Dr. Breanna Sheahan, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM (LA) – Principal Investigator

Dr. Breanna Sheahan is the Principal Investigator of the Equine Colitis Lab. She is an equine internist with board certification by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She grew up in California competing in combined driving. Dr. Sheahan obtained her veterinary degree from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, followed by an equine internship at University of Missouri, and an equine-focused large animal medicine residency at University of Illinois. She moved to North Carolina to pursue a PhD focused on intestinal stem cell biology, using mice as a model organism. After completion of the PhD, Dr. Sheahan worked as a post-doctoral associate at Duke University, under the direction of a human gastroenterologist. Dr. Sheahan started the Equine Colitis Lab at NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine in March 2022. She enjoys applying the tools she has learned throughout her career to help the horse, with a specific interest in acute colitis.

 

Dr. Lilly Haywood, VMD, PhD

Dr. Lilly Haywood recently obtained her PhD in the Sheahan lab. She grew up riding and showing hunters in Raleigh before attending undergrad at Washington and Lee University and veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania.  After graduation, she spent eight years as an intern and then associate veterinarian at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY.  Her practice in Lexington focused on ambulatory neonatal medicine, preventative care, and emergency medicine.  She then spent almost two years as a small animal general practitioner in Chapel Hill before realizing that her goal in life is to help horses. During her PhD, Dr. Haywood published a review on ion channels in equine colitis, as well as reporting the discovery of a novel enteric virus associated with colitis in horses (published in Equine Veterinary Journal). She has two other manuscripts in preparation. Dr. Haywood is continuing as a clinical instructor in NCSU’s equine ambulatory service as well as continuing to support the Equine Colitis Lab as needed.

Hedaya Megeed – Lab Manager

Hedaya Megeed is our lab manager extraordinaire! She is responsible for keeping the lab organized, shelves stocked, and media ready to go for all our experiments. In addition to all these tasks, Hedaya is also working on a study to determine the media requirements for our cell cultures. We are so thankful for all her hard work and positive attitude!

Lexa McDermott – Veterinary Student

Lexa McDermott was an undergraduate Park scholar majoring in animal science and minoring in psychology and nutrition. Lexa joined the lab in 2024 with a project focusing on optimizing equine rectal monolayers. She was an incredible asset to the lab and we know she will be an amazing vet! In 2025, Lexa was accepted into NC State veterinary school as an early admission for the Equine Scholars program and continues to be mentored by Dr. Sheahan.

Sydney Couglar – NC State Undergraduate Student

Sydney is an undergraduate student at NC State who is applying to veterinary school. Sydney has been assisting Dr. Haywood in studying the role of CFTR in equine colitis. Thank you Sydney for all your hard work in the lab!