Dear Friends of TDA,
 
As a key partner of our department’s animal health programs, I’m pleased to let you know that Dr. Ed McKinley has been appointed to Director of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Kord Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. McKinley joined the staff at TDA in 1991 and has been instrumental in maintaining a level of quality service since Dr. Wilson’s passing last year.
 
Dr.  McKinley graduated from veterinary school at Michigan State University and worked at a mixed animal practice before joining the Army.  Following his military service, he attended graduate school at Purdue University where he earned a doctorate in veterinary pathology.  Before coming to TDA, Dr. McKinley spent several years with the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly/Elanco Animal Health.
 
TDA has a network of three animal diagnostic labs, in partnership with the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and UT Martin to serve each region of the state, including the Kord Diagnostic Laboratory in Nashville. These labs allow veterinarians and animal owners to submit dead animals to the laboratory for examination.  Additionally, tissues removed from live animals, such as surgical biopsies, can also be submitted to the laboratory to identify diseases. This helps not only animal owners, but the state in the event there is a disease outbreak.
 
The Kord Laboratory is a vital part of TDA’s overall regulatory programs to support animal diagnostics, food microbiology, toxicology, food residue, environmental monitoring and quality assurance for agricultural inputs such as feed, seed and fertilizers.
 
We are committed to working with all of our partners to help to protect Tennessee’s billion-dollar livestock industry and to improve animal health in general.  I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Dr. McKinley, and please feel free to contact either of us if you need our assistance or if you have any questions about our animal health services.
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. Charles Hatcher
State Veterinarian
Tennessee Department of Agriculture
615-837-5120
Charles.Hatcher@TN.gov