Dr. Heather Bacon , OBE, BSc (Hons), BVSc, CertZooMed, SFHEA MRCVS, is a veterinarian, head of the veterinary school at the University of Central Lancashire and a DEFRA-appointed UK zoo inspector. She has worked internationally on veterinary education and animal welfare projects for over 15 years and was previously responsible for developing and teaching veterinary and postgraduate students at the University of Edinburgh in animal welfare, behaviour and veterinary ethics. Heather works with many charities, veterinary and political organisations to develop veterinary educational initiatives around the world, with a focus on improving the welfare of captive and free-ranging wildlife, and free-roaming dogs and cats. Heather also delivers UK zookeeper training courses in animal health, behaviour and welfare via the Diploma in the Management of Zoo and Aquarium Animals (DMZAA), and the Zookeeper Apprenticeship. Previously, she worked as the Veterinary Director at the Animals Asia Foundation, an NGO working to end the trade in bear bile, and improve companion animal welfare across Asia. Heather has published extensively in the field of animal welfare education.

Nick completed a residency in Small Animal Surgery at Cambridge University, a Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University and spent 9 years as Surgical Oncology Faculty at the University of Florida. In 2014 he was appointed Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine, Surrey, UK and Clinical Director of Fitzpatrick Referrals in Oncology and Soft Tissue, now AURA Veterinary, in Surrey, UK. He is a Diplomate of the European and American Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons, a past-President of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology, an ACVS Founding Fellow of Surgical Oncology, an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery (Oncology) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Especialista en Traumatología y Cirugía Ortopédica por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid

In 1979 I graduated as Veterinarian (DVM) in La Universidad Nacional, Heredia Costa Rica. In 1980 I started working in the Pathology Department in the same University. In between 1985 (5 months) and 1987-1991 I did my internship and residence in the Pathology Department at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In 1993 I was promoted as a professor in the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. In 2008 I retired from the academy and create my own private diagnostic pathology laboratory (Histopatovet) until now. I have been publishing around 65 papers (journals and congresses). More information can be found in www.histopavet.com

Graduated in Veterinary Medicine Federal University of Pelotas in 1985), Master of Science (Federal University of Pelotas in 1989), specialization in Physiological Sciences (University of Rio Grande, 1993), PhD in Experimental and Comparative Pathology (University of São Paulo (1997) and postdoctoral fellow by the Universidade Paulista (2014). He is currently a professor at Universidade Paulista (UNIP) and Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul and professor at the Medicine course at Centro Universitário São Camilo. He has experience in Morphology, with emphasis on Neurobiology.

Roschong Boonyarittichaikij received her D.V.M. from Chiang Mai University (Thailand) in 2004. Following graduation, she completed Masters in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics from Utrecht University (The Netherlands) in 2010. In 2018, she received her PhD in Veterinary Science from Ghent University (Belgium). She is currently working as a lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University (Thailand). Her professional interests include exotic pets and wildlife medicine.

Dr. Borrás obtained his degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also has a Master’s degree in zoonoses prevention and control. He is an in infectious and parasitic diseases in small animals specialist. He is a member of TroCCAP, ISCAID and ISFM. He has published different scientific articles in national and international journals. He is an associate editor of Parasites & Vectors. He is a researcher at Maimonides University and advisor to different national organizations and private institutions. His interests are clinical research on parasitic and infectious diseases of canines and felines.

Dr. Christina Braun is a Board Certified Specialist in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia® of the American and European boards of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. She received her specialist training at the University of Georgia (USA), where she worked five additional years as assistant professor. In 2012, she joined the team of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Austria). In addition she joined in 2022 Louisiana State University as a visiting professor. Christina graduated from the Free University of Berlin (Germany) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She followed her studies of veterinary medicine with a doctorate at the University of Berne (Switzerland), while working as a research associate at the AO Research Center Davos (Switzerland). Christina’s mission is to increase animal welfare by fostering interest and understanding in Veterinary Anesthesiology by pursuing research on the interaction of anesthetics and cardiopulmonary physiology and providing resources to veterinary students, technicians, and colleagues. Dr. Christina Braun is a member of the WSAVA scientific committee.