Veterinary Heroes™ 2022 winner: Andi Flory, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

Andi Flory, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) currently works at PetDX in La Jolla, CA and was honored with the Oncology award at our Veterinary Heroes™ gala during the recent Fetch dvm360® conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Andi Flory, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

Get to know Andi Flory in this brief biography:

When Andi Flory, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) began treating a dog named Poppy, she could not have guessed the future of her career in veterinary oncology was going to shift right before her eyes. Unfortunately, Poppy’s cancer was found too late, and there was not much Flory could do before she passed. However, Poppy’s owner, a human doctor, had a background in genomics and liquid biopsy. Together in 2019, in honor of Poppy, they joined forces to launch PetDx to create a new way to detect cancer in the blood early to help prognosis. Since its founding, PetDx’s liquid biopsy testing is proving to have potential as a valuable early detection tool.

“I’m really excited to say that we have performed a very large clinical validation of [approximately] 1100 dogs with and without cancer to validate our test, OncoK9. [The test] means it gives us an ability to detect cancer in dogs, even prior to them starting to show clinical signs, and it’s exciting to think about what that could mean for earlier cancer detection in our patients,” Flory said.

Since being notified that she is a 2022 oncology Veterinary Hero, Flory has had a permanent smile. Being nominated for this award means her work has been noticed and recognized, she noted. As she continues to work toward a way to learn more and expand her research, she is hopeful OncoK9 will help save dogs like Poppy in the future.

“What [this award] means is that there’s recognition, [and] there are ways we can make the detection of cancer better than our current paradigm, which is the detection of cancer only after a patient starts to show clinical signs. It’s just that cancer is detected so late that a lot of pets don’t really have a chance in terms of the treatment making an impact in their long-term outcome, but there is a way to make that better,” Flory said.