The American Animal Hospital Association will install Brady Beale, VMD, DACVO, as its next chief executive officer effective April 1, 2026, the association announced January 7. Beale currently serves as associate dean of clinical enterprise, hospital director, and chief medical officer at the University of Pennsylvania's Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital.

The AAHA appointment caps a cluster of leadership moves announced between December 1, 2025 and January 7, 2026 across U.S. veterinary medicine, with new executives also taking the helm at Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center and at Ethos Veterinary Health.

Who is taking the AAHA post?

Beale graduated from Penn Vet in 2002, then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery and a comparative ophthalmology residency at North Carolina State University. After a period in private practice, she returned to Penn Vet in 2015, taking on clinical ophthalmology duties and teaching communication in the student curriculum.

"I am honored to lead AAHA into its next chapter," Beale said in the news release. "AAHA's mission resonates deeply with me, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the team who are dedicated to supporting veterinary professionals today."

Her board certification in veterinary ophthalmology (DACVO) and academic hospital leadership track point toward continuity with AAHA's standards-setting focus on companion-animal practice.

What changes at Cornell's diagnostic center?

Shelley Mehlenbacher, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, has begun serving as executive director of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Health Diagnostic Center and the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She also holds the title of associate dean for diagnostic operations and government relations.

Mehlenbacher brings more than a decade of regulatory veterinary medicine and public health experience, most recently as USDA APHIS area director at the U.S. Embassy in Brasília, where she oversaw U.S. agricultural issues with Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Prior roles include assistant state veterinarian at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. She has practiced veterinary medicine since 2000 and carries credentials as a foreign animal disease diagnostician.

"Diagnostic centers sit right at the crossroads of science and service," Mehlenbacher said in a Cornell press release, "and that combination—being able to make a tangible impact while tackling complex challenges—is something I find really rewarding."

The dual directorship ties New York's state laboratory—surveillance backbone for livestock pathogens endemic to the Northeast—to Cornell's research enterprise and to federal regulatory channels via APHIS.

Who will lead Ethos Veterinary Health?

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) named Leslie Storms, MBA, as president of Ethos Veterinary Health, the specialty network announced December 1, 2025. Storms spent nearly two decades at Johnson & Johnson, including roles as U.S. president of orthopedics at Johnson & Johnson MedTech and president of Ethicon US, leading multibillion-dollar operations serving human and veterinary health care markets. Her résumé also includes senior positions at Janssen U.S., Noramco, Corning Life Sciences, and Eli Lilly and Company.

What does this mean for practices and practitioners?

For companion-animal practices, Beale's tenure will shape AAHA accreditation standards, guidelines, and member services beginning in the second quarter of 2026. For food-animal and public-health stakeholders, Mehlenbacher's APHIS tenure and foreign animal disease credentials translate into continuing diagnostic capacity at the New York State laboratory, which supports bovine, equine, and small-ruminant practitioners across the region. For the consolidator segment, Storms's medical-device and pharmaceutical background signals continued operational scaling at Ethos, one of the largest specialty veterinary networks in the United States.

Expect all three leaders to surface at the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) and the Western Veterinary Conference this winter as they settle into their new roles.