Clinical Laboratory Staff
Laboratory Management
Carlyle Hass, BS, CLS, ASCP board certified MT, Lab Manager
Carlyle Hass has worked in the diagnostic laboratory environment for over 30 years. In 1980 he joined the U.C. Davis VMTH where he first experienced veterinary laboratory diagnostics. Upon leaving the VMTH and joining the company now known as IDEXX, he gained 7 years more experience in the veterinary field. Taking leave from IDEXX, Hass returned to human labooratory medicine at Sutter Davis Hospital where he spent the next 19 years. While at Sutter Davis, he had a multitude of positions, including Lab Manager and Techinical Coordinator. During his time at Sutter, he remained on-call for the VMTH. He joined the VMTH Clinical Laboratory services full time in 2006 as the Chemistry Supervisor and is currently Manager of all of the Clinical Laboratories.
Julie Burges, BS, MS, Assistant Lab Manager
Julie Burges grew up in Augsburg and Bremerhaven, Germany, but calls Savannah, GA home. She has worked on and off in the veterinary world since 1991. In 1995, she took a break from veterinary medicine and did a stint in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve as a nurse and command post controller. Upon deciding animals were much better patients than humans, she returned to her roots by working in both private practice and academia in Missouri. She began working for UC Davis in September of 2007 as an Assistant Supervisor for Small Animal Nursing. She joined the Transfusion Medicine team in September of 2008, where she is responsible for the day-to- day operations of the blood bank and its personnel. Burges is a member of NAVTA, Society for Veterinary Behavior Technicians, Veterinary Cancer Society, and the American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians. Her career interests include Veterinary Emergency Preparedness and Idiopathic Aplastic Anemia in felines. She has been the Assistant Lab Manager of the Clinical Laboratories since 2010.
Danielle D Carrade, PhD, Research and Development Manager
Dr. Danielle D. Carrade oversees the daily operations of Central Laboratory Receiving, manages research accounts for the VMTH Clinical Laboratories, and performs outreach marketing. She received her Doctorate in Comparative Pathology from U.C. Davis and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at UC Davis in October 2012. Her foray into veterinary medicine began in 2004 at IDEXX in West Sacramento, serving as the Hematology/Chemistry Lead Technician and LEAN Team Technician. She started at UC Davis in 2006, studying seroprevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in dogs from California, Washington and Oregon, then transferred laboratories to work with Dr.Sean Owens and help establish the VMTH Transfusion Medicine Service. As a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher, Dr.Carrade studied immunomodulation by equine mesenchymal stem cells and has published extensively in the field.
Laboratory Staff
Liz Abart, AA
Liz Abart worked in the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's Anatomic Pathology Service for 18 years as a medical transcriptionist. In 2006, she moved to the microbiology unit in Clinical Laboratory Services where her duties broadened. In addition to medical transcription, she logs test results and scans them into the computer records system to make them accessible to clinicians. She faxes test results to referring veterinarians, updates laboratory manuals and performs clerical tasks such as correspondence and billing.
Patty Beaver, BS, CLS
After earning a BS in biosciences from the University of California – Davis in 1975, Patty Beaver trained at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and was licensed as a CLS in 1976. She worked at two other laboratories in Northern California before returning to Davis in 1985 for a job in the hematology unit of Clinical Laboratory Services. She is currently the lead technician in the Regenerative Medicine laboratory. Beaver also assists with teaching fourth-year veterinary students in their clinical pathology.
Jeanne Brown, CLS
Jeanne Brown was employed in San Diego at a hospital laboratory and the University of California – Davis Medical Center before beginning her job at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in 1989. She has performed laboratory duties in every section of the Clinical Laboratory Services unit, but she has worked primarily in the hematology and immunology & virology laboratories.
Regina Cortez, BS, CLS
After receiving her bachelor's degree in microbiology from Cal Poly Pomona in 1979, Regina Cortez trained for one year at a hospital in San Jose, California before her licensure as a clinical laboratory scientist. She was hired in Clinical Laboratory Sciences in 1984, and spent 2 years in hematology prior to working primarily in the clinical chemistry laboratory.
Brittany Elizondo
Brittany Elizondo currently works as a technician in the Transfusion and Regenerative Medicine services.
Leontyne (Dyne) Hansing, AHT
Dyne Hansing currently works within the Transfusion Medicine service.
Juliet Herrera, BS
Juliet Herrera earned her bachelor's degree in biology/physiology from San Francisco State University in 1985. From 1985 until 1994 she was a laboratory technician for Poultry Health Laboratories in Davis, California, producing vaccines and bacterins for large animals. Since 1992, Herrera has served as a hospital laboratory technician III in microbiology. Her training includes identification of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and she is the sole technician running PCR and DNA sequencing for the microbiology unit.
Marcia (Sasha) Hickman-Beoshanz, AHT
Sasha Hickman-Beoshanz currently works within the Transfusion Medicine service.
Robin Houston - BS, MS
Robin Houston received his BS degree in animal sciences at the University of California – Davis in 1977, then his Masters of Science degree in veterinary parasitology at Texas A & M University in 1980. In 1981, he returned to Davis. He has managed the parasite reference collection for the School of Veterinary Medicine and acted as teaching coordinator for the parasitology curriculum in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program since 1981. In 2002, he joined the Clinical Laboratory Services team as clinical parasitologist, performing the majority of diagnostic tests requested through the hospital on a wide variety of patients, from malamutes to monk seals and Thoroughbreds to tree frogs.
