We’re very happy to share the great news that a distinguished board-certified surgeon, who specializes in minimally invasive surgical methods, will be joining our staff in January 2019.

He is Jeffrey J. Runge, DVM, DACVS, ACVS Founding Fellow, Minimally Invasive Surgery.

With his impressive professional background, Dr. Runge will bring important new capabilities to our Surgery Service and enable us to help even more pets requiring surgical procedures.

His bio follows:

Jeffrey J. Runge, DVM, Diplomate, ACVS,
ACVS Founding Fellow, Minimally Invasive Surgery (Soft Tissue)
Orthopedic & Soft Tissue Surgery

Dr. Jeffrey J. Runge is an internationally recognized board-certified surgeon who carries the honor of being an ACVS Founding Fellow, Minimally Invasive Surgery. He will bring his extensive soft tissue and orthopedic surgical expertise to Guardian Veterinary Specialists in early 2019.

For his undergraduate education, Dr. Runge attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, from 1996-2000. He then attended veterinary school at Ross University and the University of Pennsylvania from 2002-2005. Following graduation, he went on to complete a small animal internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City from 2005-2006; the PennHIP Orthopedic Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, from 2006-2007; and a surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, from 2008-2010.

From 2010-2018, he was appointed as a lecturer in surgery and then on to the standing faculty as an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA. During that time he headed the minimally invasive surgery program and also served as the Chief of Surgery in 2016 and then again from 2017-2018.

Dr. Runge was one of the pioneers to perform and report on single port laparoscopic surgery in pets. He has also modernized the techniques of numerous thoracoscopic and laparoscopic procedures in dogs and cats, including the gastropexy. He has published over 50 manuscripts and authored over 15 book chapters. He has directed and instructed over 20 national/international surgery courses. He has lectured in North America, Europe, and Asia on Minimally Invasive Surgery. He has won seven Outstanding Faculty Teaching awards including the “Charles W. Raker Surgery Teaching Award” at the University of Pennsylvania. He won 1st place for the Clinical ACVS Resident Research Award in 2008.  He was appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania to sit on the Pennsylvania Board of Health’s Drug Device & Cosmetic Board from 2013-2017. He currently sits on the executive board of the Veterinary Endoscopy Society (VES).

Dr. Runge has expertise in using minimally invasive surgery in both the chest and abdomen for dogs and cats. For the chest he focuses on diseases of the lungs, heart and lymphatic system; and in the abdomen he performs minimally invasive procedures on the liver, gallbladder, kidney, adrenal, stomach, intestine, and bladder.

Dr. Runge also performs all elective minimally invasive procedures, including one which he developed for the gastropexy, and reproductive tract procedures for male and female pets.

Through ongoing collaboration with leading human surgeons, Dr. Runge became a global leader in clinical service and scientific research for veterinary minimally invasive surgery.

Dr. Runge will continue to advance minimally invasive surgery, provide cutting-edge patient care, and further his important research at Guardian Veterinary Specialists.