About SOPA

Meet SOPA's Team!

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Dr. Cindy Bell
DVM, Dipl. ACVP 

Dr. Bell grew up near Geneseo, Illinois with a large loving family and her father’s herd of barn cats. During her veterinary training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Dick Dubielzig’s mentorship strongly influenced her passion for oral and maxillofacial pathology. Dr. Bell is grateful to serve and to learn from so many outstanding veterinarians. See Dr. Bell's contributions to Veterinary Pathology.  
-Bibliography

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Carrie
Administrative Specialist 

Carrie is most likely to answer your SOPA phone calls and is ready to help with your questions. You will also hear from her through email when statements are sent out.

Carrie has a love for all animals, even opossums and especially cats!

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Jessica 
Laboratory Technician 

Jessica helps keep the SOPA lab clean and trims in soft tissue samples. You will hear from her through email to let you know when your samples have arrived safe and sound. She also fills your supply orders, which are available to you at no cost!

Jessica has had a passion for science and animals from a very young age. She loves learning about all animals, even the not so cuddly kind. 

... and the Furry Crew!

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Prasky
Director of Walks, Snacks, and Naps

If you hear barking in the background of your SOPA phone calls, it is likely Prasky the min pin telling everyone that the courier is here. 

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Pippa
Head of Security

Pippa is often found keeping guard and actively helping (or maybe hindering) Dr. Bell by being a sassy paper weight and keeping watch over her slides. 

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Fluffy & Chilly
Non-Human Resources

These two chinchillas are former lab subjects and now permanent SOPA residents. There's nothing they love more than their Timothy Hay Biscuits.

SOPA Operations

The mission of SOPA is to provide specialized pathology services to veterinarians in order to support a rigorous, team-based approach to the diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment of oral and dental diseases in animals. Cases from all species (except the human!) are welcome. If you are a veterinarian and your patients have a mouth, then SOPA is for YOU!

That’s Gross!

Evaluation of the wet tissue specimens is routine – very few pathologists have the opportunity to see the fixed tissue or directly influence how a biopsy specimen is sub-sampled for histological processing. In veterinary pathology, it is standard practice for technicians to perform grossing of biopsy specimens. Nevertheless, we insist that the pathologist has an active role in this process.
    o Key diagnostic information is apparent grossly, some of which might not be apparent histologically.
    o Optimized anatomical orientation – we get to decide exactly where and how the tissue is sectioned, which allows us to have precise knowledge of anatomic structures represented in each section and to provide the most accurate margin evaluation possible.

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Treading Lightly

Even small businesses have a huge impact on the environment. We have found options for recycling the abundant packaging material that we receive including Styrofoam, bubble wrap, thin plastics, more conventional plastics, and paper/cardboard. We prioritize formalin reuse over disposal, and we also reuse as much of the packing material as we can, such as clean paper towels, clinical pads, absorbent material and seal-able bags. 

“It’s not good enough to be right, you also have to be effective”
- Neil DeGrasse Tyson

NOT effective:

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Thanks to Dr. Dorte Dopfer for creating this illustration.

We would also like to acknowledge SOPA's Key Partners:

Carle Health for their outstanding and consistent histology service.

The Clinical Hematopathology laboratory at Colorado State University for PARR testing.

The histology laboratory at Kansas State University for providing excellent immunohistochemistry services.

Michigan State University VDL prognostic testing for melanoma and mast cell tumors. 

Thank you for all that you do!

Just for fun

Below are most common names for cats and dogs based on thousands of SOPA patients from over the years. Font size of the name reflects its rank among the top 50 for each species.
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Address

SOPA 
216 N Center Street
Geneseo, IL 61254

Pay Your Bill
Contact us
  • Email: sopa@sopforanimals.com
  • Phone: 309-944-6373 
Online Submission form
    (for current clients only)

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