A longtime leader in advancing veterinary medicine practice and education, College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) faculty member Dr. Jody Lulich recently received national recognition for his contributions to the field. 

Lulich is a 2023 recipient of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Specialty Lifetime Achievement Award for Small Animal Internal Medicine. 

This award recognizes the most prominent specialty leaders and provides the opportunity to

celebrate those who have made significant contributions in each of the six ACVIM specialties. Lulich accepted the award at this year’s ACVIM Forum. 

“Dr. Lulich is an extraordinary veterinarian and person, and we feel honored to be his colleagues. He inspires creativity, tenacity, and resilience in all of us,” members of the CVM Small Animal Medicine team wrote in their nomination letter for the award. 

Lulich is a professor of internal medicine in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and co-director of the Minnesota Urolith Center, which provides quantitative urolith analysis services to clients from around the world. He joined CVM as an assistant professor in 1990 and has held the Osborne/Hills Endowed Chair in Nephrology and Urology since 2008.

Over the span of his nearly 40-year career in the field of veterinary nephrology and urology, Lulich has been recognized as a global leader in research and education. He has published more than 400 papers in journals, textbooks, or scientific proceedings, and has been awarded more than $6,000,000 in funded research. He also is a founding member of the American College of Veterinary Nephrology and Urology, creating a path to advanced training in the field. 

“Veterinary Medicine has been a wonderful career that has given me the opportunity to make a positive difference in my patients and for their pet parents, the students that I have taught, and my colleagues,” Lulich told ACVIM in a member spotlight interview. “It has made me feel as if I matter, that I have something positive to contribute, and that I belong here.”

Among his noted accomplishments are pioneering or collaborating on the development and use of several treatments for urinary stones in pets. This includes developing minimally invasive methods for removing stones and using research to demonstrate that diet can be an effective means of dissolving stones. 

In addition to his research contributions, Lulich also has made a global impact as an educator. He has spoken at hundreds of conferences and has mentored learners across education levels, including high school students, undergraduate students, veterinary students, veterinary interns and residents, and graduate students.

Lulich’s dedication to teaching has earned him more than a dozen teaching awards from CVM and outside organizations, and membership in the University of Minnesota (UMN) Academy of Distinguished Teachers and the UMN Academy for Excellence in Clinical Practice.