Meet the Team
Dr. Michelle Guarin
Dr. Guarin graduated from Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. She completed a rotating internship in the greater Chicago area before returning to Massachusetts. She worked briefly in the Emergency Department at Mass Vet Referral Hospital in Woburn, then honed in on her surgical and general medicine skills at Marshfield Animal Hospital. Dr. Guarin joined BVC in 2017 as an Associate Veterinarian and temporarily left in 2022 to finish a year-long specialty internship in Avian and Exotic Medicine at MSPCA Angell West in Waltham. She is very happy to return to BVC, which she considers her “work-home.” In her spare time, Dr. Guarin likes to travel and spend time outdoors with her husband and two children.
Dr. Guarin will be accepting exotic animal patients including rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, small rodents (rats, hamsters, & gerbils), ferrets, hedgehogs, parrots (except large macaws), pigeons & doves, songbirds, chickens, ducks, quail, reptiles (bearded dragons, all types of geckos, snakes, turtles & tortoises, & other small lizards), sugar gliders, and limited amphibians (frogs and axolotls).
Dr. Christina ‘Kajsa’ Newlin (she/her/hers)
Dr. Christina Kajsa Newlin is a graduate of Yale University and Tufts Veterinary School (now the Cummings Veterinary School at Tufts University). She has been practicing general medicine and surgery at the ARL since 1998.
In 2001 she completed the IVAS Veterinary Acupuncture Course which integrates a balanced background of the fundamentals of the scientific basis and application of acupuncture, as well as a background in the fundamentals and applications of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Her other special interests include surgery and pain management. When not working, she enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Dr. Clarissa Williams
Dr. Williams is a graduate of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her clinical year at Purdue University. Before joining BVC she worked in Rhode Island in a general practice setting which included routine appointments, urgent care and emergency. Dr Williams’s professional interests are shelter medicine, behavior, rehabilitation and pain management. Outside of the hospital, she shares her home with her partner and many rescues pets. She enjoys nature and kayaking but also likes podcasts, music and learning new instruments.
Dr. Cathy Sun
Dr. Sun was born and raised in New Jersey. She graduated from Boston College in 2010 with a bachelor’s in Biology. She earned her veterinary medicine degree from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in 2015 and continued her education with a rotating internship in Sacramento, CA. She is passionate about feline medicine, soft tissue surgery, and practicing fear-free animal care. She has a black cat at home and enjoys vegetarian cuisine, DIY, and Zumba.
Sade Franco-Ogunleye, Practice Manager (she/her/hers)
Sade graduated with her B.S. in Business Administration and Management (concentrating in Operations and Technology Management) from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She worked in people medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for several years with a brief stint in the food and beverage industry before her love for puppies and kittens drew her towards the Animal Rescue League. She is eagerly looking forward to catching “Adoption Fever” and bringing home a furry friend of her own in the near future. Her professional interests include operations/project management, process improvement, and data science. In her spare time she enjoys running, solo travel, and frequenting the theatre.
Veterinary Support
Stephanie Clark, Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT) (she/her/hers)
Stephanie attended the State University of New York at Canton where she was a varsity soccer captain. She graduated in 2012 with a degree in Veterinary Technology and passed her licensing exam that same year. Stephanie joined the Boston Veterinary Care team in January 2014, working until January 2020 when she left to gain experience working at Tufts V.E.T.S.. Luckily she elected to again join the BVC team in the summer of 2020. She is mom to a white dove, aptly named Bird- an ARL alum. And in her spare time, she loves traveling, music, football, and celebrating the entire month of her birthday!
Ryan Coughlin, Veterinary Technician (he/him/they/them)
Ryan graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Zoology and Animal Behavior, and became a Certified Pet Dog Trainer earlier this year. Ryan collects plants and guinea pigs, loves to hike, is a very amateur photographer, and loves playing video-games.
Brenda Jarillo, Veterinary Technician Assistant (she/her/hers)
Brenda’s Bachelor of Fine Arts, earned with high honors from C.W. Post of Long Island University in 2002 lends itself more to her personal time than professional. She promptly left behind the photography studio for a career in hospitality. The ensuing years found her managing restaurants and helming bars in Brooklyn, San Francisco and Boston. Seeking a way to combine further learning with interests she enjoys; Brenda was inspired by her lifelong love of the four legged and furry to pursue a new area of hospitality here within our community-oriented veterinary environment. Her free time finds her buried in innumerable pursuits of creative craft, consuming untold volumes of cheese, biking, canoeing rain or shine with her partner, and napping with her two elderly pups.
Anastasia Fournier-Wassink, Client Liaison (she/her/hers)
A Junior at CU Boulder currently on a gap year, Anastasia is studying to do Wildlife Rehabilitation. At a young age Anastasia always knew she wanted to help animals and rehabilitation seemed the way to go. She has experience working with cats, dogs, horses, reptiles, rodents and more and has always been mistaken for her mother receptionist, so working as a Client Liaison at BVC seemed like the right move. In her spare time, she can be found gaming at home with her roommates, reading on the porch with her pets, listening to live music, watching TV until 2 am, or annoying her best friends from across the country.