Sue Dawson PhD MEd(SEN) MEd(psychol.) MBPsS MBACP
Sue Dawson is a psychologist who specialises in the study of human-companion animal relationships. She is director of Animal-Kind and has spoken internationally about preventing animal abuse. She is a professional witness in animal abuse cases and previously worked as a regional education advisor with the RSPCA in the UK and in post-war Bosnia. She was also a lecturer in human--animal interactions at Myerscough College and worked with the Blue Cross/SCAS for two years as training manager. Sue has just completed researching how children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties relate to donkeys within therapeutic riding. |
 |
Michael J. Day BSc BVMS(Hons) PhD DSc DipECVP FASM FRCPath FRCVS
Michael Day qualified from Murdoch University in 1982. After a period in small animal practice he returned to Murdoch to complete a PhD and residency in microbiology and immunology. Michael held postdoctoral positions in experimental immunology at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford. In 1990 he returned to Bristol where he is now professor of veterinary pathology and director of diagnostic pathology. Michael is currently junior vice president of the BSAVA. He is chair of the WSAVA Scientific Committee, the WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group and the WSAVA One Health Committee. He has been the recipient of the BSAVA Amoroso Award (1999), the BSAVA Petsavers Award (2000, 2006 and 2007), the RCVS Norman Hall Medal (2003) and the Petplan Charitable Trust Scientific Award (2009). |
 |
Steven Dean BVetMed DVR MRCVS
Steven Dean is the chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). He joined in 1996 as the director of licensing. In 2002 Steven became the CEO of the VMD and more recently was appointed as a special professor at both the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and at the Royal Veterinary College. He has lectured at all the veterinary schools on the regulation of veterinary medicines and more recently on antimicrobial resistance at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. The VMD has a direct interest in the containment of antimicrobial resistance and the responsible use of veterinary medicines, especially where this seeks to ensure the continued efficacy of veterinary medicines in the UK. |
 |
Claire Defries DipAVN(Medical) RVN D32/33
Claire Defries trained and qualified in a small animal general practice in North London in 2001. Claire went on to work as a medicine nurse at the Queen Mother Hospital at the Royal Veterinary College. In 2004 she became senior diagnostics nurse, responsible for all diagnostic areas of the hospital, including endoscopy. While working at the hospital, Claire gained the RCVS Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, and is currently head nurse at Wood Street Veterinary Hospital in Barnet. Her main clinical interests are laparoscopy, endoscopy and anaesthesia.
|
 |
Liza Ebeck VN
Liza Ebeck qualified in 2001 while working in a general practice in London. She moved to the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine later that year, where she developed an interest in theatre nursing and anaesthesia. Liza joined the Small Animal Teaching Hospital staff in 2004 as an anaesthesia nurse and made an internal move to cardiology in 2006, where she worked full-time until June 2010. After returning from maternity leave, Liza currently works on a part-time basis in a more generalised role within the Small Animal Teaching Hospital. |
 |
Ava Firth BS DVM MVS MACVSc DipACVECC MRCVS
Ava Firth has been working in emergency and critical care since 1986. Originally from the USA, she has held positions in both academic and private emergency practice in the USA, Australia and the UK. She is well known for her practical, get-it-done approach to lecturing and teaching. She is currently a clinical training specialist with Vets Now, based at the Nottingham clinic. Her special interests are in fluid therapy and nanomedicine. In her spare time, she sings in a championship ladies barbershop chorus. |
 |
Lorraine Fleming BVetMed CertVOphthal MRCVS
Lorraine Fleming graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 1990, completing an internship there in 1991. This was followed by a fellowship in feline medicine at the University of Bristol. After a brief spell in practice, Lorraine joined the Comparative Ophthalmology Unit at the Animal Health Trust in 1993. She worked as part of the team until 2004, gaining her Certificate in Veterinary Ophthalmology in 1994. Lorraine now runs a referral service at Grove Referrals in Norfolk and is currently working towards her RCVS and European Diplomas. Lorraine is actively involved in CPD provision. Her main clinical interest is the cornea. |
 |
Neil A. Forbes BVetMed DipECZM(Avian) FRCVS Recognised Specialist Avian Medicine
