Dr. Joshua Stern has been recommended for appointment as the Associate Dean for Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) Operations and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer, effective July 1, 2021 for a five-year term.

Stern has previously served as Interim Small Animal Clinic Director, Cardiology Service Chief and Residency Program Director, and a member of the Veterinary Medical Staff Executive Committee. He has served on the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) Strategic Planning Committee and as Chair of the Graduate Clinical Education Committee.

A professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, Stern is a small animal cardiologist, with a research focus on cardiovascular disease of companion animals and expertise in the genetics of cardiac disease, development of novel therapeutics for inherited heart disease, and identifying and establishing translational models of human cardiac disease. Stern is a dedicated and passionate educator with a commitment to mentoring DVM students, residents, and doctoral candidates. He previously served as Chair of the Curriculum Committee, and during the pandemic, as faculty assistant to the Associate Dean for Professional Education, facilitating efforts in support of clinical training in a hybrid format as well as increasing educational access to clinical training within the constraints of public health guidelines. He serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, as Chair of the Morris Animal Foundation's Small Animal Scientific Advisory Board, and is the immediate past Chair of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine subspecialty of Cardiology Research Committee.  

The Associate Dean for VMC Operations and CVMO is a member of the senior leadership team of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and reports directly to the Dean. The position is responsible for the professional, academic, and ethical affairs, financial health, and operational efficiency of the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. The position ensures that the VMTH meets its mission to provide state of the art clinical care and to serve as the primary clinical teaching experience for DVM students and postgraduate veterinarians in advanced clinical training programs.