Dr. Kaylie Zapanta, Ph.D. is a research scientist at MiDOG® Animal Diagnostics (Irvine, CA), where she spearheads peer-reviewed research on the bacterial and fungal microbiome across all species of small and large animals at every body site. Her work focuses on establishing healthy microbial baselines and uncovering the microbiological roots of disease, pushing the boundaries with Next-Generation Sequencing of what is known about animal health. Dr. Zapanta holds both a Ph.D. and M.S. in Neurophysiology and Microbiome Science from the University of Southern California, where she investigated the role of the microbiome in a variety of clinical conditions. She also earned an M.S. in Clinical Physiology from San Francisco State University and a B.S. in Health Promotion from California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Zapanta is committed to advancing the understanding of microbial health in animal populations using translational microbiome science to transform clinical diagnostics and care.