Bio: James Greenwood is a small animal vet based in Bristol. Despite a passion for art, James abandoned his creativity early in his pursuit to become a vet. After a few years in practice and with a waning enthusiasm for life as a Vet - James decided to go part time and reawaken his creative side through ceramics. His passion for ceramics grew and eventually this led to him appearing on BBC2’s ‘The Great Pottery Throwdown’. Since then he has developed his own ceramics business, appeared in further television and media work and more importantly, through all this has a new found vibrant, passion for veterinary science.  

Jade: My name is Jade Statt and I qualified as a vet from Glasgow Vet School in 2002. I have worked in small animal practice since graduating but have always wanted to volunteer as a vet in the UK.  The concept of StreetVet for me was born from meeting a homeless man and his dog on a night out in London in 2016 and talking to him about his unconditional love for his dog and his fears of losing her. Having recently lost my own dog Oakley, his worries resonated with me and I felt frustrated that I couldn't use my veterinary skills to help them but overwhelmingly I kept thinking "how would I feel if this was Oakley". It was no coincidence that StreetVet began for me in October 2016 and I lost Oakley in September the same year. StreetVet helped me keep focused through my grief but more vividly for me was I identified with the unyielding bond between owner and their dog. The human animal bond is extraordinary and it's a privilege to experience. Another catalyst that helped me to start on the challenging journey of setting up StreetVet was meeting Josh Coombes ( #DoSomethingForNothing). He is an inspirational person and now a firm friend and a constant supporter of StreetVet. 

With a backpack of medications, a stethoscope and a nurse, I started " Streetvetting" in October 2016.  What started as a pilot scheme was before long featured on ITV news, BBC trending, Vet press and multiple pet magazines. It was clear there was a real need for this service. My long term aim was to get other vets involved and create a network of StreetVets UK wide - I then met like minded vet Sam Joseph and we officially founded StreetVet together earlier this year. Creating a rapport with the homeless and gaining their trust does not happen overnight but , with your help and the backing of the profession and our aim to help the homeless and their best friends , I believe this project will be a success.

Sam: Like many other vets, when I see a homeless person and their dog on the street I feel like I want to do something to try and help them. So, one evening in 2015, when I was still a student at Bristol vets school, I decided to go out with my stethoscope and check over any homeless people’s dogs that I came across. What stuck with me after meeting a few people that night was how happy and relieved they were when I told them that their dogs had a healthy sounding heart. After graduating and moving back to London I decided to try and create a more sustainable and structured way to provide a veterinary service to these dogs. Together with Charlie and another colleague we visited many homeless people in North London with worming tablets and a bag of veterinary supplies. Soon after going out a few times in London, I met Jade in April 2017. Jade had been doing the same thing in Westminster, coincidently operating under the same name. That was when StreetVet was born! Since then we have been working together, assisted along the way by our amazing team of volunteers, to try to marry the passion and willingness of veterinary practitioners with the need for veterinary care for homeless people’s dogs. With teamwork and collaboration, I think that it is entirely feasible to check over and treat every homeless person’s dog in the country and, in doing so, make a small difference to the lives of some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

Chris was brought up surrounded by animals in Hampshire. After an Agricultural and Environmental Science degree at Newcastle and a year working in Zambia Chris eventually qualified from Glasgow in 1999 aged 30. He spent a year in mixed practice before moving to Newbury to concentrate on equine work which he continues to do to this day. Chris has worked with veterinary projects in India and Africa and is currently Senior Vice President of the RCVS having been on the Council since 2009. He heads up the Innovation stream at the RCVS and serves on several boards aligned with his values.

Kim is an experienced Senior Manager in Global Animal Welfare at Brooke as well as a veterinary nurse.  She has a long history of working in the non-profit organization industry.

Kim has a strong motivation to create positive and progressive change for animals and people and is pursuing a Master of Arts (MA) focused in Media, Campaigning and Social Change from University of Westminster.

Niall qualified in 1982 from Glasgow. He worked in mixed practice then PDSA until 2010 when he had to take ill heath retirement because of Multiple Sclerosis. He now does some work for Glasgow Vet School and is an elected member of RCVS Council as well as being on VN Council. Niall is a supporter of a diverse and inclusive culture within our professions.

Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Orthopaedics, University of Liverpool

My life ‘rapidly’ changed a few years ago when I had a serious mental illness. I say rapidly as it resulted from an elongated period of high stress at work and the breakup of my family life. I had always been a ‘get on with it’ person who could always be relied on to make deadlines, organise and generally be someone who you would turn to in a crisis. My previous career in the Royal Navy was very much about putting on a brave face in adversity – ‘it pays to be a winner’ was much quoted during my time.

Trying to balance a clinic with ever-changing staffing levels and my home life, in particular maintaining as normal and happy a life for my children as possible, eventually took its toll on my mental health. One morning I woke early and was physically unable to leave my bed. It was the weirdest and scariest feeling I can ever recall. If anyone had said to me that I would be unable to get out of bed I would have given them a look – how difficult could it be? After phoning in sick, I lay in bed for hours – it was mid-afternoon before I even tried to get a drink.

