Research Summary

Michelle Cora, D.V.M., D.A.C.V.P., leads the Clinical Pathology Group within the Comparative and Molecular Pathogenesis Branch (CMPB). She is also the principal clinical pathologist for the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT), providing clinical pathology oversight and preparation for various National Toxicology Program (NTP) and NIEHS studies. As a veterinary clinical pathologist, Cora has expertise in clinical laboratory methods, and the diagnosis of diseases and toxicologic effects as observed with the use of hematology, clinical chemistry, urinalysis and cytology (including rodent vaginal cytology) methods. She has co-authored numerous publications, including over 40 NTP toxicology and technical reports regarding compounds studied by the NTP. She has also co-chaired several Society of Toxicologic Pathology committees, as well as served on the editorial board for the journal of Toxicologic Pathology.

Cora received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from University of Illinois in 2000, after which she practiced small animal medicine for 7 years in the Seattle area. After those years of clinical practice, she came to Raleigh for residency training in veterinary clinical pathology at North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU-CVM). After her residency training, Cora completed a DTT toxicological clinical pathology research fellowship and subsequently joined the staff of CMPB. Some of her research interests include the mechanisms by which black cohosh extract causes a megaloblastic anemia in mice and rats, and how metabolomic and proteomic data can further inform and build upon clinical pathology changes observed in in vivo toxicology studies. She has been a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists since 2011.

Selected Publications

• Cora MC, Kooistra L, Travlos G. 2015. Vaginal Cytology of the Laboratory Rat and Mouse: Review and Criteria for the Staging of the Estrous Cycle Using Stained Vaginal Smears. Toxicol Pathol 43(6):776-93. [Abstract]
• Cora MC, Gwinn W, Wilson R, King D, Waidyanatha S, Kissling GE, Brar SS, Olivera D, Blystone C, Travlos G. 2017. A Black Cohosh Extract Causes Hematologic and Biochemical Changes Consistent with a Functional Cobalamin Deficiency in Female B6C3F1/N Mice. Toxicol Pathol 45(5):614-623. [Abstract]