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Coordinator
International Centre for Veterinary Training and Information
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise
International Centre for Veterinary Training and Information
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise
Fabrizio De Massis
Laboratory Veterinary Officer – Head, Branch laboratory of Pescara, IZS – Teramo (Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ”G. Caporale”)
Email: f.demassis@izs.it
Degree in Veterinary Medicine and a Specialization in Animal Health, Breeding and Hygiene of Animal Productions, since 2001 he has worked as epidemiologist in the National Reference Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Analysis and the National Reference Centre for Brucellosis of the Isitituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” of Teramo (IZS-Teramo). From March 2006 to June 2009 he has been Seconded National Expert (SNE) to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW) Unit. He has been key expert in zoonosis epidemiology and veterinary information systems in several international capacity building projects and Twinning projects financed by the European Union (EU) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). From 2013 to 2016 He has been the Head of the Italian National Reference Centre for Veterinary Urban Hygiene and non-Epidemic Emergencies. He has been a member of the working group of the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) on animal health contingency planning and emergency preparedness. He is Chairman of the European Commission Task Force on Monitoring Disease Eradication Programmes in Member States – Brucellosis subgroup. He is member designated by the Italian Government in the Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) Network of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and alternate member in the EFSA Task Force on Zoonoses. He is OIE Designated Expert at the OIE Reference Laboratories for Brucellosis (Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. suis) and for Ovine epididymitis (Brucella ovis), IZS-Teramo, and Head of Veterinary Laboratory, Branch Unit of Pescara, IZS-Teramo.
Arturo Di Girolamo
Medical Doctor – Local Health Agency (ASL) Lanciano Vasto Chieti
Email: arturodigirolamo@gmail.com
Born in Australia on 07/08/1963. Medical Degree in 1989. Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 1992-1993 at Mc Master University (Hamilton – ON- Canada) for the project “Adenovirus expressing Chlamydia”, a strategy for vector-based chlamydia vaccine construction. Specialized in Infectious Diseases in 1997. Employed as MD in the Clinic of infectious Diseases at the hospital of Chieti (IT) from 2001 to 2014. Further activity was on the field of Quality Management, Risk Management and healthcare infections expert at the Local Health Agency of Chieti, between 2014 and 2020. From May 2020 employed full time as a member of the Covid-19 task force both in the Local Health Agency and in the Regional Authority expert groups. Regarding Brucellosis issues, participated at the European Action COST 845 “Brucellosis in Animals and Man” from its beginning in the year 2000 and collaborated with the involved groups even after the conclusion of the Action in 2006.
Ester De Carlo
Sanitary Director – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno
Email: direzionesanitaria@izsmportici.it
Degree in Veterinary Medicine and specialist in Infectious Diseases, Prophylaxis and Veterinary Police. From 2003 to 2008 she held the position of veterinary manager at the territorial veterinary services and from 2008 the position of veterinary manager at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, at present Sanitary Director. Since 2008, she holds the position of scientific head of the National Reference Centre on hygiene and technology in buffalo breeding and production. Member of the technical groups for the drafting of Regional Plans and guidelines on the eradication of infectious diseases of ruminants, with particular reference to Brucellosis and Tuberculosis in buffaloes. Member of the permanent tables at the Ministry of Health and the Presidency of the Campania Region to monitor the progress of regional eradication plans. From 2019 to 2021 member of the regional task force for brucellosis eradication. Her activities actually include research on brucellosis and tuberculosis, biosecurity and epidemiology.
David O'Callaghan
Research Director – VBIC, Université de Montpellier, INSERM U1047
Email: david.o-callaghan@umontpellier.fr
David O’Callaghan obtained his PhD in 1989 from the University of London, working at Wellcome Research Laboratories on live attenuated Salmonella vaccine development. This was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Since 1993 he has been working for the French medical research agency, INSERM.
David O’Callaghan is currently director of the laboratory Bacterial Virulence and Chronic Infection, INSERM U1047, and the French national reference centre for human brucellosis at the Université de Montpellier Medical School in Nimes, France. The laboratory works on the physiopathology, diagnostics and control of chronic bacterial infections concentrating on Burkholderia cepacia complex, chronic wound infections in diabetes and brucellosis.
