Our speakers - Amazon Web Services...visiting ultrasound service to practices in South Wales and...

BSAVA CONGRESS 2020 PROCEEDINGS [ 1 ]

Section II

Our speakers

Our speakers

[ 2 ] BSAVA CONGRESS 2020 PROCEEDINGS

Nicola Ackerman BSc(Hons) RVN CertSAN CertVNECC VTS(Nutrition) HonMBVNA

Nicola Ackerman works as the Head Medical Nurse at Plymouth Veterinary Group. Nicola graduated from Hartpury College with an honours degree in Equine Science, and subsequently qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2002. Nicola has past roles as editor of the Veterinary Nursing Journal, sat on the Veterinary Products Committee for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, and the Ethics and Welfare Group for BVA. Nicola has written for many veterinary publica-tions and textbooks and is the editor of Aspinall’s Complete Textbook of Veterinary Nursing. Nicola is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Advanced Veterinary Nursing with Glasgow University.

Fergus Allerton BSc BVSc CertSAM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Fergus Allerton is a University of Bristol graduate and a European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Fergus works at Willows Veterinary Referrals and is Chair-man of the Small Animal Medicine Society; he has a keen interest in all areas of internal medicine, particularly in the rational use of antibiotics.

Rosie Allister BSc(Hons) BVSc MSc MRCVS

Rosie Allister graduated from the University of Liverpool vet school. For over 10 years she has been based at the University of Edinburgh researching veterinary profes-sionals’ mental health, with particular interests in profes-sional identity, the transition to practice, support, and what helps. She has maintained clinical practice and is currently volunteering with All4Paws. She manages Vetlife Helpline and has volunteered with Samaritans for 15 years.

Nick Bacon MA VetMB CertVR CertSAS DipECVS DACVS FRCVS

Nick Bacon is an ACVS Founding Fellow of Surgical Oncology and RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology. He is Clinical Director of Fitzpatrick Referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue, and Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine.

Duncan Barnes MA VetMB DSAS(Orth) MRCVS

Duncan Barnes is a Cambridge graduate and an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedics. Duncan is currently Head of the Orthopaedic Referral service at Eastcott Referrals, with an enthusiasm for all aspects of orthopaedics.

Wendy Barnett DipAVN(Surgical) RVN

Wendy Barnett qualified as a veterinary nurse in December 1992 and gained a Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Surgical) in March 1999. In 2000 Wendy moved into the emergency and critical care field where the need for quick and convenient access to blood was realized. Wendy used her time off from her emergency shifts to train as a human phlebotomist for the NHS, founding Pet Blood Bank UK (PBBUK) in 2007 supported by Vets Now. Wendy resides as a Trustee and Clinical Director, responsible for the quality assurance of PBBUK, is the authorisation holder of the VMD licence and a Practitioner of the Charter Quality Institute.

Esther Barrett MA VetMB DVDI DipECVDI MRCVS

Esther Barrett is a Cambridge graduate and a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. Esther works as a consultant for Wales and West Imaging; she has a particular interest in small animal ultrasound, and enjoys the challenge and variety of providing a visiting ultrasound service to practices in South Wales and South West England.

Spela Bavcar DVM DipECVIM-CA(Oncology) MRCVS

Spela Bavcar graduated in 2010 from the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After two extensive oncology externships in the USA, Spela undertook an internship in a private practice in the Netherlands followed by a residency in oncology at Edinburgh University, where she is now Head of Oncology and a Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Oncology.

Laura Baxter RVN BSc(Hons) VNPA VTS(anaesthesia/analgesia)

Laura Baxter graduated from the University of Bristol in 2005 with an honours degree in Veterinary Nursing and Practice Administra-tion alongside her NVQ in Veterinary Nurs-ing. She has worked in predominantly referral practice where she developed a keen interest in anaesthesia. In 2014 she gained her VTS (anaesthesia/analgesia). Laura now works at Dovecote Veterinary Hospital where her main interests are anaesthesia for critical patients and pain management.

Lisa Bonnett BVSc GPCert(SAM) MRCVS

Lisa Bonnett is a Bristol University graduate, with an interest in small animal medicine. Lisa is Small Animal Clinical Lead at Wendo-ver Heights Veterinary Centre.


Caroline Boothroyd RVN CertSAN VTS(SAIM)

Caroline Boothroyd started nursing in a first opinion practice in Liverpool in 2000 and qualified in 2002. She joined Northwest Veterinary Specialists, a multidiscipline referral centre, in 2007. She became a dedicated medi-cine nurse in 2014 and the dedicated oncology nurse in 2016. She is currently the Head Oncology Nurse. She passed the Certificate in Small Animal Nutrition in 2010 and became a Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) in Small Animal Internal Medicine in 2014.

Poppy Bristow BVetMed MVetMed PGCert(VetEd) FHEA DipECVS MRCVS

Poppy Bristow is a Royal Veterinary College graduate and a European and RCVS Spe-cialist in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue). Poppy has worked in both private and university referral practices and is currently a Lecturer in Small Animal Surgery at the RVC, subspecializing in Cardiothoracics.

Sarah Caney BVSc PhD DSAM(Feline) MRCVS

Sarah Caney has worked as a feline-only vet for more than twenty years. She trained as a specialist at the University of Bristol and is one of thirteen RCVS Specialists in Feline Medicine working within the UK. Sarah has written or co-written four books published by her business Vet Professionals (www.vetprofessionals.com) including ‘Caring for an elderly cat’ and ‘Caring for a cat with chronic kidney disease’. Sarah conducts online owner surveys and has published much of her research results in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

Mike Canfield DVM DACVD Board Certified Veterinary Dermatologist

Dr. Mike Canfield graduated from Missis-sippi State College of Veterinary Medicine and entered the profession as an eager small animal clinician. Dr. Canfield’s interests in derma-tology flourished, ultimately leading him to accept an American College of Veterinary Dermatology approved dermatology residency with Animal Dermatology Clinic located in Tustin, California. Following three years of intense training, Dr. Canfield completed his residency with Animal Dermatology Clinic and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology. Dr. Canfield enjoys dermatology, including allergic skin diseases, ear diseases and endocrinopathies. Additionally, Dr. Canfield enjoys traditional surgery, cryosurgery, laser surgery and internal medicine.

Thomas Cardy BSc PhD BVetMed(Hons) MVetMed DipECVN MRCVS

Tom Cardy is a Royal Veterinary College graduate and a European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Neurology and Neurosur-gery. Tom now works at Cave Veterinary Specialists.

Nick Carmichael BScVetSci(Hons) BVM&S DVCS FRCPath DipECVCP

Nick Carmichael has worked as a clinical pathologist for more than 25 years and has previously been Head of Clinical Pathology at IDEXX and Veterinary Director at CTDS (now VPG Leeds). He enjoys all aspects of clinical pathology and has a specialist interest in diagnostic toxicology and in laboratory techniques applicable in poisoning cases. He also has broad experience in diagnostic cytology and the application of molecular biological techniques to cytological samples to enhance their diagnostic yield.

Richard Casey MBA AssocCIPD

Richard Casey worked in HR in a range of industry sectors before entering the veteri-nary world with PDSA in 2011. He joined Blue Cross in 2016 as Clinical Development Manager, a role in which he oversees the development of the charity’s veterinary services and manages its partner-ships with private veterinary practices. He is Junior Vice President of the Veterinary Management Group.

