With nearly 15 years experience as a veterinarian in the private practice world and in an industry that provides humans and animals with nutritional products, Todd Henderson, D.V.M., can honestly say that "with a veterinary degree, the opportunities are endless."

Currently, Dr. Henderson is Executive Vice President of Nutramax Laboratories, Inc., in Edgewood , Maryland . He particularly enjoys that his daily efforts have an impact on thousands of people and animals-far more than he could have imagined when he worked in a private practice. "When I was in practice I could 'help' one patient at a time" he says. "In my current position, I have the ability to make available products to the veterinary community that have helped far more patients then I could have as a practitioner. "

 

However, Dr. Henderson especially values his time spent in private practice, and encourages young veterinarians to practice for at least a year or two before thinking about an alternative career in industry. This preparation, he says, "grounds them in veterinary medicine and in the long run makes them a more valuable employee."

 

In 1992, Dr. Henderson graduated from Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine with a doctor of veterinary medicine degree and a host of scholastic honors. He spent the first phase of his career as a veterinarian working in small animal clinics-and at one point he even owned a veterinary clinic that specialized in house calls. In the mid-1990s, he became Director of the Veterinary Division for Nutramax Laboratories. After a decade of having worked at a firm that researches and produces nutritional products for animals and humans, Dr. Henderson especially appreciates "the personal satisfaction of helping deliver to my colleagues safe and effective products that give them more options to manage their patients. "

 

Dr. Henderson's work also has extended to securing 10 patents-most recently for L-ergothioneine, milk thistle, and S-adenosylmethionine used for the prevention, treatment, and repair of liver damage; and another for the use of anabolic agents, anti-catabolic agents, antioxidant agents, and analgesics for the protection, treatment, and repair of connective tissues in humans and animals. His has written at length on nutraceuticals; for example, he has looked at the beneficial effects of cartilage structure modifying agents in one publication, and examined the protective effects of glucosamine HCL and chrondroitin sulfate in another.

 

As an expert on nutraceuticals, Dr. Henderson has been extensively quoted by various newspapers and other media. He has also lectured to numerous audiences, including those at Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A & M School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Johannesburg Veterinary Society and the Pretoria School of Veterinary Medicine in South Africa .