Confirmed Speakers

Rodrigo C. Bicalho DVM, PhD

Associate Professor of Dairy Production Medicine

Veterinary College, Cornell University

I am an Associate Professor of Dairy Production Medicine in the Department of Population and Diagnostic Sciences. My research interests are diverse and include areas of microbiology, molecular biology, vaccinology, infectious diseases, and immunology. The unifying objective of my research program is to increase the health and the productivity of farm animals, with a particular focus on the dairy cow. My current research includes the study of the normal and pathogenic microbiotaof domestic animals using high-throughput sequencing, using reverse vaccinology approach to develop new vaccines against bacterial diseases of humans and animals, using recombinant cytokines to manipulate the immune system and metabolism of animals to maximize health and productivity.

Dr. Galvao Klibs

Dr. Galvão completed a Residency in Dairy Production Medicine and a Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine at UC-Davis, then completed a PhD in Reproductive Physiology with a minor in Immunology at Cornell University, then he worked at The Ohio State University as a Clinical Assistant Professor, before taking a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine at University of Florida. He is now an Associate Professor at University of Florida. His workload is divided into research, clinical service, and teaching related to dairy cow reproduction. His research is focused on uterine immunology and microbiology, development of therapeutics for prevention and treatment of uterine disease, and development of herd simulation models to estimate profitability of different reproductive and treatment protocols used in dairy farms.

Lies Beekhuis DVM MRCVS Dip. ECBHM

Lies is a Dutch veterinary practitioner who works for Priory Vets in Cardigan, Wales, United Kingdom.

She graduated from Utrecht University in 2006. After an internship at The Royal Veterinary College in London she did a residency in Bovine Health Management at University College Dublin. This was successfully completed in 2010. In 2011 she passed the European specialist exam for Bovine Health Management.  During her residency Lies carried out applied research into the use of HACCP in mastitis control.

In the last 10 years Lies’ has worked respectively in private practice in West Wales and for the Royal Veterinary College as a final year lecturer. In her current job her work mostly involves cattle. All aspects are covered from TB testing and emergency medicine and surgery to routine fertility visits and herd health. Her main interest is herd health with a focus on fertility and mastitis.

In her private life Lies enjoys spending time with her partner on his 800-cow dairy unit.

Philippe Camuset

Vet practitioner in Normandy (North West of France) since 1984, I’m now 59 years old. My activity is equally divided between pets and bovine herds, just a little equine and ovine. My practice gathers thirteen vets and fifteen assistants on two locations.

I am particularly interested by and invested in bovine parasitology ; since 1987, I integrated the Parasitology specialists group of SNGTV (National Society of Technic Veterinary Groups) whose I’ve been the president between 2009 and 2018.
SNGTV is the technical authority who represents French practitioners working in animal productions. It has two thousands members and I have been its treasurer for six years and its annual congress scientific president for eight years.

I am also member of the European College of Bovine Health Management (ECBHM) since 2005 by de facto recognition. That means I didn’t need to pass an exam but I was accepted thanks to my publications, my bovine parasitology expertise and my experience as vet practitioner.

In my practice, since 2008, I’m following up each year around 40 to 50 bovine herds for sustainable management of parasitism, taking into account the environmental impact of anthelmintics and applying the principle “as low as reasonably achievable”. I forward my experience to my French colleagues for one day sessions managed by SNGTV.

SIMON F PEEK

Clinical Professor and Section Head of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Theriogenology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.

Principal Research and Teaching Interests

Infectious diseases in large animals.

Personal details

Originally from Suffolk county in South-East England, I received my veterinary degree from the University of Bristol in England and was in private large animal practice in South West England, before moving to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in New York in 1991. I remained at Cornell University from 1991-1998, initially as a resident in ambulatory medicine, then in large animal internal medicine before completing a PhD at the same institution. In the fall of 1998 I left Cornell University to take up a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where I have been ever since. I am a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the United Kingdom, and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Brief biographical sketch – Geof Smith

Geof Smith received a BS in animal and dairy science from Clemson University in 1994. From there he received a MS in toxicology from University of Illinois in 1996 and a DVM in 1998. Following graduation, Geof remained at the University of Illinois for another 4 years while he completed an internship and residency in ruminant internal medicine along with a PhD in physiology. Dr Smith joined the faculty at North Carolina State University in 2002 and is currently a Professor of Ruminant medicine in the Department of Population Health & Pathobiology. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) and his primary clinical and research interests revolve around clinical medicine of ruminants with a specific focus on calf health.

Lorraine M. Sordillo

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Lorraine Sordillo earned her B.S. and M.S degrees from the University of Massachusetts and her PhD in immunology from Louisiana State University. She was a research scientist in the immunology group at the Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization in Saskatoon Canada from 1987-1992 before beginning her academic career at the Pennsylvania State University from 1992- 2004. She is currently a Professor at Michigan State University where she is the first person to hold the Meadow Brook Chair for Farm Animal Health and Well Being in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Lorraine’s primary research has focused on developing solutions to reduce health disorders in transition dairy cattle by investigating the interaction between nutrient metabolism, oxidative stress and immunology. Her research has resulted in 5 U.S. patents aimed at improving dairy cattle health. Lorraine has written more than 170 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals in addition to numerous chapters in books, proceedings articles and monographs. She is often asked to speak at national and international conferences relating to dairy cattle health. She also has served on many national committees and has received several awards for her research on bovine immunology and mastitis control.

