Lisa Barber – DVM, DACVIM

A board-certified oncologist, Dr. Lisa Barber specializes in treating dogs and cats with a variety of cancers. She also consults on large animals such as horses, as well as exotic animals. In addition, she conducts clinical trials to evaluate new cancer treatments and trains residents in clinical oncology.

Growing up in New York City, Dr. Barber did not have the opportunity to have many pets of her own. But she was always being the first to volunteer to take home the class gerbils, hamsters and a sundry of other animals during school vacations. Her curiosity about animals led her to pursue a veterinary degree at The Ohio State University. She served as a staff oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine prior to joining the faculty at Tufts. The long tradition of innovative clinical research in veterinary oncology and its location in a hub of biomedical research centers first attracted her to Tufts.

In addition to her clinical and research duties, Dr. Barber lectures on a variety of cancer-related topics throughout the veterinary curriculum, including a lecture on Evidence-Based Medicine. She also organizes a clinical skills course and for first-year veterinary students. I enjoy the diversity that an academic environment provides, she says. One day can be spent helping to design an international clinical trial of a new drug to fight cancer and the next day helping a student to master a basic medical procedure.

Nonetheless, Dr. Barber considers caring for pets the most rewarding aspect of her job. She contends that it is easy to remember the spectacular cases in which patients beat long odd, but it is the more modest victories in which the oncology service provides animals with more high-quality time than their families expected that brings her to work each day.

Dr. Barber's academic and research interests can be found on her faculty profile.