Stephen Cital RVT SRA RLAT VCCS VTS-LAM

Stephen Cital is a multi-credentialed veteri-nary technician specialist spending the last 15 years in private, specialty practice and academia/research. He has always had a passion for anaesthesia and pain management, which led him into the field of cannabinoid therapy for animals. He is currently the Director of Education and Development for ElleVet Sciences where he is involved in protocol review and creation of clinical studies and education of veterinary professionals. Stephen is the co-founder for the Veterinary Cannabis Academy and research librarian for Veterinary Cannabis Education and Consulting. He is also the primary editor for a textbook focused on the use of cannabinoids in veterinary medicine being written by over 30 veterinary specialists. Stephen is the author of numer-ous publications on veterinary pain management, anaes-thesia and cannabis therapy for animals. To date Stephen has spoken on the topic to thousands of veterinarians and nursing staff at all of the major veterinary conferences, such as AVMA, VMX, WVX and Fetch. He has also lectured at the Cannabis Science and Technology Conference.

Our speakers


Megan Clark BDS(Hons) BSc(hons) AKC

Megan Clark is a “human” dentist who grad-uated from King’s College London in 2014. Megan is currently going through her regis-trar specialty training pathway in Oral Surgery at Newcastle Dental Hospital and is a committee member of the BVDA as she has an interest in veterinary dentistry. However, as her experience is in human dentistry she hopes to be able to share some of her knowledge and skills that she has gained through her day to day work.

Stephen Clarke BMV&S DipECVS DSAS(Orth) MRCVS

Steve Clarke is a graduate of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, has been both an ECVS Diplomate in Small Animal Surgery and an RCVS Diplomate in Small Animal Orthopaedics since 2006, and is an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedics. Steve has been part of the orthopaedic team at Willows Referral Service in the West Midlands for the last 10 years. Steve has been an AOVET UK & Ireland Chairperson and co-chaired the AOVET UK & Ireland Advanced Techniques in Small Animal Fracture Management course.

Eithne Comerford MVB PhD CertVR CertSAS PGCertHE DipECVS FHEA FRCVS

Eithne Comerford is a Dublin graduate and an ECVS and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. Eithne works at the Univer-sity of Liverpool where she is a senior member of the small animal orthopaedics team as well as concentrating on her research interests into the ageing of musculoskel-etal tissues in dogs and other comparative species.

Simon Cook BSc BVSc MVetMed DACVECC DECVECC MRCVS

Simon Cook is a Bristol graduate and Lecturer in Emergency and Critical Care at the Royal Veterinary College. He is particu-larly interested in cardiovascular monitoring of the critically ill and sepsis.

Carolyne Crowe BVetMed(Hons) BSc(Hons) MSc DipCoaching DipStress Management and Wellbeing MRCVS

Carolyne Crowe is an experienced equine vet, an award winning personal perfor-mance coach, mentor, international speaker, researcher and lecturer. Carolyne has a master’s degree in Workplace Health and Wellbeing and continues to do research in veterinary team health, well-being, perfor-mance and engagement. She is a master trainer in DISC behavioural profiling, a CPCAB trainer in Stress manage-ment and Wellbeing, a certified trainer in Resilience, a Mental Health First Aider and an Honorary Lecturer of the

University of Liverpool. After successfully running her coaching and training business for several years, Carolyne works as a training consultant with the VDS Training team; developing, training and coaching individuals, teams and practices to be the best they can be and to thrive both personally and professionally. Loving a challenge, in 2017, Carolyne ran 10 marathons in 10 days raising over £18,000 for the Brooke charity.

Lowri Davies BVSc DipACVSMR MRCVS

Lowri Davies graduated from Bristol Veterinary School and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is founder and director of the SMART Veterinary Clinics with a Europe-wide client base. Currently, Lowri is President of the British Veterinary Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Association and lectures internationally on rehabilitation and sports medicine.

Benito de la Puerta CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS

After qualifying from the University of Madrid in 1997, Benito de la Puerta was awarded a three year clinical scholarship at the same university, with particular empha-sis on anaesthesia and critical care. In 2002, Benito undertook an internship at the Royal Veterinary College. After a period in general practice, he returned to the RVC to complete a three year residency in small animal surgery. The residency included extensive training in orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery. Benito has been working as a full time surgeon at North Downs Specialist Referrals since October 2008, becoming a European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery in 2010 and an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery in 2011.

Rachel Dean BVMS PhD MSc(EBHC) DSAM(Feline) SFHEA MRCVS

Rachel Dean, a graduate from University of Glasgow, has worked in mixed, dairy and small animal general practice. She holds the RCVS Diploma in Feline Medicine, has a PhD in epidemi-ology and an MSc in Evidence-based Healthcare. Rachel is currently the Director of Clinical Research and Excel-lence in Practice for Vet Partners, the inaugural chair of the Association of Charity Vets and the chief editor of the BSAVA Manual of Shelter Medicine.

Dario d’Ovidio DMV MS SpecPACS DipECZM(Small Mammal) PhD

Dario d’Ovidio is a referral veterinarian for exotic pets in Naples and Milan, Italy. He graduated in 2003, summa cum laude, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Naples Federico II. He received his master’s degree in Wild Animal Conservation in 2004 and completed a


3-year degree (SpecPACS) in the Pathology of Avian, Rabbit and Wild Species in 2008. In 2012, he was awarded his doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of Naples Federico II, where he is a Visiting Professor in Avian and Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery. In 2013, he became a Diplomate of the ECZM (Small Mammal). Dario has worked in Kuwait and the United Kingdom and has spent time in the departments of exotic and zoological medi-cine at Tufts University and the University of Georgia. He is an active member of UNISVET (Italian Union of Veteri-nary Societies) and SIVAE (Italian Society of Exotic Animal Veterinarians), and also an AEMV (Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians) Member.

Frances Downing BVSc MSc DipECVAA MAcadMEd MRCVS

Frances Downing graduated from Liverpool University in 2007 and spent two years work-ing in a busy mixed animal practice in Lanca-shire. Fran returned to Liverpool University in 2010 to undertake an internship in small animal anaesthe-sia prior to commencing a residency in veterinary anaes-thesia at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Fran moved to Davies Veterinary Specialists in 2013 and has been working within the anaesthesia department since then. She is also part of the multidisciplinary team involved in managing chronic pain cases at the Davies Fitness and Therapy Centre. Fran is an RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia.

H. Edward Durham Jr RVT CVT VTS(Cardiology)

Edward Durham is a credentialed veterinary technician in the USA with over 40 years’ experience in veterinary medicine. He is a Charter member of the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians, and the author/ editor of the book ‘Cardiology for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses’.

Paul Andrew Eynon BVMS PGCAP F(RET) MRCVS

Paul Eynon is a Glasgow Vet School graduate and currently works as part of the Primary Care & Clinical Skills team at the University of Glasgow. Following a decade in private practice, charity settings and a rotating internship in Canada, he took on his current role where he is heavily involved with final year first opinion surgical teaching. He has a keen interest in pastoral support and the well-being of his undergraduate students, and is studying part time towards a Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy to compliment that support during his students’ academic careers and their transition into life as vets.