Short CV Lindert Benedictus

Lindert is an assistant professor in farm animal immunology and infection biology at the department of Farm Animal Health of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. His research focuses on bovine immunology, reproductive immunology and S. aureus mastitis and also teaches in the Veterinary bachelors and masters curriculum.

Lindert studied Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University and received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, with a specialization in Farm Animal Health, in 2012. Immediately thereafter, Lindert started his PhD studies into “Bovine materno-fetal alloimmune mediated disorders” under supervision of Dr. A.P. Koets, Prof. Dr. V.P.M.G. Rutten and Prof. Dr. M. Nielen at the division of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, and defended his thesis in 2015. For his first postdoctoral position Lindert worked at the department of Medical Microbiology (University Medical Centre, Utrecht) as wel as continuing to work at the division of Immunology. He participated in a project to develop innovative new vaccination strategies against Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy cattle, investigating hostpathogen interactions as well as performing experimental vaccine trials. Next, he moved to Scotland working as a research fellow at the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh), studying the role of non-conventional T-cells and antigens as novel vaccine targets for bovine tuberculosis, a collaborative project between the Roslin institute and APHA working with Dr. T. Connelley, Prof. Dr. M. Vordermeier and Prof. Dr. I. Morrison.

Research interests

Immunology and infection biology, particularly bovine Immunology and vaccinology. Mastitis. Non-conventional T-cells. Bovine tuberculosis. S. aureus mastitis. Reproductive immunology.

Tom Geary

Tom is a research scientist (Beef Cattle Reproduction) with USDA-ARS in Miles City, MT, USA. He received his B.S. (1985) from Montana State University and his M. S. (1989) and Ph.D. (1993) in Animal Science at Washington State University. Tom served as an Assistant Professor in the Animal Science Department at Colorado State University conducting research on estrus and ovulation synchronization. His current research focuses on reproductive efficiency in beef cattle by evaluating strategies to improve pregnancy establishment and maintenance. He directs research toward understanding early embryonic loss and applications that minimize these losses. Specific research focuses on the roles estradiol and progesterone, as well as follicle (oocyte) maturity play in pregnancy success. Additional research focuses on novel measures of sperm fertility and elucidation of factors affecting sperm fertility. Dr Geary has more than 90 journal articles, 110 abstracts and has supervised over 40 graduate students.

Dr. Alvaro Garcia Guerra

Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University.

Dr. Garcia Guerra is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina and developed his interest in cattle by helping in his nearby family farm. He obtained his veterinary degree (DVM) from Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 2009. While a veterinary student he worked in a cattle embryo transfer and artificial insemination practice where he developed his interest in cattle reproduction. In 2010 he moved to Canada to pursue a residency in Ruminant Field Service at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan where he also obtained his MSc degree in 2013. Following his passion for reproductive physiology he obtained his PhD in Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison obtaining in 2017. In addition, he is a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists since 2015. His current research focuses on ovarian physiology and its control to aid in the development of strategies for fixed time artificial insemination and embryo transfer, as well as the study of pregnancy loss and strategies to mitigate them. Dr. García Guerra has more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals, over 50 abstracts, and has been invited to speak in multiple countries in America and Europe.

JUAN PABLO GUTIÉRREZ GARCÍA

Full Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) with 32 years of experience in Animal Breeding and Genetics. Graded as Veterinarian in 1987 and as university specialist in animal breeding both by the UCM in 1989, and Computer Engineering Management by the University of Education at Distance in 2004. From the doctorate in 1991 with obtaining the extraordinary award, extensive activity in research, teaching, development cooperation and transfer. Teacher in a variety of core subjects of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctorate and master's degree, in four Spanish universities and four foreign universities, with main dedication in the UCM in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, mainly in Animal Genetic Improvement, having been Coordinator and Director of the Interuniversity Master (The UCM with the Polytechnic University of Madrid) in Animal Production and Health in its first four editions. Author of a total of 202 scientific publications of which 100 were in JCR journals (Journal Citation Reports). Participant in 72 projects, 24 of them funded in competitive calls, being the principal investigator of 11 of them, and being responsible for 21 research contracts and participating in other 27. Member of the editorial board of two JCR journals "Small Ruminant Research" and "Animals". Among the research lines emphasis in genetics of South American Camelids, but also in the genetics of the variability and the development of software (Endog and Molkin, of wide international use) and methodological tools for the handling of populations under genetic conservation. Responsible for the management of various genetic improvement programs. With respect to the scope of the talk, since 2006, responsible for the management of the genetic improvement program of the Pacomarca experimental farm, author of 15 publications in journals of the JCR catalog, along with 8 others in journals with objective quality indications, 8 conferences by invitation in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, France, Italy and the United States, 11 conferences, 13 courses, 3 contracts, 15 communications to meetings, supervision of 2 master's theses and 1 doctoral thesis, having been the organizer of the "5th European Symposium on South American Camelids and First European Meeting on Fiber Animals ". Today vicepresident of the AFWG of the EAAP.

