PRETORIA - Professor Frank JM Verstraete has set the benchmark for innovation and best practice in veterinary science, establishing standards that are now applied worldwide. An alumnus of the University of Pretoria (UP), he is recognised as a scholar whose research, clinical work and teaching laid the foundations for procedures that continue to guide the treatment of animals across species.

For this, the University of Pretoria conferred him with an honorary doctorate in Veterinary Science during the Faculty of Veterinary Science graduation ceremony on 5 September 2025. “In addition to being an alumnus of the University, Prof Verstraete has been an international leader in the field of veterinary dentistry and developed the field to such an extent that it became recognised as its own specialist field 

instead of a theme in the field of veterinary surgery,” Prof Vinny Naidoo, Dean of the Faculty ofVeterinary Science, explained.

“He has also advanced the care of veterinary patients to the extent that clinical conditions that would previously have necessitated euthanasia, can be better managed through routine surgical and medical care.”

Prof Verstraete began his academic journey in Belgium, where he completed his DrMedVet degree magnacum laude at the State University of Ghent in 1980. He later pursued postgraduate training at the University ofPretoria, earning the BVSc (Hons) and the MMedVet (Chir) in the 1980s, before embarking on an international career that has spanned more than four decades.

At the University of California, Davis, he led the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service and supervised a generation of residents and fellows who themselves have become leaders in the field. He also served as anAdjunct Professor in the Department of Orofacial Sciences, Division of Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology, at the School of Dentistry of the University of California, San Francisco. His publication record includes more than 180 papers and the landmark textbook Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Dogs and Cats, now in preparation for its third edition.

Laying the groundwork in clinical practice

Much of Prof Verstraete’s research established the evidence base for procedures now routinely performed byveterinary dentists and surgeons. “His team showed the benefits of full mouth radiographs in dogs and cats.They were also the first to publish comparative work on dental radiographs, computed tomography (CT) of thehead, as well as (a then very new technology) cone bean computed tomography (CBCT). This research emphasised the benefit of standard dental radiographs above the images generated through CT or CBCT,” Prof Naidoo said.

Prof Verstraete also validated the effectiveness of root canal therapy in dogs, providing data that secured the procedure’s place as one of the most commonly performed specialist treatments in the discipline.

As a surgeon by training, he advanced maxillofacial surgery through detailed case series and clinical studies that provided vital long-term follow-up data. His influence extended into teaching, where he created systematic frameworks for veterinary dentistry that continue to guide training programmes internationally.

Extending dentistry to wildlife and translational medicine

Prof Verstraete recognised early in his career that veterinary dentistry could not be confined to domestic animals. He developed a systematic skull-based research approach that enabled the study of dentition and maxillofacial pathology in exotic and wildlife species. This methodology, later published for use by others,became the basis for large-scale studies covering mammals native to California, including marine species whose dental health had never before been documented. His studies of rabbits, chinchillas and other commonly kept exotic pets established clinical standards that practitioners still rely on today. 

Oral medicine was another field where Prof Verstraete’s work broke new ground. He led the characterisation of chronic gingivostomatitis in cats globally, a debilitating condition that causes inflammation of the mouth and gums that affects animals globally, and was the first to explore fat- derived stem cell treatment as a novel therapy.

The methodology is now being used commercially in the United States and has positioned the cat as a translational model for human inflammatory oral diseases such as lichen planus – a condition that can cause painful sores in the mouth or itchy, purplish rashes on the skin.

A proud UP alumnus

In response to the recognition, Prof Verstraete said: “My post-graduate studies at the University of Pretoria helped me build a career that has taken me into clinics, classrooms and research laboratories across theworld. To return to my South African alma mater to receive this honour is deeply meaningful. It speaks to the strength of UP in producing graduates who do not only serve their profession and discipline, but who shape it on a global scale.”

“It is my humble opinion that Prof Verstraete has enriched the scientific literature through his direct contributions but also through the contributions of the multitude of students that were fortunate to study under him,” Prof Naidoo concluded. “By conferring this honorary doctorate, the University of Pretoria celebrates a scholar who not only established veterinary dentistry as a speciality but also validated the methods and procedures that underpin the field today.”