Dr. Carla Savage Phillips
Aquatic Animal Veterinarian
Meet Dr. Ayanna Carla N. Phillips Savage, DVM (Hons.), MPhil (Food Animal Medicine), Ph.D. (Aquatic Animal Medicine), PgC, CertAqV.
Dr. Carla Phillips Savage is currently an Associate Professor at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Carla Phillips Savage has been a veterinarian for 21 years and has been in the field of Aquatic Animal Veterinary clinical and laboratory diagnostic practice, research and education for the past 18 years.
She completed her DVM and master’s degree in Food Animal Medicine at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She attended the University of Florida as a FULBRIGHT scholar where she earned her PhD in Aquatic Animal Medicine. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning and is a Certified Aquatic Veterinarian with the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association.
She has extensive experience in the diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases affecting marine mammals, sea turtles, ornamental fish, food fish and shellfish in various types of freshwater and marine aquaculture production systems, including in integrated fish and crop production systems (aquaponics).
She is presently an Associate Professor of Practice at the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. Previously, she was a Lecturer in Marine Mammal Medicine and Aquatic Animal Health at the UWI, School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), Trinidad and Tobago for 12 years, where she introduced Aquatic Medicine to the veterinary curriculum, launched and served as Coordinator of the Aquatic Animal Health Unit and Aquatic Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory at the UWI-SVM, taught aquatic components of Exotic Animal Health and Management, Animal Production (Aquaculture), Veterinary Toxicology, Clinical Veterinary Pharmacology, Ethics, State Medicine and Jurisprudence (CITES and International Trade), and Veterinary Clinical Skills, supervised numerous aquatic medicine-based research projects and served as the sole instructing veterinarian for students ‘seeing-practice’ in Aquatic Animal Health and Management in Trinidad and Tobago.
She continues to serve as the Coordinator of the Trinidad and Tobago Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TTMMSN), which she has led since 2011.
She has previously served on Trinidad and Tobago’s National Sea Turtle Task Force, the Aquaculture Task Force for the Implementation of the Food Production Action Plan, the Management and Advisory Committee of the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute as Chair for Curriculum Development and Training, the Fish and Shellfish Health Consultant for state-owned facilities in Trinidad and Tobago, and as the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) National Focal Point for Aquatic Animal Diseases for Trinidad and Tobago.
Having led capacity-building and ‘One Health’-based community engagement projects and workshops geared toward training veterinary students, graduate veterinarians, aquaculture extension service providers, state regulatory agency officials, vocational program students, commercial aquaculture producers and hobbyists, she is an advocate for the promotion of the ‘One Health’ principle in addressing threats to the health and conservation of aquatic ecosystems, and the overall improvement of human, animal and environmental health.
In 2018, she was awarded as one of 77 women who have made outstanding contributions in their respective disciplines, the community, and the Caribbean region.
In 2021, her professional contributions to the field of Aquatic Medicine and Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Conservation in Trinidad and Tobago and the Wider Caribbean were recognised by the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, where she was named a 2021 Laureate in the field of Science and Technology.
