Dr. Lara Madding, Research Associate and Lab Coordinator 

Dr. Lara Madding was a Research Associate and Lab Coordinator for the Sheahan Lab from September 2022-October 2023. Lara did an amazing job getting the lab up and running and providing mentorship for our students. We will miss you Lara!!

Mary O’Neill, Veterinary Student

Mary O’Neill was in the lab (2022-2023) as an undergraduate and then came back as a Veterinary Scholar in the summer of 2025. As an undergrad, Mary compared epithelial cell populations between horses with Equine Cushing’s Disease (PPID) and without. As a veterinary student, she studied the effect of supplementing choline on barrier function of equine colonic epithelium. This study has now been published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science (2026). It was so much fun having Mary back in the lab – we wish her the best of luck with the rest of vet school and we will miss her!!

 

Ashley Kropf, Veterinary Student

Ashley Kropf completed a research project in the lab as an undergraduate (2022-2023), and now she is a veterinary student of the Class of 2027 at NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Ashley’s project was focused on the function of CFTR in equine rectal organoids. We will miss her in the lab!!

Jillian Petersen, DVM

Jillian completed a Veterinary Scholars program during the summer of 2023 in the lab as a rising second year veterinary student in the DVM program at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Jillian’s project was focused on optimizing an in vitro platform of GIP secretion in equine duodenal organoids. We will miss her in the lab!!

Seline Stoop, Veterinary Student

Seline Stoop completed a Veterinary Scholars program during the summer of 2024 in the lab as a rising second year NC State veterinary student originally from Kennett Square, PA. She graduated from the University of Delaware where she obtained her Honors B.S. in Pre-Veterinary Medicine and B.S. in Agriculture and Natural Resources with minors in Equine Science and Spanish. She is interested in equine medicine and currently helps as a weekend veterinary assistant for the Large Animal Treatment Crew at NC State’s CVM and is a part-time assistant for NC State CVM’s Equine Ambulatory Emergency Service. As part of the Veterinary Scholars Program with the Sheahan lab, Seline focused her research on determining histologic and cellular alterations present in duodenal biopsies of horses with and without Equine Metabolic Syndrome. We will miss her in the lab!!

Morgan Jeter, Veterinary Student

Morgan Jeter was in the lab from 2024 to 2025 prior to entering vet school at NC State. Morgan worked on a project studying a choline transporter gene in equine colitis. We are so excited that she was accepted into vet school – we will miss her in the lab!!

Ava Clark, Undergraduate

Ava Clark was in the lab during 2024 during her undergraduate studies. Ava worked on a project identifying a novel enteric virus in the feces of horses with colitis. Ava has now graduated – we will miss her in the lab!!

Keeley Copper, Veterinary Student

Keeley Copper was in the lab as a Veterinary Scholar during the summer of 2025 AND came back for the summer of 2026! She worked on a project studying the effect of Clostridioides difficile toxin B on equine colonic monolayers for Summer 2025. She was funded by the Foundation for the Horse and will be presenting this work at the AAEP forum in 2026. For the summer of 2026, she worked on optimizing Air-Liquid Interface cultures to study the role of mucus in equine colitis. We will miss her and wish her the best of luck with the rest of vet school!

Madison Rosenbaum, Veterinary Student

Madison Rosenbaum was in the lab as a Veterinary Scholar during the summer of 2026. She studied the transport of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) across the epithelial barrier of normal horses and horses affected with equine neuroaxonal dystrophy (eNAD)/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy. This project was a collaboration with Dr. Carrie Finno and was funded by the American Quarter Horse Foundation. We will miss her and wish her the best of luck with the rest of vet school!

 

Dr. Megan Ballou, Equine Internal Medicine Clinician

Dr. Megan Ballou was a veterinary large animal (equine-specific) internal medicine resident in the Sheahan lab, investigating equine gastric ulcer disease in relation to horses that have undergone colic surgery. She grew up in New Hampshire, showing Quarter Horses. Dr. Ballou is a graduate of Stonehill college in Massachusetts, where she earned a B.S. in Biology. Following this, she pursued a M.S. in Animal and Public Policy at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where she investigated ownership of geriatric horses with and without chronic disease. Dr. Ballou earned her DVM from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she also completed a rotating internship, before moving to Raleigh, N.C. Dr. Ballou completed her Equine Internal Medicine residency at NC State in 2026. Her manuscript describing her gastric ulcer study is currently under review.