USDA APHIS Announces New Assistant Director of Swine Health

July 31, 2019 — USDA APHIS Veterinary Services

Dr. Alan Huddleston, Director of the USDA Aquaculture, Swine, Equine & Poultry Health Center, announces that Dr. Koren Custer has joined the Center as the new Assistant Director of Swine Health. In this role, Koren will directly supervise all members of the Swine Health team (Drs. Celia Antognoli, Ross Free, Nicki Humphrey and John Korslund), oversee day-to-day Swine Health activities including stakeholder outreach, and work directly with Dr. Huddleston on long-term strategic planning and execution of the Veterinary Services mission as it relates to Swine Health.

Koren hails from Point Pleasant, West Virginia. She graduated from the University of Georgia with both a DVM and an MPH. While there, she took every food animal class and clinical rotation offered; it is said that her favorite two weeks of vet school were riding around with Dr. David Reeves all over Georgia and Alabama during a senior year swine medicine rotation.

Immediately upon graduation, Koren went back home to work with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture as the Assistant State Veterinarian. From there, she joined the ranks of the USDA APHIS VS and went to Statesboro, GA to work in the field as a Veterinary Medical Officer. She most recently held the position of Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC) of the six New England states before joining the Aquaculture, Swine, Equine and Poultry Health Center as the Assistant Director for Swine Health.

Koren's official duty station is in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she and her family recently relocated.