Valérie L. Dufour, DVM, MSc, dip. ECVO, dip. ACVO is an assistant professor of small animal ophthalmology in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine. She received her veterinary degree from the University of Liège, Belgium in 2012. After graduation, she completed a small animal rotating internship combined with a master’s program in the same institution. After a brief period as a general practitioner in the UK, she moved to the US to start a fellowship in retinal diseases with Drs. Aguirre and Beltran at Penn Vet’s Retinal Disease Studies Facility in 2014. In 2020, she started her ophthalmology residency at VHUP and achieved board certification in 2024. Following her residency, she transitioned to an assistant professor position supported by an NIH K-12 grant that allows her to further explore canine retinal degenerative diseases. She is currently developing a retina-oriented sub-specialty clinic within Penn Vet in order to offer state of the art technologies to client-owned dogs affected with progressive retinal atrophy.