Capital Veterinary Hospital staff is filled with highly trained and experienced animal lovers who care deeply about
their jobs. Everyone makes it a goal to learn everything they can about the field they love in order to give our
patients the highest level of care.
At Capital Veterinary Hospital, we combine our fresh knowledge and long-standing experience with state of the art
medical facilities to provide the latest veterinary services for your loved pets. We would like you to have peace of
mind that your pet will receive our best practical services while visiting our hospital.
Our team is also kind. The members treat each patient, whether healthy or sick, with plenty of love and attention. They
educate owners on the importance of preventative care to keep their pets healthy while doing everything they can to help
when their pets are not feeling well.
Dr Ali Ashrafi
Dr Ali opened Capital Veterinary Hospital in November 2018, fulfilling a lifelong dream of having his own veterinary
hospital in Canberra. He spent many months designing a practice that reflected his personal philosophy of veterinary
care and has filled it with the latest high tech equipment.
Dr Ali graduated in 2001 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and holds a Diploma Degree in Veterinary Medicine in
Pharmaceutical Sciences. He also ran his own mixed animal practice for 9 years before migrating to Australia in 2011.
Dr Ali worked in two veterinary hospitals in Perth for five years and two veterinary hospitals in Canberra. He moved to
Canberra for a temporary job as part of his journey to see the whole country. Loving the cold weather and green nature,
Dr Ali decided to stay in Canberra for good.
Dr Ali is very caring and committed to his work. He is always available to help animals in need, opening the practice on
weekends and public holidays as well as after-hours emergency work. He is passionate about internal medicine, surgery,
and ultrasonography; however his expertise is not limited to small animals. His knowledge and experience in veterinary
medicine extends to farm animals, equine, pocket pets, birds and exotic animals.
Dr Ali doesn’t have much spare time now he has his own practice ensuring the smooth running of day to day operations. Of
course he has hobbies; he loves travelling, camping and mountain climbing.
Dr Justin Michaels – Veterinarian
Dr. Justin Michaels obtained his bachelor degree in Veterinary science (BVSc) from Zagazig university in Egypt in 1987.
He then migrated to the USA in 1988 where he completed his Education commission for foreign veterinary graduates (ECFVG) in 1995 with a DVM degree from the University of Missouri. Dr Justin practiced small animal medicine and surgery in the USA for 23 years including in Florida, Arizona, California and Washington state.
Dr Justin and his wife Nancy fell in love with Australia when they visited on a holiday in 2017. In 2018 they made the decision to move here accompanied by their dog Einstein the Terrier Schnauzer. To this day they are still loving every moment of it.
Dr Justin has a special interest in behaviour medicine and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Capital Veterinary team.
Dr Cherry Chung – Veterinarian
Dr Cherry graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Melbourne. She worked in
regional Victoria as a small animal veterinarian for a couple of years before moving overseas. Whilst abroad she
practiced in various small animal clinics and animal shelters.
Dr Cherry joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team in July 2023 after relocating to Canberra with her family a few
years earlier.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and her cat Mei Mei, the domestic short hair who was a stray
kitten who originated from Hong Kong.
Maddy Withers ~ Practice Operations Manager
Maddy joined Capital Veterinary Hospital in June 2023 but has long been immersed in the Veterinary industry. With almost 10 years’ experience as a qualified Vet Nurse as well as working in the Australian Public Service she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team.
Outside of work Maddy and her partner Chris are kept busy with their two dogs Norman the Boxer and Winslow the Staffy, as well as their two cats Marley the Ragdoll and foster fail Doug.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with her friends and family as well as going to the gym and trail running.
Sara Eastley – Nurse Manager
Sara joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team in March 2024, after a year away from nursing. She has returned to her number one passion and with it she brings 15 years of knowledge and experience as a Veterinary Nurse. Sara loves getting to know owners and their fur babies.
Sara shares her home with her fur child, a Chug (chihuahua x pug) named Earl, her partner Michael and her son Murphy. In her spare time she enjoys checking out markets and dog friendly spots with Earl in and around Canberra.