Brief biographical details

Pietro Baruselli is Professor of Animal Reproduction at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He holds an undergraduate degree in Veterinary (1985) with a Master (1992) and PhD (1997) in Animal Reproduction from Sâo Paulo University. He was president of Brazilian Embryo Transfer Society (SBTE/2012-2014) and member of Executive Committee of International Congress of Animal Reproduction (ICAR/2012-2020). Professor Baruselli´s research and teaching are in the areas of control of the follicular dynamics and ovulation for self-appointed artificial insemination and embryo transfer cattle (Bos indicus and Bos taurus) and in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). He has over 270 scientific publications and over 500 abstract presented in scientific congress on a wide range of topics including physiology of reproduction, synchronization of ovulation, biotechnology of reproduction, reproductive management. He has supervised 50 completed Master and PhD candidatures and has extensive international experience

Katja Voigt CV

Katja graduated from Hannover School of Veterinary Medicine in Germany in 2000. After four years in research and academia in Hannover working on her thesis and specializing in small ruminant health management she went into mixed practice in Germany, followed by two years spent in Northern Scotland in veterinary investigation. She returned to Germany in late 2008 to take up a position as senior lecturer and clinician at the Clinic for Ruminants at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. She holds German and British qualifications in Small Ruminant Health and is a Diplomate of the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management.

Fiona Lovatt BVSc PhD DSHP FHEA DipECSRHM MRCVS runs Flock Health Ltd, a sheep veterinary consultancy business (www.flockhealth.co.uk) that works collaboratively with vets, farmers, processors, retailers and pharmaceutical companies, primarily in UK but also further afield. She is a European Recognised Specialist in small ruminant health and production, a clinical associate professor at the University of Nottingham, a past president of the Sheep Veterinary Society and she currently chairs the UK Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group.

Fiona is particularly passionate about getting pro-active veterinary involvement on sheep farms and spends much of her time enthusing both vets and sheep farmers to interact better through both proactive individual flock health planning and Flock Health Clubs.

CV Delia Lacasta

Delia Lacasta graduated at the Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Spain in 1995 and from her first jobs she started working with small ruminants in a full time, first in charge of a meat sheep farm with more than 2500 animals and later in a Sheep and Goat Breeder Healthy Group (SBHG), located in the South of Huesca, Spain, with more than 25.000 sheep and goats. There she worked for more than 13 years. At the same time, she developed a research project on respiratory diseases of lambs to obtain the PhD degree in 2006 with a Cum Laude qualification. During all these years she was also collaborating with a Veterinary company (GTV) as sheep respiratory disorders specialist. In 2005 she started working at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, as a part time lecturer, combining this with her work as practitioner. Currently and since 2010, she is working as a full time lecturer at the Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, developing all her work with small ruminant species, especially sheep. She is the director of the Ruminant Clinical Service of this Faculty (SCRUM) that receives every year more than 400 clinical cases. Delia has taken part of the board of the Spanish Society for Sheep and Goat Production (SEOC) for 8 years and currently is in the Organizing Committee of the next International Sheep Veterinary Congress that will be held in Seville, Spain, in 2021 and organized by SEOC. She is also the president of the Scientific Committee of this conference (ISVC 2021). She is Diplomate of the European College of Small Ruminants Health and Management (ECSRHM) since 2011, which is currently the vicepresident and will be the president on May 2020. She has 50 publications in peer reviewed journals (within the impact factor system) and more than 70 publications in other national and international journals, furthermore she has more than 100 presentations in national and international scientific meetings

Aurora Villarroel, DVM, MVPM, PhD, DACVPM, CVA, CVTP

Growing up on a small dairy farm in Leon (Spain) doing all the work that farmers do every day has shaped my veterinary career to study practical solutions to the daily struggles on the farm. After graduating from veterinary school at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) in 1996, I went on to manage the largest dairy in Europe at the time (Tasute Ganadera, S.A. in Zaragoza, Spain) for 3 years gaining invaluable experience in the management of large dairy farms, personnel and data. The amount of data collected by the different technologies on the farm allowed data-driven management and economic decisions that maximized herd health, animal wellbeing and economic sustainability.

In the year 2000 I moved to the USA to complete a residency in Food Animal Reproduction and Herd Health at UC Davis, CA, where I also completed a Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) in 2002. I went on to receive my PhD in Epidemiology from Colorado State University in 2007. During this time, I achieved Diplomate status of the American College of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (ACVPM). I joined Oregon State University as Assistant Professor in Rural Veterinary Practice and Extension Veterinarian for the state of Oregon in 2006. I was also adjunct professor at College of Public Health and Human Sciences teaching food animal production practices, especially those implicated in organic production.

In 2013 I left academia to move onto industry working for Merck, Inc. (also known as MSD internationally), where I was Global Director for Dairy & Udder Health. My passion to work with biosensors led me to work for Afimilk (Israel) as Application Manager for the Americas in 2014, and later to work full-time with my veterinary consulting company, Athyr Vet, LLC, which I created in 2011. A small tidbit about the name of the company: Athyr is the name of the Egyptian goddess of the morning, while my name, Aurora, is the name of the Latin goddess of the morning…additionally, the effigy of the goddess Athyr is the body of a woman with the head of a cow, which kind of made it just the perfect name for my company!

During my 12 years in academia, I taught field service rural veterinary practice to senior veterinary students, as well as lectures, labs and specialty club activities in pre-clinical years always related to epidemiology, food animal health, disease detection and management. During this time, I actively directed, managed and published multiple applied projects conducted at commercial dairy farms, often training veterinary students on proper study design, data analysis and report. Most of these projects are related to reproduction and herd health in dairy cattle and have been presented at international conferences and congresses, as well as published in peer-reviewed journals and minor projects have been disseminated via magazines focused on dairy farmers. While at OSU I was also adjunct professor at College of Public Health and Human Sciences to teach food animal production practices, especially those implicated in organic production and their effect on the animals’ lives as we encounter in clinical practice.

