Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

John has authored over 250 scientific publications and is the editor of the Manual of Equine Neonatal Medicine and co-editor of Equine Neonatal Medicine and Surgery. He has made many groundbreaking medical discoveries and has developed the "Madigan Squeeze" which has saved many foals diagnosed with neonatal maladjustment syndrome. John was honored to be the recipient of the American Veterinary Medical Association Animal Welfare award in 2006 and the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Achievement award in 2007. His devotion to improving animal well-being led to the Dean appointing him as the first Director of the International Animal Welfare Training Institute

Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

Nathan graduated from Purdue University, did an Internship at Arizona Equine Center, and did a Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Nathan joined the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in 2000. He has published over 50 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and is the Editor of the Atlas of Equine Endoscopy and The Atlas of Diseases/Disorders of the Foal. Nathan has authored numerous book chapters on Equine Neonatology, Equine Neurology, Hyperbaric Medicine, and Infectious Diseases. He is a Member of the Veterinary Infectious Disease Society. He is a frequent speaker at national and international veterinary conferences.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics

Dwayne is considered a global opinion leader in equine reproduction and regularly lectures at International conferences and courses. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Atlantic Veterinary College. He completed a surgical Internship at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute before his Residency and Master's program at Auburn University. After his residency, Dwayne joined the University of Missouri as a Clinical Instructor in Equine Surgery and later the University of Florida as an Assistant Professor. He returned to Hagyard as an Equine Surgeon in 2002.

Pre-Symposium Course: Equine Embryo Transfer (Keros ET Center, Passendale, Belgium)

In 2022, Pat" McCue received the "ESER Lifetime Honorary Guest Award" for his contributions to the ESER Symposia. Pat has been named Theriogenologist of the Year by the Society for Theriogenology and nominated for the Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecturer at the 69th AAEP Annual Convention for his lifetime contribution to developing and teaching clinical equine reproduction. As the Iron Rose Ranch Professor of Equine Theriogenology, Pat has focused on reproductive endocrinology and pathology, hormone therapy, and embryo transfer. He is also actively involved in clinical consultation on high-risk obstetrical cases at the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Pat is the author of several books on equine reproduction, including Equine Embryo Transfer, Equine Reproductive Procedures, Formulary and Protocols in Equine Reproduction, and Foal Formulary and Field Protocol Guide.

Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

Emily has been a member of the internal medicine team at Rossdales Equine Hospital since 2009. She has a particular interest in equine neonatology. Emily's main role at Rossdales is working within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Internal Medicine Department. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, which she achieved during three years at the University of California's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at Davis before joining Rossdales. In 2012, she became an RCVS Specialist in Equine Medicine (Internal Medicine), having been awarded recognized specialist status by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). She has completed several research projects on neonatal foal conditions and has published and lectured widely on the subject. Emily is a member of the ESER-2024 Scientific Advisory Committee.

Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

Mathijs is currently an Assistant Professor in Equine Internal Medicine at Utrecht University and coordinator of the Foal Intensive Care Unit. He graduated from Utrecht University and worked as a junior researcher at UC Davis on foal sepsis. After returning to The Netherlands, he worked at the Lingehoeve Equine Hospital. In 2009, Mathijs started an Internship at Utrecht University, followed by a residency in Equine Internal Medicine. His research focuses on fighting antimicrobial resistance in foal sepsis, the development of antimicrobial resistance, the role of the gut microbiome, and resistome and antimicrobial stewardship. He is a renowned lecturer at international congresses and courses. Mathijs is a member of the ESER-2024 Scientific Advisory Committee.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

James graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh. He then spent four years in mixed practice in Yorkshire, looking after horses, farm animals, dogs, and cats. In 2004, he embarked on a journey of multiple back-to-back breeding seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres, working with specialists in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. James lectures regularly on the national and international stage and has published on the breeding soundness examination of the stallion and mares, peripartum problems in mares, and conditions in foals. In 2014, James became an honorary lecturer at Liverpool University. In 2017, he joined the Editorial Board of UK-Vet Equine and acts as an external consultant to the Rainbow Equine Hospital Laboratory.  James is a member of the ESER-2024 Scientific Committee.

Workshop: Infectious Diseases in Foals

Valerie works at the Centre Hospitalier Veterinaire Equin de Livet in France. She obtained her veterinary degree at the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, France. She did her internship and residency in equine medicine at the Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire de Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada. Her main activity is internal medicine, sports medicine, neonatology and intensive care. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the European College of Equine Internal Medicine. Valerie is a member of the ESER-2024 Scientific Advisory Committee.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics

Abigail qualified from The Royal Veterinary College in 2012. She completed an Internship at San Luis Rey Equine Hospital, California, and a Residency at Peterson and Smith Equine Hospital, Ocala, Florida. She continued at Peterson and Smith as an Associate Surgeon, where she was particularly interested in Thoroughbred breeding, sales and the racing industry, and treating and working on performance issues in sports horses. Abigail joined the team of specialist surgeons at Rossdales Equine Hospital in 2023 after working for seven years at Peterson and Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala, Florida. Abigail is experienced in all aspects of equine elective and emergency surgery and is particularly interested in orthopedics, specifically arthroscopy, angular limb correction, and fracture repair.

Workshop: Raising the Foal for Optimal Future Performance - Chair/Moderator

Pascale graduated in France and specialized in animal reproduction in the UK, USA, and France, with a research focus on placental and perinatal development in horses. In 2006, she studied the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), emphasizing placental function. Her research team studies the programming effects of nutrition, embryo technologies, and airborne/food pollutants in several species, including horses. Since 2020, she has directed the Biology of Reproduction, Environment, Epigenetics and Development (BREED) research unit at the INRA Institute in France. With this new responsibility, Pascale has focused her own research mostly on the horse. She is currently president of the International Federation of Placental Associations (IFPA) and has co-authored more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She is also involved in breeding show-jumping horses together with her husband Eric Palmer.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares - Chair/Moderator

Jutta obtained her veterinary degree in 2006 and received specialty training at the University of Hanover, Germany. Her main research interests include ultrasonography of the late pregnant mare, Doppler ultrasonography in the pregnant mare, and the functionality of the pregnant uterus. After numerous years of experience in the field of equine reproductive medicine at the Celle State Stud,  the University of Veterinary Medicine Foundation (TiHo) Hanover, the Veterinary Competence Center Karthaus GmbH, Germany, and specialist clinics in New Zealand and Australia, Jutta has created ReproTraining in 2020- working independently at the interface between science and practice.

ReproTraining focuses on practice-oriented continuing education -online seminars and on-site courses- and collegial exchange in the field of reproductive medicine. As such, long-term goals are exchanging knowledge between science and practice and promoting relevant scientific activity in cooperation with the TiHo Hanover.

Workshop: Raising the Foal for Optimal Future Performance.

Kristien graduated from the University of Ghent, Belgium, in 1995. After spells in mixed practice and the pharmaceutical industry, she joined the Epidemiology Unit at Animal Health Trust (AHT) near Newmarket, working on equine infectious diseases. In 1998, still at the AHT, she started working full-time on a research project studying the epidemiology of fractures in racehorses in training. In 2005, Kristien completed a PhD in racehorse injury epidemiology and joined the Royal Veterinary College as a Lecturer in Clinical Epidemiology. She has since continued and expanded her research into the epidemiology of equine diseases, racehorse injuries and risk factors in the young horse.

Workshop: Raising the Foal for Optimal Future Performance.

Georg is a Professor at the Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Before this, he was head of the laboratory for molecular helminthology and was active in developing several new antiparasiticides. Georg (co-)authored more than 100 publications in international journals and several chapters in parasitological textbooks. He is a member of the German Society of Parasitology board and the editorial boards of the Veterinary Parasitology, Parasitology Research, and IJP Drugs and Drug Resistance. Georg v. Samson is a frequent lecturer at national and international scientific conferences and co-editor of two standard German textbooks on veterinary parasitology. He has a particular interest in horses and has contributed extensively to our understanding of equine parasite management in the field.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics

After graduating from veterinary school, Hans worked for several years as an equine surgeon in an Equine Practice in Sussex, UK, and completed an Internship in France. In 1992, he returned to Belgium to co-found the De Bosdreef Equine Hospital. Shortly after this, Hans became one of the first Belgian Diplomates of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. Besides his full-time hospital job, Hans is frequently invited as a speaker at international congresses and courses. Hans is a member of the ESER-2024 Scientific Advisory Committee.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics - Chair/Moderator 

Michael graduated in 2004 at the University of Ghent. After an internship at the Equine Clinic De Bosdreef, he moved to Canada, where he achieved his DES graduate (Diploma of Specialist) in Equine Surgery at the University of Montreal. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) and the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS). Since 2009, he has been part of the team of Equine Clinic De Morette, where his main activities are surgery, orthopedics, and dental care of horses.

Workshop: Infectious Diseases in Foals

Monica completed her training in veterinary medicine in France and completed a doctoral thesis on tendon diseases in sport horses.  She then worked 18 years in the equine clinic at Hannover University. Monica obtained a German doctorate with a dissertation on the diagnosis of lung diseases in horses and completed a habilitation thesis on pneumonia in foals. In addition to her work as a private lecturer, she is currently a practicing veterinarian in the Equine Hospital Destedt. Her areas of expertise are gastrointestinal diseases, lung and heart diseases in horses, and foal diseases. 

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

Marco graduated from the University of Milan in 1988 with a degree in veterinary medicine. He worked at Turangga Stud in Australia and as a resident vet at Rathbarrry Stud in Ireland. In 1991, he joined Veterinari Associati Ippovet as an associate and works as a theriogenologist. He was co-ordinator of SIRE (Italian Society of Equine Reproduction) from 2000–2002 and President of SIVE (Italian Society of Equine Practitioners) from 2008–2010. Since 2016/2017, he has been an adjunct professor at the Veterinary University of Milan. He is co-author of the DVD ‘Atlante di Ecografia Equina’ and the Veterinary Advances Apps ‘Equine Reproductive Ultrasound’ and ‘Advanced Equine Reproductive Ultrasound’.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

Catherine  obtained her doctoral veterinary degree from the School of Veterinary Medicine in Lyon, France. After working in private practice in France for several years, she completed a residency program in Equine Reproduction at UCDavis, California. Catherine then joined on and off the Theriogenology department team at UCDavis as a clinician. My research special interests are in high-risk pregnancies, placental pathologies, fetal well-being and growth and fetal sexing evaluated by non-invasive ultrasonography.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

Camilla joined Rossdales' stud team as a reproductive specialist in November 2017. Following graduation from the Royal Veterinary college in 2006, Camilla undertook a number of positions, including a hospital internship in the UK, an internal medicine fellowship at Haygard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky and multiple stud seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2013 Camilla started a Theriogenology residency at the University of Davis, California specialising in Equine Reproduction. In 2014 she was awarded the RCVS Certificate in Equine Stud Medicine and in 2015 became a board certified diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists. Camilla then spent two years as a reproductive specialist in private practice in the UK before joining Rossdales. She was awarded recognised specialist status by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2020.  Camilla has served on the scientific committee for conferences in the UK and American and has published on various topics. She has a particular interest in problem mares, high-risk pregnancies, stallion fertility and embryo transfer.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

Tamara graduated from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT) and completed her residency training for the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS) in Ghent, Belgium. A devoted equestrian, Tamara has transformed her love for horses into her life's work. As a surgeon, she embraces challenges and finds joy in witnessing the recovery and performance of the horses she has treated. Specializing in surgery and orthopedics, Tamara is an alumna of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. She holds the position of head of the Surgery Department and mentors interns at the Equine Clinic of Meslay. Her guiding principle is encapsulated in her motto, "Every day brings a new challenge." When asked about her passions and motivations in her profession, Tamara emphasizes the central role that the bond with horses plays in her work. She views the training of young veterinarians not just as a duty but as an integral part of her commitment to advancing the profession. Tamara finds deep fulfillment in nurturing the next generation of veterinary professionals and contributing to the progression of the field.

Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

Immediately after graduating from Utrecht University in 2012, Esther completed an Internship and Residency in Equine Medicine and Surgery.  She is a diplomate of the European College for Equine Internal Medicine.  She is a clinician in the Equine Internal Medicine Hospital at the Unversity of Utrecht and is co-coordinator of the foal intensive care unit at the hospital. She is also doing doctoral research on exercise physiology and thermoregulation in horses. 

Workshop: OPU/ICSI

Workshop: Foal Imaging: Technique and Interpretation - Chair/Moderator

Lisa graduated from the University of Ghent. Lisa was awarded for her research in cardiology, she also knows how to face with dedication and professionalism all equine pathologies that require intensive care. She was awarded the Lous Monreal Award in 2019 for the study on pacemakers in donkeys (Research award AVEF 2020 congress). After graduating, Lisa did an internship and a residency in internal medicine (specialization in cardiology, respiratory system, gastroenterology, hematology, neonatology, etc.) at the university of Ghent. Since February 2022, Lisa is a Diplomate of the European College in Internal Medicine. She started working at the Meslay clinic in October 2021. She is responsible for the medical part in the clinic, including the neonatology department in the spring.

Workshop: Foal Imaging: Technique and Interpretation

Katrien obtained her veterinary degree at the University of Ghent. She immediately embarked on a PhD at the Department of Veterinary Imaging in Ghent. Her dissertation topic was "The possibilities and limitations of imaging the pastern in the horse."  During her doctoral training, she performed extensive studies comparing radiographic, ultrasound, and tomographic imaging with arthroscopic findings in the pastern joint of the horse.  During her post-doctoral training, she combined her research on contrast ultrasound examination in companion animals with clinical imaging in large animals, primarily horses.  Since 2014, she has been a professor in medical imaging at the University of Ghent, and in 2020, he became a diplomate at the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging.  Katrien is (co-)author on over 165 publications, primarily on diagnostic imaging in the horse.

Workshop: Foal Imaging: Technique and Interpretation

Filip graduated in 2001 and joined immediately after the orthopedics department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University. In 2004, Filip joined the Bosdreef and became a partner in 2008. Over 15 years ago Filip pioneered, amongst few others in the world, the clinical use of standing MRI in the horse. In 2011, he was awarded Associate LA ECVDI, the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. More recently, Filip has also focused on the poor performance of the competition horse. Filip is a frequently invited speaker at national and international scientific congresses. 

Workshop: Foal Imaging: Technique and Interpretation

Zoë has a special interest in medical imaging. After obtaining her diploma from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ghent, she worked for some time in the private sector, mainly focusing on orthopedics for sport horses and small pets. This is where she discovered her love for medical imaging. She completed a specialized internship in medical imaging and continued this successfully with a residency at the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging (ECVDI) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Liège and the equine orthopedic center CIRALE-Enva in France. She also started a PhD at the same faculty, published scientific articles and made several presentations at national and international conferences.

Workshop: Foal Imaging: Technique and Interpretation

Laurence graduated in 2007 from veterinary school at the University of Liège, Belgium. In 2017, she obtained the title of European Specialist in Medical Imaging in Large Animals. Laurence provides and supervises medical imaging services for equines and production animals, including image-guided intervention procedures. She is also completing a doctoral thesis on equine foot imaging.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics

Dr. Frederik Pille graduated from Ghent University in 1997. After spending one year in a private equine practice, he became employed at the Department of Large Animal Surgery, Anaesthesia and Orthopaedics of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University (Belgium). In 2005, Dr. Pille obtained his PhD degree. Two years later, he became a board certified specialist of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (dipl ECVS). In 2008, Dr. Pille was granted tenure and is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the above-mentioned department. His clinical activities focus on equine lameness and emergency surgery, whereas his research activities focus on gait analysis and efficacy studies dealing with stem cells, nutraceuticals, shoeing, etc. 

Workshop: OPU/ICSI - Chair/Moderator

Niamh graduated from the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Medicine and spent several years in clinical practice focusing on equine reproduction in Ireland, Australia, UK, USA and Saudi Arabia. She then completed a residency program at the University of Liverpool, and subsequently became a European and American registered specialist in Equine Reproduction in 2015. Niamh is in the process of establishing an ICSI laboratory within the School of Veterinary Medicine in Dublin. Niamh is also interested in using the mare as a model for 'One Health' research synergy to investigate oocyte maturation and evaluate the epigenetic effects of endemic metabolic aberrations such as obesity and diabetes.

Workshop: OPU/ICSI

Workshop: OPU-ICSI

Jannie and her colleague, Emma Lorenzen, are the founders of VetEmbryo in Denmark. VetEmbryo was created in 2019 and now offers a full ART service, including OPU, ICSI, freezing IVP embryos, and embryo transfer. Jannie is primarily specialized in all procedures concerning OPU and transfer of ICSI embryos and has extensive experience in donor and recipient mare management and all aspects of embryo transfer. 

Workshop: OPU/ICSI

Giovana Catandi is an Assistant Professor of Theriogenology in the Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department at Oklahoma State University. Giovana graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2016, and as a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University in 2023, when she also became a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists. He research interests are equine oocyte and embryo quality and metabolic function.

Workshop: OPU/ICSI

Monica graduated from the University of Bologna. In 2009 she started an Equine Theriogenology residency at the University of California, Davis and in 2011 she became a board certified diplomate of both the American College of Theriogenology and European College of Animal Reproduction. Since 2012, Monica has been at Twemlows Stud Farm as the resident Stud Veterinarian where she now leads a team of 4 veterinarians during the breeding season. The Stud offers a variety of reproductive services including neonatal care, AI and embryo transfer and more recently OPU. The ICSI lab set up at Twemlows is also working on offering ICSI services based in the UK. Monica's interests include mare subfertility/infertility and assisted reproductive techniques. She has published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented at national and international scientific meetings.

Workshop: OPU/ICSI

Juan graduated in Veterinary Medicine in Murcia (Spain) and did his MSc in Equine Science at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). He completed his Residency in Large Animals Theriogenology at the Royal Veterinary College. Juan worked at the Veterinary School of Utrecht University and with Prof. O.J. Ginther (Wisconsin, USA) and Prof. Luis Losinno and Javier Aguilar (Rio Cuarto, Argentina) and as stud veterinarian in Australia and Sweden. Currently, he is Assistant Professor at the Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, in Spain. His research and clinical interests are breeding management of mares, anovulatory disorders, induction of ovulation, ultrasonography of the corpus luteum, embryo transfer, and ovum pick-up in mares, amongst others. He has published over 60 articles on equine reproduction and lectured at numerous international congresses on equine reproduction over the world.

Workshop: OPU-ICSI 

DPouya is a professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction at UC Davis, CA, USA, and a Diplomate in the European College of Animal Reproduction and the American College of Theriogenology. Pouya obtained his first Ph.D. in collaboration between Azad University and the University of Ghent, Belgium, and his second Ph.D. in collaboration between the University of Ghent and Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky. He is current research interests are the regulation of the pathophysiology of the equine placenta and the growing ICSI embryo at the genomic level.  Pouya is also the director of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) laboratory in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, which is both a distinguished research facility and a national embryo service provider for breeders and veterinarians. 

Pre-Symposium Course: Equine Embryo Transfer (Keros ET Center, Passendale, Belgium) - Course Organizer

Peter Daels is a professor in equine reproduction at U. Gent and is a board certified specialist in reproduction (Dipl. ACT & ECAR). He has done research and clinical work in embryo transfer for the past 30 years. He worked as an ET specialist at EmbryoTechnic in France for 5 yrs. and at the Keros ET Center for 7 yrs. Since 2012, Peter is a Professor in equine reproduction at U. Gent. Peter has been the leading instructor in 20+ embryo transfer courses worldwide and has taught more than a dozen embryo transfer courses at Keros ET over the past 15 years. He also has extensive experience with the thawing and transfer of ICSI embryos.

Pre-Symposium Course: Embryo Transfer Course (Keros ET Center, Passendale, Belgium)

Hilde Vandaele is the chief veterinary surgeon at Keros AI and ET Center Hilde (U. Gent, 1994) started practicing in large animal medicine with a strong emphasis on cattle infertility and obstetrics. From a very young age, she was in love with horses and when the time was right, it was a natural step in her professional career to become a certified equine specialist. Today, her attention is focused on mare infertility and foal care. She regularly attends veterinary meetings on equine reproduction and has spoken at international meetings on mare infertility. Hilde has 17 years of experience in embryo transfer and has participated in the teaching of 12 ET courses at Keros. Hilde is a great teacher with lots of practical and clinical experience.

Pre-Symposium Course: Embryo Transfer Course (Keros ET Center, Passendale, Belgium)

Patrick is a Veterinarian and Equine Reproduction Specialist. Patrick’s primary focus is on maintaining Equiception’s embryo transfer results, developing embryo freezing, oocyte pick up (OPU) and intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Patrick graduated from the University of Sydney in 2005 and worked for 4 years in a specialised equine practice in Scone, Australia. In 2009, he made the move to Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia to undertake a Research Masters in Equine Reproduction and started an equine reproduction referral service there. In 2010, Patrick was admitted as a member of the Australian veterinary college of specialists in animal reproduction. In March 2012, Patrick arrived in the Netherlands to commence a residency at the University of Utrecht and in 2015 he was admitted as a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenology. Applied clinical research in semen storage and embryo transfer have formed the basis of his work to date. Patrick is also a member of the KWPN and has been breeding his own foals since 2015.

