathology.

She received her veterinary degree at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine after completing a PhD in Biology at Duke University. She completed a residency in anatomic pathology and an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in comparative reproductive pathology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 2014. Dr. Willson is a Diplomate of both the American College of Veterinary Pathology (2014) and the American Board of Toxicology (2021).

Dr. Willson is a member of the International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria (INHAND) working group for the male reproductive system and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Digital Peer Review Working Group. She serves on the Editorial Board of Toxicologic Pathology and as Chair of the STP Membership Committee and Chair of the STP Reproductive Pathology Special Interest Group. Dr. Willson has authored or co-authored over 30 publications or book chapters.