2025 Veterinary Heroes: Colleen Lambo, DVM, PhD, MS (General Practice)

Colleen Lambo, DVM, PhD, MS, a general practitioner with Roo relief veterinary services

Sponsored by Roo

Colleen Lambo, DVM, PhD, MS, was in Kiev, Ukraine, listening to air raid sirens when she learned she was selected as a 2025 Veterinary Hero for general practice. “I didn’t know I was nominated, so hearing that I had won was a big shock,” she said in a dvm360 interview.

Feeling excited and humbled by the award, Lambo immediately turned the focus on her career to the disaster relief organizations she serves and her passions for conservation work, which include Worldwide Vets and Texas A&M University’s Veterinary Emergency Team (VET). She noted her appreciation for the service organizations that provide the opportunities to save and assist animals in vulnerable situations.

A general practitioner through the veterinary relief platform Roo, Lambo has provided medical care to displaced and injured animals in Ukraine for more than 11 weeks combined during 2 trips with Worldwide Vets. “I feel really deeply for the animals in the community. They’re having an extreme overpopulation issue due to the war…. We’re doing a lot of sterilization and vaccination work to help put a damper on the rabies epidemic that’s about to happen there,” she said.

Lambo also tends to wildlife, livestock, and domestic pets during times of crisis through VET, including her 2023 deployment to the Texas panhandle during wildfires that caused animal injuries such as burns and smoke inhalation. “The work is just a calling. Most veterinarians are in the field because we have such a deep compassion for animals. So when I know about conflicts or natural disasters that are impacting communities, that’s where I want to be. I want to help animals as much as I can,” she said.

Additionally, setting up veterinary field camps as well as partnering with international organizations and local shelters have also been part of Lambo’s service work. "The work is just a calling. Most vets are are in the field because we have such a deep compassion for animals and so when I know about conflicts or natural disasters that are impacting communities, that's where I want to be. I want to help," she said.

She noted her appreciation for the opportunity to work in a relief capacity. “[Roo] allows me the flexible lifestyle to go out and participate in [disaster] events when possible,” Lambo said.

The 2025 class of dvm360 Veterinary Heroes will be honored at a celebratory luncheon at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Click here to learn more or register for the event.