Roy T. Madigan, D.V.M., is the principal scientist in the Canine Chagas Treatment Study, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX—research into treatment of canine Chagas disease in Unites States Army military working dogs. Madigan is also the director of The Animal Hospital of Smithson Valley in Spring Branch, TX (Chief Medical Officer and coordinator for small animal medicine). He is the founder of Vida Pharmacal, a nonprofit human and veterinary pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The company’s focus is development of novel therapeutics to address neglected parasitic diseases in both humans and animals. Madigan’s work includes filing the first veterinary drug patent for anti-T. cruzi activity in dogs and conducting pioneering research in studying the curative effects of drug combination in human heart cells infected with Chagas disease. He is a member of the Texas Chagas Task Force, Centers for Disease Control and University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, as the veterinary lead for canine Chagas disease in Texas. The Task Force increases public awareness of Chagas disease by working with healthcare providers, entomologists, marketing, and the public. He is working with the FDA for approval of treatment regimens for canine Chagas, and with commercial laboratories to develop serologic techniques to diagnose T. cruzi infection in dogs. Roy's wife, Destiny, shares his love of animals and is an animal behaviorist. They reside in the Texas Hill Country with two children, five dogs, cat, and ferret.
