Ljubljana Slovenia | May 7-9 2020
Advancing the veterinary profession
in Eastern Europe
In collaboration with
the Slovenian Small Animal Veterinary Association
EERVC 2020 SPEAKERS
Špela Bavčar (UK)
DVM Dipl ECVIM-CA (Oncology) MRCVS
EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Oncology; Member of European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Companion Animals
(Oncology)
Špela graduated in 2010 from Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
After two extensive oncology externships in the USA, Spela undertook an internship in a private practice in the Netherlands followed by a residency in Oncology at Edinburgh University, where she is now Head of Oncology and a Lecturer in Small Animal Oncology.
Elsa Beltran (UK)
Ldo Vet, DipECVN, PGCertVetEd FHEA, MRCVS
(Neurology)
Dr. Elsa Beltran received her veterinary degree from the University Cardenal Herrera Ceu, Valencia, Spain, in 2002, following which she spent two years in general practice before undertaking an internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at University of Barcelona, Spain.
Dr. Beltran completed a neurology internship in 2006 followed by a residency in neurology and neurosurgery at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, United Kingdom. Dr Beltran obtained the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Neurology in 2011. In 2014, Dr Beltran joined the Royal Veterinary College, University of London where she is currently working as Senior Lecturer in Neurology-Neurosurgery. Since October 2015 she is the chairperson of the ECVN Credential Committee. She is interested in all aspects of veterinary neurology and neurosurgery, but has a particular interest understanding neurological sequels in dogs after traumatic brain injury, all aspects of neuro-ophthalmology, neuroimaging and neurosurgery. Dr Beltran has a passion for learning on Veterinary Education and she has just achieved the postgraduate Diploma in this field, being a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Gonçalo da Graça Pereira (PT)
DVM, MsC, PhD, Dip ECAWBM (BM), Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL)
President of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (ECAWBM) and
Vice-President of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE)
(Behaviour and Welfare)
Veterinary Degree at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lisbon. Master in Clinical Ethology and Animal Welfare at the Faculty of Veterinary from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. PhD in Veterinary Science at the Institute of Biomedical Science Abel Salazar in O’Porto. Diplomate by the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine, in both subspecialities (Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Legislation).
Director of the Center for Animal Knowledge (Centro para o Conhecimento Animal). Professor of Animal Welfare, Behaviour and Training in Escola Superior Agrária de Elvas from Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre. Lecturer in different Faculties on Behavioural Medicine, Animal Welfare and Ethics. Trainer and speaker in Seminars, Conferences and Congresses national and internationally. Author, Co-author and Coordinator of several studies in animal behaviour and welfare in Portugal. Receive referral cases in Behaviour since 2003. Founder And Past-President of PsiAnimal – Portuguese Association of Behavioural Therapy and Animal Welfare. President of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (ECAWBM) and Vice-President of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE).
Marc Dhumeaux (UK)
DEDV, MVSc, DipACVIM & ECVIM-CA, MRCVS
Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine, Honorary Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham
(Nephrology)
Marc graduated from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse in 2007. He then completed a small animal rotating internship at Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph (Canada), followed by a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan (Canada).
He has worked extensively in small animal referral practices within France and Canada, completing a Master of Veterinary Science in 2012 at the University of Saskatchewan. He is a Diplomate of the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Internal Medicine since 2012. Marc joined the Internal Medicine referral team at Pride Veterinary Centre in July 2013 and has particular interests in haematology, infectious and immune–mediated disease, gastroenterology and nephrology. He also enjoys teaching others, a job he considers part of his role as a specialist, stating “I think you can often learn a lot from those that you teach.” In the near future, he is interested in evaluating the potential difference between blood pressure taken at home by the owners and that taken in a hospital setting. This would allow us properly evaluate and treat those patients at risk for hypertension. Marc enjoys photography, hiking and travelling in his spare time and has 2 dogs: a male mixed hound named Bentley and an exuberant female labrador named Loulotte. Both are from North America.
Nao Hensel (CH)
DVM, Dipl. ACVD & Dipl. ECVD
EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary Dermatology and Member of European College of Veterinary Dermatology
(Dermatology)
Nao Hensel is a native of Japan. She obtained Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in USA in 2010.
Then completed a one-year rotating small animal internship in Boston, USA followed by a 3-year veterinary dermatology residency in Georgia, USA. Nao has a special interest in autoimmune diseases, otology and allergic skin diseases In 2014, she moved to Basel, Switzerland and opened a veterinary dermatology practice.