Angela Arenas
Associate Professor – Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University
Email: aarenas@cvm.tamu.edu
Dr. Angela Arenas-Gamboa, DVM, PhD, Dip. ACVP, has over 17 years of experience working on brucellosis. Her research interests focus on the 1) development of improved vaccines for brucellosis, for both livestock and companion animals; 2) development and characterization of new animal models of infection that can better predict safety and efficacy of newly developed vaccines, and 3) identification of the immune correlates of protection. Additionally, she has over 7 years of experience working internationally where the majority of her focus has been in the development and implementation of countermeasures that can be applied under resource-limited settings, where brucellosis has a significant impact both in animals and humans, She has a strong background in zoonotic and transboundary infectious diseases that is supported by international capacity building and research collaborations in multiple regions around the globe including South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Philip Elzer
Professor and Director – School of Animal Science, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Email: pelzer@agcenter.lsu.edu
| Dr. Phil Elzer, MS, PhD, Professor of Veterinary Science and Veterinary Immunology, has been conducting brucellosis research since 1986 and within the LSU AgCenter for over 27 years. He is the Director of the School of Animal Sciences and the Interim Director of the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences. Dr. Elzer performs brucellosis research using numerous animal species involving pathogenesis, diagnostics and novel vaccine methodologies. He is Chair of the AgCenter IACUC and serves on many AgCenter and LSU A&M committees. In addition to his research, Dr. Elzer teaches future veterinarians, graduate students, and undergraduates. He has been involved in DTRA-sponsored research since 2005 and has participated in collaborations with fellow brucellosis research scientists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Tajikistan, Armenia, etc. |
Sue Hagius
Research Associate/Coordinator – School of Animal Science, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Email: shagius@agcenter.lsu.edu
Sue Hagius has been involved in animal vaccine research for over 36 years and in the brucellosis field for last 30. As a member of Dr. Philip Elzer’s team, she has facilitated training of fellow brucella researchers both in the US and abroad. She currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for the International Brucellosis Society.
Adrian Whatmore
Head of Bacteriology – Animal & Plant Health Agency
Email: Adrian.Whatmore@apha.gov.uk
Since 2018 Head of the Department and Discipline of Bacteriology at Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) in the United Kingdom. Department of c. 115 staff delivering animal and zoonotic disease surveillance, diagnostics, reference functions and policy-driven research on behalf of the UK government and internationally.
Head of WOAH/FAO Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis.
At APHA since 2002 having held various previous roles focusing on brucellosis and wider molecular bacteriology and acting as Veterinary Advisor to the UK International Biological Security Program.
Prior to APHA held a Wellcome Trust Personal Fellowship in Biodiversity at the University of Warwick preceded by various research posts in government and academia.
Edgardo Moreno
Professor – Universidad Nacional
Email: emoreno@una.cr
Edgardo Moreno received his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He had postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology, Freiburg, was an Orange-Fellow at the Center for Immunology, Marseille-Luminy, France, and a DAAD-Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin. His main contributions are to the field of brucellosis, including the pathobiology, the structure and function of Br-LPS, the pro-inflammatory response, the diagnoses, and the evolution of the genus Brucella. He acted as Director of the Tropical Disease Research Program of the National University, as Dean of Student Affairs of the Graduate Program between the Central American universities and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, Coordinator of the Network for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases in Central America and a Scientific manager of the Iberoamerican Program for Science and Technology Development. He holds the chair of Humboldt Honorary Professor.
Giuliano Garofolo
Senior researcher – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ”G. Caporale”
Email: g.garofolo@izs.it
Giuliano Garofolo DVM, MSc, is a researcher microbiologist at the National and OIE Reference Laboratory for Brucella. He has worked for 15 years with highly pathogenic bacteria and microbial food safety, in particular rapid detection and characterization methods. He is particularly interested in the molecular evolution of bacteria to understand the dispersion over time and space. Thus he works mostly on application of novel methodologies such as MLVA, MLST, WGS and metagenomics to track diseases and outbreaks. He has 62 publications on international peer reviewed journals with an h-index of 18 according to the SCOPUS citation database.
Suzana Salcedo
Principal investigator and Assistant Professor – Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, CNRS and University of Lyon, France
Email: suzana.salcedo@ibcp.fr
Dr. Suzana Salcedo studied Microbiology in Porto, Portugal, and received a Ph.D. in 2003 from Imperial College London for her work on Salmonella. She did postdoctoral training at the Centre of Immunology Marseille-Luminy, France, and was recruited as an INSERM permanent researcher in 2005 to study how Brucella modulates innate immunity. In 2012 she was awarded a FINOVI Young Researcher grant to start her team at the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, University of Lyon/CNRS, France. Her main research interest is studying how bacterial pathogens modulate cellular responses to cause disease, namely Brucella spp. By combining integrated molecular and cellular approaches, one of the team’s main focuses is identifying the specific bacterial proteins injected into host cells during infection and characterizing the targeted host pathways. Her current work focuses on studying the intracellular zoonotic pathogen Brucella abortus and the multi-drug resistant nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.
