After receiving her DVM from the University of California at Davis, Dr. Kirk completed an internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York and an Internal Medical Residency and PhD in Nutrition at UC Davis. She worked briefly in private practice as a relief veterinarian and emergency medicine. In 1994, Dr. Kirk joined Hill�s Pet Nutrition where she served as a senior scientist for 9 years. She participates on the teaching faculty for the Mark Morris Institute for the past 19 years. Presently, she is Professor of Medicine and Nutrition and at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville, Tennessee where she has resided since 2003. In 2012, she was honored as a Wharton Professor of Excellence. Dr. Kirk is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition and Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She has published over 100 scientific articles and abstracts and holds several patents concerning nutritional management of disease. Her areas of professional interest concerns the nutritional interaction with disease with special interests in obesity, feline diabetes, and feline lower urinary tract disease. Her personal interest include horses, gardening, hiking and family.