Joe Fenn BVetMed DipECVM MRCVS

Joe Fenn graduated from the Royal Veteri-nary College in 2009 and, after some time in general practice, returned to the RVC to

complete a rotating internship followed by a residency in neurology and neurosurgery. After completing his resi-dency, Joe became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Neurology and has since stayed at the RVC as a Lecturer in Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery. Joe has several areas of interest including the use of advanced neurosurgical procedures, such as transsphe-noidal hypophysectomy in dogs and cats.

Carla Finzel RVN

Carla Finzel qualified in 2001 as a veterinary nurse, worked in general practice for 5 years, and progressed to emergency and critical care fulltime nightshifts for 9 years at a referral vet hospital. In 2015, she founded the District Veterinary Nursing (DVN) movement and campaign rais-ing standards of veterinary nursing care; home-based nursing clinics; client concordance and embracing the human-animal bond within the veterinary profession. Carla is a campaigner for One Welfare-One Health, working to ensure veterinary practice and care becomes inclusive to all members of society, making veterinary practice compliant with the Equality Act 2010. She is an active volunteer for StreetVet, an advocate of the deaf community, a Dementia Friends Champion and a supporter of ‘Say Aphasia’.

Vicky Ford-Fennah BSc(Hons) RVN VTS(Anaesthesia/Analgesia) A1 VPAC

Vicky Ford-Fennah graduated from Bristol University in 2006, having qualified as a vet-erinary nurse earlier that year. Vicky worked as an anaesthesia nurse for 12 years within Bristol Vet School’s referral hospital, gaining the VTS (Anaesthesia/Analgesia) in 2013. Vicky is now an Associate Lecturer in Veterinary Nursing and IQA for Bridgwater and Taunton College and works with SynergyCPD providing in-house CPD. She is also Nurse Representative for the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists. Vicky has a keen interest in all areas of anaesthesia and analgesia, but particularly patient safety, advanced monitoring techniques and education.

Alix Freeman BA MA BVSc MRCVS

Alix Freeman is a Bristol Veterinary School graduate and after 11 years in general practice, started a residency in Dentistry and Oral Surgery at Eastcott referrals at the beginning of 2019. Alix is interested in all areas of dentistry, particularly oral medicine, endodontics and maxillofacial surgery.

Gabriel Galea BVSc PhD MRCVS

Gabriel Galea joined StreetVet soon after its inception in early 2017 and established many of the principles and protocols which

Our speakers


are now the basis for the charity’s code of conduct. As well as providing veterinary care out on the streets by leading a weekly outreach, Gabriel trains new volunteers, regularly visits pet-friendly hostels to support residents and staff, and links StreetVet with various health and housing service providers. In his day job he is a research group leader as a Wellcome Clinical Research Career Development Fellow at University College London, which facilitates his links with inclusion health profes-sionals outside of the veterinary sphere, and an Honorary Lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College.

Laura George RVN DipHECVN DipAVN CertVNECC VTS(SAIM)

Laura George qualified in 2010 before mov-ing to the Internal Medicine Service at Dick White Referrals. She worked in the Internal Medicine Service for over 7 years, gaining her Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Small Animal) in 2013 and becoming a member of the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians when she obtained the VTS (SAIM) in 2017. She moved to the Critical Care team in 2018, where she is currently Critical Care Nurse Manager and working towards achieving her VTS (ECC).

Andy Green BVetMed MRCVS

Andy Green is an experienced small animal vet and is currently a Director of Pennard Vets, a 6-centre 17-vet independent small animal practice in West Kent. Highly experi-enced in the field of personal development and leader-ship mentoring, he is certified in NLP and is a Certified Trainer in Talent Dynamics behavioural profiling and its application within teams. Andy also works with Vet Dynamics as a mentor and practice development consultant.

Suzen Gregersen DVM MBA CHPV MRCVS

Suzen Gregersen is one of the first US certified vet practitioners in the UK, within the novel field of end-of-life care, known as Animal Hospice. She owns and runs Vets2Home — Peaceful Pet Goodbyes in Sussex and has personally helped over 12.000 families, since 2005, to have a supported journey, saying goodbye to their pet at home. Suzen is the first European member on the Board of the International Association for Animal Hospice & Palliative Care (IAAHPC). She is also the Brand Manager of the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA), offering expert education in euthanasia.

Craig Griffin DVM DACVD

Craig Griffin works in private clinical prac-tice with the Animal Dermatology Group, which he founded in 1981. He is also a Clinical Professor of Veterinary Medicine for

Western Veterinary College and a Course Master for the European School of advanced veterinary studies for Europe, China and Asia. He is a frequent lecturer of veterinary dermatology in the USA and internationally. He has published many articles and books on small animal skin disease, including co-author of Muller and Kirks Small Animal Dermatology 5th–7th editions. Dr. Griffin received the ACVD Award for Excellence for outstanding contributions in veterinary dermatology in 2001 and in 2014 the Frank Král Award for Achievements in Veterinary Dermatology.

Matthew Gurney BVSc CertVA PgCertVBM DipECVAA MRCVS

Matthew Gurney is a European Veterinary Specialist and an RCVS Specialist, and is President of the European College of Veter-inary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. In October 2018, Matt returned to his roots in the South and joined Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists. His main inter-ests lie in acute and chronic pain management.

Rachel Hattersley BVetMed(Hons) certSAS DipECVS MRCVS

Rachel Hattersley is a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College and a European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. Rachel works at Dick White Referrals and has a keen interest in all aspects of soft tissue surgery. Her research interests include BOAS, biliary disease and surgical oncology.

Sarah Heath BVSc DipECAWBM(BM) CCAB FRCVS

Sarah Heath qualified from Bristol University and spent four years in mixed general prac-tice before setting up Behavioural Referrals Veterinary Practice in 1992. In 2018, she was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for meritorious contributions to the profession in recognition of her work in establishing behavioural medicine as a veterinary discipline. She is an RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine. Sarah is an External Lecturer in small animal behavioural medicine on the veterinary undergraduate courses at Liverpool University and the University of Surrey. She is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist under the ASAB accreditation scheme and registered as a Veterinary Behaviourist with the ABTC. She sees clinical cases across North West England. In 2002, Sarah became a Founding Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (formerly the ECVBM-CA) and served as President from 2002 to 2008. She served as Treasurer of the College from 2011 to 2017 and is currently the chair of the Behavioural Medicine Credentialing Committee. Sarah has a special interest in the interplay between emotional and physical illness in dogs and cats and particularly in the role of pain. She promotes the recognition of emotional health issues in companion animals and the role of the veterinary profession in safeguarding the welfare of animals in this


context. Sarah lectures extensively, at home and abroad, on behavioural medicine and is an author, co-author and editor of several books including ‘Behavioural Medicine for Small Animals’ and ‘Feline Behavioural Health and Welfare’, both published by Elsevier.

Jessica Herley VNCertECC VTS(ECC)

Jessica Herley qualified as an RVN in 2013 whilst working in a small animal private practice. Jessica then went on to work in a referral hospital where she gained her Vets Now Emergency and Critical Care certificate and her Veterinary Technician Specialist status in Emergency and Critical Care. Jessica currently works at Dick White Referrals as part the ICU team.

