Rate My Professor Rell Parker

Rell Parker, DVM, PhD, DACVIM–Neurology, serves as Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006, a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology in 2015, and a DVM from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis in 2016. Following veterinary school, Parker completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at VCA Emergency Animal Hospital and Referral Center in San Diego, California from 2016 to 2017. She then pursued a residency in Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine from 2017 to 2020, attaining Diplomate status in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (DACVIM) in Neurology.

The Parker Laboratory, led by Parker, conducts translational research on neurologic disorders affecting both people and animals, with a primary emphasis on functional changes in the nervous system in response to chronic pain. Utilizing animal models, the lab examines pain pathophysiology across molecular, cellular, and behavioral scales, including alterations in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and the role of the α6 subunit in chronic pain states. Additional research areas encompass spontaneous brain tumors in dogs as models for precision medicine, novel therapeutic approaches such as histotripsy for intracranial tumors, stereotactic brain biopsy methods, imaging biomarkers like the T2-FLAIR mismatch sign for oligodendrogliomas, postoperative seizure outcomes following brain tumor surgery, and pain-sleep relationships in breeds predisposed to Chiari-like malformation and syringomyelia, such as Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Parker was named an iTHRIV Scholar from 2022 to 2024, supporting her mentored career development in clinical and translational research through the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia. Key publications include "First-In-DOg HISTotripsy for Intracranial Tumors Trial: The FIDOHIST Study" (2024), "Prognostic Value of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Defined Extent of Surgical Resection in Dogs With Intracranial Meningiomas" (2026), "Comparison of stereotactic brain biopsy techniques in dogs: neuronavigation, 3D-printed guides, and neuronavigation with 3D-printed guides" (2024), "The T2‐FLAIR mismatch sign as an imaging biomarker for oligodendrogliomas in dogs" (2023), and "Lynx1 balances neuronal activity through nicotinic acetylcholine receptor modulation" (2011).