Keynote speakers
Professor Peter P. C. Mertens, Department of Molecular Biology, Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright Laboratory, United Kingdom.
Professor Philip Mellor
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From 1992 onwards Professor Philip S Mellor has been Head of the Department of Arbovirology at IAH-Pirbright. Graduating as BSc in 1967 at the University of Hull in Zoology, Professor Mellor proceeded with his MSc and PhD in Medical Entomology & Parasitology. He received his DSc and FRES by Published Works and his FHEA through Services for Higher Education at the Higher Education Academy in 2003. Professor Mellor’s research interests are transmission, epidemiology & control of arboviral diseases of farm animals with particular reference to bluetongue, African horse sickness, African swine fever, Akabane, |
epizootic haemorrhagic disease & equine encephalosis. He is international expert for the OIE on African horse sickness and bluetongue as well as being a Community Expert for the EC on African horse sickness, bluetongue virus and vector species of Culicoides. Professor Mellor lectures regularly at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, University of Aberdeen and University of Cambridge and has over 200 publications to his name.
Dr Kris De Clercq
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Dr Kris De Clercq is doctor in Veterinary Medicine, 1981, and Master in Science in animal production, 1983, State University of Gent Belgium.
Head of Section Development of Diagnostics for Epizootic Diseases at the VAR (Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Brussels-Ukkel, Belgium), Department of Virology. Responsible for diagnoses and research in epizootic diseases such as foot- and mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, bluetongue and sheep- and goat pox. Since 1995 member and from 1997 till 2007 Chairman of the FAO FMD Research Group. Co-ordinator of an EU STREP project FMD_ImproCon, Workpackage Leader within the EU project Coordination Action CA-FMD-CSF and Partner in BTVAC, EU project on Bluetongue |
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Professor Vincenzo Caporale
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Professor Vincenzo Caporale is the Director of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’ Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” Teramo since 1990. Professor Caporale graduated (1967) at the University of Perugia in Veterinary Medicine (summa cum laude) and has a Master in preventive veterinary medicine and a PhD in Comparative pathology of the University of California Davis. From 1992 he was head of the “WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and training in Veterinary Epidemiology and Veterinary Public Health Management” and of the O.I.E Collaborating Centre for epidemiology and veterinary service management in developing countries. |
Within the Centres activities he organized several training activities on behalf of both OIE and WHO Head office as well as to the Mediterranean Centre for the Zoonoses Control. He taught Infectious diseases prevention and control at University Veterinary school of Bologna for 15 years. From 1997 is member of the Scientific Commission of animal diseases of the OIE and from 2003 is president of the same. He has carried out multiple consultancy for the Italian government and several international organization in the field of the control of animal disease control and veterinary public health at the international level.
Dr William C Wilson
| Dr. William Wilson earned his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Urbana and was a Norman Cromwell Fellow at the Eppley Cancer Research Center, Omaha, NE from 1984-1986. Dr. Wilson’s research at the Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Laboratory uses molecular, biochemical and genomic approaches to understand the interactions of arboviruses with their mammalian and invertebrate host. His emphasis has been on bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses. Dr. Wilson has authored or co-authored 60 publications including 5 book chapters. Dr. Wilson serves as a vice-Chair of the U.S. Animal Health Association’s Bluetongue and Bovine Retroviruses Committee. |
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