James R. Swearengen

James R. Swearengen, D.V.M., DACLAM, DACVPM is the Director of Comparative Medicine and Attending Veterinarian at the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center. Dr. Swearengen received his veterinary medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1982 and completed a four-year residency in laboratory animal medicine at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, DC in 1994. He is a former Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, and served as the laboratory animal medicine consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2005. Dr. Swearengen is board certified in both veterinary preventive medicine and laboratory animal medicine. He is the current President of the AAALAC International Council on Accreditation, Past-President of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) and served on the United States Animal Health Association Board of Directors. Dr. Swearengen has over 25 years of experience working in the area of infectious disease research, including development of research animal models and providing veterinary care and research support to animals at biosafety levels-3/4.