Prof Rachel Allavena is the Deputy Head of the School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland. She teaches toxicology, pathology, animal welfare and laboratory animal science to science and veterinary students. Prof Allavena is a specialist veterinary anatomic pathologist and is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. She is the lead pathologist in the Veterinary Laboratory Services with a focus on toxicology, legal and forensic cases. Her research interest focuses on translational and comparative medicine. Principally on pet dogs with natural cancer as a translational model for oncology research, on which she presented at TEDx talk. Her research includes biomedical device development, koala conservation, racing animal welfare and production animal disease and economics. Since commencing her academic career in 2011 she has received AUD $13.7 million of grant and contract funding for research, published over 60 peer reviewed journal articles and won several teaching awards, including UQ’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2021.