Benrie N. Leonor, BS, CLS (AAB, AMT)
Benrie Leonor started his career after graduating with a B.S. in Medical Technology in the Phillipines. After serving 7 years in the government hospital in the Phillipines, he moved to the U.S. where he has worked in both human and veterinary laboratories, including IDEXX for more than 2 years, prior to joining the VMTH Clinical Laboratory Services.
Brenda Lieng
Brenda Lieng works in Central Lab Receiving.
Karen Pacheco
Karen Pacheco was employed in the Microbiology Lab at Woodland Healthcare prior to joining the University of California-Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital Chemistry Lab in 2006. In September 2011, she transferred to Central Lab Receiving assisting in the development of this new service and providing processing support to the various units within Clinical Laboratory Services.
Eileen Samitz, MA, CLS, ASCP
Eileen Samitz has worked in the field of veterinary microbiology for 32 years. She completed her CLS training at UCDMC in 1979. She as an AAS degree in veterinary science technology and is licensed both as a Registered Veterinary Technician as well as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist. Eileen has a master's degree from the University of California – Davis in microbiology, where her research focus was in veterinary microbiology under Dr. Ernst Biberstein, DVM, PhD. Samitz works in the microbiology service isolating, identifying and doing susceptibility testing on aerobic organisms and yeasts, and identifying clinical yeast and mould isolates in the mycology section. She is also a support tech in the parasitology service. Her special interests include antimicrobials, susceptibility testing, monitoring resistant organisms, and infectious disease control. She has a significant number of clinical and research publications. She has been a local volunteer fundraiser for the local SPCA and has coordinated the Mercer Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless holiday pet basket charity since 1998. Like many employees at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, she is an animal lover. She greatly enjoys working in veterinary microbiology doing the diagnostics to help diagnose and treat infectious disease in animals.
Paula Samuelson, BS, CLS
After earning a degree in biology in 1975, Paula Samuelson spent 2 years as a science teacher in the Peace Corps. After her service, she studied laboratory medicine, served a 1-year internship in medical technology at Sutter Memorial Hospital and worked at Sutter General Hospital. She moved to Davis in 1983 and found her position in Clinical Laboratory Services. She gained experience in chemistry and hematology testing, and she contributed to the teaching of veterinary students in the clinical pathology rotation in their fourth year.
Mahrokh Shooshtari, MS, CLS
Mahrokh Shooshtari has worked in the hematology department full time since 1999. Previously, she had a part-time position at the University of California – Davis and was affiliated full time with IDEXX laboratories for 11 years.
Marissa Simpson, BS
Marissa Simpson received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo in 2005. Her emphasis and hands on experience with food animals, specifically cattle, guided her career path toward clinical diagnostics with jobs including: technician in bovine embryo transfer with Trans Ova Genetics, necropsy technician with experience in microbiology, parasitology and immunology at the Tulare branch of California Animal Health and Food Safety and in 2007 she joined the staff at the Veterinary Medical Teaching
Hospital. Simpson’s time in the microbiology service includes: isolating, identifying and performing susceptibility testing on aerobic and anaerobic organisms and supervising all student lab assistants. She is also cross-trained in the immunology/virology service and is currently cross-training in the parasitology service. Working in the animal health field has always been a career goal for Simpson. She enjoys working at VMTH to help in the diagnosis and treatment of animals brought to the veterinary hospital.
Joy Snipes, BS, CLS
After earning a bacteriology degree from the University of California – Davis in 1980, Joy spent a year training at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. She moved back to Davis in 1981 to work at the Sacramento Blood Bank for a short time before accepting a position in the hematology laboratory at the University of California – Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. She held the position of hematology supervisor and currently works in multiple laboratories, including hematology, regenerative medicine and clinical chemistry.
Christina Steckley, BA
Christina Steckley has worked in veterinary hospitals since the age of 16 in a variety of technical positions. She is a 2002 graduate of the University of California – Davis. Steckley worked for two years at IDEXX before moving to Clinical Laboratory Services in 2004 where she serves primarily in the hematology laboratory.
Eva Tamez-Trevino, MD, MS, PhD
After working for 10 years in a research laboratory in Mexico, Eva Tamez-Trevino spent several years at the medical and dental school of the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, as a lecturer to professional students. She currently works in the immunology and virology laboratories.
Heather Wiese, AS, BS
Heather Wiese earned her bachelor's degree at the University of California – Davis in 2003 and came to Clinical Laboratory Services in 2004. She has developed experience in both microbiology and immunology/virology. Since 2007, her work has focused on immunology and virology testing.
JoAnn J. Yee, BS
JoAnn Yee earned her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at the University of California – Davis in 1996. She worked in the School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Medicine and Epidemiology for five and a half years as a postgraduate researcher studying salmonella and pancreatic function. She has been with the microbiology laboratory in the Clinical Laboratory Services group since July 2002. She is certified in diagnostic procedures for contagious equine metritis (CEM). UC Davis is one of a few laboratories with approval to perform testing for this exotic disease in horses.