Neil Forbes qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1983, gaining his RCVS Specialist Status (Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (avian)) in 1992, FRCVS by examination in 1996 and DipECAMS in 1997. Neil has lectured and published widely. He has received various awards, including the Lafeber Award in 2004, the Hunting Award in 2005 and the Gerlach Senior Award in 2011. Neil is currently senior vice president of ECZM and president of EBVS. Neil heads the avian and exotic department at Great Western Exotic Vets (part of the Vets Now group) in Swindon, where he runs the only ECZM approved avian residency in the UK. |
 |
Jane Fossey BSc MSc C.Psychol AfBPS
Jane Fossey graduated from Leicester University and trained as a clinical psychologist at Plymouth University. She has worked in the NHS since qualifying, and worked with her own dogs to support her clinical practice since 1990. She is currently the clinical head of psychological services for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. She has published widely on the use of psychosocial interventions to improve care of older people. She became a trustee for the Society for Companion Animal Studies in 2005 and co-founded their Animal Assisted Interventions training course and co-authored the ‘Pet friendly care kit’, promoting animal welfare in care settings. |
 |
Ed Friend BVetMed CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS
Ed Friend qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1996 and, after spending a short time in practice, returned to the RVC to complete a small animal internship. Afterwards he became a resident in small animal surgery at the Universities of Liverpool and Cambridge. He spent five years in private referral practice, and now works in the Small Animal Hospital at the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Sciences. He became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2003 and is interested in all aspects of small animal soft tissue surgery. |
 |
Allison German BVSc MSc PhD MRCVS
Allison German graduated in 1997 from the University of Bristol. Since then, she has worked in private practice, completed an MSc in Wild Animal Health, completed a PhD in feline retroviruses and worked as a postdoctoral scientist in tropical zoonotic infectious disease. For the last five years she has worked as the cats protection lecturer in feline health and welfare at the University of Liverpool. Her particular interests are feline internal medicine and infectious and zoonotic diseases.
|
 |
Iain Grant BVSc MRCVS DipACVIM (Oncology)
Iain graduated in 1990 from The University of Bristol and worked for 4 years in mixed practice in Yorkshire. In 1994 he moved to New Zealand where he lived for the following 8 years. During that time he worked in small animal practice, zoo practice, was part owner of a small animal practice in Auckland and made films for Natural History television. In 2002, Iain moved to Sydney, Australia where he worked as a nutritional advisor for Nestle Purina PetCare. Iain started a residency in medical oncology at UCDavis, California in 2004 and completed his studies at The Ohio State University in 2007 gaining Diplomate status of The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the subspecialty of oncology. In early 2008 he returned to the UK to take up a position as clinical oncologist at The University of Liverpool. Iain left Liverpool in January of this year to establish a consultancy service called chemopet. He hopes to provide specialist support to general practitioners promoting the benefits of safe and effective chemotherapy for the treatment of small animal cancer patients in practice. Iain is currently the oncology Associate Editor for the Journal of Small Animal Practice and has authored a number of peer reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and CPD articles and presentations. |
 |
Vicky Halls RVN
Vicky Halls is a registered veterinary nurse and full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, consulting all over the UK as a feline specialist. She is a member of the Feline Advisory Bureau’s Behaviour Expert Panel and works actively on behalf of the International Fund for Cat Welfare. She is a regular contributor to television, national and local radio and specialist publications, including The Cat, the official supporter magazine of Cats Protection. Vicky is the author of a number of bestselling books (Cat Confidential, Cat Detective, Cat Counsellor, The Complete Cat and The Secret Life of Your Cat) and was voted The Nation’s Favourite Cat Behaviour Author in the UK. |
 |
Rachel Hilton DipAVN(Medical) RVN
Rachel Hilton qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1999. After four years in general practice she moved to the Animal Health Trust and referral level nursing. In 2003 Rachel became a radiographer at the University of Cambridge and gained the RCVS Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Medical). She went on to become an examiner in radiography for the Diploma between 2006 and 2009. Rachel returned to nursing in 2004, becoming patient care supervisor at Davies Veterinary Specialists, where she developed a particular interest in medical disorders and ICU monitoring. Rachel joined Woodley Equipment in 2008, where she is currently special projects manager. |
