Christopher A Adin, DVM, DACVS

A renowned board-certified small animal surgeon, clinician-scientist and educator with three decades of excellence in research, clinical care and professional service, Christopher Adin, D.V.M., DACVS, was named the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s eighth dean, effective Sept. 4, 2026.

Prior to being appointed dean, Adin spent eight years in leadership roles at UF CVM, including serving as the college’s executive associate dean from 2022 to 2026 and chairing the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences from 2018 to 2022.

As executive associate dean, Adin had a comprehensive view of college operations, coordinated the college’s compliance and data reporting, led recruitment efforts and fostered implementation of several strategic initiatives, from revision of the college’s promotion and tenure guidelines to incorporating award-winning community-building initiatives throughout the college and hospitals. With people and culture at the heart, he worked with a team of well-being champions to incorporate systemwide use of the American Hospital Association Well-Being Playbook and adoption of the Well-Being Index as a validated tool.

Under his departmental leadership in small animal clinical sciences, Adin led and mentored over 70 faculty through the COVID-19 pandemic during a time when UF’s Small Animal Hospital caseload grew to the highest in the nation. He hired over 20 clinical and tenure-track faculty, supported the promotion of 17 faculty members and one Distinguished Professor, and worked closely with UF’s leadership on administrative operations, navigating promotion, tenure and other priorities.

A soft tissue surgeon, Adin has trained more than 1,800 veterinary students in basic surgical skills through thousands of hours of laboratory teaching.

He earned his undergraduate degree in zoology with honors from Duke University and his doctoral degree in veterinary medicine with distinction from Cornell University. He completed his fellowship residency training in hemodialysis and renal medicine and small animal surgery, respectively, at the University of California, Davis.

He began his academic career as an assistant professor at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001 and followed with stops at both The Ohio State University and North Carolina State University before returning to Gainesville for good in 2018. While at Ohio State, Adin received training as a clinician-scientist with support from a KL2 Award from the Ohio State University’s Center for Translational Sciences Institute.

His translational research program has focused on improving outcomes in organ and cellular transplantation through manipulation of the heme-oxygenase system. His contributions to clinical care include the invention of a canine artificial urethral sphincter that is used in small animal surgery practices around the world. He later developed an additional novel biomedical implant — a hydraulic occluder for the treatment of vascular anomalies in dogs — that was successfully brought to market.

Adin’s national involvement in veterinary medicine professional organizations extends decades. Most recently, he’s served as director of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Leadership Academy. His accolades span the teaching and research spectrum, including UF’s Small Animal Teacher of the Year Award in 2024 and 2025, the Excellence in Teaching Award at Ohio State in 2015 and the International Renal Interest Society Award in 2003.

Incontinence surgery, microsurgery, cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation

After completing a fellowship in renal medicine and hemodialysis, followed by a surgical residency at UC Davis, I had the opportunity to establish a research program in renal ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury, focusing on manipulation of the heme oxygenase system to improve outcomes during organ transplantation. Using my skills in microsurgery, I developed a complementary program in kidney transplantation for companion animals. Later, I completed a two-year KL2 Career Development Award at Ohio State University, obtaining further training in study design and molecular techniques. These skills enabled me to branch into pancreatic islet transplantation research, where I continued to investigate novel methods of cytoprotection and their effects on the innate immune response to allografts, culminating in development of a novel cytoprotectant drug candidate. Clinically, I have over 20 years of experience as a board-certified small animal surgeon and have developed two novel biomedical implants that were successfully brought to market: an artificial urethral sphincter for the treatment of incontinence and a hydraulic occluder for the treatment of vascular anomalies in dogs. Most recently, I have been honored to collaborate with multiple teams as we develop novel pharmacologic and cell therapies for diabetes in companion animals.