MU Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

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Molecular Diagnostics

The mission of the Molecular Diagnostics section of the VMDL is to provide accurate assays for microbial pathogens and toxins in animals, utilizing current molecular techniques.  This service supports veterinary practitioners throughout the state, clinicians in the Veterinary Health Center, and pathologists within the VMDL.

Tests performed by Molecular Diagnostics

Faculty

Tirth Uprety, BVSc&AH, MS, PhD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Molecular Diagnostics Section Head

Staff

Marion Butcher 
Sr. Research Laboratory Technician

Debra Sharpe 
Laboratory Supervisor

Message from the Director

The University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) is a full-service veterinary diagnostic laboratory and Missouri’s only laboratory accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. The VMDL is a Level I Lab of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, Tier I Lab of the FDA Veterinary Laboratory Response Network, and a National Poultry Improvement Plan authorized lab. The VMDL maintains an effective quality assurance and quality control program.

The VMDL has formal anatomical pathology, clinical pathology, and clinical microbiology training programs. The VMDL faculty hold academic appointments in the Departments of Veterinary Pathobiology and Veterinary Biomedical Sciences. The director is administratively responsible to the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the overall operation of the laboratory and its multiple missions of public service, teaching, research and continuing education/extension.

The VMDL faculty and staff work diligently to provide relevant, timely and cost-effective diagnostic services to our clients and to create a positive learning environment for our students and residents. In 2025, veterinarians, animal owners and researchers from 90 Missouri counties and cities, as well as from 38 states and provinces outside Missouri, continued to rely on the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory’s (VMDL) diagnostic services. The lab performed approximately 61,000 total cases and conducted more than 206,000 tests.

About the MU VMDL

The VMDL is a full-service laboratory accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). The VMDL provides in-depth laboratory diagnostic support to veterinary practitioners, livestock and poultry industry interests, companion animal interests, wildlife conservationists, scientists utilizing animals in their research throughout the university, state and regulatory officials, and clinicians of the MU Veterinary Health Center.

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901 E. Campus Loop
Columbia, MO 65211

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