Jean-Jacques Letesson
Ordinary Emeritus Professor – University of Namur, Belgium University Mayor San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia
Email: jean-jacques.letesson@unamur.be
Ordinary Emeritus Professor, Research Unit in Microorganisms Biology (URBM) en la Universidad de Namur Bélgica. Médico Veterinario, Doctorado en Ciencias veterinarias.
Investigador asociado en la Fac de Medecina y la Facultad Veterinaria , Universitad Mayor de San Simon , Cochabamba Bolivia.
Su investigación se ha centrado en el diagnóstico de la brucelosis animal y luego en descifrar la estrategia de virulencia y el metabolismo de este sigiloso patógeno. También investigó la respuesta inmunitaria animal a la infección por Brucella utilizando principalmente el modelo de ratón. Ha publicado más de 150 artículos científicos, varios libros y capítulos de libros y ha dirigido o codirigido cerca de 40 tesis sobre brucelosis
Paolo Pasquali
Scientist – Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Email: paolo.pasquali@iss.it
Paolo Pasquali’s main area of interest is the impact of infectious diseases of zoonotic importance on public health such as brucellosis, salmonellosis and tuberculosis. His main interest is to understand the interaction of the host pathogen, and in particular the study of the immune response of vertebrates.
Ramesh Vemulapalli
Professor & Department Head – Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Email: rvemulapalli@cvm.tamu.edu
Ramesh Vemulapalli is Professor of Veterinary Microbiology & Immunology and the Head of Department of Veterinary Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Vemulapalli received his veterinary training in India. He earned his Ph.D. from University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. He continued postdoctoral research training at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. He was on the faculty at Purdue University from 2001 to 2016. Vemulapalli joined Texas A&M University in 2016.
As Department Head, Vemulapalli guides 50 faculty members in their continued development of excellence in teaching, research and disease diagnostic service. In addition to his administrative duties, Vemulapalli teaches immunology and infectious diseases to veterinary and undergraduate students, and conducts research on development of vaccines and diagnostic assays for infectious diseases. His primary research focus is on zoonotic pathogens of veterinary importance, including Brucella spp. His research projects have been funded by NIH and USDA. His international activities include advising the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, on their Network Project on Brucellosis, providing hands-on molecular diagnostics workshops to veterinarians in Kabul, Afghanistan, and serving as an expert consultant to the Animal Health Division of International Atomic Energy Agency on irradiated brucellosis vaccines.
Elaine Maria Seles Dorneles
Professor – Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA)
Email: elaine.dorneles@ufla.br
Born in Brazil, she received her degree in veterinary medicine in 2008 at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). At the same institution, she completed an M.Sc. (2009-2011) and Ph.D. (2011-2015). Currently, she is an adjunct professor in the Departament of Veterinary Medicine within the College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine at the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA). Elaine Maria Seles Dorneles is responsible for the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology and Cell Biology at UFLA (https://www.labepidemiologiamolecular.com.br/). Their research projects are focused on zoonotic baterial diseases, especially brucellosis. They are also based on One Health approach and seek to improve the knowledge in the host-parasite relationship on different point of views.
Jose Maria Blasco
Emeritus Research Director
Email: jblasco@unizar.es
DVM (1978) and PhD (1986). Since 1982-2019 (retired) was the head of the Brucellosis research laboratory at CITA (Zaragoza; SPAIN). His group developed scientific research focused to: i) Develop methods for direct and indirect diagnosis of animal Brucellosis; ii) study of Brucella virulence factors in animal models; iii) Development and evaluation of brucellosis vaccines, and iv) Epidemiology of the disease. He has worked with numerous national (e.g, Universities of Zaragoza, Navarra, Leon, Murcia, Madrid, Cantabria, Lugo, Salamanca and Barcelona) and international universities and research institutions (e.g, INRA -France-, Univ. of Namur -Belgium-, Karolinska Institut -Sweden-, ANSES -France-, Cornell University -USA-, Univ. de la Plata and INTA -Argentina-, Universidad de Costa Rica). Main researcher of over 20 national and international research projects. Author of over 150 scientific articles and 18 book chapters. As a brucellosis expert he has participated in many national and international scientific and technical committees (e.g., EU Brucellosis Vaccines Working Group, EU Working group in B. melitensis, EFSA Bovine Brucellosis Working Group, EU DISCONTOOLS FP 7, EFSA Porcine Brucellosis working group). Member of the OIE Brucellosis expert panel since 2002. Consultant of the WHO/PAHO and FAO since 1989, conducting many technical missions in the North of Africa, Middle East and Far East. As EU consultant he has conducted also many international missions dealing with brucellosis control. Some examples are projects in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia, Argentina, Uruguay, Mongolia, Kosovo, China, Brasil, Paraguay, Mozambique, Uganda, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Kenia and Uzbekistan. Is a regular collaborator of the Universidad de Zaragoza, Agronomic Institute of Mediterranean Studies (IAMZ) and Institute of Tropical Health (Navarra University) in lectures and organization and teaching of training courses on brucellosis. Directly involved in the planning and execution of the brucellosis eradication programs in Aragon and other Spanish regions.
