2024 speaker information

Dr. Jane Kelly was born in Liverpool, England and grew up reading James Herriot books and watching All Creatures Great and Small on TV. She wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as she can remember, but did not really expect to be working in the field of veterinary diagnostics. It turns out that, after 33 years of working in the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, she still loves the challenges and variety of the job and it was a great career choice.
She got her DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) degree at North Carolina State University in 1989 then moved to Utah and did a large animal residency and a Master of Science degree at Utah State University which she completed in 1992. She also met her husband Paul at USU and he is English also (small world!). She has had an interest in public health (particularly public health concerns of developing countries) for many years, perhaps stemming from time spent in central Africa as a child. Finally, the time and opportunity were available and she completed a Master of Public Health degree through the University of Iowa in 2014 and passed the ACVPM specialty board exam that same year. Though not planning a major career change, she hopes to be involved in public health as much as possible while working in veterinary diagnostics. Since zoonotic diseases are a huge public health concern, it is a natural progression.
She has loved microbiology since the first day working at UVDL, has been the section head since 2008, and finally decided in late 2016 that she had better get on with trying for the ACVM boards before she got too old! With much support from many colleagues and a study group of bright young microbiology residents from Washington, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, she managed pass the exam in November 2017 and couldn’t be happier.
She is interested in anything involving time spent with family and friends, particularly any outdoor activity and makes the most of the abundance of recreation opportunities in Utah with Paul and her children Michael and Elaine. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with Elaine in the summer of 2014, truly the trip of a lifetime. She hiked to Everest Base Camp with Michael and Elaine in May 2019, another trip of a lifetime. She completed her first ultramarathon, a 50 km trail run starting in Park City in September 2016 and did a 3-day ultramarathon in Scotland in October 2021 and a 5-day ultramarathon in 2022 in Kenya to raise money for the Rangers that protect rhinos from poaching. She just completed another 5-day ultramarathon in Sweden in the Arctic Circle.
Both Elaine and Michael would like to be veterinarians and nothing could make her happier.
In 2010 she donated her left kidney and in July 2020 she donated the right lobe of her liver. Both were incredibly rewarding experiences and the recipients are doing very well.