Staff

Dr. Nellie Owen
I was raised in S.W. Missouri and I have always been blessed with the ability to “whisper” to animals. While growing up, I was one of the top 10 fast pitch female softball players in Springfield starting at the age of ten. At 16, I worked part-time and, at 18 began working full time at various jobs and cared for my father’s 175 acre farm in Mt. Vernon, MO. In 1975, I was raising registered quarter horse yearlings and cross-bred and pure breed Braham cattle. In 1977, I was critically injured in an auto accident at the age of 22 that left me paralyzed from the chest down due to a spinal cord injury. Twelve years following my accident, I decided to go back to school with aide from the Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation Program. My original major was Court Reporting. I later changed my major to Pre-Vet. I graduated with my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine (MU-CVM), Columbia, MO, in 1998. Following graduation, I worked in the MU-CVM Intensive Care Unit three overnights a week and at Research Animal Diagnostic Investigative Laboratory (RADIL) two days week. In 1999 until 2003, I worked as a Senior Research Specialist for the Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute with the MU School of Medicine conducting cancer research in various species of mice.

I became proficient in inducing human tumors (breast, colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, and melanoma cell lines) in SCID mice. I also became an expert in tail vein injections with radiolabeld isotopes in both mice and rats. From 2003 until 2004, I was employed as a Senior Research Scientist for a private industry working with research mice, rats, non-human primates, dogs, and cats. In June, 2005, I became the Oncology Clinical Trials Coordinator for the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery.

My outside activities are enjoying Blues music, watching the wildlife in my back yard, and horseback riding at Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center in Columbia, MO. In 2004, I qualified and competed in the American Royal in Kansas City, MO, in the Exceptional Challenge Cup Division. This competition is targeted to people with disabilities that have overcome their physical and/or mental disabilities to once again achieve the ability to get back up on a horse.