Biography of speakers

Professor Clovice Kankya

Clovice Kankya is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biosecurity Ecosystems and Veterinary Public Health at Makerere University, Kampala Uganda. Dr Kankya is also a biosafety committee member at the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology, and he is the country team leader of a Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa European Union-funded project (2021-2025) involving Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique.  

Dr Kankya has successfully led two international multi-country projects funded through a consortium of 5 universities: Makerere University Uganda, University of Bahr-el-Ghazal South Sudan, University of Zambia, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and the Arctic University of Norway in Tromso focusing on zoonotic disease management with a VPH&FS education component.

Professor Marcus Doherr

Marcus Doherr is a veterinarian by training with postgraduate specialization in analytic epidemiology and statistics. He is Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) and a national veterinary specialist for veterinary epidemiology. He has vast experience in continued education in the field of study design, MOSS, diagnostic test validation and statistical modelling. His main research activities deal with the design and implementation of surveys to assess the status of target populations.

Dr Nina Langkabel

Nina Langkabel has a degree in veterinary medicine. She is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) and a national veterinary specialist for meat hygiene. Dr. Langkabel´s main research activities deal with microbiological and hygienic process controls and analyses at abattoirs of broilers and pigs, the documentation requirements in slaughter equines and the preparation of eLearning training modules to improve the welfare of cattle and pigs at transport and slaughter.

Professor Diana Meemken

Diana Meemken is a professor for meat hygiene and a Diplomate of the European College of Porcine Health Management (ECPHM) and a national veterinary specialist for pigs. The core elements of her research activities are investigating the epidemiology of zoonotic pathogens in food producing animals and food products as well as designing intervention strategies along the food chain. She furthermore focuses on the continuous enhancement of the effectiveness of the risk-based meat inspection by developing and verifying evaluation systems for food safety, herd health and animal welfare.

Professor Sarah Baillie        

Sarah worked in clinical practice for many years before undertaking a PhD in computer science when she developed virtual reality simulators for training veterinary students. She led a major curriculum review at Bristol Veterinary School, UK and introduced more outcome-based, integrated and student-centered approaches. She was responsible for opening the first clinical skills laboratory at Bristol and has created many low- and high-fidelity models. She is now an Emeritus Professor with the University of Bristol and is fortunate to be able to dedicate more time to educational research projects and collaborations around the world. She is an EAEVE expert on quality assurance and has undertaken visits with various accreditation bodies in Europe, Asia and Australia. She has an extensive track record in educational research with nearly 100 peer reviewed publications. She mentors others who are leading curriculum review and preparing for accreditation, delivers a range of faculty development workshops and supervises research students in UK and internationally.

Professor Sue Rackard

Sue graduated from the University College Dublin in the Republic of Ireland in 1989. After a short period in small animal practice in the UK she returned to the university as a junior lecturer in small animal surgery where she commenced her PhD studies and grew her clinical experience. After many years as an academic clinician and clinical teacher, Sue’s focus shifted to educational development, initially in the CPD arena for Veterinary Practitioners and more recently in teaching and assessment of undergraduate Veterinary Medical Students. She is an EAEVE expert on quality assurance. She is currently Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning at the School of Veterinary Medicine in University College Dublin with responsibility for curriculum review and enhancement of the veterinary medicine programme, which is AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC accredited. She established and is Director of UCD’s Academic Centre for Veterinary Education. (https://www.ucd.ie/veteducation/).

Dr Lian Thomas

Lian is a lecturer in One Health and Food Systems at the University of Edinburgh and holds a joint appointment with the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya where she is currently based and leads a research group on neglected zoonoses within the BMZ funded ‘One Health Research Education & Outreach Centre in Africa’. Originally from the north coast of Cornwall, Lian studied veterinary medicine at St. Georges University in Grenada, West Indies and undertook research for her MSc in Uganda in conjunction with Makerere University. She obtained a PhD in in veterinary epidemiology also from the University of Edinburgh, hosted by ILRI. Her PhD field work took her to Kenya in 2010 and she has remained in the region ever since, living in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia but also collaborating on projects in Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and Nigeria. Her research focuses on the sustainable control of neglected zoonoses and spans field epidemiology, economic analysis and qualitative research on the context, barriers and drivers for disease transmission, surveillance & control. She is passionate about the application of One Health principles to complex challenges and supporting early career professionals to embrace these principles. She is a trustee of the Soulsby Foundation for One Health which supports early career researchers with grant funding for One Health projects.

