Dr. Raphael (Ralph) Malbrue has been the Attending Veterinarian and Director for the Center for Comparative Medicine at UVA since May 2023. He completed his undergraduate and veterinary school training at Tuskegee University. He then went on to complete a residency program in Laboratory Animal Medicine at Louisiana State University. In conjunction with his residency program Dr. Malbrue also completed a Master of Science degree in Biomedical and Veterinary Medical Sciences through the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at Louisiana State University and became a Certified Aquatic Veterinarian (WAVMA).  Prior to UVA Dr. Malbrue held numerous leadership roles between the Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Animal Resources Core) and The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Dr. Malbrue was also previously an officer (rank-Captain) in the United States Army Reserve ( assigned to the 7356th Veterinary Detachment). His research interests include best practices for advocacy in laboratory animal medicine, aquatic animal medicine, and implementation of the three R’s (replacement, reduction, and refinement) in biomedical research.