Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine | 3800 Spruce St. Phildelphia, PA 19106 | Phone: 215.898.5438

Staff and Associates


James Serpell, PhD, Director, Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society
Marie A. Moore Professor of Humane Ethics & Animal Welfare
BSc (Zoology): University College, University of London, 1974
PhD: University of Liverpool, Liverpool, 1980
Dr. Serpell's areas of research include behavior and welfare of companion animals; development of human attitudes to animals; history of human-animal interactions; measurement of behavioral phenotypes in dogs and cats; ontogenesis of behavioral problems in companion and working dogs; animal-assisted therapeutic interventions.

Deborah L. Duffy, PhD, Research Specialist,
Ph.D. in psychology: Johns Hopkins University (2001)
Post-doctoral research fellow at Indiana University and the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Duffy is an animal behavior research specialist at the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society (CIAS) in the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Her past and current research has investigated environmental and physiological regulation of behavior in non-human animals. She joined the CIAS in 2005 where she has been investigating behavioral development in guide and service dogs and working to validate standardized measures of dog behavior and temperament.


Jodi Levinthal, MSW, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Katherine A. Kruger, MSW
Assistant Director, Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society
Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
3900 Delancey Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6010
E-mail: cias@vet.upenn.edu