About

BIOGRAPHY
Jacob (Jake) R. Werner, V.M.D., Director-United States of America (USA), AAALAC International, oversees AAALAC’s education and outreach program within the USA as well as serving as one of the staff members representing AAALAC International and promoting AAALAC’s mission worldwide. As Director-USA, he also assists the Senior Director for North America and Chief Accreditation Officer (Global Director) in implementing the policies and programs of the organization within the USA.
Dr. Werner has more than 20 years of experience in veterinary and academic animal medicine and care. Most recently, Dr. Werner served as Research Professor and Attending Veterinarian for Agricultural Animals and Wildlife at The Pennsylvania State University. There he was responsible for overseeing the health and welfare of animals within the Animal Resource Program for the University and Commonwealth Campus System. Throughout his time at Penn State, Dr. Werner served in a variety of teaching and veterinary positions in animal science and veterinary medicine, and for 22 years as a voting member of Penn State’s IACUC Committee. He has also served as the Consulting Attending Veterinarian for Juniata College and has worked for a number of private veterinary practices caring for both companion and agricultural animals.
For six years Dr. Werner served as a member of AAALAC’s Council on Accreditation, the group that conducts the site visits to determine which institutions are awarded AAALAC accreditation. Prior to his appointment to the Council, Dr. Wener served as an Ad Hoc Consultant to AAALAC International for 12 years. Additionally, he has served as a consultant to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, as a faculty member in Penn State Hershey’s College of Medicine Residency Program, and he was responsible for establishing an international exchange program between Penn State and Bern University in Switzerland.
Dr. Werner has extensive teaching and lecturing experience on a wide range of topics related to agriculture, occupational health and zoonoses, animal welfare, equine studies and wildlife management. He is currently writing the section on “Agricultural Animal Welfare” for the revised version of Laboratory Animal Medicine (Elsevier Publishing) and has authored numerous journal articles and reports on topics related to agricultural and veterinary science and research animal care. Dr. Werner earned a B.S. in Animal Bioscience from The Pennsylvania State University, and a V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.