Most of my days now are spent working over the internet all around the world, focusing on the practical use of biosensors on dairy farms to translate objective data that is consistently collected into information to improve to help manage dairy farms. Specifically, I help dairy farms monitor daily time-sensitive work such as correctly finding sick cows early in the disease process (subclinical disease), as well as correctly identifying cows that are in estrus, focusing on eliminating false positives and false negatives. I also help them make data-driven management decisions tailored to their farm, using customized algorithms to improve herd health and animal welfare through diagnostic specificity and evidence-based treatment protocols. I’ve expanded the depth and breadth of my veterinary knowledge with several modalities of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine since 2012 to enhance my insight into subclinical problems that may be affecting animal health and wellbeing.

My passion is to help dairy personnel and consultants maximize objectivity, consistency and sensitivity for herd health management using biotechnology.

Carola Fischer-Tenhagen

I qualified as a veterinarian at Freie Universitiy Berlin in 1994. After working in Namibia for a while I finished my “Doktorarbeit” on infectious disease in free ranging rhinoceroses in southern Africa. Following 8 years in private bovine practice in Germany, I started teaching in the clinic for animal reproduction at the faculty of veterinary medicine at FU Berlin in 2008. My research interests are animal welfare, dogs as biosensors in animal reproduction and calving management.
I am a specialist in bovine health management and animal reproduction.

Dr. Ottó Szenci

Ottó Szenci received a veterinary degree from the University of Veterinary Science Budapest in Hungary in 1972 and started to work at the Department and Clinic of Obstetrics and Reproduction just after graduation. The topics of his PhD and DSc were “Role of acid-base disturbances in perinatal mortality of calves” and “Diagnosis of early pregnancy and embryonic mortality in the cow and sow”, respectively. He is a diplomate of the European College of Bovine Health Management. Presently he is a professor emeritus at the Department of Obstetrics and Food Animal Medicine Clinic in Budapest. His primary clinical and research interests focus on bovine periparturient period and early fertility problems.

Dr. John F. Mee

MVB, MVM, PhD, Dip ECBHM, MRCVS

 

Principal Veterinary Research Scientist at the National Dairy Research Centre (Moorepark Research Centre), Ireland.

John’s research interests include the epidemiology and causes of abortion, calving management, calf mortality and youngstock health. He has published and lectured extensively in these fields and is a founding member of the Irish National Calf Care Committee (AHI).

He currently co-supervises five PhD students working on perinatal mortality, calf and heifer health/biosecurity, calf respiratory disease, tick-borne diseases and paratuberculosis in Ireland. Dr. Mee also collaborates on research projects with colleagues in Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Scotland and Switzerland. John is also a lecturer/module leader on eight under/postgraduate veterinary/agriculture courses in Ireland and the UK.

He is a National (VCI) & European (ECBHM) board-accredited registered veterinary specialist with 35 years’ experience in private & public veterinary practice and in animal health/welfare and theriogenology research in Ireland, Australia and in New Zealand.

Dr. Mee has delivered award-winning lectures/workshops/wetlabs by invite in over 25 countries worldwide, including numerous plenary lectures at world buiatrics and world veterinary congresses.

He is an Editorial Board member of five journals including Animal Reproduction Science, Reproduction in Domestic Animals and is Deputy Editor of the Irish Veterinary Journal. He has been invited to referee for over 60 international bioscience journals. John is also Co-Editor of the book Farm Health and Productivity Management of Dairy Young Stock. His research has been published in over 100 peer-review papers and also in numerous invited textbook chapters, reviews, conference proceedings, etc...

However, John enjoys running, surfing and golfing more than work!

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Speaker Biography

Ian Ohnstad, Milking Technology Specialist

Degrees: University of London, BSc Agriculture 1985 – 1988.

Previous and current duties / responsibilities:

Following a practical grounding in herd management, Ian has been worked as a Milking Technology Specialist for 28 years, formally with ADAS and for the last 16 years as a Director of The Dairy Group.

He leads a team of dairy consultants offering advice on all aspects of milk harvesting and milk quality, working closely with milk producers, milk processors and manufacturers of milk harvesting equipment.

As well as delivering consultancy throughout the United Kingdom, he consults overseas in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Australia, USA, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, UEA, Egypt and mainland Europe. He is actively involved in a number of International mastitis and milk quality organisations and is the Chairman of the British Mastitis Conference. He served 2 terms as an NMC Board member.

He was recently awarded an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Society for his contribution to the Dairy Industry.

He combines his consultancy delivery with input into a range of R&D programmes and was heavily involved with the introduction of automatic milking systems in a pastoral environment in New Zealand.

Dr. Erskine completed his D.V.M. at the University of Illinoisin 1981. Following private practice in Pennsylvania, Dr. Erskine completed his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State Universityin 1989.Since 1991, he has served on faculty at Michigan State University and is currentlyProfessor and Dairy Extension Veterinarian in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine. He teachesdairy health management to veterinary students. His research focuses on bovine infectious disease, especially mastitis and milk quality. He has published 75 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and was the project director of a USDA-funded project that described the critical link between employee training and milk quality.

Courtney Halbach, MBA

Courtney Halbach is the outreach specialist for The Dairyland Initiative, an outreach program with the UW-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine that is dedicated to providing dairy industry professionals with welfare-friendly housing recommendations and lameness prevention tools through a web-based platform and workshops. Her areas of interest include calf and adult cow barn design, positive pressure tube ventilation systems, and automatic milking facility design.

Courtney obtained her Master of Business Administration from Edgewood College in 2018 and graduated from Carleton College in June 2013 with a degree in Environmental Studies with a focus in Food & Agriculture. Her senior group thesis examined the role of Extension services in promoting regenerative agricultural practices using the diffusion of innovations theory. During the summers of 2012 and 2013, she worked on a commercial dairy farm in Luxembourg where she compared sustainable agricultural practices between the United States and Luxembourg.