Dr Adrian Muwonge

Adrian Muwonge is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and a former BBSRC Future Leader Fellow, specializing in the intersection of infectious disease epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and digital health innovations. His research focuses on leveraging data-driven approaches to improve public health preparedness and One Health integration while addressing ethical, legal, and social considerations. He has led efforts in AMR surveillance, zoonotic disease epidemiology, and the application of digital technologies in public health. His work has contributed to the development of national AMR surveillance systems, alternative strategies for antibiotic use, and clinical metagenomics in Africa. Contributing to shaping of global public health policy for example the development of zoonotic tuberculosis roadmap in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). As the PI at the Digital One Health Laboratory, is leading the designing and development of the next-generation traceability systems for food safety and security, integrating blockchain and AI to enhance transparency, sustainability, and compliance. His collaborative work spans Europe, Africa, America and Latin America, partnering with industry stakeholders, policymakers, and research institutions.

Professor Alessandra De Cesare

Alessandra De Cesare graduated in Molecular Biology and got her PhD in Food Science. She is Associate Professor in Inspection of Foods of Animal Origin at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences of the University of Bologna and is currently teaching in the Master Degrees of Veterinary Medicine and Food Animal Metabolism and Management in the Circular Economy (FAMCE). She is, and has been, involved in European projects on: (1) investigation of the microbiomes associated to human, animal and food animal systems to trace back and reduce the circulation of foodborne pathogens (H2020 projects CIRCLES 818290, VEO 874735 and COMPARE 643476); (2) implementation of innovative teaching strategies for the next generation of professionals in the agri-food system (H2020 project NextFood 771738; Una Europa Projects Virtual Slaughterhouse VSS and NEXTVET); (3) categorization of ingredient combinations and preparation procedures improving safety of artisanal and RTE foods (PRIMA project ArtisaneFood and FP7 project STARTEC 289262); (4) fit for purpose sampling schemes for specific food/risk combinations (FP7 project BASELINE 222738). She is the author of more than 170 peer reviewed papers and book chapters on topics related to food safety. She is member of the EFSA BIOHAZ panel since October 2018, collaborates in the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) and supports the EC in the evaluation of proposals submitted within Horizon Europe. She is vice-editor in Chief of the Italian Journal of Food Safety.  

Professor Giampiero Pagliuca

Professor Giampiero Pagliuca is a Full Professor of Food Inspection in the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences at Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Italy. He has extensive academic and research experience in food safety and analytical chemistry. His research expertise lies in the development, validation, and application of chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for the detection of veterinary drug residues, pesticides, and emerging pollutants, particularly per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in foods of animal origin.

Professor Marco De Nardi

Marco De Nardi is Associate Professor of Infectious Animal Diseases and Epidemiology in the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences (Dimevet) of the University of Bologna.  His interests are focused, among others, on animal health surveillance strategies, spatial risk mapping, ecology of infectious diseases at the livestock and wildlife interface, investigation on risk pathways for the introduction of exotic pathogens in new ecosystems. 

He received a Degree in Veterinary Medicine from University of Bologna in 2002 and then a MSc Degree in Veterinary Epidemiology from the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK in 2008. He is a Diplomat (Population Medicine) of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) and a EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary Public Health. In this role he is the Programme Director of ECVPH residents, a member of the ECVPH education committee and of the One Health working group.

He has more than 20 years’ working experience in the field of animal health, animal infectious diseases and epidemiology at international level.  He worked on different research and technical assistance projects in Africa, Europe, the USA and Asia. He has broad experience in working in public and private veterinary sectors, international organizations (WOAH, EFSA, FAO, Eu-FMD, WB) and with academia.

