When veterinarian Joseph Impellizeri was young, he frequently attempted to save injured animals wherever he encountered them.
“I would find all kinds of animals like injured squirrels and my mom would drive me to emergency clinics to rescue them,” he said. Bria, his pet German shepherd as of late, would testify to this after being hit by a car and saved by Impellizeri.
This affection for animals led Impellizeri to the field of veterinary medicine and on July 14 to his very own practice: the Veterinary Specialty Center of the Hudson Valley in WappingersFalls.
“There is such a need for specialty care in the Hudson Valley,” Impellizeri said. “Instead of battling New York City bridges and driving an hour-plus, clients can be served locally.”
The specialty care center hosts an array of veterinary equipment, ranging from a 1.5 Tesla high-field MRI to a GE Helical CT Scanner. “The 1.5 Tesla has a strong magnetic field. The stronger the magnetic field, the better the imaging,” said Impellizeri. “It allows you to acquire an image quicker and thus the animal”™s anesthesia time is shortened.”
The center also features an Aloka ultrasound, which is a minimally invasive surgical suite. According to Impellizeri, the oscopy biopsy machine allows him to zoom in on lesions in an animal, probe and ultimately, make fewer incisions resulting in less pain.
There is also digital radiography, which will allow Impellizeri and his staff to send digital images electronically to a radiologist, ensuring several eyes will look over images. “So, essentially, the radiologist is there ”¦ but they”™re not there,” laughed Impellizeri.
Impellizeri graduated from Cornell University with a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine. He holds a DACVIM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine) in oncology after finishing a three-year residency. “There are currently only 200 board-certified veterinary oncologists in the world,” he said.
By contributing his expertise in oncology, the study of cancerous tumors, Impellizeri is breaking ground in the Hudson Valley.
“What we really need are more specialists in the Hudson Valley,” said Dr. James Zgoda, owner and head veterinarian of Otterkill Animal Hospital in Campbell Hall. “Research and new clinical studies are absolutely vital in this field in determining what really works and to formulate data to back up anecdotal reports.”
As an adjunct professor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, Dr. Impellizeri continues to expand his clinical work within the department of biology.
“Vassar has really been such a blessing,” he said. “You have the backing by a laboratory and the ability to look at certain prototypes in a research setting.”
According to Dave Jemiolo, an associate professor of biology at Vassar College, Impellizeri supplements practical experiences in the clinic with readings from scientific literature.
“For the Vassar students who do clinical rotations with Joe, these (research experiences) are valuable to them and veterinary school admissions committees,” Jemiolo said. “Joe”™s new facility will house additional specialties, so students will have opportunities to be exposed to a variety of practices and techniques.”
The clinic is approximately nine miles from Vassar on Route 9, making it an easy drive for students, according to Jemiolo.
Impellizeri”™s research also extends to the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), a clinical cancer research organization accommodating a network of researchers, physicians and other health care professionals.
“Veterinary oncology is an important specialty that marries nicely with human oncology,” said Jemiolo. “Human cancer treatments are constantly being applied to animal cancers for the purpose of treating animal patients, which gains valuable information by seeing how animals respond to new chemotherapeutics.”
Impellizeri”™s knowledge in oncology and love of veterinary medicine and clinical research were the building blocks of the Veterinary Specialty Center of the Hudson Valley.
“We”™re really just an extension of the primary care service,” he said. “By committing to excellence and providing high levels of care without demanding your patients travel too far, these are the characteristics of a specialty center.”
The Veterinary Specialty Center of the Hudson Valley is located at 1285 Route 9, WappingersFalls. For more information, visit www.vschv.com.
