Dr. Cheryl Cullen was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up most of her life in Moncton, New Brunswick.  She received a BSc from Mt. Allison University (Sackville, NB), a DVM from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) (Charlottetown, PE), completed a small animal internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) (Saskatoon, SK), and a Masters of Veterinary Science and Veterinary Ophthalmology residency at the WCVM.

She has also received advanced training through attending the renowned Lancaster Course in Ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear infirmary, and the William Magrane Basic Science Course in Veterinary and Comparative Ophthalmology.

Dr. Cullen is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists and has been a faculty member at the WCVM and AVC.  Most recently, Dr. Cullen was a founding faculty member of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and was Staff Ophthalmologist at Western Veterinary Specialist Centre (Calgary, AB).  She developed the veterinary ophthalmology service, and was the sole veterinary ophthalmologist in Atlantic Canada from 2000-2005.  She has taught veterinary ophthalmology to veterinary students at the WCVM, AVC, and UCVM.  She has taught veterinary ocular pathology at WCVM and AVC.  She has taught topics in veterinary ophthalmology and  clinical communication to veterinary students at UCVM.

She has received numerous academic, teaching, and research awards.  Most notably, she received the gold medal award upon graduation at AVC, received 4 teaching awards in 3 years at the AVC, and has been nominated for the Small Animal Practitioner Award from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.  She has also undergone rigorous training in clinical communication through a variety of workshops including the Bayer Animal Health Communication Project.   She has numerous publications pertaining to comparative ophthalmology and holds a US patent on a device and procedure for managing primary glaucoma in animals, including humans.  She sits on the editorial boards of Veterinary Ophthalmology Journal , Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, and Veterinary Medicine International.  She reviews research for a variety of scientific journals.  She has also offered continuing education pertaining to ophthalmological disease to veterinarians.