Embryo Excellence: OSU alumnus gives back to vet students through small business
Friday, January 19, 2024
Media Contact: Taylor Bacon | Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator | 405-744-6728 | taylor.bacon@okstate.edu
For Dr. Jason Anton, it is important to give back.
As a graduate of Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Anton continues to stay involved in the college and provides practical experience to students through his business, Ovaflo Genetics.
“I have been blessed with the ability to get firsthand exposure and experience in different fields of reproductive medicine that I would not have, had those clinicians not been dedicated to preparing me for success in the future,” Anton said.
After graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 2008, he pursued a master’s degree in equine and bovine embryology at Clemson University in 2010. He then earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at OSU CVM in 2015.
“I chose OSU because I felt it is in the breadbasket of what is large animal production,” Anton said. The skillset and quality of clinicians at OSU is what he was looking for to become a confident practitioner.
“There was no other place,” Anton said.
He felt that going to OSU CVM was going to be advantageous for his development as a student to be better prepared when going out into practice.
Anton said his experience at OSU allowed him to hit the ground running after he graduated because of the clinicians’ investment in his future, which provided him opportunities to build his skillset.
After earning his DVM, Anton traveled to a small veterinary practice in northeast Georgia where he focused on embryo transfer. In just under a year, an opportunity arose for Anton to grow his experiences. So, Anton packed his bags and set forth to practice abroad in Australia.
“I worked in a practice of three veterinarians,” Anton said. “We were reproductive, large animal exclusive; specifically, we dealt a lot on the cattle side, both the bull collection and semen preservation to be shipped to several different global markets.”
Anton also gained knowledge in many other areas in veterinary medicine. They included collecting embryos of cows, sheep embryo his two years practicing in Australia, Anton felt it was his time to bring his knowledge home and start his own practice.
“Ovaflo was established in 2017,” Anton said. “It’s a mobile, reproductively focused, large animal practice where we focus on embryo transfer, specifically in cattle and smaller species of sheep and goats.”
Anton said he started Ovaflo with realistic goals to try to build his business.
“We’ve been very blessed over the past four years to build what I think is a very successful and thriving business in the way that we try to offer top-notch service and customer-catered services around Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and into Texas as well,” he said.
As a mobile platform, Ovaflo allows Anton to develop a program from the ground up with producers on their own land.
“The program has the reproductive focus, but we make sure to address deficiencies that might be present,” Anton said. “It allows us to build some synergy between Ovaflo and the producer themselves to be able to maximize profits in the end.”
As a small business owner, Anton hopes to continue to grow. He said building relationships that currently exist needs to be at the forefront of the vision of Ovaflo, while also looking at growth that will not hinder the customer-catered services that are offered.
“I chose OSU because I felt it is in the breadbasket of what is large animal production. There was no other place.”
“For the future, I think [the goal] is trying to maximize the company’s reach and penetrance and add the surrounding areas and states to allow for proximity that doesn’t cause a challenge for these producers out there that we service,” Anton said. “Ovaflo can continue to fill in some gaps and be able to help on more than just the reproductive level, but the level of that allows everybody to be successful and happy in the end.”
During his time at OSU, Anton found the quality of instruction and the quality of didactic teaching to be important. Dr. Lionel Dawson, OSU CVM theriogenology professor, knew Anton before he became a veterinary student and has mentored Anton ever since.
Dawson met Anton when he was learning embryo transfer in cattle for a reproductive company while establishing his residency in Oklahoma.
“He was one of the guys that was very aggressive and wanted to learn a lot of knowledge,” Dawson said. “He was very focused in what he wanted to do.”
As a joint theriogenology professor, Dawson also teaches classes at Langston University. Anton would go with Dawson to Langston where he would participate in artificial insemination classes offered to farmers, Dawson said.
They performed several laparoscopic artificial inseminations on goats at the university.
The connections Anton made at OSU made him feel like he was prepared for success.
“They were integral in building a strong foundation for what my success is currently and hopefully will be in the future,” Anton said.
Anton said he wants to continue working with OSU to further enhance the program and provide students with practical applications of what they learn in veterinary school.
Dawson appreciates the practical experience Anton provides to students.
“It is important that we, as private practitioners, continue to try to lend a hand or provide resources for those students,” Anton said. “We want to provide means for them to be successful upon graduation and be some of the most competitive candidates for those jobs that are out there.”
With the ability to be plugged into OSU CVM, Anton said he finds happiness, contentment and passion in coming back to Stillwater and interacting with students who are passionate about veterinary medicine by lecturing and building connections with them.
“I think the ability to come in and talk to those students and interact on different hands-on electives will hopefully give them some perspective of how the skillset they are learning and the knowledge base they have translates into building a successful practice, whether that one day be on their own or with other associates,” Anton said.
“Being able to still tap into the excitement of a veterinary student and looking at the opportunities they have in the future just keeps me excited about the industry, keeps me excited about the profession and the direction it’s going.”
Photos By: Taylor Bacon
Story By: Elizabeth Perdue | Vet Cetera Magazine