Paul Higgs MA VetMB CertSAM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Paul Higgs graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2006 and worked in a busy small animal practice in Somerset for a few years before undertaking a residency in small animal medicine at the University of Bristol. He is an RCVS and European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Medicine and is currently Clinical Director of Highcroft Referrals in Bristol.

Jo Hinde RVN

Jo Hinde has worked in the veterinary industry since 2007 and has always had a special interest in rabbits. She owns and runs LagoLearn, providing rabbit specific CPD to veterinary professionals both in the UK and internationally. She also spends a significant amount of voluntary time working with charities and parliamentary groups to highlight animal welfare and is proud to be President of the British Veterinary Nursing Association. Jo attends many events, gives lectures and writes articles for the veterinary industry as well as the general public. She has received several awards over the years including the BVNA/Blue Cross Veterinary Nurse of the Year in 2014, an RCVS Innovation Award winner in 2017 and the IFAW Animal Advocate Award in 2017.

Julian Hoad BSc(Hons) BVetMed HonMBVNA MRCVS

Julian Hoad is a Royal Veterinary College graduate. Julian is Clinical Director of Crossways Veterinary Group and has a keen interest in soft tissue surgery and ultra-sound. Julian has written and contributed to several veterinary text books aimed at vets and nurses, and was awarded honorary membership of the BVNA in 2014, for services to the veterinary nursing profession.

Darren Humphrey DipHE BSc(Hons) RN(MH)

Darren Humphrey completed 29 years in the Royal Navy, with a background in Occupational Mental Health. He deployed on several operational tours, including Afghanistan in 2009. He successfully managed the service delivery of mental health care to Armed Forces Personnel. He has specialist qualifications in the man-agement of psychosis and trauma, and has training in EMDR, CBT and Solution Focussed Therapy. He was the Senior Nursing Officer for Royal Navy Mental Health and Specialist Nurse Advisor prior to leaving the service. Dar-ren is the Clinical Lead for VHS, providing mental health support for the veterinary community.

Diane James

Diane James is the Manager of Blue Cross Pet Bereavement Support Service, which has just celebrated 25 years of offering support. Having a background in training and HR, Diane undertook her post grad in Counselling, where she worked with human bereave-ment, within a hospice. Diane is part of the universities think tank on pet bereavement, she is also currently involved in writing 2 books on pet bereavement. Diane is often on national television and radio discussing the topic of pet bereavement.

Belinda (Bin) Johnston MA VetMB MRCVS

Belinda Johnston founded and runs the Suffolk, UK charity ‘Our Special Friends’ providing human-animal support services to vulnerable people with a love of animals. After graduating from Cambridge, Belinda was a founder partner of a London clinic before marriage took her to Suffolk. Studying person-centred counselling skills and her volunteering for Cruse (human bereavement) and the Samaritans developed her passionate interest in bereave-ment training and the need for multidisciplinary commu-nity support for vulnerable people and animals to ensure their welfare needs are identified and met.

Norman Johnston BVM&S DipAVDC DipEVDC FRCVS

Norman Johnston is a graduate of the RDSVS, University of Edinburgh. He is a Diplomate of both the American Veterinary Dental College and the European Veterinary Dental College, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He established DentalVets in 1997 as the first specialist vet dental referral practice in the UK and remains residency supervisor and a consultant to the practice. He served as President of the EVDC and two terms as President of the BVDA.

Our speakers


Rebecca Jones RVN DipAVN(Surg)

Rebecca Jones works for Langford Vets Small Animal Hospital, where she has held various roles including Nursing Manager and, most recently, Clinical Governance Manager. She is also the current Chair for the VN Futures One Health Group.

Emma Keeble BVSc(Hons) DipZooMed(Mammalian) MRCVS

Emma Keeble graduated from Bristol in 1994, joining Edinburgh University, Rabbit and Exotic Animal Practice in 1999, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer in Rabbit, Exotic Animal and Wildlife Medicine and Surgery. She is an RCVS Diplomate and Specialist, and has lectured and published widely on exotic animal medicine.

Lindsay Kellett-Gregory BSc(Hons) BVetMed(Hons) DACVECC DECVECC FHEA MRCVS

Lindsay Kellett-Gregory is a Royal Veteri-nary College graduate and an American, European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Medicine. Lindsay works at Dick White Referrals, where she is Head of Emergency and Critical Care. She has a particular interest in the management of patients with sepsis, trauma and respiratory distress.

Libby Kemkaran-Thompson MA VetMB MRCVS

Libby Kemkaran-Thompson was a consultant in the city delivering change management/business development before she retrained as a vet. She graduated in 2011 from University of Cambridge with the Pfizer prize for Outstanding achievement. A lifelong student of Behav-ioural Psychology, she took the opportunity whilst there to also undertake a degree in Biological and Biomedical Science, major in Behaviour, specifically Neural Mechanisms. She then spent 5 years working as a Small Animal Clinician before a car crash left her unable to perform surgery. She now uses her business consultancy skills with vets and corporate companies, delivering training and coaching on Management, Communications, Personal Success and Sales Strategy.

Patrick Kenny BVSc(Hons) DACVIM(Neurology) DECVN FHEA MRCVS

Patrick Kenny is an American, European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Neurology. Patrick is Head of Neurology & Neurosur-gery at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) in Sydney, Australia.

David Killick BVetMed PhD CertSAM DipECVIM-CA(Onc) MRCVS

David Killick qualified from the Royal Veter-inary College. He worked in mixed and then small animal practice for the next 4 years. David undertook his medical oncology residency at the University of Liverpool. After his residency, he returned to the RVC to study for a PhD identifying novel targets for anti-cancer immunotherapy. David is an RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Oncology.

Bronwyn Koterwas BA BVM&S MRCVS

Bronwyn Koterwas has over 20 years of experience with zoo and exotic animals as both a veterinary nurse and veterinary surgeon. She is currently a Lecturer and Clinician in Exotic Animal, Wildlife and Zoo Medicine and Surgery at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

Christopher R. Lamb MA VetMB DipACVR DipECVDI FHEA MRCVS

Christopher Lamb graduated from the University of Cambridge, was Resident in Radiology at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and continued there as Assistant Professor. In 1992, he joined the Royal Veteri-nary College, University of London. Chris has helped train many residents, has numerous publications cover-ing most aspects of diagnostic imaging, has had various roles for the ACVR and ECVDI, and is an active CPD pro-vider. He retired from the RVC as Professor of Radiology in 2019 and now works part-time for both Antech Imag-ing Services and North Downs Specialist Referrals.

Elizabeth Leece RVSc CVA DipECVAA MRCVS

Elizabeth Leece qualified at the University of Liverpool and is a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. She works for Paragon Veterinary Referrals.

Martyn Lewis BSc (Hons) BVM&S MRCVS

Martyn Lewis graduated in 2009 from the Dick Vet, but has been back working in the exotics department as the ECZM resident in herpetology since 2017. Martyn is interested in all aspects of exotic and wildlife medicine and surgery, but is particularly keen on pain management and endos-copy in reptiles.