Professor Ruth Nsibirano

Ruth Nsibirano is an Associate Professor of Gender in the Institute of Gender and Development Studies, Ruth is also the Head of Department, Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University. Ruth holds a PhD in Gender Studies, an MA in Women Studies and a Hons Degree in Library and Information Science of Makerere University. Ruth has over twenty years’ experience in teaching of Gender. Ruth is a competent gender trainer and has developed training manuals to empower women and youth in business and life skills.  Ruth is a competent gender analyst and researcher. Research interests include gender and ICT; integration of technology in teaching and learning (eLearning, distance education or blended learning); Gender Based Violence; Gerontology and Mainstreaming of Gender in STEM and Development practice.

Professor Ana Vale

Ana Vale is an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Public Health at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin (UCD). Ana obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Lisbon, her MVS in Conservation Medicine from Murdoch University and her PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from UCD. Since 2018 she has worked as a lecturer in Microbiology and Veterinary Public Health researching in areas of veterinary microbiology using conventional microbiology and molecular biology techniques. Her current research is focused on the characterisation of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, antimicrobial stewardship and zoonotic diseases using the One Health approach.

Professor Antonio Manuel Rodríguez Bertos

 Antonio has been an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of UCM since 1991 and accreditation as a Professor in June 2024 in the Department of Internal Medicine and Animal Surgery of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCM). He made postdoctoral stays in different European and American veterinary schools, such as Hannover (Germany - 10 months), Utrecht (The Netherlands - 2, 5 months), Davis (USA - 3 months) and San Bernardino (California Animal Health and Food Safety - USA - 4 months), in the departments of Veterinary Pathology. He has participated in the development of several international competitive research projects (One Health European Joint Program, European Commission and VACDIVA project, a safe DIVA vaccine for African Swine Fever control -EU H2020- 862874).), more than 64 public and private funding projects, and teaching innovation (6). He has supervised 7 doctoral theses, all of them qualified with the maximum qualification, 6 Diplomas of Advanced Studies, 5 Dissertations, 4 Master's Final Projects and 14 Degree Final Projects. He has also participated in the publication of 123 scientific articles, most of them in the journals with the highest impact in their category: 112 scientific articles are included JCR (89/112 in Q1 and 21/90 Q2). He is the author of several scientific articles in indexed journals, divulgation, and communications in congresses (https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-9543-313X). He is a member of the Health Surveillance research group (VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, 920033) where he carries out his activity in anatomopathological diagnosis and research. Since 2007, he has directed the Animal Pathology and Forensic Veterinary Service at the Veterinary Health Surveillance Center (VISAVET-UCM research center).

Dr Johanna Jaakkola

Johanna graduated as a veterinarian in 2017, I am about to complete specialization studies in food production hygiene from University of Helsinki. Currently serving as the Head of the Food Hygiene Section at the Finnish Food Authority. Prior work experience in food control as a municipal food hygiene veterinarian and in planning and guidance of food controls on a national level as well as training of food inspectors, particularly in the fishery products sector. Has contributed as a tutor in the European Commission’s BTSF workshop on EU import conditions for fishery products.

Dr Paula Santos

Paula is working as an official veterinarian at the Portuguese competent authority since graduated as a veterinarian in 2001. One of the veterinarians of the border control post team and coordinator of official controls of fishery products - from primary production to the authorization for export of freezer and factories vessels. Participate as a tutor in different European training programs in the European Commission’s BTSF workshop on EU import conditions for fishery products; in the BTSF-STM in Gambia regarding Strengthen export Chain of Fishery products and in the TAIEX workshop on HACCP in Armenia.

Professor Elina Säde

Elina is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research focuses on food microbiology and spoilage, aiming to improve food safety and shelf life while promoting sustainability.

 

LOCAL ORGANISERS:

  • Prof Alessandro Seguino (Project Coordinator)
  • Prof Clovice Kankya (Chair Holder)
  • Prof Andrea Serraino (Head of the Inspection of Foods of Animal Origin Unit)
  • Prof Alessandra De Cesare (Delegate for International Relations DIMEVET)
  • Prof Marco De Nardi
  • Dr Federica Savini (Senior Researcher)
  • Dr Valentina Indio (Senior Researcher)
  • Dr Giulia Polizzi (Junior Researcher)
  • Dr Elena Zanato (Junior Researcher)