Meet Dr. Elisa Harvey

Dr. Elisa Harvey, an Air Force brat who grew up all over, graduated from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia with a degree in biology. She then completed Master's and Ph.D degrees in ecology and physiology respectively at the University of Connecticut before graduating from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts in 1992.

She practiced large and small animal veterinary medice full time until 1996, and is now in part-time practice while she also works at the Food and Drug Administration overseeing clinical trials of medical devices in people. Dr. Harvey has practiced with Dr. Cooper at least part-time since 1992 and has worked with owner Janice King since 1994. She is married to Dr. Brian Harvey, a gastroenterologist also at the FDA, and keeps very busy with her two sons, Duncan and Alex, her two Golden Retrievers both named Bailey, her tortoise shell tabbycat Cleo, and her two Norwegian Fjord Horses, Jordbaer ("Strawberry") and Ture ("Thunder").

Though she no longer works with large animals, Dr. Harvey does enjoy practicing small animal medicine these days. She particularly enjoys working with rabbits and other "pocket pets" and educating their owners about the medical problems unique to them and how to best prevent these problems.

Meet Dr. Julia Langfitt

Dr. Langfitt grew up in the Towson area and attended Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Pennsylvania where she received her BS in Animal Husbandry. She then attended the University of Florida where she graduated with her DVM degree in 1996. After graduation Julia spent a year on a small animal surgical and internal medicine internship at Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg.

After finishing her Internship at "The Barn" she moved to Beijing China with her husband, Frank. There she opened a small animal clinic, Veterinary Centers of Asia, and received a position as the onsite marine mammal veterinarian at the National Aquarium in Beijing.

During her 5 years in China, Dr Langfitt, traveled extensively, took 24 hour calls at both the small animal clinic and the Aquarium. She received her MBA from Rutgers University in 2000 at their satellite campus in Beijing.

Dr Langfitt has been back in the US for 3 years now. Her daughter, Katie, is 4 years old and loves being back in Maryland close to family and friends. Christopher, 20 months, just loves life and is happy wherever he is at the time. Dr Langfitt's husband Frank Langfitt is a journalist for National Public Radio. They recently moved to North Potomac. Currently they have one 18 year old cat named Crystal Blue and 3 fish named Nemo, Nemo, and Nemo.

Meet Dr. Kathy Strong

Dr. Kathleen Strong was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Montgomery County, Maryland as a child. She grew up in Wheaton, and graduated from Einstein High School before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina to pursue a degree in Biochemistry and Veterinary medicine. She graduated in 1985 with the inaugural class of the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Returning to Montgomery County, Dr. Strong had the privilege to work with several area veterinary hospitals including Quince Orchard Veterinary Hospital, Four County Animal Hospital, and Benson Animal Hospital. Guided by a professional purpose to heal and teach, she has extensive experience in small animal practice with a special interest in exotic animal medicine, including birds, reptiles and "pocket pets".

When not relaxing at Maple Springs, Dr. Strong can be found hard at work managing her family: one husband, one teenage daughter, two sons, one Labrador retriever, three fish, two turtles and one (recently rescued) ball python. The Strongs enjoy hiking, cycling, camping and road trips.

Meet Dr. Jeffrey Cooper

Jeffrey Cooper, M.S., D.V.M., has been doing surgery part-time at Maple Springs Veterinary Hospital in Gaithersburg, MD, for the past 4 years. He is also a Veterinary Medical Officer within FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health in the Office of Device Evaluation.

He is a scientific reviewer of medical device applications in the areas of Dialysis and Gastroenterology. He received his Master of Science degree in Biochemistry at Clemson University and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1986.

Dr. Cooper's experience includes:

• Part-time supervision of Linear Beam Radiation Oncology at VCA Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg, MD;
• Medical Officer in charge of surgery at VCA Lewis Animal Hospital in Columbia, MD;
• Veterinary Associate at Shrewsbury Animal Hospital in Tinton Falls, NJ; and
• Veterinary Associate at Logan Animal Hospital in Logan, West Virginia.

Dr. Cooper has 4 furry kids and 2 children. His furry kids include 2 ferrets, 1 guinea pig, and one loud Collie.

Meet Dr. Jan Paul Tamarkin

Dr. Jan Paul Tamarkin received his veterinary degree from Ohio State University in 1983. He did a rotating internship at Oradell Animal Hospital from 1983-1984 and has been in private practice in Montgomery County since 1986.

He is married to Karyn and they have a college age son named Thomas. His extended family includes Burt the "dat" (dog in a cat body), Cavalier King Spaniels Bobby and Katie, a Thoroughbred horse named Bubs, and Eeyore the donkey. Rounding out the family is Mikie the umbrella cockatoo. Dr. Tamarkin's interests include outdoors, gardening, carpentry, continuing education and historical events.