Contact Information

Email: echeniq@msu.edu

Education

• DVM, Universidade Federal de Pelotas
• Spec.
• MSc, Laboratório Regional de Diagnóstico
• PhD, Setor de Patologia Veterinária

Joanna V. Z. Echenique (eSHE-ni-ke) is a Brazilian veterinary diagnostician whose career spans diagnostic service, wildlife research, teaching, field necropsies, and food‑animal pathology across South and North America. Born in Rio de Janeiro and raised in Pelotas—an agricultural hub in southernmost Rio Grande do Sul—she grew up deeply rooted in aggie culture, a perspective that continues to shape her work in both the laboratory and the field.

She earned her DVM from Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel) in 2016 and completed a Master’s in Animal Science with Veterinary Pathology emphasis in 2019, focusing on wildlife diseases with spillover potential while serving as an assistant pathologist at the Laboratório Regional de Diagnóstico (LRD‑UFPel). From 2019 to 2023, Dr. Echenique joined the veterinary pathology team at the Setor de Patologia Veterinária (SPV‑UFRGS) in Porto Alegre, first as a resident and later as a PhD student investigating central nervous system diseases in wild mammals.

Dr. Echenique is an alumna of the University of Minnesota’s Veterinary Pathology Residency Program, with a focus in food‑animal pathology. As an instructor, she was awarded the Excellence in Clinical or Diagnostic Teaching Award in 2026. Her teaching philosophy centers on empathy, clarity, and respect for the people behind every case. Her core interests include outreach, food‑animal pathology, and the livestock–wildlife interface, with a particular passion for infectious disease. Also, she has a special interest in developing eco‑friendly, budget‑conscious diagnostic assays that expand testing capacity in resource‑limited settings and support practical, field‑ready disease investigation.