Natasha Olby obtained her veterinary degree from Cambridge University in the UK in 1991. After a brief period spent in mixed general practice, she returned to Cambridge to complete a PhD in spinal cord injury and a surgical training. Following completion of her PhD and post doctoral research, she moved to North Carolina State University to do a neurology/neurosurgery residency and she has stayed at NCSU as a faculty member since then. She is currently a professor of neurology/neurosurgery and holds the Dr. Kady M. Gjessing and Rhanna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology. She is a past president of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Neurology specialty and has published over 100 scientific papers, as well as more than 35 book chapters serving as the co-editor of the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Neurology. Her research interests are spinal cord injury, Chiari like Malformations and neurodegenerative diseases and her research program focuses on the development and testing of therapies in clinical patients.