Animal Referral Hospital Homebush

Dr David Lurie

BVSc. Diplomate, ACVIM (Oncology). Diplomate, ACVR (Radiation Oncology)

David completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery with an emphasis on medical oncology at the University of Illinois in 2001.

He subsequently completed residencies in medical and radiation oncology at the University of California, Davis in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

David then went on to take a faculty position at the University of Florida from 2005 to 2009 where he was a founding member of the oncology program and where he held the HIll's endowed chair in oncology. Since then he has worked in private practice, serving as the head of oncology at both Miami Veterinary Specialists and Affiliated Veterinary Specialists in Orlando, Florida prior to joining the ARH team in 2017.

David is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Radiology.

Dr Sonya Yu

BVSc. MANZCVS. FANZCVS (Veterinary oncology)

Sonya graduated from the University of Sydney in 2004. She joined ARH in 2007 as a small animal medicine intern and worked with the emergency service once she completed her internship. She joined the oncology team early 2015.

Now that this has been completed, Sonya hopes to pass her ANZCVS fellowship exam in 2019. She has a special interest in the comparative aspects of human and companion animal oncology. In her spare time, she follows American politics and sometimes enjoys being with her young son.

Dr Patricia Rosenstein

DVM (Dist) MVS (Hons) MVSc (Hons) DipACVECC

Patricia graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in Ontario, Canada in 2008.

Following graduation, she worked as an emergency veterinarian for three years before moving to Australia where she practiced as a veterinary tutor in the emergency department at the University of Melbourne’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. She subsequently completed a residency in small animal emergency and critical care at the University of Melbourne and became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2017. She temporarily returned to Canada where she worked as a critical care specialist in private practice before returning to Australia and joining the ARH team.

As part of her postgraduate training, Patricia authored several scientific articles and book chapters on the use of lactate as a prognostic and therapeutic tool in dogs and cats. Her clinical interests include shock, trauma, sepsis, and mechanical ventilation. Patricia is passionate about critical care because it allows her to maximize the potential for a positive outcome in the most compromised patients. When she isn’t helping sick dogs and cats, Patricia enjoys spending time at the beach with her husband and her daughter.

Dr Natashia Evans

BVSc(Hons) BSc(Vet) MVetClinStudies DipACVECC

Natashia attended the University of Sydney where she earned a Bachelor of Science, Masters of Science and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Following her graduation from veterinary school, she spent time in feline only practice for three years. She then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Animal Referral Hospital Sydney, a residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Sydney, and a residency in small animal emergency and critical care at the University of Wisconsin.

Natashia has completed research on infectious diseases, urethral defects and focal pulmonary granulomas. Her findings have been published in multiple journals including the Australian Veterinary Journal and Medical Mycology. She has been invited to lecture on feline uretheral obstructions at the University of Sydney and in 2012 she was granted the Cancer Research Network Travel grant which enabled her to present her research at the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Natashia is experienced in all aspects of small animal emergency and critical care and has a particular interest in management of sepsis and septic shock, infectious diseases (fungal diseases in particular) and mechanical ventilation. Her favourite part of veterinary medicine is seeing critically ill patients reunited with their owners. When not treating patients, Natashia enjoys travelling, exploring new places and ice hockey.

Dr Mark Haworth

BVSc (Hons 1) MANZCVS (ECC) MVMS DipACVECC

Mark graduated with first class honours from the University of Queensland and went on to complete a rotating internship at Queensland Veterinary Specialists. Having a passion for emergency and critical care he was awarded membership in this field in with the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists and subsequently completed a residency in emergency and critical care at Murdoch University. He became a board-certified specialist with the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in 2012. He obtained a master’s in veterinary medical science in 2014.

Mark then established the 24-hour emergency and critical care service at the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland in 2015. He has taught at the undergraduate level and successfully mentored two specialists in emergency and critical care. He has published many research articles and authored book chapters in respected peer-reviewed international publications. His many interests include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, snake envenomation, toxicology, point of care ultrasound, sepsis and mechanical ventilation.

When Mark is not in the ICU, he is spending time with his family (including his Maine Coon and Moggy).

Dr Corinne James

BVSc(hons) MVS GradCertSAECC MANZCVS(SA medicine)

Corinne graduated with honours from the University of Sydney in 2002 and then worked around Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Over this time, she fell in love with emergency and critical care work and when the opportunity arose, started a Residency training program back at the University in 2019. Recently finished, she has now joined the ARH ECC Team and is hoping to sit her Specialist exams in the coming year. Corinne enjoys the complexity and variety of cases that are seen in this discipline and being able to make a significant difference to the lives of her patients. When not at work, she's kept busy on the home front being Mum to her four kids, three sight hounds and a cat.