|
Georgie Hollis BSc(MVWHA)
Georgie Hollis began working independently in 2007 after a career in human medicine and industry. Specialising in modern wound technologies, her interests led her to their development in veterinary use. She now works full-time in the veterinary field, combining lessons learned in the human application and development of wound care to the veterinary patient. Georgie has published over twenty articles and lectures nationally and internationally on the subject of wound management. Georgie is founder of the Veterinary Wound Library and is secretary of the Veterinary Wound Healing Association. An associate member of BVNA, she is also a member of EWMA (European Wound Management Association) and an honorary member of CITER (Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair). |
 |
Mark Holmes MA VetMB PhD MRCVS
Mark Holmes is a graduate of the University of Cambridge Veterinary School. After a brief period in general practice he undertook a PhD in canine immunology and, after a postdoctoral working on horse immunology, was appointed to a lectureship in preventive veterinary medicine at Cambridge. He is currently working on a new strain of MRSA found in people and farm animals. He has particular interests in evidence-based veterinary medicine and practice-based clinical research. He is a former honorary secretary of the BSAVA. |
 |
Alasdair Hotston Moore MA VetMB CertSAC CertVR CertSAS MRCVS
Alasdair Hotston Moore is head of referral surgery at Bath Veterinary Referrals and holds an honorary senior lectureship at the University of Bristol. He qualified from the University of Cambridge in 1990. Following graduation, he joined the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Sciences, first as an intern in small animal medicine and subsequently as CSTF resident in small animal soft tissue surgery. He was a lecturer and then senior clinical fellow in small animal soft tissue surgery at Bristol from 1997 until leaving in 2009. Alasdair accepts cases in all areas of soft tissue surgery. He speaks on his subject area nationally and internationally and has published widely in academic and professional journals. |
 |
|
Karen Humm MA VetMB CertVA DipACVECC FHEA MRCVS
Karen Humm graduated from Cambridge and worked in small animal practice in Bristol before her internship at Liverpool University. After a period working as an emergency clinician in London, she joined the Royal Veterinary College emergency and critical care department as a resident. She gained her American Diploma in Emergency and Critical Care in 2008 and is now working as a staff clinician at the RVC.
|
 |
Ben Keeley BVM&S CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS RCVS & European Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Surgery(Orthopaedics)
Ben Keeley is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons and is an RCVS and European Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. After completing a surgical residency at University College Dublin, Ireland he returned to the UK to work at Northwest Surgeons, a multidisciplinary referral centre in Cheshire. Ben’s particular area of expertise is small animal orthopaedics and he has published in several peer-reviewed journals. He heads Northwest Surgeons’ Infection Control Group, and has a special interest in the use of antibiosis in surgical patients. He is also actively involved in the provision of continuing education to the veterinary profession. |
 |
Lorna Kennedy BA MA Phd
Lorna Kennedy graduated from the University of Oxford in 1976, and then worked in human immunogenetics for fifteen years, during which time she established an international reputation for the high quality of her research. In 1993, Lorna moved to the University of Manchester and began her research into canine immunogenetics. She was awarded a PhD in 2000. Since then her research has focused on comparative immunogenetics, investigating the major histocompatibility complex in dogs and many other species. Her research is centred on investigating the genetic basis of complex diseases in dogs, including autoimmune conditions and neurocognitive disorders, plus the response to infection and vaccination. |
 |
Claire King A1 Clinical Coach MBVNA RVN
Claire King qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2007. Shortly after this she completed and gained her City and Guilds Certificate in Veterinary Nursing of Exotic Species in 2009 and her A1 Assessor qualification in 2010. Having always had an interest in rabbit nursing, Claire set up and runs the rabbit clinics at her current practice in Market Harborough, and also works as a Clinical Coach for the practice. Claire has written articles on various rabbit-related topics for LAPIS, Veterinary Nursing Times, Veterinary Nursing Journal and Rabbiting On. |
 |