Sascha Al Dahouk
Scientific Director – German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
Email: Sascha.Al-Dahouk@bfr.bund.de
Sascha is a Scientific Director and Head of Division in the Department of Biological Safety at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin. He is an infectious disease specialist with twenty years’ experience in One Health. His research work mainly focuses on epidemiology, pathogenesis and laboratory diagnosis of brucellosis. He has authored more than one hundred research articles and book chapters on zoonotic diseases and is a keynote speaker on international conferences. Sascha was a longstanding member of the advisory board of the National Research Platform for Zoonoses, which is responsible for strategic decisions in this field. As a professor at RWTH Aachen University, he gives lectures and edits a textbook of internal medicine. Sascha earned an Executive MPA at the Hertie School in 2020 and graduated from Ulm University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz as a Medical Doctor and Master of Science in Epidemiology, respectively.
Bruno Garin-Bastuji
Emeritus Research Director
Email: bruno.garin-bastuji@anses.fr
DVM, MSc, PhD, Emeritus Research Director, Bruno GARIN-BASTUJI has devoted nearly 40 years of his career to research and reference in animal health, in the field of bacterial zoonoses, in particular brucellosis, a disease for which he headed for many years the French, WOAH, FAO and EU reference laboratory in ANSES, Maisons-Alfort, France. He has been expert or consultant for several national, European and international (WOAH, WHO, FAO, IAEA, European Commission) organisations for the diagnosis and control of animal and human brucellosis and has been consultant for that purpose in several countries of Europe, Northern and South Africa, South America, Middle East, Asia and Oceania. He has attended more than 70 national/international seminars/congresses in France and abroad, and has been co-author of ca. 200 scientific and technical communications in scientific and technical meetings. He has collaborated to ca. 100 original scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals or textbooks and ca. 100 popularisation publications or reviews. He is also the author or co-author of several national or international standard operating procedures (EU, WOAH) for the diagnosis and control of animal brucellosis and has been involved in ca. 200 national and EU expert scientific and technical opinions. Partially retired since October 2021, he remains an expert of the EFSA Animal Health and Welfare Panel (member since 2015) and now chairs the new CEN Technical Committee 469 dedicated to the standardisation of diagnostic methods in animal health.
Jacques Godfroid
Professor in Microbiology – UiT, The Arctic university of Norway
Email: jacques.godfroid@uit.no
I got a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine degree from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liège,
Belgium in 1981. I further got a Master degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Brussels, Belgium and a PhD in Veterinary Science at the University of Namur, Belgium. After having worked for 4 years in West Africa at the International School of Veterinary Medicine in Dakar, Senegal (1986-1989), I went back to Belgium and worked at the Veterinary Institute in Brussels on brucellosis and mycobacterial infections in livestock and wildlife for 14 years. I was elected member of the task force of the European Union on bovine brucellosis (expert) and sheep and goat brucellosis (chairman) from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, I moved to South Africa where I was appointed Professor of Microbiology to fill the Alexander Forbes Chair in Wildlife Diseases of at the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (DVTD), Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria. I worked mainly with bovine tuberculosis in South African Conservation Areas as well as with brucellosis in terrestrial and marine mammals.
In January 2008, I moved to Norway, where I was appointed Professor of Microbiology and Head of the Section for Arctic Veterinary Medicine at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Tromsø. In January 2014, the section was transferred to UiT – the Arctic University of Norway. Since 2009, I am an extraordinary Professor at the DVTD, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
I have been supervisor/co-supervisor of 12 PhD and 11 MSc students and have collaborated to 11 international funded projects. I am author or co-author of 156 peer reviewed publications in international scientific journals and wrote 9 chapters on brucellosis in veterinary, wildlife and ecology textbooks. I participated and presented oral communications to more than 60 international conferences.
