Emergency

David Rouse, DVM
Chief of Staff

Dr. Rouse received his veterinary degree from Italy's prestigious University of Perugia in 1981. He joined The Hope Center in 1992, after 10 years of primary care practice in Vienna and North Carolina. He concentrates on emergency and critical care medicine, with an emphasis on radiology and surgery.

Dr. Rouse lives in South Riding, Virginia, with his wife, son and daughter.

Michele Angel, DVM
Assistant Chief of Staff

Dr. Angel is a 1998 graduate of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and joined The Hope Center in February of 2000. Her veterinary interests lie in pain management, diagnostic imaging, trauma management and surgical emergencies. In addition to her clinic duties, she also serves as the Assistant Chief of Staff. Outside of the clinic, Dr. Angel enjoys hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains, jogging near her home in Georgetown, reading, and enjoying exotic foods.

Scott Moore, VMD

Dr. Moore graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1992. After spending a year in Kenya studying wildlife management and biology, he completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Friendship Hospital for animals in Washington, D.C. Dr. Moore joined The Hope Center in March of 1995.

Laurie Miller, DVM

Dr. Miller grew up in Vienna and received her bachelor's degree at Virginia Tech in the fall of 1997. She then went on to pursue her dream of becoming a veterinarian and graduated from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. Her interest in emergency medicine started while working as an emergency surgery technician during veterinary school. After graduation she returned to Northern Virginia working in a private practice in McLean, Virginia, for a year and a half before joining The Hope Center. She and her husband recently welcomed their first son into their home which they also share with a dog and two cats.

Karena Joung, VMD

Dr. Joung received her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. Her interest in Emergency Veterinary Medicine was cultivated during her internship at Michigan State University where she received recognition as Intern of the Year. Away for five years, Dr. Joung is delighted to be back home in the D.C. area, where she spends spare time with her husband, dog, and three cats.

Cady Johnston, DVM

Dr. Johnston began her education at Virginia Tech and stayed in Blacksburg to graduate from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. After completing vet school, Dr. Johnston participated in a one-year rotating internship of small animal medicine and surgery at Southpaws Veterinary Referral Center. It was during her internship that she developed a strong interest for emergency medicine. Her four legged friends include 2 cats and 3 dogs.

Beth Venit, VMD

Dr. Venit, a Bethesda, MD native, enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania with the hopes to one day move into the field of emergency veterinary medicine. After graduating in 2007 and completing a year-long internship at VCA Veterinarian Referral Associates in Gaithersburg, she realized her goal when she joined the ER team at The Hope Center. Dr. Venit finds endocrinology and toxicology particularly interesting areas of emergency care. In her spare time, she enjoys tiring her dog out with running and hiking and relaxing afterwards with her cat.

Internal Medicine

Angela Gasser, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, CVA

Director of Internal Medicine

Dr. Gasser graduated from North Carolina State University in 1999 and completed her internship, residency, and a year of lecturing at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gasser spent two years in private practice in New Jersey, then joined The Hope Center in August of 2005. She has special interest in immune, hematologic (blood, spleen, bone marrow), endocrine, and gastrointestinal diseases as well as holistic medicine. Dr. Gasser is a certified veterinary acupuncturist (CVA) trained at the Chi Institute.

Heidi Allen, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM

Dr. Allen graduated in 1996 from the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and completed her internship and residency at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Dr Allen practiced internal medicine at Affiliated Veterinary Specialist in Florida before joining the staff of The Hope Center. Dr. Allen is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Kelly Gisselman, DVM

Dr. Gisselman graduated in 2005 from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She then went on to complete her internship and residency training in internal medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland and is excited to move back a little closer to home by working at The Hope Center where she started in October 2008.

Dennis Slade, DVM

Dr. Slade graduated in 2005 from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. After completing his internship at Long Island Veterinary Specialists (Long Island, NY), he went on to complete a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the Class of 2009 Resident Award for teaching. Originally from eastern Long Island, Dr. Slade is excited to explore the running and biking paths as well as the restaurants in the DC metro area.

Ophthalmology

Elizabeth Adkins, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVO

Dr. Elizabeth Adkins became the head of The Hope Center Ophthalmology Department in May of 2009 and is a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist who has been in the field since 2004. She joined The Hope Center after two years at the University of Wisconsin as a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology. Prior to this position, she had been in private practice since 2004. Dr. Adkins is a graduate of The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and returned there for her residency program after receiving a Masters in Comparative Biomedical Sciences from North Carolina State University.

In addition to being a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, Dr Adkins is also a member of National Shiba Club of America. Dr. Adkins has three Shiba Inus, including one from Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue.

Dr. Adkins is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology.

Oncology

Elsa Beck, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM (Oncology), Dipl. ACVR (Radiation Oncology)

Dr. Beck joined The Hope Center in 2007 after a prestigious career in the field of Veterinary Oncology. Double-Boarded in Veterinary Oncology and Radiation Therapy, Dr. Beck has provided expertise and guidance to a number of academic and private institutions. Dr. Beck’s major focus has been on developing cutting edge cancer treatments in pets that could be rapidly translated into human treatments. She believes in a multidisciplinary approach, prescribing combinations of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and other cancer treatments to provide the best possible care, while avoiding side effects. She, along with the rest of the staff, strives to make the process as pleasant as possible for pets and their owners.

Conor McNeill, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (Oncology)

Dr. Conor McNeill joined The Hope Center in August 2009. He received his veterinary degree from Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2003, and, after moving to the United States, he completed a one-year rotating small animal internship in medicine and surgery at the M. J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania 2005. He remained at the University of Pennsylvania to complete a residency in medical oncology in July 2008 and fellowship in radiation oncology in July 2009. His research interests include lymphoma, osteosarcoma and mammary cancer. Dr. Conor McNeill is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and is board certified in Oncology by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Interns

The Hope Center participates in the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians’ Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program. The Matching Program facilitates a pairing between newly graduated veterinarians and hospitals nationwide. After interviews with The Hope Center and other hospitals, the interns are asked to rank them in order of preference. Likewise, the clinics will rank prospective interns. The data is returned to the Matching Program, which pairs the doctors with their selected facility.

At The Hope Center, interns rotate though every department in order to receive a year of on-the-job training under the guidance of more experienced doctors and board certified specialists.