Cynthia is Chief of the Veterinary Medical Unit at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle where she has been since 1991. She began her veterinary career in small animal practice then completed residency training in laboratory animal medicine at the University of Washington.  She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Medicine at the University of Washington, and a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. In 2003 she served as president of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). She is a past board member of the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research.