Sarah Leavell DVM, CCRT, cVMA
Assistant Professor, Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Email: sarah.leavell@liu.edu
Dr. Sarah Leavell’s early career was in veterinary research covering many fields including immunology, virology and cellular/cancer biology. She worked at both NSCU and OSU(The) veterinary schools prior to going to vet school herself. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts in 2015. During her clinical year at Oklahoma State University, she was introduced to veterinary acupuncture and rehabilitation medicine, in the form of pain control and 'fat camp’ for dogs. This brought her back to her foundation of wanting to make animals feel better by using different modalities to alleviate pain. Following vet school, Dr. Leavell worked as a post-doctoral researcher at CSU studying pain and osteoarthritis. She also had the opportunity to manage the CSU Clinical Pathology lab and helped to develop diagnostic assays.
Living in CO offered a great opportunity to then become certified as a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist (CCRT) at the Canine Rehabilitation Institute and attended Curacore to earn her certification in Veterinary Acupuncture (cVMA). After practicing rehabilitation medicine in CO for a few years, Dr. Leavell decided to move back home to North Carolina to work in general practice.
Dr. Leavell enjoys helping to empower pet parents to be an active participant in their pet’s health and recovery. Owners enjoy finding out that there are alternative options than having surgical procedures or being on life-long pain medication. She has had a variety of experiences in the veterinary field and loves to teach and share her knowledge. Dr. Leavell assists in Clinical Skills labs as well as serves as a Clinical Year Mentor.
When not taking care of her beloved patients and students, Dr. Leavell enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her ‘fur family’ provides endless entertainment and joy! She lives by the mantra that ‘Life is short’ and urges everyone to cherish the days we have.