She earned a Ph.D. in the spring, enters as a first-year student in the fall

In four years, members of the Class of 2030 who just entered the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will hear themselves called “doctor” for the first time.

But Elliana Vickers Ph.D. '26, can already be called “doctor.”

Vickers enters the Class of 2030 having earned a Ph.D. in translational biology, medicine, and health at Virginia Tech, successfully defending her thesis in the spring. She is already an author on 15 peer-reviewed, published papers, primarily focused on histotripsy treatment of osteosarcoma in dogs, with another eight papers in submission or preparation.

But even with a doctoral degree and so much research success, Vickers’ motivations for seeking a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree are like those of many of her first-year classmates at the veterinary college. 

She grew up wanting to be a veterinarian. 

“I wanted to be a vet because I love animals,” Vickers said. “We grew up with dogs. I loved animals, and I loved science.”

Various factors led Vickers toward a different academic and career path through college and into graduate school, but her life’s journey has led her back to veterinary medicine, starting on the ground floor as a first-year student while also growing an already impressive tower of clinical and research accomplishments.

Hooked on histotripsy

Vickers is a recipient of three scholarships to help support her veterinary college studies: the Herman and Mildred Corder Scholarship, the Mary Sue Collins Scholarship, and the Maxson Veterinary Medicine Scholarship.

Vickers grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and studied biology at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania before coming to Virginia Tech expecting to study neuroscience.

Instead, a class connecting incoming students with faculty mentors introduced her to Eli Vlaisavljevich, the Bill and Lavinia Hall Faculty Fellow in biomedical engineering, who was working on a technology that uses focused sound waves to break down tissue inside the body without surgery.

"I'm not an engineer, I've never done anything engineering, but I'm hooked already," Vickers said of that first meeting with Vlaisavljevich.

The technology, called histotripsy, is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat liver tumors in humans, and researchers are now testing it against kidney and pancreatic cancers. 

Vlaisavljevich was applying it to something else entirely: dogs with osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer that also strikes children. Vickers’ combined interests in problem solving, clinical applications of science, and animals were piqued.

So Vickers joined the laboratory Vlaisavljevich leads, the Therapeutic Ultrasound and Non-Invasive Therapies Laboratory, and also the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory, led by Joanne Tuohy, assistant professor of surgical oncology at the veterinary college.  

Vlaisavljevich and Tuohy collaborate closely, and Vickers joined them in research through clinical trials treating pets with histotripsy at both the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Blacksburg and the Animal Cancer Care and Research Center in Roanoke.

“Elliana is a truly exceptional and well-rounded individual who has thrived during her Ph.D. studies which developed histotripsy as a new non-invasive treatment for canine bone cancer,” Vlaisavljevich said. “Watching Elliana defend her thesis in front of a room filled with engineers, veterinarians, scientists, and family members of many patients enrolled in her clinical trials highlighted not only the impact of her research but also the amount of care she provides to each patient.” 

Veterinary medicine is about people, too

The truth about being a veterinarian is that it is at least as much about people as it is about animals – counseling, comforting, and sometimes consoling the clients who see their pets as family.

"The most rewarding part of my day was talking to the families and the owners — sending the dog home at the end of the day, or seeing the family come back a few weeks later and the dog's doing better," Vickers said. "We aren’t at the point where we are curing their cancer, but we've given them a little more quality time. I realized that was what really was the most fulfilling to me."

That realization pulled her back toward the veterinary path she had set aside in college.

“Elliana has always been motivated by her desire to improve the lives of dogs suffering from cancer, and she has a unique blend of intellectual curiosity, unwavering perseverance, caring spirit, creativity, and transdisciplinary attitude that has allowed her to be so successful throughout her Ph.D.,” Vlaisavljevich said. “These same qualities have also led her into pursuing veterinary school this fall, and I have no doubt that she is going to become an amazing veterinarian that provides great care for her patients while continuing to improve the quality of life for so many animals suffering from cancer and other diseases."

Tuohy shaped that decision, Vickers said, describing a mentor who explains complex cases clearly rather than talking down to students or clients, and who earns trust from anxious pet owners in the exam room.

"She's the best," Vickers said. "I don't know if I would do it if it weren't for her."

Tuohy described Vickers in much the same way Vickers described her. 

“Beyond excelling in her scientific work, Elliana has developed exceptional skill in communicating complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences,” Tuohy said. “She has successfully delivered both oral and poster research abstracts at national and international conferences with clarity, confidence and precision, effectively translating highly technical material into accessible insights. Her ability to bridge disciplines and tailor her message ensures that her work resonates not only with engineers and scientists, but also with clinicians and broader audiences – an essential quality for impactful translational research.”

Tuohy describes Vickers as an “outside-the-box” thinker not afraid to ask scientific questions beyond the angles that have already been pursued.

“From the outset of her Ph.D. training, Elliana has demonstrated exceptional drive and determination, fully embracing the challenges of bridging biomedical engineering and translational oncology,” Tuohy said. “Elliana possesses a rare combination of deep scientific curiosity and creative problem-solving ability. Elliana’s passion for research is evident in all aspects of her work, particularly in her commitment to advancing therapies that have the potential to transform outcomes for both human and veterinary patients with bone cancer and other malignancies.”

Family of clinicians

Family history informs Vickers’ choice, also. Her grandfather on her mother’s side was a veterinarian who died of cancer when she was 2 years old; she has no memory of him, only stories. Her parents, both physicians in Maryland, shaped how she thinks about patient care.

Vickers plans to continue her cancer research alongside coursework, particularly during summers, while catching up on foundational veterinary training unfamiliar to her.

“I'll be on the small-animal track, that's what I enjoy, but I do still love large animals,” Vickers said. “My grandmother and grandfather on my dad’s side had a llama and alpaca farm, and we would go up there and visit them when I was a kid. So I have some experience with large animals, but I've never wanted to do their medicine. I think some of that might be one of the more challenging parts for me in veterinary school.”

Vickers is getting married later this year; her fiancé, Matthew Urbano, is pursuing a master's degree in the same Translational Health, Biology and Medicine program in which Vickers just completed her Ph.D. The two met in a lab at Gettysburg College and came to Virginia Tech together. They share a home with two cats, Squash and Jasper. 

While leaving her future a little open, Vickers aspires to be a clinician scientist, similar to Tuohy, active in both the research and animal care sides of veterinary medicine.

"I look at it as, I learned the research side of things, and now I want to learn the patient side of things,” Vickers said. “Hopefully, by the end, I can combine them together."