Dr Rachel Soh

BVSc GradCert (ECC) MANZCVS (ECC)

Rachel graduated from the University of Sydney in 2014 and relocated back home to Singapore, where she worked for three years in a busy general practice. She developed a keen interest in emergency work and made the move back to Sydney to undertake a rotating internship followed by a residency in emergency and critical care at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Rachel completed her residency training at the start of 2023 and subsequently joined the critical care team at ARH. She enjoys all aspects of ECC and the challenge that comes with managing the most critical patients. Her clinical interests include cardiorespiratory diseases, sepsis/SIRS and point of care ultrasound. Outside of work Rachel enjoys going on hikes, strength training, and spending time with her black cat Jiji. 

Dr Scott Smith

BVSc (Hons)

Scott graduated from the University of Queensland in 1995. After spending two years in a very busy mixed practice in rural NSW, Scott spent several years travelling across the world.

When he was not vetting you may have found him on a mountain somewhere in the world either hiking or playing in the snow.

Scott’s passion for emergency medicine and surgery developed working in dedicated emergency clinics in the United Kingdom, from Edinburgh to London.

Scott has more than 15 years experience in emergency practice with 12 yrs at the Animal Referral Hospital. Scott is the clinical director of the emergency service in Homebush, Sydney. His passion for all aspects of veterinary emergency and critical care remains strong but most of all Scott enjoys being able to help and nature those new to the field in a hope to impart his knowledge and experience.

Outside of work Scott still loves spending time in the outdoors, whether it be on the snow, beach or on a mountain bike, but most of all spending time with his family and furries.

Dr Natalie Ratanwongprasat

BSc. DVM

Natalie graduated from the University of Sydney in 2019. Since then, she has worked in small animal practise and has recently completed a rotating internship at SASH. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys spending time with her needy Lagotto Milly, playing any type of sport and dabbling in crypto.

Dr Grace Thutell

BVSc MANZCVS (Veterinary Behaviour)

Dr Grace Thurtell is a qualified veterinarian and a Resident in Veterinary Behaviour Medicine. After completing her veterinary degree at the University of Sydney she practiced in a small animal practice in Penrith. She then started an internship in 2017 with Dr Kersti Seksel, the only Registered Specialist in Veterinary Behaviour Medicine in New South Wales. In 2018 Grace then began a residency in Veterinary Behaviour Medicine.

Dr Filipe Espinheira

LMV, DACVO, Registered Specialist in Veterinary Ophthalmology

Originally from Portugal, Dr. Filipe completed his veterinary studies at Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (Portugal). During his last year of veterinary school, he completed externships at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), UC Davis (USA) and The Ohio State University (USA), which consolidated his dream to become a specialist ophthalmologist. After working for a few years as a general practitioner in Portugal and UK, he pursued advanced training by performing a rotating internship in the Animal Medical Centre (UK), a surgical fellowship at Michigan State University (USA), a Small Animal Rotating internship at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (USA) and a comparative ophthalmology residency at University of Wisconsin (USA).

Filipe became a Diplomate (specialist) of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2013. He has worked as a faculty member in Comparative Ophthalmology at two universities in the US over the last decade - most recently at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. After 6 years living in New York, Filipe and his family (including one very spoilt cat) moved to Australia to be closer to his wife’s family prior to joining ARH in 2023. 

Filipe's professional interests include intraocular surgery, glaucoma, advanced imaging of the eye, and ophthalmology of exotic and wild animals. As a result of his passion for teaching and ophthalmology, Filipe has published several manuscripts in veterinary ophthalmology and has been an invited speaker at several US and international meetings. In his spare time, Filipe enjoys riding his bicycles, bushwalking and drinking salt water while trying to learn how to surf

Charlotte Christian

ECC Vet Nurse Team Leader

Justine Naylor

ECC Vet Nurse Team Leader - CertVNECC

Justine started out as a vet nurse in 2010 working in a general practice in Mosman. She joined the ARH Homebush team in 2014 as a casual emergency nurse and a couple years later committed to a full-time position. In 2018, Justine joined the leadership team as one of our ECC Vet nurse team leaders. She primarily works in the critical care unit where she finds it very rewarding seeing some of our sickest patients beating all the odds. Justine has a particular love of cats and has 2 beautiful felines of her own named Ellie and Loki.

Renee Brown

DipVN, RVNS, AVN, VTS-ECC

Critical Care Veterinary Nurse

Mental First Aider Australia

Certified RECOVER CPR Instructor

Ren'ee is 1 of 14 Qualified Veterinary Technician/Nurse Specialist in Emergency and Critical Care (VTS-ECC) Australia wide. She is currently a Nurse Educator and thoroughly enjoys improving nurses' technical skills and knowledge while providing a high level of care for all ECC patients. She joined ARH in 2021 and has a strong passion in mechanical ventilation, sepsis, trauma, and all aspects of animal CPR