Philip Lhermette BSc(Hons) CBiol FRSB BVetMed FRCVS

Philip Lhermette is the principal and founder of Elands Veterinary Clinic, near Sevenoaks in Kent. After completing an honours degree in Animal Physiology at the Univer-sity of Nottingham in 1977, Philip graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1982. Philip has a particular interest in minimally invasive surgery and pio-neered laparoscopic bitch spays and laser endosurgery in the UK. He is author and editor of the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Endoscopy and Endosurgery, has con-tributed to numerous other publications and lectures extensively in minimally invasive techniques throughout the UK, Europe and Asia

Pablo Pérez López Ldo Vet PGDip PGCert RCVS Advanced Practitioner ECVS Resident MRCVS

Pablo Pérez López graduated from Santiago de Compostela University (Spain), worked as a general practitioner for some years in Spain and the UK before completing a rotating internship (Dick White Referrals) and a surgical internship (Fitzpat-rick Referrals). Pablo works at Dick White Referrals as an ECVS resident and he has a keen interest in minimally invasive surgery.

Jill Macdonald DipAVN(Surg) RVN FHEA

Jill Macdonald has been a veterinary nurse for 20 years, has worked as a head nurse, clinical coach and assessor, and in veterinary undergraduate and postgraduate education. Jill currently owns and manages ONCORE ePD, who provide supported online learning to the veterinary profession. She has also led a project to devise a veteri-nary nurse specific client communication guide. She is passionate about progression in the VN profession, and has recently taken up post as VN Futures Project Manager for the RCVS.

Laura Macfarlane BVMS(Hons) DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Laura Macfarlane graduated from the University of Glasgow and is an RCVS and European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Laura works at Fitzpatrick Referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue.

Charlene Mallott BSc(Hons) DipHECVN DipAVN RVN

Charlene Mallott has worked as a neurology nurse at Dick White Referrals since qualify-ing in 2008. She went on to obtain a degree in Advanced Veterinary Nursing and became Neurology Nurse Manager in 2011. She is passionate about the rehabilitation of patients with neurological conditions.

Racheal Marshall RVN CertECC

Racheal Marshall qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2003 whilst working in a busy gen-eral practice where she remained for the next 3 years as a Senior Veterinary Nurse. After a short period working as a Lecturer in Veterinary Nursing and Animal Management she returned to nurs-ing as an Emergency and Critical Care VN working for Vets Now in 2008. Racheal achieved the Veterinary Nursing Certificate in Emergency and Critical Care in 2011 and took up her current position as Head of Clinical Nursing in 2014. In 2016, she was elected to RCVS VN Council and became Chair of VN Council and a member of RCVS Council in July 2018. Racheal sits on the Advancement of the Professions Committee, is a mem-ber of the VN Futures Workforce Working Group, and was a member of the VN Futures Post Registration Qualifica-tions Group.

Amy Martin BSc(Hons) RVN HECVN DipAVN

Amy Martin is a Registered Veterinary Nurse turned Practice Manager working at Holly House Vets, a three site group with nearly 70 staff. Her interests lie in the mental health and well-being of her staff. She has set up and developed Schwartz Rounds at Holly House, the first veterinary practice to adopt the system.

Sarah Mason BVSc BSc PhD CertAVP(SAM) PGCertEd DipECVIM-CA(Oncology) MRCVS

Sarah Mason is a Liverpool Graduate and a European and RCVS Specialist in Oncology. She works at Southfields Veterinary Special-ists in Essex, where she is Head of Oncology. Sarah’s areas of interest include the optimization of chemother-apy protocols for small animal lymphoid neoplasia, radi-ation therapy and combined medical and radiation therapy including chemo-radiation for the multi-modal treatment of neoplasia.

Alix McBrearty BVMS(Hons) MVM CertSAM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Alix McBrearty is a graduate of the Univer-sity of Glasgow and is a European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Alix works as a clinician at the University of Glasgow and has a particular interest in canine oesophageal diseases.

Anne McBride BSc(Hons) PhD CertCons FRSA MAPBC

Anne McBride is a Senior Lecturer in Psy-chology at the University of Southampton, where her speciality is animal behaviour and human-animal interactions. She has been a practising trainer and clinical animal behaviour

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therapist since 1987, and works with domestic pets, exotic pets and zoo animals. She ran the Masters in Com-panion Animal Behaviour Counselling at Southampton from 1994–2015, which was the first British academically recognized qualification in this field. She continues to teach in this area on both UK and international courses. She is Chair of the Programme Recognition Committee of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC).

Gerard McLauchlan BVMS DipECVIM-CA FHEA MRCVS

Gerard McLauchlan is a European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. He has also completed a 12 month Fellowship in Interventional Radiology and Endoscopy at the Animal Medical Centre in New York. Gerard is a Senior Clinician in Interventional Radiology at Fitzpatrick Referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue.

Sam McMillan BSc(Hons) VTS(Anesthesia/Analgesia) DipAVN(Med) RVN

Sam McMillan is a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Anesthesia and Analgesia, and works as Qualifications Manager for VetSkill Ltd. Sam has a keen interest in anaesthesia and analgesia with specific interests in patient safety in surgery and anaesthesia, and infection control.

Sophie McMurrough RVN

Sophie McMurrough qualified as a Regis-tered Veterinary Nurse in 2011. After sitting exams in Washington DC, Sophie became a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Sophie is the Head Nurse of the Internal Medicine Department at a specialist referral hospital in Frodsham, Northwest Veterinary Specialists and her areas of interest are endocrinology and emer-gency medicine.

Joanne Michou MA VetMB DipECVAA MRCVS

Joanne Michou graduated from the Univer-sity of Cambridge and after time as both an intern and in mixed general practice she returned to Cambridge in 2008 to under-take a residency training programme in Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Joanne currently works at Lumbry Park Veter-inary Specialists in Hampshire, a small animal referral hospital, providing exemplary expertize and care to all patients. Joanne is a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia.

Mark A. Mitchell DVM MS PhD DECZM

Mark Mitchell is a Professor of Zoological Medicine and Director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Louisiana State University.

He is meeting his obligations to his 12-year-old self by exploring the world of zoological medicine and driving a classic British sports car.

N Sydney Moïse DVM MS

Dr Sydney Moïse is involved in teaching, clinical practice, and research. Her research has centred on arrhythmias in dogs. She was awarded the AVMA Research Award and the Bourgelat Award. She is the inaugural CV Starr Professor. Dr Moïse was Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Veterinary Cardiology. She is co-author of ‘Electrocardi-ography of the Dog and Cat’ with Drs Roberto Santilli, Romain Pariaut and Manuela Perego. She is currently working on her book ‘Heartbeats…Over Time (Long-term Electrocardiographic Monitoring in the Dog and Cat)’. She is extensively involved in the international aspects of academic veterinary cardiology including speaking and training.

Lucy Montague BSc(Hons) GradDipVN RVN

Lucy Montague graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2008 and gained her Graduate Diploma in Professional and Clin-ical Veterinary Nursing in 2012. Lucy worked in a private referral hospital in Surrey for 11 years where she progressed into nursing leadership and managed the team of nurses and auxiliaries there for 5 years. In December 2019, Lucy joined the team at Vale Vets in Dursley as Nursing Manager. She has been involved in lecturing for many years including helping to develop CPD courses for veterinary nurses. Last year, Lucy gained the ILM level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management.

