Senior Manager Clinical Trials
Nestle Purina PetCare Company
Dr. Spears earned a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Companion Animal Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She joined Nestlé Purina in 2005 and worked as a Senior Principal Scientist in the Nestlé Purina PetCare Research Unit until 2022. She currently holds the position of Senior Manager of Clinical Trials and serves as an affiliate faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics and Department of Veterinary Medicine. She has been researching the impact of nutritional intervention on the oral and gastrointestinal microbiome of dogs and cats for more than twenty years.
Julie has numerous patents and publications in the field of companion animal nutrition and digestive and oral health. She has led and supported several key projects bringing new innovations to the market including postbiotics to modulate immune health, the combination of honey and spirulina to reduce breath malodor through modulating the oral microbiome, the combination of Enterococcus faecium SF68 and psyllium to improve microbial diversity, and fiber blends to enhance digestive health.
