Texas Tech University

Klementina Fon Tacer, DVM, PhD

Assistant Professor, Cancer Biology and Reproductive Biology

Director, Texas Center for Comparative Cancer Research (TC3R)

CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research

About Me

Klementina originally comes from Slovenia. After obtaining her D.V.M. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Ljubljana, she came to the U.S. for her post-doctoral training at The University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Klementina returned to her native Slovenia, where she taught at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. Science brought her back to the UTSW Medical Center in Dallas and then to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, from where she was recruited to TTU SVM.

Instruction

Klementina combines teaching and research in her academic work. Her teaching focuses on the molecular underpinnings of animal physiology, pathology, diagnostics, and therapy. Klementina developed and serves as the Instructor of Record for the Introduction to Research and Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine course. She mentors undergraduate, DVM, and graduate students.

Research

The overarching goals of Klementina's research are to uncover novel mechanisms that evolved to protect mammalian germ cells against stress, discover how and why they were co-opted in cancer, and ultimately apply these insights for the advancement of cancer treatment, fertility preservation, and conservation of endangered species. With an interdisciplinary program and comparative approach, she interconnects veterinary and human medicine to ultimately benefit animal and human wellbeing and health.

Service

Klementina serves as the inaugural director of the Texas Center for Comparative Cancer Research (TC3R), the Editor-in-Chief of the Slovenian Veterinary Research journal (slovetres.si), and on the American Society of Andrology (ASA) Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Veterinary Cancer Society (VCR), and Slovenian Biochemistry Society (SBD).