Biography

Prof Georgios Oikonomou is a Professor of Cattle Health and Welfare at the Institute of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool. He graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and during his PhD studies, he investigated the genetics of energy balance and fertility in Holstein cows. He spent a few years managing a 600 cow dairy herd in Greece before moving to the USA where he worked as a research associate at Cornell University and got involved in various research projects on dairy cattle lameness, mastitis, and reproductive diseases. He was a co-Project Director on a USDA-funded project studying the dynamics of the mammary microbiome and is currently studying dairy cattle lameness using genomic and microbiomic approaches and funded by BBSRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Animal Welfare Foundation, and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Originally from Suffolk county in South-East England, I received my veterinary degree from the University of Bristol in England and was in private large animal practice in South West England, Dr. Peñagaricano is an Assistant Professor in Genetics and Genomics at the Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida. Dr. Peñagaricano is broadly interested in quantitative genomics and computational biology. His major duties are to develop and conduct research and extension programs in animal genomics that ultimately benefit dairy and livestock industries. More info:

http://fpenagaricano-lab.org

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Dr. Albert De Vries

Albert De Vries is currently a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida. I grew up on a dairy and swine farm in the Netherlands. I went to Wageningen University where I received a BS and MS in Animal Science with a minor in agricultural economics in 1991. In 1995, I came to the USA to pursue a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul with a focus on dairy science, applied economics, operations research, and statistics. After graduation in 2001, Albert accepted a faculty position at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I currently teach two undergraduate dairy courses and advise undergraduate dairy students and graduate students. My research interests are in optimization of culling and replacement strategies, statistical process control, economics of reproduction and genetics, and precision dairy farming. In my extension role, I work with the allied dairy industry and dairy farmers on farm financial management and to apply the results of dairy systems management research. Albert is married to Kim who is a small animal veterinarian. Together we have twin daughters Grace and Karen and four cats.

BIO-SKETCH FOR Dr. Carlos Risco

Dr. Risco received his DVM degree in 1980 from the University of Florida and advanced clinical training as an intern in private dairy practice at the Chino Valley Veterinary Associates, Ontario, California. He is a diplomate in the American College of Theriogenologists. From 1982 to 1990, he was a full partner at Chino Valley Veterinary Associates, a 9 veterinarian dairy practice. In 1990, he joined the faculty at The University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine s an Assistant Professor in a tenure track.

Dr. Risco has authored 78-refereed publications, 32 proceeding articles, 12 book chapters and edited the textbook Dairy Production Medicine published by Wiley – Blackwell that is available in English and Japanese. Dr. Risco has given more than 100 presentations nationally and internationally. His main research focus pertains to metabolic disorders and reproductive management of dairy cows. In addition, he has published extensively on the toxicological effect of gossypol from feeding cottonseed products to pre-ruminant calves and lactating dairy cows.

Dr. Risco received the Large Animal Clinician of the year award by the graduating class of 1992 and 1994, and in 1996 he received the Daniels Pharmaceutical Young Clinical Investigator award from the graduate school faculty at the University of Florida. He received a Fulbright Scholar Grant in 2004, and in 2005, the Carl Norden Distinguished Teacher and Alumni Awards from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Also, in 2005 he received the University of Florida Blue Key Award for distinction in teaching and research. In 2007, he received the teacher of the year in Large Animal Medicine award by the class of 2008. Dr. Risco was Professor and Chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine from 2012 to 2018, and is currently Dean of the Oklahoma State University, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Angel Abuelo

Angel is Assistant Professor of Cattle Health and Wellbeing at the Michigan State University (MSU) College of Veterinary Medicine. He obtained his DVM and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Dairy Practice) and of the European College of Bovine Health Management. Angel’s research focuses on the interplay between nutrition, metabolism, and immune function in dairy cows and calves. At MSU, he maintains federally funded research and extension programs, contributes to the clinical training of final year veterinary students, and provides continuing education to veterinarians.

Dr. Adlai Schuler

Dr. Adlai Schuler is a practicing veterinarian and dairy manager for a large commercial dairy located in the midwestern United States. Adlai received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Northern Michigan University in 2011. Immediately following graduation, he began graduate studies in dairy cattle nutrition at South Dakota State University, primarily focusing on protein metabolism. After completing his MS in dairy nutrition, Adlai studied veterinary medicine at Iowa State University in Ames, IA graduating in 2017. Growing up as the son of a dairy veterinarian, Adlai has always had a passion to serve the farmer and their cows. This passion has ultimately led to a professional career as a staff veterinarian and manager for large, multisite herds in the Midwest and northern great plains. There, he lives in the trenches; setting up, implementing, and developing protocols to help make herds successful through their people. In his free time, Adlai and his wife enjoy caring for their foster kids, fishing, and fixing up their country home.

Fernando Diaz, DVM, PhD, ACANS | Director

Dr. Diaz is the Director of the Dairy Knowledge Center and works as an independent Dairy Nutrition and Management Consultant at Rosecrans Dairy Consulting, LLC. He provides consultation to dairies and feed companies including nutrition and feeding management, forage and crop plans, and research and product development of new feedstuffs, additives and technologies for dairy cows. Previously, Dr. Diaz held a senior executive position at Breeze Dairy Group, LLC, Wisconsin (USA). As Director of Operations, his main responsibilities were supervising and supporting managers at all group entities for achieving the company’s goal of quality milk production and profitability.