Carmel T Mooney MVB MPhil PhD DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Carmel Mooney graduated from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1986 and spent the next 12 years working at Edinburgh and Glasgow Veterinary Schools. Since 1998, she has worked at University College Dublin, where she is currently Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Section Head for Small Animal Clinical Studies. Her major research and teaching areas are in endocrine disorders of dogs and cats. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally, and has published many research articles in small animal endocrinology.

Katie Moore BSc BVSc VN MRCVS

Katie Moore qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1998, before going on to graduate as a veterinary surgeon from Bristol 10 years later. Katie has worked in a variety of clinical settings and continues to spend time in practice, along-side her role as a Claims Advisor for the VDS. Katie is also a trustee of Vetlife and current Chair of Helpline and the Health Support service.


Lesley Moore BA(Hons) Bsc(Hons) CertVNECC RVN

Lesley Moore qualified from Middlesex University in 2013 and has worked exclusively in ECC since 2015. Lesley is the Principal Nurse Manager at Vets Now in Macclesfield and her main interests are toxicology, haematological emergencies and medicine cases.

Mark Morton BVSc DSAS(Orth) MRCVS

Mark Morton is an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedic Surgery. He graduated from the University of Liverpool, initially working in general practice in North Wales. He spent the next nine years at Davies Veterinary Special-ists in Hertfordshire, completing a rotating internship followed by a residency in small animal orthopaedic surgery. He remained there as an orthopaedic surgeon before joining ChesterGates Veterinary Specialists in August 2016. His research interests include common calcaneal tendon injuries. He has developed and published a new surgical technique for these injuries using a new implant developed from a similar technique in people. Mark is the Clinical Lead for the RCVS Knowledge Canine Cruciate Registry.

Pam Mosedale BVetMed MRCVS

Pam Mosedale is Chair of the RCVS Knowl-edge Quality Improvement Advisory Board. She works at RCVS as Lead Assessor for the Practice Standards Scheme. Pam has a keen interest in all areas of quality improvement in veterinary practice

Sue Murphy BVM&S MSc(Clin Onc) Dip ECVIM-CA(Onc) MRCVS

Sue Murphy graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. She is an RCVS and European Specialist in Oncology. Sue worked in general practice for several years before joining the Animal Health Trust rising to Director of the clinics there. Sue returned to the University of Edinburgh in 2018, where she is Director of the veterinary clinics at the R(D)SVS.

Jo Murrell BVSc(Hons) PhD DiplECVAA MRCVS

Jo Murrell is a graduate of Bristol Veterinary School and a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Jo has recently moved to private practice after a career in academia and enjoys all aspects of pain management in cats and dogs.

Anna Newitt BVSc DVDI DipECVDI MRCVS

Anna Newitt is a Liverpool graduate and spent 5 years in first opinion practice prior to her residency. She now works as a teler-adiologist for Idexx and also assists her hus-band Jerry Shimali in providing ambulatory ultrasound services to referral and first opinion practices in the Northwest of England and North Wales.

Emily Ni Mhuilleoir MCSP ACPAT(Cat A)

Emily Ni Mhuilleoir is a Chartered Physio-therapist specializing in animal therapy. Emily works at Langford Vets as part of the Rehab and Pain Management team. She sees a mixture of inpatients and outpatients and works closely with the nursing and veterinary teams.

Louise Northway VNCertECC NCert(Anaesth) RVN

Louise Northway qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2009. During her career she has worked in various first opinion practices and a referral hospital in the UK. In practice her interests are anaesthesia, analgesia, and emergency and critical care nursing. Since qualifying, Louise has com-pleted two further certificates — the Vets Now VNCert(ECC) in 2015 and the ESVPS NCert(Anaesth) in 2017. Louise is currently Clinical Nurse Lead at her prac-tice and is responsible for reviewing clinical standards, implementing quality improvement practices and train-ing the team in her areas of interest.

Tim Nuttall BSc BVSc CertVD PhD CBiol MRSB MRCVS

Tim Nuttall is an RCVS Specialist in Veteri-nary Dermatology and Head of Dermatol-ogy at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. He has particular clinical and research interests in atopic dermatitis, antimicrobial stewardship and using cytology in the diagnosis of skin disease and bacterial infections.

Pedro Oliveira DVM DipECVIM-CA(Cardiology) MRCVS

Pedro Oliveira is a graduate from the Uni-versity of Porto (Portugal) and a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Cardio-logy. His areas of interest are minimally invasive interventional cardiology and the study of cardiac arrhythmias. He is one of the editors and authors of the book ‘Guide to Canine and Feline electrocardiog-raphy’ published by Wiley in 2018. He is Head of the car-diology service at Davies Veterinary Specialists, where he has established an electrophysiology laboratory for the invasive diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

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Charlotte Pace BA(Hons) RVN VTS(Cardiology) PGCert(Vet Ed) FHEA

Charlotte Pace qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2003, whilst working in practice in London. In the same year she moved to the Royal Veterinary College to work as a Medicine Nurse. In 2006, she became Cardiology Nurse for the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. In 2010, she passed American veterinary technician exams and became the first nurse to hold the Cardiology qualification outside of the US. From 2012 to 2015, Charlotte taught veterinary nurses on both degree and diploma programmes. In 2015, she returned to veterinary practice, and continues to write and lecture on veterinary cardiology.

Gillian A Page BSc RVN Cert(B&PS)

Gillian Page was one of the first RVNs in the UK to own a veterinary practice and was Co-founder of Ayrton Veterinary Hospital. The business opened in 1999, progressing to a purpose-built veterinary hospital in 2006. Gillian was part of the design team and co-project managed the build. As Centre Manager for The College of Animal Welfare, she was involved as Deputy Programme Leader in the setting up of Scotland’s first BSc (Hons) Degree in Veterinary Nursing. Gillian’s interest is in Leadership, practice culture, clinical workflow and standards; believ-ing that structure and standardisation in practice can help achieve quality assurance and professional confi-dence. She obtained the European School of Veterinary Post Graduate Studies (ESVPS) Certificate in Business & Professional Skills (Cert B&PS) in 2011. Gillian is currently the President of the Veterinary Management Group.

Andrew Parry MA VetMB CertVDi DipECVDI MRCVS

Andrew Parry is a Cambridge graduate and a European and RCVS Specialist in Veteri-nary Diagnostic Imaging. After spending eight years in general practice before a residency at the Royal Veterinary College, Andrew works at Willows Referral Service and is Head of Imaging. Andrew is also President of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging, the organisation that governs specialism in diagnostic imaging across Europe. He has a keen interest in diagnostic imaging, in particular contrast enhanced CT angiography, in which he has multiple publications.

Kevin Parsons BVSc(Hons) PhD CertSAS DipECVS FRCVS

Kevin Parsons graduated from University of Bristol in 2000 and worked in general prac-tice before completing an internship, PhD and residency at the Royal Veterinary College. He is a European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. Kevin works at Langford Vets, University of Bristol, where he is Clinical Lead in Small Animal

Orthopaedic Surgery. He has a keen interest in angular limb deformity surgery, joint replacements and complex fracture repair.

