Our Team

Philip J. Bergman, Director of Clinical Studies

DVM, MS, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (Oncology)

Dr. Bergman is the Director of Clinical Studies for VCA. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the principal veterinary investigator for the canine melanoma vaccine (Oncept®), which was fully licensed in 2009.

Prior to Dr. Bergman joining VCA, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for BrightHeart Veterinary Centers from 2007 to 2011. From 1999 – 2007 he was the head of the Donaldson-Atwood Cancer Center of The Animal Medical Center in New York.

After finishing veterinary school from Colorado State University (CSU) in 1990, he was an intern at Kansas State University (‘90-‘91) and returned to CSU for his medical oncology residency (‘91-‘94). Dr. Bergman then completed a PhD Fellowship in human cancer biology from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas (‘94-‘99). He was previously Chair of the ACVIM Board of Regents and President of the Veterinary Cancer Society.

Tracy Mills, Senior Clinical Studies Accountant

Tracy was previously the accounting manager for the ThinkPets division from 2007-2013 and joined the VCA Clinical Studies team in 2013. She works directly with Dr. Bergman and is responsible for study initiation, internal set-up, monitoring and study accounting with an emphasis on customer service for both our hospitals and our partners.

Tracy has more than 14 years of experience working in the veterinary field in various aspects including managing accounting, Sav-a-Pet program, veterinary technician, volunteer work and veterinary assistant for specialized physician training programs. Her family includes a very special Jack Russell Terrier named Trixie.

Talon McKee, Clinical Studies Coordinator

Talon started off in the veterinary field ranging in many different aspects of animal care. Some of his favorite projects included volunteer rescue work involving rehabilitation of large animal species and primary care for various reptile and amphibian species. Talon joined VCA in 2014 as an Anesthesia and Surgical Veterinary Assistant at VCA West Los Angeles Specialty Animal Hospital. He particularly is interested in anesthesia, pharmacology and surgery for various animal species. Talon joined the Clinical Studies Department under Dr. Philip Bergman in summer 2018, and looks forward to contributing to the overall conduct of VCA’s clinical studies.

Talon brings 8 years of veterinary experience and strong patient care skills to the Clinical Studies Department. He is eager to bring the same high quality of care provided directly in the hospital and field setting to the conduct of clinical studies across VCA. Talon hopes to continue to contribute, further enhance, and develop VCA’s involvement with important medical research in veterinary medicine.