Dr. Diaz has extensive experience in dairy farm systems, management practices, operational effectiveness, and applied research. He is a certified scientist by the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) and by the American College of Animal Nutrition Science (ACANS). Dr. Diaz has published several peer-reviewed articles, over 20 scientific abstracts, more than 200 popular press papers, and a Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) book chapter titled “Feeding Biofuel Co-Products to Dairy Cattle”.

In addition, Dr. Diaz is a ruminant director in the Midwest ARPAS chapter board, a director in the Central Plains Dairy Association board, and a volunteer consultant on the El Salvador Farmer-toFarmer Program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Diaz lives in Brookings, South Dakota.

Dr. Joseba Garrido

Head of the Animal Health Department at NEIKER – Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Spain.

Dr. Joseba M. Garrido obtained his Degree in Veterinary Sciences at the University of Zaragoza in 1992, and his PhD at the same institution in 2001. He joined NEIKER in 1994 as a pre-doctoral fellowship holder supported by the Basque Government and since 2015 is the Head of the Animal Health Department. This Department is formed by a multidisciplinary group that works in three specialized areas 1) Diagnosis, control and epidemiological surveillance of animal diseases that affect the production, 2) Zoonosis and food safety and 3) Environmental biosecurity, wildlife and vectors as a source of human and livestock infections. His research line has been directed at the development of novel tools for the diagnosis and control of animal infectious diseases, particularly on paratuberculosis and tuberculosis and being principal investigator in numerous research projects focused on these topics. As a result of his research he has published more than 95 scientific papers. He enrolled in the International Association for Paratuberculosis (IAP) in 1996 and is member of the Board of Directors in representation of Spain since 2007.

Maria Guelbenzu is Programme Manager for BVD and IBR with Animal Health Ireland.

After graduating from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zaragoza (Spain) Maria moved to Northern Ireland, where she gained five years of experience as a veterinary practitioner in a mixed large animal practice.

In 2005 Maria joined the Veterinary Sciences Division of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Belfast, Northern Ireland as a Veterinary Research Officer. During her time there she gained extensive experience in the diagnosis and control of a wide range of viral, parasitical and bacterial diseases. Maria worked in the AFBI Cattle Health Scheme since 2008 until 2018, leading and coordinating it from 2010. This is a voluntary scheme which provides disease management programmes with the objective of accrediting disease-free or risk level status for BVD, IBR, Johne’s disease, leptospirosis and neosporosis.

She was Head of the Disease Surveillance and Investigation Branch of AFBI which delivers passive animal disease surveillance for Northern Ireland, for five years before joining Animal Health Ireland in 2018. Maria has been involved in several research projects related to endemic diseases of cattle and was awarded a PhD in 2015 from Queens University Belfast on BVD diagnosis, epidemiology and control.

TREVOR DEVRIES
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH, ONTARIO, CANADA
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Dr. Trevor DeVries is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph. Trevor received his B.Sc. in Agriculture from The University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2001. Immediately following he began graduate studies at UBC, where he received his Ph.D. in 2006. Following that, he spent one year as a post-doctoral fellow with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In 2007 he was appointed as faculty with the University of Guelph in the Department of Animal Biosciences. In that position Trevor leads a highly productive research program and has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers focused on dairy cattle nutrition, management, behavior, and welfare. He is also committed to extending that work to the field, as evidenced by over 240 invited research presentations. Trevor also contributes to teaching at the university, including instructing undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of dairy cattle management, behavior, and welfare, coaching the university Dairy Challenge team, as well as mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students. Trevor also works diligently in public service, serving on several university committees, as well as various local, national and international professional committees./p>

Xavier Manteca Vilanova received his BVSc and PhD degrees from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from the University of Edinburgh. Currently, he is full professor of animal behaviour and animal welfare at the School of Veterinary Science in Barcelona. His main area of interest is the welfare of farm animals, mainly pigs and dairy cattle. He has published about 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has been member of several working groups on farm animal welfare of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Xavier is a diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine.

Ryan completed his PhD at Queen’s University, Belfast following an undergraduate degree in Animal Science at the University of Edinburgh. From 2008 to 2013, Ryan worked in the field of Dairy Research and established himself as a Senior Research Scientist before joining Dunbia as their Agricultural Research Manager in 2013. Dunbia are a leading meat processing company employing over 7000 people across 24 sites in the UK & Ireland. Dunbia’s Agricultural Research Department is central to the company’s vision of driving improvements and efficiencies across the industry. Key areas of interest include supply chain integration, meat quality and technical innovations to improve their business.

Executive Summary

Dr. Calvin W. Booker received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) in 1989 and his Master of Veterinary Science (M.Vet.Sc.) in 1992 from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Dr. Booker completed an internship at the Ambulatory Clinic, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York in 1990 and a residency at the Field Service Clinic, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1992. From 1990 to 1992, Dr. Booker collaborated on research efforts with Feedlot Health Management Services (Feedlot Health), which is a professional services company that provides comprehensive veterinary and production consulting services, as well as computerized individual animal data collection systems and management/execution tools, to feedlot and calf grower operations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Kazakhstan. In addition, Feedlot Health has extensive research capabilities that focus on identification, development, and evaluation of applied technologies in commercial feedlot and calf grower production systems. Dr. Booker became part of the Feedlot Health team in 1992 as an epidemiologist, data analyst and production consultant. Dr. Booker is currently a Managing Partner in the firm, with responsibilities that include managing the Feedlot Health production consulting business, directing research and development activities, and building the company growth and development plan. Dr. Booker was the 2006 recipient of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners’ Merial Preventive Medicine Award – Beef and the 2010 recipient of the Academy of Veterinary Consultant’s Consultant of the Year Award. In addition, Dr Booker is an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University, and an Adjunct Professor in the Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and VERO at Texas A&M University.

