Research/Areas of Interest:

Nuclear medicine: imaging of infection, staging of neoplasia, clinical use of novel radiopharmaceuticals; diagnostic imaging of marine animals; MRI, Ultrasound, Radiology, and CT

Education

  • Medico Veterinario, Universidad De La Salle, COL, 1986
  • Graduate Program, University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine, United States, 1991

Biography

A veterinarian, radiologist and teacher, Dr. Mauricio Solano is the section head for the Diagnostic Imaging service used by most of the 26,000 annual cases at the Foster Hospital for Small Animals to diagnose their ailments. He balances his time among his clinical and teaching duties, which include working with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), ultrasound, X-rays and nuclear medicine equipment at the Cummings School.

A lifelong interest in animals drew him to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine at Bogota, Colombia's Universidad deLaSalle, followed by graduate work in anatomy at the University of Georgia. However, it was during his residency here at the Cummings School that he truly developed a love for diagnostic imaging. "Access to all imaging technologies here allowed me to put in practice what I learned in graduate school", he says.

Dr. Solano has a particular interest in the imaging of marine animals, and has performed imaging studies on sea turtles, dolphins and other aquatic creatures. "Not too many people get the opportunity to provide expertise on radiographs of a dolphin", he says. "I have been that fortunate and the feeling of accomplishment when you help improve the health of such wonderful creatures is priceless". He recently used the hospital's new CT scanner to diagnose pneumonia in one of the rarest marine turtles, which allowed her to be treated and released back into the wild off the coast of Cape Cod.

Dr. Solano teaches in all four years of the veterinary curriculum, ranging from anatomy in the first year to ultrasound in the third. His love of teaching is matched by his affection for the Cummings School—a place that always strives to practice the best available medicine, he says.