Meet Our Instructors
Dr. Melissa King
Dr. King is a professor of equine sports medicine and rehabilitation at Colorado State University and a board-certified Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation.
After earning her DVM, Dr. King completed a year-long internship at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. She subsequently spent a decade in private practice, where her work focused on equine sports medicine and the clinical management of performance horses. Her interest in advancing the scientific foundation of equine rehabilitation ultimately led her back to Colorado State University, where she earned a PhD in equine biomechanics and rehabilitation. Her doctoral research investigated the physiologic, biomechanical, and histologic effects of aquatic therapy on osteoarthritis in the equine middle carpal joint.
In addition to her research and clinical work, Dr. King is committed to advancing education in equine sports medicine and rehabilitation and to strengthening collaboration across veterinary medicine, rehabilitation science, biomechanics, and human sports medicine.
Dr. Sherry Johnson
Dr. Johnson is a senior partner at Equine Sports Medicine, LLC in Pilot Point, Texas, where she focuses on orthopedic rehabilitation, performance horse conditioning, and advanced recovery programs designed to help equine athletes safely return to work following injury. Her work combines veterinary medicine, biomechanics, and rehabilitation science to improve tendon healing, athletic performance, and long-term soundness in equine athletes.
Dr. Johnson earned her veterinary degree from Iowa State University in 2012. Following an internship at the Equine Medical Center of Ocala, she completed a one-year equine diagnostic imaging fellowship at CSU followed by a collaborative equine sports medicine and rehabilitation residency through CSU and Equine Sports Medicine, LLC, achieving board certification in 2019. Dr. Johnson completed a PhD program at CSU focused on rehabilitation modalities related to tendon healing.
Dr. Katie Ellis
Dr. Ellis is an associate clinical instructor at the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s large animal field services, where her clinical interests include equine musculoskeletal imaging and rehabilitation. She received her veterinary degree in 2009 from the University of Georgia, where she subsequently completed a large animal rotating internship before spending 4 ½ years as a general equine ambulatory practitioner with Jacksonville Equine Associates in Penney Farms, Fla. During this time, she became certified in equine chiropractic and acupuncture.
In 2015, Dr. Ellis completed a specialty internship in equine surgery and sports medicine at the University of Florida followed by a combined equine diagnostic imaging internship and equine sports medicine and rehabilitation residency at Colorado State University, completing the program in July 2020. Dr. Ellis returned to the University of Georgia in September 2020 as an equine sports medicine and rehabilitation clinician and became board certified in equine sports medicine and rehabilitation in 2021.
Dr. Sarah Le Jeune
Dr. Le Jeune is the chief of the Equine Integrative Sports Medicine Service at the University of California, Davis. She joined the faculty in 2003 and focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of lameness and various performance-related musculoskeletal injuries by an integrative whole-horse approach.
A 1999 veterinary graduate of the University of Liege in Belgium, Dr. Le Jeune is the founder and chair of the International Task Force on Laterality in Sport Horses. She is boarded in equine surgery and veterinary sports medicine and rehabilitation as well as certified in veterinary acupuncture, veterinary chiropractic and in thermographic imaging.
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