Daiseree Brillantes (Daisy) ~ Veterinary Nurse
Daisy joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team in March 2022. She completed her Certificate III in animal studies in
2021 and has recently graduated as a qualified Veterinary Nurse completing her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing in
2023.
Daisy brings so much to our team and along with her bubbly personality and great work ethics she is sure to delight
anyone who meets her.
Daisy has two pets of her own, Snowy the chihuahua x and Bean the cavoodle. In the future, Daisy would love to adopt a
Maine Coon (after meeting one in Japan, she fell in love with them), an African Grey Parrot and a German Shepherd.
Chathu Karunathilaka – Veterinary Nurse
Jordana Iliff – Veterinary Technician
Jordana joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team after moving to Canberra from Townsville for a change of scenery. In 2022 Jordana completed a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology at the University of Queensland. This ignited her passion for canine behaviour and equine nursing.
Prior to working in the veterinary industry Jordana spent many years working as a dental assistant and loves bringing these skills into the clinic for our patients.
Outside of work Jordana shares her home with her much loved rottweiler cross, Bronson. She also has a horse called Kai and is a self proclaimed crazy horse owner.
Lorena Vega – Veterinary Nurse
Lorena joined the Capital Veterinary hospital team in May 2024 and brings with her many years of experience in the veterinary industry. Prior to coming to Australia Lorena was a Veterinarian in Colombia treating horses and small animals. In 2018 Lorena moved to Australia and has since been working as a Veterinary Nurse.
Lorena has a special interest in internal medicine and surgery. Outside of work she loves spending time with her friends and most importantly her much loved cat Dante.
Katherine El-Rassi ~ Client Care
Katherine joined the team in June 2023 as a part time receptionist. Moving to Canberra in October 2022 with her Husband and their fur baby Benji she wanted to look for meaningful part time employment, when she saw the role advertised, she applied immediately.
Katherine has many years of experience in the corporate roles, spent 27 years at American Express in various roles,
spent the last 7 years as a IT Project Manager, prior to moving to Canberra she worked in an administrative role for the
University of Sydney based at RNSH within the Northern Clinical School who support students obtaining their MD.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with family & friends, cooking and most of all being with her hubby and
Benji.
Rachel Bullock ~ Client Care
Rachel joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team in September 2023, sharing the important customer care role with
Katherine.
Rachel grew up on a farm in NSW and said that is what ignited her love for animals at an early age. Rachel previously
worked in the veterinary industry before going on to become a qualified senior hairstylist. Despite this, says she can’t
groom her two cavoodles Lulu and Trigger for the life of her.
Rachel lives with her partner Mitch and is currently studying her Cert III in Companion Animal Care. When not looking
after and spoiling her two fur babies, Rachel spends time hanging out with her niece and nephew doing lots of fun and
exciting aunty things.
Korey Nicola – Kennel Hand/Nurse Assistant
Korey joined the Capital Vet Team in February 2024, after completing a Certificate III in Animal Studies. Korey is now training to become a vet nurse and is currently completing a Certificate IV in veterinary nursing.
Korey has always had a love for animals and grew up with a variety of pets including guinea pigs named Cocoa and Goldie , Platy Fish named Gunter, Sushi and Susan, a Jack Russell named Whisper and samoyeds named Jessie and Snowball. Korey is now planning to adopt a cat later this year after meeting a beautiful domestic short hair named Elsie.
With his can-do attitude and bubbly personality Korey makes a wonderful addition to the Capital Vet team.
Sandara Murphy – Kennel Hand/Nurse Assistant
Sandara joined the Capital Veterinary Hospital team in February 2024. She Completed
Certificate III December 2023. Sandara is now training to become a vet nurse and is currently completing a Certificate IV in veterinary nursing.
Sandara is so kind and caring with all our patients and anyone who meets her, she has a
real passion for animal welfare and is a huge asset to our team.
Archie is her beautiful fur baby who is a 7-year-old English Cocker Spaniel.