Patrick Hensel (CH)
Dipl. ACVD & Dipl. ECVD
(Dermatology)
Patrick Hensel is a 1996 graduate of the University of Bern, Switzerland. He received his Dr med vet from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in 2000 in recognition of research on urinary incontinence after spaying.
Then he completed a one-year rotating small animal internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Zürich followed by a 3-year veterinary dermatology residency at the University of Georgia. From 2004 he was appointed faculty at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, and tenured to Associate Professor in 2010, where he served as the senior faculty in teaching, clinical research and clinical service until 2014. Patrick has a special interest in allergic and parasitic skin diseases and is a member of the International Committee on Allergic Diseases of Animals (ICADA). In 2014 he decided to return to Switzerland and to open a dermatology clinic in his hometown area of Basel.
Alenka Hrovat (UK)
DVM PhD DipECVIM-CA MRCVS
EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine; RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine
(Internal Medicine)
Alenka graduated from the University of Ljubljana in 2002. She then went on to complete a PhD in Biomedicine at the same University in 2009. Upon completion of her PhD she undertook internal medicine residency at Ghent university and was awarded her European Specialist Diploma in 2017 and RCVS Specialist status in 2018.
Alenka has worked at a number of referral hospitals (Langford Vets, Southfields Veterinary Specialists and North Downs Specialist Referrals) before joining Pride Veterinary Centre in August 2018. She held several CPDs on various topics in small animal internal medicine in UK and Europe. She authored and co-authored several original papers in peer reviewed veterinary and biomedicine journals and textbooks, and presented her work on European and US congresses. She is interested in all areas of small animal internal medicine.
Mike Martin (UK)
MVB, DVC, MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Veterinary Cardiology
(Cardiology)
Mike qualified from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1986. He gained the RCVS Diploma in Veterinary Cardiology and Specialist status in 1995 and has successfully been re-validated every five years ever since. Since 1992 to 2015, he ran his own private referral practice (The Veterinary Cardiorespiratory Centre, Kenilworth).
Since October 2015 he moved his Cardiology Service into Willows Referral Centre, Solihull, UK. Since the beginning of 2018 he has again gone self-employed, providing consultancy work, training cardiac interventions at specialist centres around Europe, lecturing and education at CPD events around the world. He has published over 40 scientific peer reviewed papers. He is author of two small textbooks: Small Animal ECGs: An Introductory Guide (3rd edition) and Cardiorespiratory Diseases of the Dog and Cat (2nd edition) published by Wiley-Blackwell. He is author of the chapter on ‘Syncope’ in the Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Ettinger, Feldman & Cote, 2016). He is the proud recipient of some BSAVA awards: in 1993 the Dunkin Award, in 2000 the Melton Award, in 2006 the Petsavers Award, in 2010 the Dunkin & Blaine Awards and in 2017 the JSAP Achievement Award. He has been examiner for Diploma in Veterinary Cardiology for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has been both Honorary Secretary and Chairman of the Veterinary Cardiovascular Society (UK).
Laura Owen (UK)
BVSc CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS
European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery, Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Surgery
(Soft Tissue Surgery)
Having wanted to be a veterinary surgeon for as long as I can remember and with a passion for horses, I was delighted to gain my veterinary degree in 2001 from the University of Bristol and joined an exclusively large animal practice as a locum for six months, with a plan to follow that with an equine practice job.
Although for the most part I enjoyed my time there, there were three significant factors that changed my career path – one was the rare, but still very intimidating nightmare farmer,the second was the long periods of time spent driving, and the third was the realisation that I wanted to do surgery and though not impossible, in reality the journey to become a female equine surgeon was going to be challenging. I therefore took a subsequent job in small animal practice to compare the two experiences and felt that small animal work held many more opportunities for me in the longer term and found that I actually enjoyed it more than the equine work after all! After 2 years in small animal practice I was hungry to specialise further and improve my depth of knowledge, hence I moved to the Royal Veterinary College to undertake a rotating internship and from there achieved a surgical residency position at the University of Bristol. Following my residency, I moved to Cambridge as a Staff Surgeon in 2009 and obtained my European Diploma in Small Animal Surgery in 2010, completing my path to specialisation.
Martin Owen (UK)
BVSc BSc PhD DSAS(Orth) DipECVS MRCVS
RCVS Diplomate and Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics)
ECVS Diplomate and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
(Orthopaedics)
Martin is a Liverpool, UK graduate (1992). He worked at the PDSA charity clinic in Manchester, UK before completing a PhD in the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. After spell in a small animal practice, Martin combined his mechanical interest and his enjoyment for repairing things with veterinary work in a Residency in Small Animal Orthopaedics, initially in Liverpool, then at the University of Glasgow.
