Our Team

B.Sc. Ag, DVM, Dipl. ACPV

Dr. Tom Inglis is the founder and a managing partner at Poultry Health Services. Tom led the formation of the company in 2002 in response to a request from the industry to return to Alberta and fulfill the diagnostic contract needs for the poultry industry in Alberta. Tom was born in Saskatoon and raised in Vermilion and Edmonton where he attended the U of A, completing a BSc. in Agriculture in 1999. He is a graduate from the WCVM in Saskatoon where he received his DVM in 2003 and became a board certified poultry veterinarian with the American College of Poultry Veterinarians in 2009. Tom developed a fascination with poultry production and nutrition as a student at the University of Alberta where he continues to participate in the research program and is one of the flock health veterinarians for the Poultry Research Centre. As an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, he developed and delivered the original curriculum. Tom’s areas of focus in practice and research are integrated health programs, processing (stunning, food safety and humane handling), and effective disinfection. As an active member on a number of local, national and international associations, Tom works to contribute his training and passion for poultry as a resource for the betterment of the industry and profession.

DVM MSci MAM Dipl ACPV

Darko was born and raised in Skopje, Macedonia. He received his DVM degree at the University of Belgrade in 1992 and then worked as a teaching and research assistant and extension service veterinarian at the Veterinary Institute and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Skopje. He obtained his Master of Science degree in 1996 from the University of Belgrade. Darko completed the Master of Avian Medicine program at the University of Georgia in 2003 and became a Diplomate of American College of Poultry Veterinarians the following year. In 2005, Darko accepted the position at Poultry Health Services and moved with his family to Alberta. His main areas of interest include poultry immunity, vaccines and vaccination programs and diagnostics for all poultry species. He also works closely with the layer industry and game birds on various issues of health management and disease prevention.

DVM, MAHM, Dipl. ACPV

Ben was born and raised in southwestern Ontario. He grew up on a diversified farming operation, which produces pigs, chickens and field crops. Ben attended the University of Waterloo and completed a BSc in Biotechnology and Economics. After that, he completed his veterinary degree at the University of Guelph. Ben completed a master’s degree in poultry medicine, the MAHM, through the University of Georgia and the University of Melbourne and became a diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinary Medicine in 2017. Ben has been able to complete internships with private veterinary practices, universities and government laboratories in a number of locations throughout North America.

DVM, MAHM

Luke was born and raised in Abbotsford BC. His childhood consisted of many long hours picking eggs on the family farm which eventually diversified into broilers and turkeys. Luke attended the University of Alberta working towards a BSc in Animal Science. He was accepted into Vet School soon after and received his DVM from the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Nickel completed his Masters in Avian Health and Management through the University of Georgia in May 2020. He led the opening of the Poultry Health Services branch in Abbotsford, BC and continues as the managing veterinarian for operations in BC. Luke’s main interests include on farm management and diagnostics along with water fowl medicine.

Jennifer fell in to the world of poultry veterinary practice by chance. She brings with her a background in contract management, event planning and a true desire to help others. She has thoroughly enjoyed learning about the commercial poultry production industry and the importance of veterinary care in that cycle. The vets look after the poultry and Jennifer looks after the vets!

As a foreign trained veterinarian, Julijana is always searching for good people who enjoy laboratory environment and teamwork. Julijana demonstrates strong empathy and genuine concern for her colleagues and customers. She is a collaborative team player, and plays a key role in helping the lab team achieve success. Passionate for Continuous Improvement, Julijana is always looking to learn and solve problems. She is detailed oriented, adaptable and always finds ways to make things better. Julijana likes hiking, walking, traveling, reading books, watching movies, meeting new people, visiting new places, learning about other cultures, gardening, helping people in needs and spending time with her family and friends.

Paras joined the team in 2016 after graduating with his master’s degree in veterinary medical sciences program from the University of Calgary. As a lead lab technician, he is actively involved in planning, coordinating and execution of laboratory activities. As a foreign trained veterinarian, he brings his knowledge and experience assisting PHS veterinarians for the betterment of the poultry industry in Canada. He is happy to continue his career in the field of veterinary sciences.

Currently on leave, Melissa has worked in the laboratory for most of her career. She has a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from the University of Calgary with a focus in biomedical research. Her attention to detail and willingness to learn are her most admirable qualities. In her free time, she enjoys reading books or listening to audiobooks about personal growth and loves to document what she learned through journaling.

Bruna received her Veterinary Degree from Universidade Federal Fluminense. She completed a Masters degree and worked with Parasitology in Brazil prior to emigrating to Canada in 2016. Bruna’s special field of interest is…poop! Poultry feces tell a story about bird health and Bruna is passionate about digging in and getting the dirty facts for the story. She feels very lucky to work in a field she enjoys and with a team she appreciates.

