Invited Speakers
Dr. LIVIA BENIGNI, DVM, CertVDI, DipECVDI, PGCertAP, MRCVS
Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
Livia Benigni graduated in 1997 from the University of Pisa, Italy. She worked for three years in Internal Medicine (Cardiology) at the École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort and in private practice in Paris. Then she moved to private practice in London. In 2005, after completion of a residency program at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, she obtained the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. Since 2005, she is a Lecturer in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging at The Royal Veterinary College and actively contributes to the continuous development of the veterinary profession in the UK and abroad.
Dr. ALEX GERMAN, BVSc PhD DipECVIM-ca CertSAM MRCVS
University of Liverpool, UK
Alex German qualified, with honours, from the Universityof Bristolin 1994. After two years in mixed practice he returned to Bristol to undertake a PhD, and then a residency in small animal internal medicine. He moved to the Universityof Liverpool in October 2002, where he currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine. He became a Diplomat of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in September 2004, and a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Recognised Specialist in Internal Medicine in 2006. His clinical and research interests include gastroenterology, and comparative obesity biology.
Dr. ALLISON GERMAN, BVSc MSc PhD MRCVS
University of Liverpool, UK
Allison German graduated in 1997 from the Universityof Bristol. Since then, she has worked in private practice, completed an MSc in Wild Animal Health, completed a PhD in feline retroviruses and worked as a postdoctoral scientist in tropical zoonotic infectious disease. For the last six years she has worked as the Cats Protection Lecturer in Feline Health and Welfare at the University of Liverpool, England. Her work has included small animal referral medicine clinics, veterinary student training and research. Her interests lie in feline internal medicine, shelter cat epidemiology and infectious and zoonotic diseases.
Prof. EDWARD J. HALL, MA VetMB PhD DipECVIM-CA MRCVS
University of Bristol, UK
Ed Hall is Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences. Formerly Head of the Division of Companion Animal Studies, since 2010 he has been Deputy Head of School. A Cambridge graduate, he undertook postgraduate clinical and research training in Philadelphia and Liverpool, and is a Diplomate of the ECVIM-CA. He has clinical and research interests in small animal gastroenterology, in particular in canine inflammatory bowel disease. He is a Past President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, and was a member of the WSAVA GI Standardization Group. He has co-authored the chapter on “Diseases of the Small Intestine” for three editions of Ettinger & Feldman’s “Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine” and co-edited both editions of the “BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Gastroenterology”.
Prof. MIKE WILLARD, BS, DVM, MS, Dip ACVIM
Texas A&M University, USA
Mike Willard is a 1975 graduate of Texas A&M University. He did his internal medicine residency at Michigan State University and then held faculty appointments at Michigan State University, Mississippi State University, and now at Texas A&M University. He is a professor of Small Animal Clinical Science and specializes in gastroenterology, hepatology, pancreatology and endoscopy. He has given over 2,400 hours of post-graduate continuing education lectures and has over 80 refereed publications plus over 100 book chapters. His interests are farming, walking, and playing chess (badly, but has fun anyway).