From 2000 to 2009 Martin was a clinician/lecturer, then Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Orthopaedics at Bristol, teaching veterinary and veterinary nurse students. He completed the RCVS diploma in 2004 and the ECVS diploma in 2007. In 2009, Martin moved to private small animal practice and in 2018 he set up an orthopaedic referral clinic, East of England Veterinary Specialists, in Cambridge, UK. In his own time, Martin enjoys fixing things.
Marko Pipan (SI)
DVM, DACVECC
(Emergency and Critical Care)
After graduating from the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Marko Pipan continued with his quest for quality veterinary medicine at the University of Ljubljana, University of Utrecht, and University of Pennsylvania. After a three-year clinical residency in emergency and critical care (ECC) in the US, he successfully passed a certification exam and became a board-certified specialist of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (Dipl. ACVECC).
Thus, he became one of the first internationally recognised specialists in clinical veterinary medicine for small animals in Slovenia. In recent years, Marko has been actively involved in lecturing about emergency and critical care medicine in Slovenia and abroad. As a specialist in ECC, he has worked and consulted in England, Malaysia, Germany and Austria. As a chair of a local organising committee, he organised the very successful 15th EVECC Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2016. Marko has been working in Animal Hospital Postojna for several years. His main area of interest are critical patients (i.e. traumatised patients, respiratory emergencies, circulatory shock, intoxications, neurologic emergencies, and other urgent conditions). He likes the diversity of ECC medicine, and he is committed to saving the lives of critically ill patients. In our hospital, he is also actively engaged in anaesthesia and diagnostic imaging procedures (i.e. ultrasound, x-rays, computed tomography) with a special interest in CT imaging. Regular visits at renowned veterinary institutions abroad enable him to continue with learning from recognised foreign veterinary specialists and to practice veterinary medicine at a high level.
Silke Salavati (UK)
Dr.med.vet., PhD, DipECVIM-CA, MRCVS
EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine; Senior lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine
(Gastroenterology)
Dr. Salavati graduated from the Justus-Liebig University (JLU) in Giessen (Germany) in 2003. She has completed her German doctoral thesis (Dr.med.vet) in Giessen, working on establishing a breath test to assess canine gastric emptying and validating it against scintigraphy.
She has completed a rotating internship in the Small Animal Hospital of the JLU, which was followed by a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine at the same university, where she continued to work on gastrointestinal topics in small animals (for example assessing sensitivity and specificity of different bedside tests for Parvovirosis in comparison to PCR and electron microscopy). Dr. Salavati holds a Diplomate title of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Companion animals (DipECVIM-CA). From 2009 to 2013 she completed a PhD at the Royal Veterinary College, London (UK), investigating the clinical and immunological effects of a single-strain probiotic in canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). From 2013 to 2016 she was a Junior lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine at the JLU, before she took her current position as a Senior lecturer for Small Animal Internal Medicine at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences in Edinburgh (Scotland). She continues to have a great interest in canine and feline gastroenterology, investigating novel aspects to evaluate visceral pain and inflammation and establishing novel treatment approaches in canine chronic enteropathies. So far, she has around 25 publications in various journals around these topics, and has written several book chapters in small animal internal medicine textbooks.
Chiara Valtolina (NL)
DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVECC, Dipl. ECVECC
EBVS – European Board of Veterinary Specialists
(Emergency and Critical Care)
Chiara graduated in 2000 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan, Italy. She worked for 4 years at the Surgery Department of Small Animal of the same faculty as a research doctorate. In December 2004, at the end of her doctorate, Chiara began an externship program at the Intensive Care Unit (IZA) of the Department of Clinical Science of Small Animals at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
In June 2006 Chiara started her residency in Emergency and Critical Care at the Royal Veterinary College in London. She terminated her residency in June 2009 and in September 2009 she became a diplomate of the American College of Emergency and Critical Care. In 2014 she obtain the title of diplomate of the European College of Emergency and Critical Care. In 2019 Chiara defended her PhD thesis with the title: “Pathophysiologic aspects of feline hepatic lipidosis”, attaining the title of PhD. She is currently working, since November 2009 as a staff clinician and lecturer in the Intensive Care Unit (IZA) of the Department of Clinical Science of Small Animals at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University in the Netherlands.