Jeremy Smedley DVM, MS, DACLAM

Professor
Bio Dr. Smedley Received his BS in biology from William and Mary, his DVM with honors from the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and his MS in Veterinary Science from Virginia Tech.  He is a licensed veterinarian and a board-certified laboratory animal specialist with significant expertise in macaque models, having worked in large primate programs in academia (NIRC, WaNPRC, ONPRC), industry (Wyeth, Sanofi) and at the NIH in Bethesda.  He has extensive experience developing, optimizing and conducting macaque models and has developed a unique portfolio of comprehensive sampling techniques that can be employed in different combinations to allow for assessment of sites throughout the body in a minimally invasive fashion, can be targeted using fluorescence imaging, and performed repeatedly throughout the course of a macaque study.

The Smedley lab focuses on animal welfare, macaque models, comprehensive sampling, imaging and inflammation/infectious diseases.  We help to develop, optimize and conduct all in vivo aspects of macaque models with comprehensive minimally invasive sampling techniques, pathogen challenges/infections, substance/biologic administration, veterinary assessment of macaques, treatment/prevention of sequalae associated with the model, etc.

Miranda Fischer

Research Project Manager
Bree Fischer started working in the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in 2002 shortly after she graduated from Oregon State University in 2001 with a B.S. in Animal Sciences, Pre-veterinary medicine. She worked in the Immunology lab of Dr. Janko Nikolich-Zugich until 2008, when she transferred into Dr. Michael Axthelm’s lab at ONPRC.  She then worked for Dr. Jeremy Smedley when he took over as head of the Infectious Disease Resource and now as his lab manager in the Smedley Lab in VGTI.

Bree's interests include management/coordination of the large number of procedures and animals engaged in infectious disease, inflammation, and immunology research at the VGTI to ensure the highest quaity care, compliance, and research outcomes for these models.  She is also highly proficient at a number of infectious agent, reagent, and sample handling, preparation, and administration procedures, in vitro assay conduct, as well as ensuring logistics and shipping/coordination of these

Rachele Bochart, DVM, DACLAM

Staff Scientist
Dr. Bochart is a board-certified veterinarian with expansive training and knowledge in infectious disease macaque models. She has cultivated over 13 years of non-human primate experience specifically focused in the field of infectious disease. She graduated with a B.S. in Zoology in 2009, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2017 from Oregon State University. Dr. Bochart completed a non-human primate focused laboratory animal medicine residency in 2019 from Emory University, and was hired as an infectious disease collaborative research scientist in 2019. Additionally, in 2022 she was board-certified as a Diplomat of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.

Rachele specializes in optimization and refinement of minimally invasive surgical techniques, fluorescence imaging, and improving infectious disease macaque models by eliminating antibiotic resistant bacteria and gastrointestinal pathogens, fecal microbiota, infectious disease macaque models, and improving animal welfare.

Kim Armantrout

Research Project Coordinator
Kim Armantrout graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2015 with a B.S in Aquatic Biology.  She had worked with a variety of animal species before being hired on at ONPRC in 2018.

Kim works on various infectious disease studies acquiring samples from non-human primates including performing surgeries as well as administering various experimental infusions. She specializes in and assists with developing novel procedures and methods for non-human primate sample collection and imaging procedures

Hugh Crank

Research Engineer
Hugh Crank graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Biology in 2015. After graduation, he moved to Oregon to work at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. He was hired as a research engineer in the Smedley Lab at OHSU Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in 2023.

Hugh specializes in development and testing of software applications for automation of research processes for data acquisition, management, and use.

Rachele Tonelli

Senior Research Assistant 
Rachael Tonelli graduated from The University of Massachusetts Amherst and received their Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Sciences in 2020. They came to OHSU in 2022 working for the Infectious Disease Resource. They now work in the Smedley Lab with a particular interest in surgical techniques.