Pre-Symposium Course: Equine Embryo Transfer Course (Keros ET Center, Passendale, Belgium)

Denis graduated from the University of Milan in 1996. He has worked on reproduction in dogs, cattle, and horses. He was the leading expert at the first SBS center in Cremona, Italy, and obtained his ECAR diplomate status in 2005. From 2013 to 2015, he held the position of assistant professor in equine reproduction at the University of Utrecht. Since then, he has been working in private farms as a specialist in semen freezing, stallion and mare fertility, management of embryo transfer, and ovum pick up in mares. Denis regularly speaks at national and international congresses and courses.

Pre-Symposium Course: Semen Collection and Handling (De Morette - Equine Reproduction Center, Brussels)

Tullis began his career with horses working in racing stables. In 1990, he returned to run his father’s stud at Twemlows Hall. Tullis has now been directing the Stallion AI Services Ltd, a stallion semen collection center, likely the largest center of its kind in the UK, for over 18 years. He has frozen semen from more than 700 stallions and carried out over 10,000 collections. In 2011, Tullis received the Marsh Christian Award for Conservation in Genetic Bio-Diversity. He has been given the award for the technological advances he has brought to the field of equine semen freezing, which has enabled some rare breeds to be collected from and frozen successfully for the first time. Tullis is a very knowledgeable and entertaining speaker who loves to share his vast practical knowledge and expertise.

Pre-Symposium Course: Semen Collection and Handling (De Morette Equine Reproduction Center, Brussels) - Course Organizer

Peter graduated from the University of Gent, Belgium. He is currently a Guest Professor in Equine Reproduction at the veterinary faculty at U. Gent. Peter has provided hands-on training for veterinary students in their final year of study and has organized a very successful workshop on semen collection, handling, and conservation in 2022, together with Tullis Matson and Bart Kools.

Pre-Symposium Course: Semen Collection and Handling (De Morette Equine Reproduction Center, Brussels)

Bart has been the director of the semen laboratory at the Schockemöhle’s Stallion Station in Germany for over 20 years. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience in all that concerns stallion semen collection, cooled storage and cryopreservation. Bart regularly participates in workshops on semen management and semen processing throughout Europe.

Workshop: Periparturient Complications in Mares

Tom is a professor of equine reproduction at Utrecht University and an honorary professor at the University of Pretoria. He completed his PhD training at the Equine Fertility Unit in Newmarket under the mentorship of Twink Allen. At the clinical reproduction section at Utrecht, Tom addresses all aspects of horse reproduction. His research interests concentrate on refining assisted reproductive techniques and investigating the causes of early pregnancy loss. He is deputy editor of the Equine Veterinary Journal, the International Equine Reproduction Trust chair, and a board member for the International Symposium on Stallion Reproduction and the HBLB’s Veterinary Advisory Committee.

Workshop: Raising the Foal for Optimal Future Performance

Rebecca is a veterinary surgeon and post-doctoral research fellow, currently investigating early-life determinants of performance and the economics of Thoroughbred breeding. Her fellowship is funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board and the Racing Foundation. Rebecca graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the RVC in 2003. She worked for 16 years in clinical practice in various roles, predominantly involved in Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the UK and Middle East. During which time, she was a treating veterinarian at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games in London, honorary veterinary surgeon at Lingfield Park Racecourse and head of veterinary services at the Rashid Equestrian and horse racing Club in Bahrain. In 2018, she returned to the RVC, to undertake a PhD investigating the epidemiology of disease and injury in Thoroughbred foals and yearlings, which she was awarded in July 2022.

Workshop: Foal Surgery and Orthopaedics

Anna studied veterinary medicine at the Hanover Veterinary University Foundation. After graduating, she worked at the horse clinic at the Free University of Berlin. In 1999, Anna got her Ph.D. on “Manual lymphatic drainage on the horse’s extremities.” In 2000, she completed a rotating internship at the equine clinic at Kansas State University, USA. In 2003, she completed her residency in Equine Surgery and became an Equine Surgery Fellow and Teaching Associate at the University of Illinois Equine Clinic. Anna is a diplomat at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. Anna received her PhD degree in clinical veterinary medicine, specializing in gastrointestinal pathophysiology, from the University of Illinois, USA. She then became the Head of Surgery at the Equine Clinic of the Hannover Veterinary University. Since 2017, Anna has been in charge of the development and management of the Equine Clinic Nindorf.

Workshop: Foal Infectious Diseases

Katleen graduated in 1999 and was employed at the Equine Internal Medicine Department of the Faculty of Ghent University as an assistant professor for 10 years. In 2009, she became a diplomat of the ECEIM. Katleen works in private practice at the Equine Referral Hospital De Bosdreef, caring for the equine internal medicine caseload.