Rate My Professor Natalia Guerrero

Natalia Henao-Guerrero is the Department Head of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and a Professor of Anesthesiology at Virginia Tech's Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. She also serves as Service Chief of Anesthesiology and Interim Director of the Animal Cancer Care and Research Center. Her academic journey began with a DVM from Universidad de La Salle in Bogotá, Colombia (2000), followed by an MS in Veterinary Surgery from São Paulo State University, Brazil (2003). Post-graduation, she worked as a small animal practitioner in Colombia and as an anesthetist and instructor in Brazil before completing her anesthesiology residency at Kansas State University (2004-2007). She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia in 2008.

Since joining Virginia Tech in 2007 as an Assistant Professor, she advanced to Associate Professor (2014) and Professor (2025). Administratively, she held roles as Associate Department Head (2017), Interim Department Head (2017-2021), and Department Head since 2021. As anesthesia service chief, she provides clinical services and training. Her leadership facilitated the recruitment of 22 diverse faculty, bolstering departmental strengths. Her research specializes in veterinary anesthesia, focusing on hemodynamic effects of anesthetics, bispectral index monitoring, equipment, and pain management. With 37 peer-reviewed publications, highlights include "Intracranial nonthermal irreversible electroporation: in vivo analysis" (2010), "Successful treatment of a large soft tissue sarcoma with irreversible electroporation" (2011), "Acute adverse events associated with ventral slot decompression in 546 dogs with cervical intervertebral disc disease" (2013), and "Isoflurane minimum alveolar concentration sparing effects of fentanyl in the dog" (2017). In 2023, she earned the Grant Turnwald Innovation Award for the Animal Instructors Program, enhancing student training through community pet involvement. She contributes to university governance via the Department Heads Council and University Council.