Hai Jiang
Etiology, molecular epidemiology, diagnosis of brucellosis – National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Email: jianghai@icdc.cn
| Dr. Hai Jiang is a Professor and Deputy Director at the Department of Brucellosis, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Jiang is a member and Secretary of the Scientific Commission of Brucellosis, China Endemic Diseases Society; Member of the scientific development and consultation committee of China Society for Microbiology; Member of the Scientific Commission of Ecological Health and Human Ecology, the Professional Committee of Biomarkers, China Research Hospital Association. Dr. Jiang engaged mainly in prevention and control of brucellosis nationwide, including national standards, emergency plans, control guidelines and surveillance programs. His work focuses on the etiology, epidemiology, molecular diagnosis and bio-informatics applied for brucellosis control. Some national key projects were undertaken in Dr. Jiang Laboratory, such as the “973”, “863”, National Natural Science Foundation and Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) program between China and the U.S.. He has published > 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and awarded six national patents. |
Ana Maria Nicola
General Director of Laboratories and Technical Control – SENASA Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality
Email: anicola@senasa.gob.ar
Veterinarian with a master’s degree in Biotechnology with over twenty-five years of experience in diagnosis, quality assurance and biosafety in veterinary laboratory fields. Current position as General Director of Laboratory in SENASA, (Animal Health and Agrifood Quality Service), Argentina. Management and coordination of network veterinary laboratory activities which involve implementing strategies and policies.
Since 2004, she was designated as an WOAH expert in charge of the Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis, which is also FAO Reference Centre. Member of the WOAH Biological Standards Commission 2018-2021.
Actively involved in several activities with the OIE and IAEA, such as OIE PVS (performance veterinary services) for laboratory missions and as Chief Scientific Investigator (CSI) IAEA Research Project entitled “Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Network (“VETLAB Network”).
In addition, as part of her professional experience she has conducted audits concerning ISO/IEC 17025 standard, GMP and biosafety facilities; making serological diagnosis and conducting quality control of biologics; preparing reference sera and organizing interlaboratory rounds under ISO/IEC 17043 standard in Latin America.
Claire Ponsart
Head of OIE / EU Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis
Email: Claire.PONSART@anses.fr
Claire Ponsart’s area of research concerns zoonotic bacterial diseases. In 2014, she became head of the Bacterial Zoonoses Unit at ANSES’s Animal Health Laboratory located at Maisons-Alfort. This laboratory carries out critical missions for France and Europe in the field of Anthrax, Brucellosis, Chlamydiosis, Glanders, Melioidosis, Tuberculosis and Tularemia and is characterised by its strength as a reference laboratory. Since then, Claire is in charge of national (NRL) and international mandates for Brucellosis (EU / WOAH).
After being qualified as a veterinarian, her PhD thesis was dedicated to cyclicity resumption in beef cattle. She joined France’s UNCEIA Research and Development department in 1998 in order to lead projects related to embryo production in cattle. In 2002, she focused her activities on fertility in dairy cattle within the UNCEIA Research and Development, with the development of practical tools in French breeding companies. In 2008, Claire joined the National Laboratory for Health Controls in Breeding Stock (Laboratoire National de Contrôle des Reproducteurs, LNCR) to investigate pathogens related to the genital tract and management of sanitary status in AI centres and ET stations. She was appointed Director of LNCR in 2012.
Jean Armengaud
Director of Research – Scientific director of the ProGénoMix platform, CEA
Email: jean.armengaud@cea.fr
Jean Armengaud is specialized in mass spectrometry for biology and more specifically in proteogenomics and metaproteomics. He manages the ProGénoMIX platform located near Avignon in France. Expert in proteogenomics, the alliance of genomics and proteomics for the characterization of non-model organisms, in metaproteomics, as well as in mass spectrometry for the identification and characterization of pathogens, he is also active in the field of protein biomarkers for medical and environmental purposes, and develops new methodologies for the study of microbiota. He contributed more than 250 peer-reviewed publications on omics and serves in numerous editorial boards. He wishes to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of complex biological systems and exploit this knowledge for medical and environmental purposes. He received his PhD in Biochemistry in 1994 at the University of Grenoble.
Renee Tsolis
Professor, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis
Email: rmtsolis@ucdavis.edu
UCDAVIS Professional Profile here
Prof. Renee Tsolis’ main research interests are the Interactions between intracellular pathogens and the host. Her group studies basic mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens can subvert the host’s innate immune system to survive within phagocytic cells and resist clearance by the immune response. Their work primarily utilizes two pathogens, Brucella abortus, and Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium, to uncover new principles of how bacteria utilize virulence factors and adapt their metabolism to grow within the host environment.
