For Dr. Carmen Colitz, every day is a blessing and an opportunity to use her veterinary skills to improve the lives of animals.
Her passion for helping animals exudes not only from her work as one of the world's leading veterinary ophthalmologists, but also at her home that she shares with eight pets: three dogs and five cats, some named after football players.
"My career journey naturally evolved. In vet school, I knew I wanted to become an ophthalmologist, and I was inspired by the complete process of cataract surgery and the positive outcomes I saw in animals' and owners' lives afterwards," she says. "Since then, I have been singularly focused on improving the eye health of dogs, cats, horses, and also of aquatic animals."
Dr. Colitz earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in Comparative and Experimental Medicine from the University of Tennessee in 1993 and 1996, respectively. Her research involved the study of ocular embryology and molecular biology of cancer. She became a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist in 1999. During her residency training, Dr. Colitz completed a one-year post-doctoral research project and successfully competed for a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Eye Institute.
Dr. Colitz worked for two years on the faculty of Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, and then spent five years at Ohio State University's veterinary teaching hospital as a clinician and researcher. Dr. Colitz discovered telomerase and estrogen receptor-alpha (both cancer proteins) in the normal and cataractous lens, and researched the pathogenesis of cataractogenesis and posterior capsular opacification (PCO). PCO is the leading post-operative complication of cataract surgery and over the past eleven years, her research has centered on molecular approaches to prevent this post-operative complication. She was also involved in research to evaluate lutein and grapeseed extract as well as other antioxidants in their anti-cataractogenic and anti-PCO effects. Dr. Colitz's additional research interests include corneal wound healing, infectious diseases and ocular neoplasias.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Colitz has worked with dozens of animal species and has performed thousands of ophthalmic surgeries on companion animals, marine mammals and penguins. In 2009, she founded Aquatic Animal Eye Care, LLC, whose primary mission is to investigate, understand and improve the eye problems that affect aquatic animals, primarily pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walrus), cetaceans (dolphins and some whale species) and penguins. Recently, she has also been involved in the formulation of natural supplements to support eye health in both canines and marine mammals.
In 2006, Dr. Colitz and team of colleagues formed Animal HealthQuest, LLC whose mission is dedicated to providing unique, high quality nutritional supplements for domestic animals that improve the quality of lives for pets and their owners. In 2010, Animal HealthQuest introduced its flagship product, Ocu-GLO, to the market. Ocu-GLO is the first ocular supplement specifically designed to meet the needs of animal eyes. It combines key antioxidants, including grapeseed extract, lutein and omega-3 fatty acids to synergistically support eye health. Over the past 15 years, over 100 million doses of Ocu-GLO have been administered, in over 100 countries and its has been published to be the #1 supplement chosen by Veterinary Ophthalmologist around the world.
