2023 MSMR Educator Award Recipient

Dr. David Lee-Parritz, V83 (he/him), a laboratory animal medicine veterinarian and educator with more than 30 years of experience in the field, received the 2023 Educator Award from the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research (MSMR) at its annual Biomedical Research Day, held October 13.

Lee-Parritz has served on the faculty at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University for 20 years, 10 as a clinical adjunct faculty member and the last 10 as a full-time clinical professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology. He leads and manages research animal care and use programs, teaching students in the School’s Doctor of Veterinary Medicine/M.S. in Laboratory Animal Medicine (D.V.M./M.S.-LAM) dual degree program and its M.S. in Animals and Public Policy (MAPP) program. 

“I am humbled to receive the Educator award from MSMR … It is an enduring source of pride for me to have supported studies which brought safe and effective life-saving drugs and treatments to the clinic,” said Lee-Parritz after receiving the award.

“I have always been committed to teaching as an integral part of laboratory animal medicine. We train graduate students, technicians and principal investigators in the humane care and use of laboratory animals in research and teaching. Teaching the next generation of veterinarians and policy makers at Tufts adds a special dimension to this work.”

Prior to his work in academia, Lee-Parritz spent 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry. He is a MSMR board member, a former president of the Association of Primate Veterinarians, and has served for many years as an ad hoc specialist with AAALAC International, a global organization which assures excellence in laboratory animal care and use.  

Lee-Parritz is the third Cummings School professor to be honored by MSMR. In 2010, Dr. Angeline Warner received the MSMR Educator Award and Dr. Saul Tzipori earned the MSMR Investigator Award. Warner established the School’s M.S.-LAM program in 2004 and served as associate dean for Academic Affairs for nearly two decades. Tzipori is a distinguished professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health, known for his research in several areas of food and waterborne enteric pathogens.

MSMR is a member organization with a mission to promote and enhance biomedical research, including the humane care and use of animals, for the improved health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment.