Josef Gross
Josef Gross is senior scientist in the Veterinary Physiology group at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He received his PhD from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, in 2011. He is working on the nutritional impact on the adaptive physiology of transition dairy cows. His research addresses the relationship between animal-related factors and variation in colostrum immunoglobulin content of ruminants. In particular, he investigates the role of individual nutrients and metabolites in the endocrine regulation of energy metabolism, periparturient blood-milk barrier formation and mammary immune responsiveness in dairy cows.
Bernadette Earley
Dr. Earley, is a Principal Research Scientist in animal health and welfare at the Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre (AGRIC), Teagasc, Co. Meath, Ireland. Her research experience is in bovine immunology, animal health and welfare, and animal behaviour. She collaborates extensively with national and international personnel and institutions. Dr. Earley has developed, characterised and published research findings on five animal husbandry management practices; weaning, transport, housing, disbudding and castration. Her research has informed policy at National, EU and OIE level.
Michael Steele
Dr. Michael Steele is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Nutrition and Past-President of the Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS). He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Guelph and worked for Nutreco Canada Agresearch for two years prior to returning to academia at the University of Alberta and Guelph as an NSERC Industrial Research Chair. His current research is focuses on the mechanisms that control gastrointestinal health and development in calves and has published over 90 manuscripts.
Inmaculada Cuevas
I am currently working in the Department of Animal Health in Probisearch S.L (Spain), a company dedicated to the research and development of probiotics. My current research is focused in the study of microbiota in animals and the use of new probiotic strains to preserve animal health. I completed a bachelor’s degree in veterinary science (2013) and MSc in Animal Health (2014) in the University of Cordoba. After that, I combined the development of my PhD in the University of Córdoba while working as a veterinarian in farm animals, with special interest in dairy heifer replacement. During my PhD I investigated the septicaemic processes caused by Pasteurella multocida in swine and cattle. In 2019, I got a Postdoctoral fellowship at Teagasc (Ireland), where I investigated about the effect of bovine respiratory disease and its associated microbiome in calves.
Harald M. Hammon
PD Dr. Harald M. Hammon is a senior scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf, Germany, since 2004 and heads the Endocrine Metabolic Regulation Unit at the Institute of Nutritional Physiology “Oskar Kellner”. He has studied veterinary medicine in Munich, Germany, and has received his DVM degree in 1993 and his Habilitation in 2003 from the University of Bern in Switzerland. Dr. Hammon has authored and co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers.
His present research involves the neonatal and preweaning calf development and its dependence on colostrum supply and milk feeding intensity. Main interests are the effect of colostrum supply and intensive milk feeding on organ development and endocrine regulation of the energy metabolism. In addition, health and welfare aspects of calf rearing management are getting more and more into the focus, pointing out, that only healthy and robust calves guarantee a successful dairy and beef production.
Carolyn Fitzsimmons
Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Adjunct Professor, Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta
Lisa Bachmann
Since 2019, Dr. Lisa Bachmann works as a post doc at the Institute for Nutritional Physiology “Oskar Kellner” of the Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf, Germany. She has studied veterinary medicine in Berlin. In 2008, she received her DVM degree and started her career as a post doc at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Leipzig. From 2013-2019 she worked as a veterinary consultant for Alta Germany GmbH.
Since her doctoral thesis, Dr. Lisa Bachmann investigates oral rehydration management and nutritional strategies for healthy and diarrheic calves. In this context and beyond, she is interested in disease prevention and welfare aspects of calves and cows. Her most recent research focusses on the prevalence and risk factors for the occurrence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in dairy herds.
