MMI Board Members
Don Beatty
Board Chair & Treasurer
Retired VP Strategic Initiatives and VP Finance, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.
In June 2023, Don Beatty retired from Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive Company. His most recent positions included leadership roles as VP Strategic Initiatives and VP Finance from 2015 to 2022.
From 2012 to 2015, Don was the Controller for Hill's North America. He partnered with the North America commercial leadership team in restoring growth in an important business unit, achieving record levels of sales and profitability.
Don joined Hill's in 1988 as Controller for Hill's distribution business in the U.S. and held positions of increasing responsibility in Arizona, Texas and Kansas. In 1996, he became Director, Budget and Planning for Hill's and led significant improvements in the planning and management reporting processes. In 1998, Don was appointed Assistant Controller in C-P South Africa and was promoted to Finance Director in 1999. He returned to Hill's in 2001 as Director, Strategic Planning and Budgeting, with responsibility for budgeting and strategic planning processes and leading the analysis of strategic acquisition targets. In 2004, he was promoted to Controller for Hill's, and his responsibilities expanded to include general accounting, treasury and taxes.
Prior to joining Hill's, Don gained public accounting experience with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Phoenix. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Simpson College and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Jessica Vogelsang, DVM, CVJ
Board Secretary
Chief Medical Officer, American Animal Hospital Association
Dr. Jessica Vogelsang received her BS from Loyola Marymount University and DVM from the University of California, Davis. Several years into general practice, she decided to explore how to influence pet owners in the online space with the launch of pawcurious.com, one of the first veterinary websites in the world.
For the last decade, Dr. Vogelsang has shared stories and educated readers around the world while working in general practice, emergency medicine, and hospice and palliative care. In that time, she became a professional author and medical educator, writing for both industry and general interest publications on pet care and the veterinary profession. In 2015, she published her first book All Dogs Go to Kevin.
As the online space grew, she turned her attention to training and mentoring veterinarians in professional development using their own writing and storytelling skills. After serving as the founding Editorial Director of drandyroark.com, she launched her second website, drjessicavogelsang.com, to help her colleagues develop their own online presence and influence. In 2021, she joined AAHA and currently serves as Chief Medical Officer.
As a tireless advocate for change and transformation, she pursues her passion for keeping the profession informed of trending topics through her lectures and writing. She is particularly interested in how the medical community can build or reduce trust in evidence-based medicine through the use of social media. She is a founding board member of the World Veterinary Palliative Medical Organization as well as the Veterinary Virtual Care Association. Her current interests include telemedicine, online education, and battling medical misinformation on the web.
Elizabeth Alvarez, DVM, DABVP
Clinical Associate Professor, Primary Care Service, University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Elizabeth (Liddy) Alvarez is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Primary Care Service where she has been teaching students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Veterinary Medicine for the past 17 years. She graduated from Michigan State University with her DVM in 2003 and after practicing for a few years, completed a rotating internship at the Veterinary Specialty Center in Lynnwood, WA in 2007. She also became a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (canine and feline practice) in 2013. She has also taught small animal clinical nutrition in the curriculum for the past eight years and has presented, as well as published manuscripts describing how general practitioners can increase compliance and combat barriers to discussing nutrition with clients.
Dr. Alvarez teaches students to practice primary care through utilizing spectrum of care strategies and serves as Chair of both the AAVMC Primary Care Veterinary Educators (PCVE) community as well as the AAVMC Spectrum of Care Initiative (SOCI) Educator Working Group. She has also been a part of building the UW-Madison outreach program, WisCARES, since its inception in 2014. WisCARES is a One Health program established to help pet owners experiencing homelessness and housing instability increase access to animal and human health care and social services. She currently serves as the Curriculum Director for WisCARES, where she focuses on the student experience, research, and obtaining grant funding for the program.
In 2022 Dr. Alvarez was awarded the UW-SVM inaugural Ruth M. Skaar Chair in Veterinary Medicine, a five-year endowed award focused on innovative teaching and education research and was named the prestigious AAVMC National Distinguished Veterinary Teacher award in 2023. Because of her work with interprofessional health-care work through WisCARES, Dr. Alvarez was named the 2023 Distinguished Fellow in the National Academies of Practice (NAP).
Iveta Becvarova, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM (Nutrition)
Senior Director of Global Academic & Professional Affairs, Hill's Pet Nutrition
Dr. Iveta Becvarova currently serves as Director of Global Academic and Professional Affairs at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, USA and she is Adjunct Faculty member in the Department of Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University. She has been Director of Academic Affairs at Hill’s Pet Nutrition Europe from 2011-2018.
