Brendan O’Connor grew up on a small farm in the west of Ireland. After receiving his Veterinary Degree in Dublin in 1973, he worked in mixed animal practice in Ireland and Canada for ten years, including six years in St. Claude, Manitoba.

He started his career as a Veterinary Pathologist with on-the-job training in the diagnostic section of the Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dublin in 1983. Since then he has worked at diagnostic laboratories in Regina, Fairview and Airdrie, as well as Saskatoon, where he is currently in charge of the PDS Necropsy and Histology laboratories. He polished his pathology skills through two years of training in the Master of Veterinary Science Program that he completed at WCVM in 1992.

He has a special interest in diseases of livestock, especially pigs, and he tries to keep up with the specialized knowledge of local swine veterinarians by attending the American and Canadian swine conferences as often as possible. From his experience in other laboratories, he feels very fortunate to be able to work in a diagnostic laboratory focused on providing service and value to veterinarians and animal owners. He really appreciates the benefits of the close links that PDS has with the Veterinary College in Saskatoon and the Animal Health Unit of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture in Regina.

Brendan and his wife Helen have been married for 35 years and they have two sons and one grandchild. Rory works as communications manager for an energy company in Alberta and Derry is doing a PhD in Political Science at York University in Toronto.