Victor got his Veterinary degree from San Marcos University – Peru in 2006. After his graduation, he worked as a broiler field veterinarian and as a technical representative for the Peruvian pharmaceutical industry for 5 years. In 2011, he moved to USA to pursue a Master’s Degree in Veterinarian Biomedical Sciences at the University of Georgia. Following his interest in viral poultry diseases, he worked for 2 years at Lohmann Animal Health on poultry vaccines’ design and development. In 2015, Victor joined the University of Calgary (UofC) as part of a joint project sponsored by the Western Canada poultry industry and the Institute for Applied Poultry Technologies (IAPT). Victor recently completed his PhD at UofC under Dr. Careem’s supervision, with a project focused on diminishing the damaging effects that variant Avian Reovirus causes to the Western Canada Poultry industry. He has also worked with Chicken Astrovirus (CAstV), Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILTV), and Turkey Hemorrhagic Enteritis Virus (THEV).As a member of the valuable PHS team, Victor contributes his knowledge in poultry diseases, vaccine development, virus isolation, sequencing, and genotyping as well as designing new services and solutions for the Canadian Poultry industry.

Alejandro has been working with poultry production since he obtained his veterinary degree in Colombia where he was born. He worked with pig production when he arrived in Manitoba, Canada in 2005. He moved to Alberta in 2012 and has been enjoying the change of job and more favourable weather.

Jacqueline graduated with a BSc in Zoology in 2012 from the University of Calgary. She completed the Animal Health Technologist program at Olds College in 2019, with an emphasis on production and commercial animal medicine. At Poultry Health Services, Jacqueline combines field work and projects with pharmacy management in the office. She is an active member of a 4th generation family farm in central Alberta.

Samantha works as the field and lab technician in Ontario. She has a Master’s degree in Animal Science with a focus on Food Science and Microbiology and had worked in a few sectors of animal agriculture before happily landing in the poultry industry. Samantha gets to work on a variety of tasks including field visits, assisting the vet in the lab, and looking after the day-to-day functioning of the office.

Lorrie has been working for Poultry Health Services since 2005. She comes from an agriculture background and enjoys working within the poultry industry.

Griffin came to PHS very well educated with 3 advanced certifications. He began his post-secondary studies with a diploma in chemical laboratory technology from Saint Claire college in ON then moved on to complete a BSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences with Drug Development from IT Sligo in Ireland. When Covid-19 was declared a world-wide pandemic, Griffin was working on his MSc in pharmaceutical chemistry in Wales, UK. He made the decision to come home to ON to complete his degree online. Upon completion, he decided to explore Western Canada and applied for various positions along the way. PHS was the fortunate landing place for Griffin as he was excited to learn about a completely new industry. He looks forward to contributing his skills in formulation chemistry with the continuation of product development in our sister company AHPD.

Desirae has been working with and around animals her entire life which lead her to complete a diploma in Agriculture Technology from the University of the Fraser Valley. Her interest in becoming a poultry field tech was born after she worked with poultry during a summer student position where she learned a lot about the industry. Desirae is always challenging herself to learn as much as she can while enjoying her time out in the field.

Tennera began her journey with Poultry Health Services in 2010 as an Administrative Assistant. She has grown with the company and been a keeper of the historical and technical knowledge as the company has expanded. Family life put her career on hold for a couple of years; however, she was thrilled to rejoin the team in a part-time capacity in 2018. Supporting the veterinarians as a Project Administrative Assistant is her primary role as she loves the challenge of taking farm and laboratory data and creating presentable documents.

Kristie came to PHS with a background of over 10+ years in office management, administrative, data entry and customer service based roles. Her efficiency, organizational skills and previous work experience has made her an asset to PHS. She enjoys her new position of accounts payable/receivable, among various other roles. Kristie is dedicated, driven, and eager to learn and experience new challenges within the ever-evolving veterinary world alongside an incredible team.

With over 20 years of experience with everything IT, Wade relishes disrupting the ‘norm’ with forward-thinking and finding technology solutions to everyday problems. He is a strategist with the ability to think around corners, and enjoys the challenge of integrating IT into the PHS veterinary and laboratory work flows. In his spare time, Wade enjoys traveling with his wife and exploring Canada/US on their motorcycles.

Darin brings a diverse background of business operation and management skills along with creativity and out of the box thinking. These skills along with an infectious enthusiasm have allowed him to eagerly take on many different roles and projects with PHS. His current primary focus is the development of AHPD and relationship management. He excels at finding and fixing problems with his motto being “It’s a good day if I’m doing something that scares me”

Tristen is currently working towards completing his Bachelor of Computer Information Systems at Mount Royal University. He is most interested in problem solving and creating effective solutions. He is a jack of all trades but master of none… yet!! He is working to find his area of focus and is grateful for the diverse opportunities that PHS offers. Outside of work, Tristen is passionate about his fresh water aquariums filled with a plethora of invertebrates and tropical fish.