JILL COLLOTON

Dr. Jill Colloton graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988. She provides ultrasound services to dairy producers in Wisconsin and teaches ultrasound courses to veterinarians around the world. She is active in the Society for Theriogenology and is an honorary member of the American College of Theriogenologists. She is a contributing author to several bovine reproduction texts.

Giovanni Gnemmi, DVM, Ph.D., DECBHM

Giovanni is a bovine practitioner working for the Spanish company BOVINEVET INTERNACIONAL Bovine Ultrasound Services & Herd Management and as associate professor of bovine reproductive pathology at the veterinary faculty of the Catholic University of Valencia (ES). Since 1993, Dr. Gnemmi has been working with ultrasonography in cattle, trying to incorporate this method in herd management.

Dr. Gnemmi’s fields of interest are reproductive management (ultrasound diagnosis of embryonic death, follicular dynamics, synchronization programs, uterine ultrasonography, transition management), preventive medicine and continuing education of dairy workers and veterinarians. In these areas of expertise, he has developed an international experience, both as a consultant to large-very large herd managers in Europe, South America, China, Middle East and as an instructor in more than 280 training courses in the world. He’s the author of 2 atlases on bovine reproductive ultrasonography (Le Point Veterinaire 2004, MEDCOM 2010 French version, Blackwell 2011 English version). He has numerous publications, many of them in peer-reviewed journals and has presented approximately 280 invited lectures at national-international meetings.

Dr Sébastien Buczinski is Professor at the Faculté de médecine Vétérinaire of the Université de Montréal. He graduated in 2002 from the École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Veterinary school of Alfort, France). He then worked 1 year in Burgundy, (Charolais cow-calves operation area) in private practice. He then performed a residency program from 2003-2006 at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, St-Hyacinthe, University of Montréal, Qc. He was boarded from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine-Food animal emphasis in 2006. He also completed a MSc program at the Clinical Department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. Since 2006 he works in the bovine ambulatory clinic from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal. His research interests are bovine respiratory disease, diagnostic test use in the absence of gold standard test and evidence based veterinary medicine.

Jude Capper, PhD ARAgS

Jude L. Capper is an independent Livestock Sustainability Consultant based in Oxfordshire. Jude's research focuses on modeling the sustainability of livestock production systems, specifically dairy and beef. She is also working on projects relating to medicines use on UK beef farms and the impacts of livestock health and welfare on system sustainability. Jude’s professional goal is to communicate factors affecting livestock industry sustainability to enhance the knowledge and understanding of food production stakeholders. She has an active social media presence and spends a considerable amount of time de-bunking some of the more commonly-heard myths relating to livestock production. To this end, she was awarded the Women in Dairy “Dairy Industry Woman of the Year 2017” and the Farmers Guardian “Farming Hero of the Year 2018” awards, and Associate Membership of the Royal Agricultural Society was conferred upon her in 2018.

Frank Mitloehner

Frank Mitloehner is a Professor and Air Quality Specialist in Cooperative Extension in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. He received his MS degree in Animal Science and Agricultural Engineering from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and his PhD degree in Animal Science from Texas Technical University. Dr. Mitloehner is an expert for agricultural air quality, livestock housing and husbandry. Overall, he conducts research that is directly relevant to understanding and mitigating of air emissions from livestock operations, as well as the implications of these emissions for the health and safety of farm workers and neighboring communities. Since he joined the UC Davis faculty in 2002, he published 125 peer reviewed publications and obtained $15 million in extramural funds. Dr. Mitloehner has presented over 800 invited talks in front of national and international audiences. Dr. Mitloehner has served as chairman of a global United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) partnership project to benchmark the environmental footprint of livestock production. He served as workgroup member on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and as member on the National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee on “A Framework for Assessing the Health, Environmental, and Social Effects of the Food System”.

NICHOLS SYLVAIN

DVM obtained from the University of Montréal in 2001. Internship in food animal medicine and surgery performed at the University of Montréal in 2001. Private practice in a dairy intensive area of Québec for 2 years. Residency in food animal surgery. Two years completed at The Ohio State University and one 1 year at Kansas State University. Master degree obtained in 2007 from The Ohio State University. Boarded from the American College of Veterinary Surgery in 2008. Since 2007, Professor in food animal medicine and surgery at the University of Montréal. Area of interest: orthopaedic surgery and teat surgery.

Dr. Gabriel Bó, is President of the Instituto de Reproducción Animal Córdoba (IRAC) and Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Villa Maria in Córdoba, Argentina. He received his DVM in Argentina in 1985 and his M.V.Sc. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995) degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Dr. Bó has been working for many years on applied research and the commercial application of fixedtime AI and Embryo Technologies. He is Past-President of the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS; elected twice in 2004 and 2011) and founding member and President of the Argentine Embryo Technology Society (SATE). He has lectured in numerous short courses on advanced reproductive technologies and delivered lectures in almost all Latin American countries as well as the United States, Canada, Spain, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, among others. He has been an invited speaker and workshop participant at several meetings around the world, including the IETS, International Congress of Animal Reproduction (ICAR), and the World Buiatrics Congress.

