MMI Faculty
MMI faculty are experts in clinical nutrition and have extensive teaching experience
Cailin R. Heinze, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Dr. Heinze is the Executive Director and Chief Academic Officer for MMI. She received her DVM from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. After veterinary school, she worked in private small animal/exotics practice for a few years on the east coast before moving to California to pursue a residency in clinical nutrition at UC Davis.
Dr. Heinze completed her residency and then earned a Master’s degree in Nutritional Biology at UC Davis prior to joining the faculty of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
Dr. Heinze is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the Nutrition subspecialty. Dr. Heinze taught biochemistry and clinical nutrition and ran the Clinical Nutrition Service at Tufts until June 2019. She currently holds the title of Adjunct Associate Professor at the Cummings School.
Her professional and research interests include nutritional management of renal disease, long chain fatty acids, and cancer nutrition. In her leisure time, Dr. Heinze enjoys hanging out and training with her dog, DIY projects, dressage, and gardening.
Marjorie Chandler, DVM, MS, MANZCVS, DACVIM (Nutrition, SAIM), MRCVS
Dr. Chandler has a BS from California State University, and a MS (Animal Nutrition) and DVM from Colorado State University (CSU). After several years in mixed and emergency practice, she did residencies in small animal medicine and clinical nutrition at CSU and Massey University, NZ.
Dr. Chandler is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, a member of the Australia New Zealand College of Veterinary Science (Small Animal Medicine), Chair of the FEDIAF Scientific Advisory Board, founding member of the European Veterinary Nutrition Educators Group, and Co-Chair of the WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee.
Dr. Chandler is an independent consultant in small animal nutrition and internal medicine, Clinical Nutritionist for Vets-Now Referrals, Glasgow, and Internal Medicine Specialist for Moorview Referrals in Newcastle, U.K.
Jennifer A. Larsen, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Dr. Larsen holds a PhD in Nutritional Biology and a DVM from UC Davis. She attained Diplomate status from the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (which is now the 6th specialty under the ACVIM umbrella).
She provides clinical nutritional consulting through the Nutrition Support Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. She also mentors residents and students, and teaches in the veterinary curriculum as well as for the Graduate Group of Nutritional Biology.
Deborah E. Linder, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Dr. Linder is a Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where she also earned her DVM.
Her research focuses on safe and effective weight loss strategies for pets as well as the effect of obesity on pet and human well-being and One Health. She is also Co-Director of the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction.
Dr. Linder has spoken at national and international conferences, and has had appearances in Eating Well, the Boston Globe, AARP, the New York Times, and XM Sirius Radio Doctor Channel.
Her interests include obesity management, effective client education, human-animal interaction and the impact on One Health.
Maryanne Murphy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)
Dr. Murphy received her DVM from Iowa State University in 2008. After veterinary school, she completed a rotating general medicine and surgery internship at Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialists in New York City and a clinical nutrition residency at the University of Tennessee.
Dr. Murphy completed her residency and then earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative and Experimental Medicine at the University of Tennessee in 2014. The focus of Dr. Murphy’s dissertation research was energy metabolism and satiety in lean and obese dogs. She joined the staff of Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls, NJ as a clinical nutritionist in 2014 and transitioned back to academia in 2016.
Dr. Murphy is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition) and teaches clinical nutrition at the University of Tennessee. Her professional and research interests include obesity prevention and management and veterinary nutrition education.
Angela Witzel Rollins, DVM, PhD, ACVIM (Nutrition)
Dr. Angela Rollins is a clinical professor of nutrition at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, where she also attained her DVM, PhD, and residency training. Dr. Rollins teaches courses in veterinary nutrition and physiology and participates in the clinical nutrition service. She is also a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition) and Past-president of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition. Her research interests include obesity physiology, prevention, and treatment.
Cecilia Villaverde, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition) and Diplomate ECVCN
Dr. Villaverde obtained her veterinary degree in 2000 and her PhD in animal nutrition in 2005 by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. She worked as a post doctoral researcher in feline nutrition at the University of California Davis, where she also completed a residency in small animal clinical nutrition at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
She is board certified in veterinary nutrition by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition) and by the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN) since 2010 and is currently the past president of ECVCN.
After working as the chief of service of the veterinary teaching hospital nutrition service in Barcelona (UAB) for 6 years, she is now a consultant in clinical nutrition for Expert Pet Nutrition (www.expertpetnutrition.com) and Veterinary Information Network (VIN).
She is the co-chair of the WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee and has written several articles and book chapters on the topic of companion animal nutrition.