Martin Kaske
· Study of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine in
Hannover (1979-1985)
· Dissertation and assistant at the Department of Physiology
· 1991: Practitioner in a cattle practise in Northern Germany
· 1992-1997 Habilitation at the Department of Physiology, University of
Veterinary Medicine in Hannover
· since 1998 assistant at the Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover
· since 2003: Professor at the Clinic for Cattle Fachtierarzt für Physiologie
Fachtierarzt für Rinder
· Scientific activities:
- Metabolic diseases of high-yielding dairy cows in early lactation
- „Metabolic programming“
- Pathophysiology and therapy of diarrhea and pneumonia in calves
· Februar 2006 – April 2008: Department of Physiology, Technical University
Munich
· May 2008 – March 2013: Senior lecturer at the Clinic for Cattle, University of
·Veterinary Medicine in Hannover
· April 2013-July 2017: Senior lecturer (50 %) Vetsuisse Faculty Zürich
(Department for Large Animals) and Swiss Bovine Health Service (50 %)
·Since August 2017: Manager director (100 %) of the Swiss Calf Health Service
Maria Devant
Maria Devant has a solid background in R&D in Swine and Ruminant Production. Over the last 15 years, she has focused her scientific career in beef production improving feed efficiency and enhancing economic returns while minimising environmental impact, improving animal welfare, and offering high-quality products to the consumers through research and innovation. To achieve this goal the creation and leadership of the Beef Innovation Table has been crucial, in this annual meeting 12 representatives of the whole production chain propose and set priorities of the research topics, and in this forum we also connect them the new societal demands that are coming and that they need to be prepared (like antibiotic user reduction). Her expertise is nutrition and management, and in case a topic needs the expertise in another area we find collaboration within IRTA or outside IRTA to solve it. In the last 5 years she have focused my research in 2 topics: strategies to improve calf vitality and modulation of behavior and stress through nutrition (gut-brain axis). As a result of this work, I have published more than 49 peer-reviewed articles in major international journals (Quartile 1). These publications have a total of 1119 citations yielding an H-index of 21. Besides, in the last 10 years I have presented a total of 80 communications and posters in scientific congresses. Along with this research activity she is head of the Ruminant Production Program (since 2016) and Animal Nutrition Program (since 2021) and member of the Strategic and Scientific Committee at IRTA (since 2019), in these positions where team science needs to be successful, two skills like i) openness to different perspectives and being able to conceptualize the big picture, ii) and being able to uniting people around a common mission are needed.
Margit Bak Jensen
Margit Bak Jensen is professor at the Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. She holds a candidate degree in Animal Science from Copenhagen University, Denmark, a M.Sc. degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a PhD degree in Ethology from Copenhagen University.
Margit’s research includes development and validation of methods to quantify behavioural needs in farm animals, and applying these methods to answer current questions in relation to animal welfare. Her research in dairy calves includes studies of the effect of physical and social environment on the development of social behaviour and play behaviour, as well as research on milk feeding methods for group housed calves that minimise competition and prevent abnormal cross-sucking behaviour. Research in dairy cows includes the effect of dry-off management and the effect of management and housing on behaviour and welfare around the time of calving. Current research investigates the effect of dam rearing on behaviour and welfare in dairy cattle.
Margit teaches Applied Animal Behaviour Science at BSc and MSc level and supervises PhD students.
Carolina Tejero
Carolina Tejero studied veterinary medicine at the Complutense University of Madrid in 2001. From 2005 to 2017 she worked at the Racho las Nieves as head of health, welfare, biosecurity, nutrition and reproduction of 8000 replacement calves. Since 2017, she has been working as an independent consultant on dairy farms and fattening calves. In addition, in 2019 he joined MSD Animal Health as a member of the bovine technical group. He has published and participated in several conferences focused on bovine respiratory syndrome and the use of pulmonary ultrasound as a diagnosis.
John F.Mee
Dr. Mee is the Principal Veterinary Research Scientist at the Irish National Dairy Research Centre. He is a European (ECBHM), UK (RCVS) and Irish (VCI) board-accredited specialist buiatrician. John has 35 years’ experience in animal health, welfare and theriogenology research in Ireland, Australia and in New Zealand and in private and public veterinary practice. He has delivered webinars/lectures, podcasts and workshops/wetlabs by invite in over 30 countries worldwide. He is Co-Editor of two textbooks on calf health; Bovine Prenatal, Perinatal and Neonatal Medicine (Hungarian Association for Buiatrics Press, Budapest) and Farm Health and Productivity Management of Dairy Young Stock (Wageningen Academic Publishers, Netherlands). John is also a founding member of the national CalfCare Technical Working Group of AHI.
His current research interests (primarily in dairy cattle, but also in beef and sheep) include calf and youngstock health and management, biosecurity, exotic and endemic infectious diseases, parasitoses and animal welfare.
John is always open to synergistic collaborations with international colleagues:
john.mee@teagasc.ie
