Robin Downing is both a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Doctor of Bioethics. She is the Hospital Director of The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, LLC, and was a pioneer in both modern veterinary pain management, as well as the translation of palliative and end-of-life care principles and practices from human medicine for application in clinical veterinary practice. She remains in active, full-time, solo clinical practice, and the practice is American Animal Hospital accredited, Human-Animal Bond Certified, Fear Free™ Certified, and credentialed as Cat Friendly Practices with the American Association of Feline Practitioners. 

Dr. Downing has received many regional, national, and international awards, including the 2001 Excellence in Veterinary Medicine Award from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, the 2016 Erwin Small Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, and the 2020 Leo K. Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award from the AVMA. 

Dr. Downing is currently engaged as a Visiting Scholar at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University, working to translate bioethical principles and practices for formal application in clinical veterinary medicine. She is also credentialed in the area of grief and bereavement (Colorado State University), having more than 300 hours of formal study with Clinical Thanatologist and psychologist Dr. Alan Wolfelt. Dr. Wolfelt is an internationally renowned grief and bereavement expert, and (at this writing) she is the only veterinarian to have studied with him at this level.