Dr. Susan LaRue is originally from Maryland and received her undergraduate education at the University of Maryland.  She received her DVM from the University of Georgia where she also did her internship.  She came to Colorado State University in 1983 for a residency in small animal surgery, and subsequently became a Diplomate in the College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS).  During her surgery residency Dr. LaRue developed a strong interest in oncology.  She received her Ph.D from the (then) Department of Radiological Health Sciences working on tumor cell kinetics in canine osteosarcoma and lymphoma.  She also did training in Radiation Oncology at Colorado State University under the mentorship of Dr. Edward L. Gillette, considered to be the pioneer of veterinary radiation oncology. Dr. LaRue was a charter Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Radiology, specialty of Radiation Oncology, and has served as president of that organization.

Dr. LaRue is currently a professor of Radiation Oncology at CSU and head of the Radiation Oncology Service.  Her clinical experience combined with her background in radiation biology makes her the ideal person to apply the new technology available on the Trilogy Linear accelerator to veterinary patients. Dr. LaRue’s passion is translational research using naturally occurring tumors in pet animal patients.  Her goal is to design studies that help the individual patient as well as provide information to better understand the biology of the cancer.