Sergio Costa Oliveira
Professor – Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Email: scozeus@icb.ufmg.br
Sergio Costa Oliveira is a Full Professor of Immunology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. His research interest is focused on defining the role of innate immunity and inflammation during the course of the intracellular bacterial infections. He got his PhD and postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). Currently, he is member of the Brazilian Academy of Science and member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). So far, he has published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles with more than 10,000 citations. Additionally, he has trained 23 Master’s and 24 PhD’s students, and 39 Post-doctoral fellows.
John McGiven
APHA (Animal & Plant Health Agency)
Email: John.McGiven@apha.gov.uk
Dr John McGiven joined what is now the Animal & Plant Health Agency in Great Britain in 1996 and is celebrating his 26th year there! He joined after graduating in Zoology from the University of Liverpool and started his APHA career working on serodiagnostic assays for brucellosis and keeps returning to this subject although also oversees the bacteriolgy and molecular work for Brucella. During his time at APHA he has gained an MSc in Immunology and a PhD in Biochemistry from Imperial College and is now leading the team at the OIE and National Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis. This laboratory oversees the technical aspects of the national surveillance programme for brucellosis and undertakes the confirmatory diagnostic roles. The APHA Brucella Team perform bacteriology, molecular biology, immunodiagnostics and applied research relating to all Brucella species. The focus has been on those species that cause disease in livestock but there has also been a longstanding interest and capability relating to Brucella canis. John is also a founding member of the Management Oversight Board of BactiVac, a global bacterial vaccinology network. And a keen – but flawed- rugby player.
Henriette Van Heerden
Professor – University of Pretoria
Email: henriette.vanheerden@up.ac.za
After completing her Ph.D in Microbiology in 2001 at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, she joined the ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institue where she was part of the team that completed the sequencing of the entire 1.51 Mb genome of Ehrlichia ruminantium (published in PNAS) using Sanger sequencing. This was the first genome sequencing project in Africa from any cellular organism. In January 2008, she started at the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria where she established research projects focusing on improving the understanding, detection and control of anthrax and brucellosis in wildlife and livestock. The anthrax and brucellosis research group also focus on community engagement using zoonotic awareness material developed for anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, rift valley fever, rabies, cysticercosis and tuberculosis to educate stakeholders. Research on these intriguing and complex diseases influencing livestock and wildlife has been her main focus and together with her research group and collaborators they have reported important and unique insights into the disease dynamics with more to come.
Ignacio Moriyón
Researcher and Emeritus Professor – ISTUN Instituto de Salud Tropical y Depto. Microbiología y Parasitología Universidad de Navarra Spain
Email: imoriyon@unav.es
Doctor in Biological Sciences (University of Navarra, Spain,1976). Ph.D. in Bacteriology (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, 1982). Currently Emeritus Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Spain, and investigator of the Brucellosis Research Group at the Institute for Tropical Health of the University of Navarra. I. Moriyón research has been dedicated to Brucella and brucellosis, with emphasis on the structure and genetics of bacterial surface molecules and their involvement in innate immunity recognition, the central carbon metabolism
of the pathogen and the development of animal vaccines and diagnostic tests for human and animal
brucellosis suitable for low-resource areas. On these topics, he has served as consultant for the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the Panamerican Health Organization and the World
Health Organization. He has been Coordinator or Principal Researcher of 13 projects on brucellosis, including 4 European Union funded projects and 3 projects with activities in Morocco, Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria. He is the author/co-author of 11 Book & Book Chapters, over 150 Research Articles and reviews; 5 Education reviews, and 18 published Symposia and Workshops.ORCID Nº. 0000-0002-4288-0195).
Martin Roop
Professor – Brody School of Medicine East Carolina University
Email: roopr@ecu.edu
The Roop laboratory employs genetic and biochemical approaches and animal models to study how Brucella strains produce disease in their mammalian hosts.
Falk Melzer
Senior Scientist – Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut
Email: falk.melzer@fli.de
- Veterinarian, Head of the German National RL Brucellosis (Bovine, Porcine, Ovine and Caprine);
- WOAH Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis;
- Expert in several Twinning projects concerning brucellosis and in recent and current scientific projects with cooperation partners from Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Europe;
- Major areas of interest: diagnostic and typing procedures for brucellosis and brucella, One Health, Brucellosis epidemiology, surveillance and control.
Paolo Calistri
Head of the Epidemiology and Public Health Department. National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ”G. Caporale”
Email: p.calistri@izs.it
Other responsibilities and memberships:
• March 2021: Responsible of the WOAH Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology, modelling and surveillance.
• September 2018: Responsible of the FAO Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology.
• Since July 2015: member of the Animal Health and Animal Welfare Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
• Jan 2020: Member of the Editorial Board of Microorganisms journal
• Apr 2018: Member of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) Council
He was involved in many international activities as risk analysis expert and in several international projects and initiatives focused on the prevention and control of animal health diseases and zoonoses.
More than 120 published papers (h-index: 26).
More than 120 published papers (h-index: 26).
Manuela Tittarelli
Head of immunology and serology department. Responsible of National Reference Laboratory for brucellosis – Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise IZS-Teramo, Teramo, Italy
Email: m.tittarelli@izs.it
Biologist (University of Bologna 1988).
From June 1990 she attended the IZS-Teramo Laboratories, starting from Department of Exotic Diseases and Virology and later in the Serological Department. From 1 February 1992 she was hired as an assistant biologist and worked in the serology department, where she dealt with all the sera-diagnoses in particular, coordination and supervision of research activities focus on development and standardization of serological tests for diagnosis of infectious animal diseases, including zoonosis, with specific interest on brucellosis.
Since 2007 she has collaborated as an expert with the WOAH reference laboratory for brucellosis and with EFSA. To date, she is in charge of the Immunology and Serology Department of the IZS-Teramo and of the national reference laboratory for brucellosis. She has participated in numerous national and international conferences as a learner and teacher. Co-author of 73 publications and responsible for national and international research projects.
Nicola D'Alterio
Director General of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise IZS,Teramo
In this role he is responsible for the planning, management, technical-scientific coordination and control of IZS-Teramo activities, dealing with managerial and technical problems in veterinary public health, in the sectors of animal health and welfare, food safety and environmental protection. He oversees research, cooperation and technical assistance activities in Italy and abroad.
Fabrizio Bertelloni
Senior Research Fellows – Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa
Email: fabrizio.bertelloni@unipi.it
Fabrizio Bertelloni graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 2008 at the University of Pisa (Italy). In 2012 he obtained the specialization in “Animal Health, Breeding and Animal Productions” at University of Pisa. In 2015 he obtained the Ph.D. in “Veterinary Science” at University of Pisa. From 2016 to 2018 he performed Post-Doct at Infectious Disease sector of Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa. From 2018 he was Research Fellows (Junior Fixed-Term Research Fellows- RTDA) at University of Pisa; from 2021 he is Senior Research Fellows (Senior Fixed-Term Research Fellows) at University of Pisa. He is lecturer in Veterinary Hygiene and Microbiology and Immunology. His area of research is antimicrobial resistance and bacterial infectious disease, in particular salmonellosis, leptospirosis and brucellosis, of wild and domestic animals. He is author/co-author of over than 70 scientific publications in international journals and he is member of the editorial board of the journals Veterinary Sciences (MDPI) and Frontiers in Veterinary Science, section Veterinary Infectious Diseases.
Nick Beeching
Emeritus Professor of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Liverpool, and Honorary Consultant, UK Health Security Agency
Email: nicholas.beeching@lstmed.ac.uk
Nick Beeching is a senior physician researcher with long standing interests in emerging and zoonotic infections. He trained in Oxford, Liverpool, Adelaide, Birmingham, Riyadh and Auckland. His first consultant post for 2 years was in Khamis Mushayt, Saudi Arabia, where he managed many patients with brucellosis and his interest has continued since he took up his posts in Liverpool in 1987, where he has been a clinical consultant in the national Brucella Reference Unit for over 20 years. He hosted a COST funded international meeting on brucellosis in Liverpool in 2002 and was on the Scientific Committee for the International Research Conference (with 61st Brucellosis Research Conference) at Royal Holloway College, London in 2008. He has co-authored many clinical papers on brucellosis in addition to chapters in Manson’s Tropical Diseases; 6 editions of Harrison’s Textbook of Medicine; Lecture Notes: Tropical Medicine; and other textbooks, together with a living monograph on human brucellosis updated yearly in BMJ Best Practice since 2009. In addition to advising on human cases of brucellosis imported to the UK and seen elsewhere, he has been a member of the multidisciplinary team managing the rising number of B. canis infections in the UK over the last 2-3 years.
Riccardo Orusa
CeRMAS IZS – Piemonte, Liguria e Valle D’Aosta
Email: riccardo.orusa@iztto.it
- DMV and Contract Professor
- Director of S.C. Valle D’Aosta and Scientific Director of CeRMAS (national reference center wildlife diseases)
- Member of board of GEEFSM, SIMEVEP and EWDA subgroup of WDA observer of EFSA, Scientific Commission CIC
- Over 100 international and national pubblications with I.F.
