Born in Canada and raised in Texas, Dr. Lisa Assandri grew up to become a proud 'Aggie', receiving her DVM from Texas A & M University in 1991. Following completion in 1992 of an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Minnesota, she returned to Texas for some sunshine and one year of general small animal practice. In 1996, Dr. Assandri finished a three-year residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois, becoming a specialist as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Dr. Assandri is the author of several publications in veterinary internal medicine and has participated in research on congenital kidney disease in dogs.

Dr. Assandri's areas of special interest include diagnosis and treatment of liver, gastrointestinal, and kidney disease. She is proficient at and enjoys the use of endoscopy as a diagnostic tool in nasal, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal disease.

Following her residency, Dr. Assandri practiced for 10 years in southern California. She worked at several large specialty hospitals in the region. During the last 4 years of her time there, she established and partnered in her own specialty hospital, still functioning today as Pasadena Veterinary Specialists.

In 2006, Dr. Assandri and her family were looking for a more family friendly environment to put down roots and ended up here in Pittsburgh with VCA Northview Animal Hospital. She has grown to love the community and now considers it her home. She is married and has a son who keeps her busy with 'mom stuff'.

Dr. Assandri has a houseful of rescued pets of her own. Canine members include Joey, a lab mix from a West Virginia shelter, Molly, a sheltie adopted with a congenital heart defect (all fixed now!) and Hermione, born at the hospital to a stray dog. Henry the fat cat is the last adoptee from the streets of Los Angeles and his feline nemesis is Lucky from Pittsburgh. Just to keep things interesting, the family also includes James, a parrot, and Blaster the guinea pig. Dr. Assandri is too busy to have hobbies anymore, keeping busy with family life, but remembers enjoying skiing, traveling, swimming and motorcycling.