Sue Paterson MA VetMB DVD DipECVD FRCVS

Sue Paterson is a Cambridge graduate and a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Dermatology. She is a Fellow of the RCVS for meritorious contributions to clinical practice. She is a member of RCVS Council and currently Chair of Education at RCVS. Sue is a Director of Virtual Vet Derms, a telemedicine company that provides advice to veterinary surgeons on dermatology cases. She is Senior Vice President of ESVD and the current BSAVA President

Andrew Perry BVSc DiplEVDC MRCVS

Andrew Perry graduated from Liverpool University in 2000 and worked in mixed and small animal practice until 2011, when he began an alternate pathway residency in dentistry and oral surgery at Eastcott Referrals, Swindon. Andrew’s clinical and research interests are focused toward oral surgery, particularly reconstructive tech-niques and trauma surgery. Andrew co-supervizes three full time residents based at Eastcott Referrals.

Paul Pollard MVB CertAVP(VC) PGCert(Vet Ed) FHEA MRCVS

Paul Pollard graduated from UCD in 1990 and has spent most of his career in first opinion practice. He is the head vet and rotation leader of the ‘Beaumont’, the Royal Veterinary College’s first opinion teaching hospital, where he teaches day one skills to final year students. His interests include cardiology and veterinary education. In his spare time he volunteers and advises at the charity AnimalAid Unlimited, in Udaipur, India.

Linda Prescott-Clements PhD MHPE(Hons) BSc(Hons) PFHEA

Linda Prescott-Clements is the Director of Education for the RCVS. She has worked within health professions education for over 20 years, has an international Master’s degree and PhD in Medical Education (assessment) from Maastricht University, and has worked with a range of professions including doctors, dentists, nurses and the allied health professions.

Mike Rhodes BVM&S CertV(Ophthal) DipECVO MRCVS

Mike Rhodes graduated from Edinburgh University in 2004 and is a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Ophthalmol-ogy. Mike is the founder of Focus Referrals


Ltd, which is based within the M40 corridor in the Oxford/Bicester/Banbury area; he has a keen interest in all aspects of microsurgery, especially cataract surgery.

Alan Robinson BVSc DMS MRCVS

Alan Robinson is a vet and independent practice management consultant. Alan has been a veterinary surgeon in practice for 20+ years, a successful business consultant for 18 years to over 1000 practices, and a Director of Vet Dynamics. His mission is helping independent practice owners improve performance and quality of life in prac-tice. Vet Dynamics are proud to be set apart from other veterinary business education groups by the personal-ized resources developed around their four areas of focus: Practice performance, Business Intelligence, Leadership & Culture and Team Engagement.

Rebecca Robinson MA VetMB MRCVS

Rebecca Robinson graduated from Cam-bridge and started in mixed practice but has spent most of her career in small animal practice. Rebecca has developed a keen interest in management and personal development. She now works as the Practice Manager of the five branches of Lynwood Vets and also runs the Vet Academy, coach-ing vets in other practices to have more fulfilling careers.

Natalie Roper BSc RVN

Natalie Roper is a University of Bristol grad-uate with a keen interest in neurology and she is currently working towards her VTS qualification. She works at Highcroft Veteri-nary Referrals as a Neurology Nurse and enjoys all aspects of her job, particularly working with patients post-operatively in their recovery and rehabilitation.

Suzanne Rudd DipAVN(medical) RVN

Suzanne Rudd started work in a small ani-mal practice in Nottingham before qualify-ing from the Berkshire College of Agriculture 1999. In 2002, she moved to Bristol to become a Feline Nurse at the University of Bristol’s Feline Centre. In 2004, she gained her advanced medical nurs-ing diploma. Suzanne is now the Senior Feline Nurse at The Feline Centre and is involved in teaching the veteri-nary and veterinary nursing undergraduates as well as lecturing around the UK on a wide range of feline nursing topics. She is also one of the lectures for the BSAVA Med-ical Veterinary Nursing Award and part of the Nursing Editorial Board for International Cat Care.

John Ryan MVB CertSAS DipECVS FHEA MRCVS

John graduated from University College Dublin in 2006 and is an RCVS and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. He works in small animal orthopaedics at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests include gaining evidence to support physiotherapy and rehabili-tation techniques in dogs, and novel teaching methods.

Annelies Scorer MSc BSc(Hons) ACPAT(Cat A) MCSP RAMP

Annelies Scorer is a Chartered Physiothera-pist specializing in Animals, having com-pleted her MSc at the RVC in 2007. She works as Service Lead for the Rehabilitation and Pain Management team at Langford Vets working closely with the nursing and veterinary teams treating inpatients and outpatients within the small animal hospi-tal. She has a keen interest in all areas of rehabilitation, especially neurological conditions.

Ruth Serlin BVetMed CertVA PGCAP FHEA MRCVS

Ruth Serlin is a Royal Veterinary College graduate who has a long history of working in the charity sector. Her interest in vet care for pets of the homeless began in the late 90’s and she has worked closely with Streetvet as a volunteer since its inception. She is also Lecturer in Veterinary Professionalism at the RVC and has a keen interest in primary care topics including communication and euthanasia.

Robert Shiel MVB ProfCert(Biostatistics) PGDipUTL PhD DECVIM-CA

Robert Shiel is a University College Dublin (UCD) graduate and after a period in first opinion practice, completed a residency in small animal medicine, followed by a PhD in the area of canine thyroid function. He is an Associate Professor of Small Animal Medicine at UCD and is interested in all aspects of medicine, with a focus on small animal endocrinology.

April Sotomayor BSc MSc EnvMan PIEMA

April Sotomayor is a Sustainability Consult-ant at the environmental charity PECT, where she manages the national accredita-tion scheme Investors in the Environment (iiE). She has over 13 years’ experience working on a range of sustainability issues within organisations. Through the iiE accreditation, April supports veterinary

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practices to embed environmental management systems and engage staff with activities to tackle climate change and reduce waste. She also supports veterinary practices to implement resource efficiency measures, helping them to demonstrate significant cost, carbon and resource reductions.

Kit Sturgess MA VetMB PhD CertVR DSAM CertVC FRCVS

Kit Sturgess graduated from Cambridge University in 1986 and then spent six years in general veterinary practice. He has further professional qualifications in imaging, cardi-ology and internal medicine as well as a PhD awarded for looking at the effects of FIV on mucosal immune func-tion. Kit is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Specialist in Small Animal Medicine and an Advanced Practitioner in Veterinary Cardiology. Kit has been seeing referral small animal medicine cases for the past 25 years, both at university-based and private spe-cialist practices. Kit has a love of teaching and learning that has led him to develop a more flexible role, combin-ing lecturing, writing, volunteering and about 40% time in clinics seeing referral medicine and cardiology cases. Kit is Treasurer of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Council, Chair of BSAVA’s Education Committee and a Member of the Small Animal Medicine Society Commit-tee. Kit is also a Trustee of the Wildheart Trust and Cats Protection. He maintains a keen interest in many areas of internal medicine and has authored numerous articles, two textbooks as well as presenting lectures and research abstracts at conferences worldwide.

Jane Sykes BVSc(Hons) PHD DACVIM

Jane Sykes is a Professor of Small Animal Medicine and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine with a special interest in small animal infectious diseases. She obtained her veterinary degree and PhD in Veterinary Microbiol-ogy at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and her residency at the University of Minnesota. She is Board-Certified in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and is the editor of the Elsevier textbook ’Canine and Feline Infectious Diseases’.