Massimo Ancora
Biologist – PhD Cellular and Molecular Biotechnologies, IZS Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale
Massimo Ancora is a Biologist, PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnologies expert in biotechnology, development of molecular methods, MLVA, real-time PCR and WGS at the National and OIE Reference Laboratory for Brucella and National Reference Center for Whole Genome Sequencing of microbial pathogens. He has participated at the European Action COST 845 “Brucellosis in Animals and Man” in the scientific working group on Applied Molecular Biology. Expert, in an OIE Twinning projects in Eritrea. Author and co-author of 46 international peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 15 according to the SCOPUS citation database.
Massimo Scacchia
Massimo Scacchia DVM, MSc Cooperation, Development and Research Unit Expert at CBPP WOAH Reference LaboratoryEnhancing Research for Africa Network – ERFAN Secretariat Réseau pour le Renforcement de la Recherche en Afrique – Secrétariat ERFAN Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G.Caporale”
Email: m.scacchia@izs.it
Massimo Scacchia is a Veterinary Doctor at Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” in Teramo (IZS-TE), Italy. Borne in 1959, graduated in 1985 and employed by IZS in Teramo since 1990. In 1992 Master degree in Veterinary Pathology.
He has worked over the years in the field of Veterinary diagnostics, in particular Pathology, Bacteriology and Parasitology.
From 2008 to 2018 Head of Animal Health Laboratory, WOAH Expert at Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) Reference Laboratory and Brucellosis WOAH Expert until March 2017.
In this context, it has carried out seven WOAH/OIE Twinning projects, four for CBPP and three for Brucellosis.
In 2006, the Namibian government requested his presence for a period of 6 months, in order to train Namibian colleagues, in the post-mortem examination, at the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Windhoek, Namibia (CVL).
From August 2007 to August 2009 was Team leader for Diagnostic Activities and Research at CVL; during this time he advised in improving diagnostic performances, Quality System, research project proposals and also restructuring activities of the CVL and its peripheral Laboratory in Ondangwa. He carried out research activities on exotic disease, for the Italian context, as CBPP, Lumpy Skin Disease, African Horse Sickness, African Swine Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Heart Water Disease, Dourine and others diseases as Brucellosis, Malignant Catarrhal Fever, and Rabies in Kudu. He has done animal studies in the pathogenesis and development of new vaccines for CBPP in collaboration with some African National Veterinary Laboratories.
With over 25 years of experience in Africa, he is now Head of the Cooperation, Research and Development Unit at the IZS-TE.
Starting in 2019 he is working in the Secretariat of Enhancing Research for Africa Network, involving twenty-eight African and six Italian Veterinary Institutions.
Starting in 2020 he is collaborating with Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) providing training and veterinary support for Cooperation Projects involving Raqqa Region, Syria.
He published more than one hundred scientific publications in the veterinary field.
Flavio Sacchini
DVM, MSc, is a veterinary researcher, immunologist at the National and WOAH Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis in Teramo.
He has worked for 15 years in animal health and immunology with a special interest on ruminant mycopalsmosis and brucellosis. His research activities are mainly focused on disease pathogenesis, host pathogen-interaction in vivo and in vitro , characterization of immune response to vaccines and infections and development of diagnostic tests. He has 36 publications on international peer reviewed journals.
Danila Averaimo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Elisabetta Di Giannatale
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Giovanni Savini
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Giuseppe Iovane
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Antonio Petrini
Head of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Official Veterinarian of the IZS – TERAMO since 1998 is currently Head of the Diagnostic Dept. The Department is composed of different functional areas: microbiology, parasitology, mycology, histology and anatomic-pathology. He is the manager of the “Prevention Plan” of the Abruzzi and the Molise Regions.
Roles previously held in international organisations:
– Head of the OIE Collaboration Center for veterinary training, epidemiology, food security and animal welfare, IZS – TERAMO, Teramo;
– Coordinator of the Global Secretariat of the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs). FAO, Rome;
– Deputy Representatives of the OIE Sub-Regional Office for North Africa, Tunis;
– Deputy Head of the Animal Health Information Dept, OIE HQs, Paris;
– Project manager, International Trade Dept, OIE HQs, Paris.
Giustino Parruti
U.O.C. Malattie Infettive ASL Pescara, Italy
Jacopo Vecchiet
Clinica di malattie infettive, ASL 2 Lanciano-Vasto-Chieti, Italy
Daniela Morelli
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
Daria Di Sabatino
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Teramo, Italy
