296 - Dr. Michael Blackwell | AlignCare Health Inc.
Release Date: 06/19/2025
321 - Guilherme Coelho | Maven Pet
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , Co-founder and CEO of , to discuss how AI-powered pet wearables are helping owners better understand their pets’ health between vet visits. They discuss how Maven combines sensor data, app-based inputs, and artificial intelligence to build a “digital paw print” for each pet and detect early signs of illness before they become critical. Guilherme explains why the modern pet owner is moving beyond simple GPS tracking in favor of deep health insights that provide peace of mind, especially for pets with chronic conditions. Learn how Maven is...
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320 - Dr. Lisa Beagan | Your Vet Direction
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , founder of , to discuss how AI-supported triage can bring more structure, consistency, and safety to veterinary intake. The conversation explores one of the most overlooked risks in practice operations: asking front-desk teams to make triage decisions without the clinical tools or training to do so confidently. Dr. Beagan shares how her platform, , helps guide CSRs through the right questions, prioritize urgency, and support better decision-making while keeping humans firmly in the loop. The episode offers a practical look at how structured AI...
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319 - Marisa Hoskins | Paws Abroad Inc
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
International pet travel is one of those topics that sends both pet owners and veterinary teams into a quiet panic. This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak sit down with , the founder of , to discuss the growing need for better infrastructure around global pet travel. Drawing on her experience moving internationally with her rescue dogs—a journey that also inspired her book —Marisa shares how she’s turning a frustrating, high-stakes process into a more structured, manageable workflow for both pet owners and veterinary teams. The conversation explores why international pet travel creates...
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318 - Dr. Ragen McGowan | Petivity by Purina
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak chat with from powered by Purina about how the brand’s provides a voice for cats. They discuss how AI-powered tracking of weight and elimination patterns can alert owners to changes that might indicate early signs of illness, such as FIC or urinary blockage, before they become clinical emergencies. Dr. McGowan shares insights into Purina's massive research initiative, involving 300,000 data points to create an objective "window" into feline health. This episode is a must-listen for veterinary professionals looking to bridge the communication gap...
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317 - Brendan Baker | PawthosX
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , founder and CEO of , to talk about why the next generation of veterinary tech isn't more tools — its orchestration. Brendan shares how PawthosX acts as an AI-native operating system, coordinating over 45 AI agents to handle scribing, SOAP notes, reminders, and reporting, so clinic teams can reduce the heavy cognitive load by automating administrative tasks and coordinating real-time clinical workflows. By focusing on "calm" and simplicity, Brendan’s vision allows veterinarians to move away from fragmented, legacy tech and return their...
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316 - Eric Humbert | Invoxia
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
Veterinary medicine has long relied on "snapshots" of health taken during clinic visits, but what happens during the months in between? This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak speak with , Head of Science & AI at , about how wearable technology is helping veterinarians monitor pets more continuously and more objectively. Eric explains how the Biotracker uses advanced signal processing and AI to track heart rate, respiratory rate, activity, and recovery trend outside the clinic — and how the Biotrack veterinary platform gives clinics a dedicated dashboard to monitor all their patients...
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315 - Dr. Asaf Dagan | PetPace
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , Chief Veterinary Scientist and Co-Founder of , to discuss how continuous monitoring is expanding clinical visibility outside the exam room. The conversation explores how real-time physiological data can help veterinarians detect changes earlier, better understand chronic conditions, and support more informed follow-ups between visits. From pain detection to seizure monitoring, continuous data is adding a new layer to how patients are assessed and managed. The episode offers a practical look at how these tools are already being used and what...
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314 - Sebastian Gabor | Digitail
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , co-founder of , to talk about what the latest wave of AI investment means for veterinary medicine and how this momentum could accelerate the arrival of better, cheaper, and more capable AI tools for clinics. With visits down across the industry, they discuss how technology can help strengthen client retention, reactivate patients, and build a more connected hospital. Sebastian also shares how Digitail is approaching holistic AI, where each major function in the practice has its own assistant supporting the team’s daily work. They also unpack...
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313 - Ryan Leech | First 100
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome back industry growth consultant and host, , to talk about what 2026 might look like for veterinary medicine. After the biggest conferences of the year, a few themes kept coming up: vet care affordability, rising salaries, corporate consolidation, and growing pressure on margins. Ryan challenges the profession to stop searching for a "silver bullet" in AI or telehealth and start embracing the uncomfortable lessons of operational efficiency. From the "Walmart-ification" of vet med to the shrinking middle class of pet owners, this episode is...
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312 - Tanika Hall | ZooDoc
Veterinary Innovation Podcast
In this episode, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome , serial entrepreneur and founder of , to discuss a significant shift in the veterinary industry: the transition from managing overcapacity to needing proactive lead generation. Inspired by her struggle to find care for a sick frog, Tanika built ZooDoc to connect pet parents with trusted professionals, especially those specializing in exotics. The conversation explores how ZooDoc’s B2B2C model supports clinics by providing tele-triage tools, transparent pricing, and flexible financing. As veterinary practices face new economic pressures,...
info_outlineThis week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak chat with Dr. Michael Blackwell from the University of Tennessee, and the Director of AlignCare Health Inc., about the increasing challenges families face in accessing veterinary care and how the One Health model offers a transformative solution.
Dr. Blackwell explains that many of the barriers to care stem from human social and financial realities, not just veterinary logistics. By integrating veterinary services with human healthcare, social work, and community resources, One Health creates a holistic, family-centric approach that supports underserved families, mitigates the risks of zoonotic disease, and reduces long-term public health costs. The episode explores how AlignCare — a One Health initiative led by Dr. Blackwell — has the potential to reshape national veterinary service delivery and ensure no pet or family is left behind.
Learn more about AlignCare Health Inc.
Dr. Michael Blackwell recommends using all advances in AI for its transformative potential across sectors, including veterinary healthcare.