Purdue alumnus named AVP for animal resources and attending veterinarian

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Office of Research has announced the appointment of Dr. Patrick Sharp as assistant vice president for animal resources and attending veterinarian at Purdue, effective Jan. 6, 2025. Sharp also will serve as clinical professor of comparative pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Sharp, who received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Purdue in 1991, returns to campus after more than 30 years in diverse leadership positions at several prestigious institutions. Since 2020, he has been at the University of California, Merced, serving as executive director of the Department of Animal Research Services and attending veterinarian for the Office of Research and Economic Development.
The AVP role that Sharp will assume was created in 2021 to enhance the university’s veterinary medicine research and education programs and align with best practices. As AVP, Sharp will have direct oversight of animal resources and the Centrally Managed Laboratory Animal Facilities team.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Sharp back to Purdue and look forward to his leadership in advancing our animal care and research programs,” said Jamie Mohler, associate vice president for scientific integrity and research compliance and the research integrity officer within the Office of Research, who led the search. “His extensive experience will be invaluable in ensuring the humane care and use of animals, fostering collaboration within our research community, and maintaining regulatory excellence.”
Before his position at the University of California, Merced, Sharp was chief executive officer for the Animal Resources Centre (ARC) in Perth, Australia, from 2013 to 2020. ARC provided laboratory animals and associated services to more than 20 countries. He also has served as director of the Laboratory Animals Centre at the National University of Singapore (2006-10), associate director of Animal Care Services at the University of Florida (2004-06),and associate director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine at the UCLA Medical Center (1998–2003).
Sharp succeeds Dr. Amanda Darbyshire, who served for the past year as interim attending veterinarian.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
Media contact: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu