Dr. Griggs grew up in the Midwest with numerous species of animals. Some of these pets included dogs, cats, horses, ferrets, a miniature burro, birds, hamsters, turtles, freshwater and saltwater animals. Even a shark and an octopus! With this life experience, it makes sense that she obtained a degree in marine biology and biomedical sciences from Texas A&M University before pursuing her veterinary degree from Ross University. Along the way to becoming a veterinarian, she participated in numerous animal-focused volunteer and educational excursions. These included assisting with sea otter research in Alaska, volunteering at a bear rescue in Cambodia, and assisting a wildlife veterinarian in South Africa.
Ophthalmology became her passion during veterinary school after assisting with a cataract surgery in a dog that was blind for years…
“The day after surgery, I watched as the dog became overjoyed when it recognized its owner from across the room and ran to her. As we were all crying with joy, I knew improving animal vision was something I had to do for the rest of my career.”
To achieve this goal, Dr. Griggs completed five additional years of training after veterinary school focused on comparative ophthalmology. She completed her residency at Iowa State University before returning to sunny Texas. Since then, she has dedicated her time outside of work traveling to examine and treat animals in areas without easy access to veterinary ophthalmology. In addition to providing ophthalmology guidance to local veterinarians, she travels to veterinary teaching hospitals to help train future veterinarians on identification and treatment of common ocular disease and surgical techniques. Working in various geographic areas allows her to treat a variety of diseases and animal species, as well as collaborate with other veterinary ophthalmologists. She has contributed to publications for medical treatment of canine and equine glaucoma, avian ocular disease, toxicology, and topical chemotherapy for canine corneal neoplasia.
Outside of her professional interests, Dr. Griggs enjoys spending time traveling with her family and working on her parent’s farm.