Dr. Becvarova became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) in July 2007. She has been a Clinical Instructor and Clinical Assistant Professor – Veterinary Nutrition at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM) from 2006-2011.
Dr. Becvarova completed her Master of Science degree in Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences and Nutrition Residency program at the VMCVM in 2006 and earned her DVM degree in 1999 from the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic. She is a past president of the board of the ACVN, a member of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN) and of the European Society of Veterinary & Comparative Nutrition (ESVCN). Dr. Becvarova conducted studies in obesity, body composition and oxidative stress.
Siobhan Bridglalsingh, DVM, MHEd, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Faculty, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies
Dr. Siobhan Bridglalsingh is a Trinidad and Tobago national who attended the School of Veterinary Medicine at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (DVM) in 2005 after which, she was hired initially as a teaching assistant then progressed to lecturer in the department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery.
Her interest in veterinary education led her to completion of a Masters in Higher Education Teaching and Learning in 2016. One year later she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a PhD program at The University of Georgia (UGA), Athens, Georgia, United States. After completion of the PhD in 2020, she returned to the School of Veterinary Medicine in Trinidad where she resumed her duties until she returned the University of Georgia as the first resident in veterinary clinical nutrition in 2021 as part of the newly developed Veterinary Clinical Nutrition Service at UGA.
Dr. Bridglalsingh has presented her PhD research at the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Symposium 2020 and as a poster presentation in at the Global Animal Nutrition Summit 2020 for which she was awarded the prize for best poster in the category of new methodology. Her research focus is on advanced glycation end products, pet food processing and effects on companion animal health. Now that she has successfully completed the clinical nutrition residency program and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Nutrition Specialty Examination, Dr. Bridglalsingh has returned to the School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies to provide clinical service in this area and to continue research into the effects of processing on nutrients and health in animals.
Dr. Bridglalsingh lives in Trinidad with her mom, her sister who is also a veterinarian in private practice, their seven dogs and one parrot. She enjoys days at the beach and participating in Trinidad and Tobago’s annual Carnival celebrations where she dresses in costume for a two-day parade.
Catherine Ruggiero, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Senior Manager of Scientific Communications, Hill's Pet Nutrition
Dr. Catherine Ruggiero is a board-certified veterinary nutritionist® and Senior Manager of Scientific Communications at Hill's Pet Nutrition. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree at the University of Missouri in 2014. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Science from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Science in Biological Sciences from Fordham University.
Dr. Ruggiero worked as an associate veterinarian in a small animal practice in Upstate New York for just over three years before returning to the University of Missouri to pursue residency training in small animal clinical nutrition. After completing her American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) residency program in 2019, she joined Hill's Pet Nutrition.
She is an active member of multiple veterinary nutrition committees and subcommittees and is a frequent speaker on topics related to pet nutrition. Dr. Ruggiero is passionate about enhancing the quality of veterinary nutrition education for both veterinary professionals and pet parents. She is an active member and volunteer of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN) and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Nutrition (ACVIM-Nutrition).
Dr. Ruggiero currently lives in beautiful New York State with a beloved senior dog, a black cat, and her wonderful human partner.
Catherine L. Walberg, JD
Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds, & Palmer, LLC, Attorney-at-Law
With 20+ years of experience ranging from serving as Deputy Secretary/Litigator for the Kansas Department on Aging to being a key leader in the growth of healthcare and insurance start-ups to serving as counsel in a mature yet changing corporate insurance industry, Ms. Walberg has honed a unique specialty at the intersection of these arenas. She has been on the leading edge of health care and data while having spent a career mitigating and managing risks for the healthcare and business community and consulting with health care associations, state insurance companies, legislative and regulatory bodies, and individual business and corporate customers.
At the center of these experiences and wins is a true passion for the health care community and the business community. Ms. Walberg provides her clients with practical, strategic, and innovative legal and operational assistance. She supports her clients’ organizational growth and success while minimizing risk and liabilities.
Ms. Walberg has served on the American Bar Association’s HIPAA/HITECH Task Force & Security Rule Subcommittee; the Kansas Health Information Exchange’s Policy Committee; the PIAA Regulatory Committee*; the Chair of the Revised PIAA Model Audit Rule Subcommittee of Regulatory Affairs Committee, Chair of the PIAA Legal Section; Chair of the Topeka Country Club; Board Member of the Topeka Symphony; and, Board Member of the Kansas Health Care Provider Insurance Availability Plan.
In her spare time Ms. Walberg enjoys golfing, riding bicycles with her husband, and coaching youth cyclists. Ms. Walberg is a supporter of the Arts and strives to attend as many musical and theatre events as time allows.
*The PIAA is now known as the Medical Professional Liability Association (“MPL Association”).
