Dr. Balakrishnan completed veterinary school in India and moved to the US for additional training. After a small animal rotating internship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a residency in small animal emergency and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania, she became board certified by the American College of Emergency and Critical Care in 2014. After a stint as faculty at The Ohio State University from 2014-2016, she worked at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists from 2016-2021, where she headed the Emergency and Critical Care Service and established the small animal ECC residency program, while holding a position as adjunct faculty at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests center on sepsis and respiratory critical care, with a particular focus on the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. She currently serves as co-chair for the RECOVER Registry Committee. She is currently the Director of Emergency Certificate Education at the Veterinary Emergency Group where she is privileged to be working to create innovative educational programs for emergency clinicians.

Sam graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in 2006. After spending 8 years in mixed practice in the Lake District, he worked in a companion animal practice in Edinburgh for 5 years before joining IMV Imaging in 2019.

As a member of the IMV Clinical Team, Sam provides Clinical support for IMV customers, develops learning materials to accompany IMV products and teaches on the IMV and affiliated CPD courses. Sam also creates content for the IMV learning platform, the IMV imaging Academy, and he has recently completed a PGCert in Veterinary Education.

Outside of work, Sam enjoys most sports and walking his dog, Squid.

Laura Woodward has been a surgical vet in practice for over 20 years and is also an accredited psychotherapist. She has worked as a surgeon in universities and private practices in Ireland, the UK, Europe, and Australia.She has also worked in many charities and established VSPCA in Visakhapatnam in India to neuter and vaccinate stray dogs.

Laura is an ACPNL and ISPC affiliated Counsellor specialising in child and adolescent counselling, and adult stress management, anxiety and depression. Laura is an accredited mindfulness practitioner and positive psychologist, and runs regular mindful meditation sessions for veterinary surgeons, nurses and managers. She has presented on mental wellbeing at London Vet Show, BVOA, ESVOT conferences, VETFestival and more.

She is the author of Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals, a book published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2023.