Finally, he has published more than 130 manuscripts in referred journals and book chapters, more than 200 invited reviews, and more than 470 abstracts in conference proceedings at venues around the world. Finally, Dr. Bo has obtained several awards like the “Taurus Award” (Argentina), the “IETS Distinguished Service Award”, the “Scientist of the Year Award” (SBTE, Brazil) and he has recently been named Member of the National Academy of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences of Argentina, honorary member of the American College of Theriogenologists (USA). Finally, Dr Bo is the recipient of the 2020 Simmet Prize for Assisted Reproduction, given by the International Congress on Animal Reproduction. The prize, which is the most prestigious award in animal reproduction and one of the largest of its kind, was given for the pioneering efforts of Dr. Bó to develop practical protocols for fixed-time artificial insemination, superovulation and embryo transfer in cattle.

Alfonso Lago, DVM, DABVP, PhD
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Dr. Alfonso Lago is the Director of Research and Consulting Solutions at DairyExperts, Inc. which is a dairy cattle research, consulting and laboratory firm based at the world largest dairy hub -Tulare, California. He also serves as a Director of the National Mastitis Council, a global organization for mastitis control and milk quality. Alfonso authors book chapters, peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, proceedings articles and others. He often speaks at national and international conferences relating to dairy cattle health and management.

Edward R. Atwill, D.V.M., M.P.V.M., Ph.D

I am the current director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security which functions as a Center of Excellence for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with additional state and federal partner organizations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and California Department of Public Health. I oversee over 30 scientists, students and administrative staff, with an annual budget of $3,000,000 for projects located throughout the United States and internationally, with an emphasis on China and South East Asia for our international programs. Our institute conducts research, extension and training programs on microbial food safety of plant and animal agriculture, with additional projects focused on drinking, recreational, and irrigation water quality and sustainable agriculture.

The primary goal of my research and extension program is to develop management strategies for minimizing microbial contamination of food and water resources, with a recent emphasis on how livestock and wildlife impact produce safety and identifying risk factors for microbial contamination of irrigation water. This applied work is based on fundamental research that characterizes the biotic and abiotic processes of environmental dissemination of microbial pathogens, field studies regarding environmental replication and inactivation of enteric pathogens and bacterial indicators, and epidemiological studies of animal reservoirs of key zoonotic pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Cryptosporidium parvum. Most recently, I have been working with an interdisciplinary team to develop network analysis and other epidemiological methods to characterize how the structure of animal social organizations and individual behavior within that network facilitate the transmission of enteric infectious diseases, primarily focused on rhesus macaques.

Over the past 24 years this body of work has been funded by over $70,000,000 in extramural funding (NIH, USDA, EPA, FDA, etc) and has generated over 200 peer-reviewed publications and 185 abstracts. In addition, I have given over 380 seminars, lectures, or workshops to governmental agencies, scientific conferences, rural farming communities and agricultural organizations involved in the complex issue of food safety, water quality and the sustainability of plant and animal agriculture.

Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora

DVM, gained the “Premio extraordinario de Licenciatura, PhD ”cum laude”, Diplomate de facto by the EVPC. Full Professor at the Animal Health Department of the Complutense University of Madrid. Director of the SALUVET research group. CEO of the spin-off SALUVET-Innova. Main scientific interests concern the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and drug and vaccine development of protozoan diseases affecting ruminants. He has published more than 220 SCI research articles. h-index 37 (Scopus) and 47 (Google Scholar). He has supervised 23 PhD students. He is author of 8 patents. He was the President of the Scientific Committee and member of the National Board of the Spanish Association of Cattle Practitioners (ANEMBE) from 2008 to 2016. Former coordinator of the Spanish National Research programme in the area of Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (2008-2012) and former member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of CReSA (2008-2012). From 2013-2015 was National Expert in the Horizon 2020 EU programme (Bioeconomy). He was also a member of the CODEMVET, the veterinary panel giving advice to the Spanish Agency for Medicines, from 2012 to 2019.

Dr. Mohamed Aziz Darghouth

I am a university lecturer and researcher at the National School of Veterinary Medicine (Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire), Sidi Thabet, Tunisia, where I am teaching veterinary parasitology and animal parasitic diseases. My research activities are essentially focused on tick borne diseases of veterinary importance and in particular tropical theileriosis (T. annulata infection on cattle). I am specifically working on disease epidemiology, and vectors and pathogens biology for developing new control options, such as in particular vaccines, as well as comprehensive control strategies. I am also engaged in integrating my scientific research into a more global approach of knowledge and technology exchange using approaches based on the Open Science concept and the Technology Readiness Levels methodology. I have produced and co-produced several scientific articles published in peer reviewed impacted and indexed journals and three book chapters. I have held different functions since 2002, Director of a research laboratory at the National School of Veterinary Medicine (2002-2012), Director of the National School of Veterinary Medicine (2011-2012), President of the Institution for Agricultural Research and Higher Education (Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles) (2012-2017), and President of the Association for Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (2014- 2018).

Dr. Peter H. Clausen

Peter-Henning Clausen is a Professor of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine at the Freie Universitaet (FU) Berlin, Germany, where he currently heads the tropical veterinary medicine unit. His broad experience in veterinary parasitology and preventive veterinary medicine is exemplified by over 40 years of work on a variety of emerging and vector borne diseases in different epidemiological settings in Europe and Africa. He presently scientifically co-ordinates various overseas development and research projects and has convened the first Joint AITVM-STVM international conference in Berlin in 2016. He continues to be involved in graduate student supervision and teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.