Alexandra Taylor RVN C&GCertSAN ISFMCertFN AdCertFB

Alexandra Taylor qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1997 and has worked in both first opinion and referral small animal practice. Alex is especially interested in feline nursing and has completed the City and Guilds Certificate in Small Animal Nutrition as well the ISFM Feline Nursing Certifi-cate and Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour. Alex is now studying towards gaining her Advanced Diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour (Feline) and currently works as a locum RVN. Alex has a particular interest in feline

behaviour and stress related diseases in feline patients and is also a member of the BVNA Council.

Craig Tessyman RVN

Craig Tessyman has been working in prac-tice since 1999 and qualified as an RVN in 2007. Craig has worked in small animal practice, referral orthopaedic and soft tissue theatres as well as emergency and critical care out of hours. In 2016, along with Dr Molly Varga, he helped to set up and run a new department at Rutland House Veterinary Hospital, in Merseyside, that sees a 100% exotic only case load where he works as the Senior Exotic Nurse. Craig is working towards his City and Guilds Certificate in Veterinary Nursing of Exotic Species.

Alison Thomas BVSc CertSAM MRCVS

Alison Thomas is a Liverpool graduate and holds Advanced Practitioner status in Small Animal Medicine. Alison works as Head of Veterinary Services at the Blue Cross, a charity which provides free veterinary care to pets belonging to people on benefits as well as rehoming, behaviour and education services. Her main focus is ensuring that Blue Cross delivers an affordable, evidence-based, welfare-driven veterinary service to its patients.

Sara Thomasy DVM PHD DACVO

Sara Thomasy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical and Radiologi-cal Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She co-runs a large, interdisciplinary vision science laboratory with Drs Christopher Murphy and Paul Russell, and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology. Her research interests include large animal models for anterior segment disease, corneal wound healing, glaucoma, ocular phar-macology and antiviral therapy for the management of feline herpesvirus.

Clare Topping PhD BSc CEnv MIEMA CChem MChem

Clare Topping is the Energy and Sustainabil-ity Manager at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. Clare has a background in polymer chemistry and an interest in all areas of sustainability, particularly plastics and the links between the natural world, food and health.

Raquel Trevail DipECVN MRCVS

Raquel Trevail graduated in 2004 from the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal. Raquel subsequently


moved to the UK where she completed an internship at the Animal Health Trust followed by a residency at Glasgow University Veterinary School. She is a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Neurology, and is currently at Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists.

Tim Trevail BVetMed CertVDI DipECVDI MRCVS

Tim Trevail is a graduate of the RVC and undertook a residency at the University of Glasgow, becoming a European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. Tim works at Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists and has a keen interest in all aspects of diagnostic imaging.

Molly Varga BVetMed DZooMed(Mammalian) MRCVS

Molly Varga is a Royal Veterinary College Graduate and an RCVS Specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine; she has a keen interest in all aspects of exotic pet medicine and sur-gery. Molly currently runs the Exotics Service at Rutland House Veterinary Hospital, in Merseyside.

Elizabeth (Butty) Villiers BVSc DipECVCP FRCPath CertVR CertSAM MRCVS

Elizabeth Villiers is a Bristol graduate and a European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology. Butty works at Dick White Referrals, where she is Head of Pathology. She has a keen interest in haematology and flow cytometry as well as microbiology.

Bradley Viner BVetMed MSc(VetGP) DProf FRCVS

Bradley Viner qualified from the RVC in 1978 and established a group of small animal practices in London. He was awarded an MSc and then a Professional Doctorate for his research into clinical audit. He has a particular interest in clinical governance and postgraduate development. He was RCVS President 2015 –2016, chaired the Quality Improvement Task Force of RCVS Knowledge, is Chair of the RCVS Preliminary Investigation Committee and currently works as Group Clinical Quality Lead for the Linnaeus Group.

Angelika von Heimendahl MScAg BVM(Berlin) MScVetSc DipECAR MRCVS

Angelika von Heimendahl is a graduate of both agriculture and veterinary medicine from the University of Berlin. She runs her own small animal reproduction referral practice near Cambridge, and teaches undergraduates, veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses. Angelika was the President of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR) in 2010/2011,

president of the European College of Animal Reproduc-tion (ECAR) examination board 2016/2017 and is now an ECAR board member. In recent years she has also devel-oped an interest in conservation and is a member of the Cambridge Conservation Forum.

David Walker BVetMed(Hons) DACVIM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

David Walker is a Royal Veterinary College graduate and an American, European, and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. David is Head of Medicine at Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists; he has a keen interest in all areas of internal medicine.

Fraje Watson MRes BSc(Hons) RVN

Fraje Watson graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2012 with a BSc (Hons) in Veterinary Nursing, and in 2017 with a Master of Research Degree. She is currently studying for a PhD at University College London. Fraje has volunteered for StreetVet since 2016.

Ellie West MA Cantab VetMB CertVA DipECVAA MRCVS

Ellie West graduated from Cambridge University in 2003 and worked first as an intern in a private referral practice and then as a general practitioner in a first opinion clinic. She has been an anaesthetist since 2006; first as an intern at University College Dublin, Ireland and then as a Clinician-Teacher at the University of Liverpool and now as an Anaesthetist at Davies since 2013. Ellie passed her ECVAA Diploma in 2017. Ellie’s particular interests are in sustainability within veterinary medicine and management of chronic pain.

Tom Rhys Williams BVSc MANZCVS(Small Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery) MRCVS

Tom Williams graduated from Bristol University in 2007 and runs the dental and oral surgery referral service at Charter Veterinary Referrals in North Devon. After 8 years of feeling slightly lost in small animal practice, Tom was bitten by the dental bug and is now passionate about improving the standards of veterinary dentistry across the UK. Tom particularly enjoys endodontic work and oral surgery. In 2019, Tom took the role of Education officer in the British Veterinary Dental Association.

Holly Witchell RVN CertVNECC VTS(ECC)

Holly Witchell qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2008. She joined Langford Vets in 2011, where she began her role as a night nurse and went on to work within the ICU. Here Holly gained her Certificate in Emergency and Critical

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Care in 2013 and became Head ICU Nurse in 2014. Holly achieved Veterinary Technician Specialist status in Emergency and Critical Care in 2015 and is currently stud-ying towards her Advanced Diploma in Veterinary Nursing.

Samantha Woods BSc MA VetMB CertSAS DipECVS FHEA MRCVS

Samantha Woods graduated with a phar-macology degree from the University of Aberdeen in 1998, and with a veterinary degree from the University of Cambridge in 2003. After four years in mixed practice, she undertook an internship at Dick White Referrals and a surgery resi-dency at the University of Edinburgh. She worked at the

University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Surgery until 2019. She is currently Clinical Director and Soft Tissue Surgeon at Veterinary Specialists, Scotland.

Alison Young DipAVN(surgery) VTS(surgery) RVN

Alison Young qualified whilst working in a first opinion practice in Hertfordshire. She worked as a general surgery nurse at the Queen Mother Hospital before becoming the Head Theatre Nurse for the last 14 years. This year she has moved job role and is now the Cardiothoracic Surgery Service Co-ordinator.

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