When I look back now the first thing that set me on the road to recovery was a friend of mine from work who had very similar problems. She rang me as soon as she heard and within ten minutes was at my door. Having someone around at that time was invaluable – she organised a doctor’s appointment, contacted all those who needed to know and basically ensured I was not alone. The GP was very helpful and signed me off work for four weeks initially, and started me on antidepressants. I also sought counselling in the form of a life-coach in order to get the balance back into my life – what I can’t understate is the feeling of being a failure at that time. The counselling allowed me to steadily believe in myself again.

In all I had eight weeks off work – I knew I was getting better as towards the end I was raring to go back. My employers were fully understanding and gave me a phased return with a reduced administration load to allow me focus on fully returning to health. I continued on the antidepressants for a number of months before I gradually phased them out and to date have had no need to restart them.

So what message would I give to others? Work and life are stressful and feeling stress is natural. What is important is to develop strategies in order to cope with these stresses. Communication is essential – talk to friends, relatives and people at work. Mental illness is sadly still taboo in many areas which is wrong – we would not hesitate to tell people if we broke a bone; the same should apply to mental health. What surprised me was the number of people who have been affected and you will always find someone who has been there – support from others is invaluable in those difficult times so you do not have to suffer alone.

Julie is a qualified vet who graduated in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (MRCVS) from Cambridge in 2002. Julie worked as an equine vet in the USA for 4 years post graduation, completing her specialist post-graduate training in equine medicine (Dip. ACVIM) at the University of Pennsylvania. Julie then spent a year working for the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket followed by a year working for Defra as their veterinary advisor with responsibility equine infectious disease and companion animal and equine welfare. Julie then spent 4 years at Bain and Company, a global strategy consulting firm before completing an MBA in France and Singapore in 2012-13. Julie is currently living in London and is the Director of Strategy and Commercial Initiatives for Pets at Home as well as a trustee for World Horse Welfare.

Guen Bradbury uses her training in pharmacology and veterinary medicine to bring fresh insight to Innovia Technology’s pharma clients. She worked in companion animal practice for several years, then in anaesthesia, both as a clinician at Edinburgh Vet School and in critical care on trials of a bio-artificial liver.

Guen is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh, and still does lecturing and small-group teaching at the University of Cambridge. In her spare time, she runs a rabbit behaviour teleconsultancy and her textbook on the subject will be published by 5M in October. Her experience in biotech is helping her develop the perfect sourdough culture.

Greg Dickens has the role of strategist and trouble-maker at Innovia Technology - his job is to create ideas, and guide companies through innovation, while also highlighting any weaknesses in their approach or plans. Pepsi, Boeing, Nike, Lego, Merck, Bayer, Ethicon, and DePuy Synthes have all used Greg’s outside perspective to generate market-leading concepts, and to stress-test their innovation processes.

Before working at Innovia, Greg ran his own innovation company and was, for a short period, the Head Vet at a primate conservation institute. He has also earned a living as a fire-breather on major motion pictures and as a professional athlete. If he has spare time, he takes photos of bugs.

Dr Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet from Edinburgh in 1985 and has run his own 4 veterinarian companion animal practice in County Wicklow Ireland, since 1991. Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national TV, radio, and newspaper slots, including a column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. Pete is known as "Pete the Vet" on his busy Facebook and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. He also writes a regular blog at www.petethevet.com. His latest book: "Pet Subjects", was published by Aurum Press in 2017.

Pete is joining us as a guest panelist for one of our Interactive Sessions on Sunday.

Sophie qualified as a vet from Bristol in 2009, spending her first two years chasing cows around fields in mixed practice in Kent and a further three honing her small animal skills between the Blue Cross in Victoria and Wood Street Vet Hospital, a busy small animal hospital in London. In 2014 the hankering for diversification truly set in, however, and after several months travelling around Africa she took up a place on the MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College. She used it to pursue her creative interests in writing and documentaries, becoming Features Editor of their online science magazine iScience and getting to grips with film cameras. After a summer placement at Windfall Films as a researcher on the BBC4 programme 'A Year in the Garden' with Chris Packham, she started full time at the BBC's Science Unit and has been working as a researcher on their long running science documentary strand Horizon since February 2017. She does, however, remain a glutton for punishment- continuing to locum as a small animal vet at weekends and taking every opportunity to wave at and talk to dogs. 

Growing up surrounded by nature and a host of weird and wonderful animals, Jess has developed a great affinity for the natural world. As a child, Jess spent much of her childhood outside, muddying her clothes by scrabbling under stones looking for minibeasts. Jess is fearless and knowledgeable in the world of invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles as a result of her Dad’s exotic insect breeding business. Her love of animals is reflected in her passion for protecting the world that they live in.

During her first degree, Jess founded a programme in which university students taught workshops to primary school children about local and global environmental issues. For this work she was awarded the Jane Goodall Global Youth Leadership award in 2010.

Jess is a qualified vet, currently working in a small animal practice in Norfolk. She also works as a presenter for CBeebies, a children's author and a teacher for school groups interested in animals and the natural world.

When not studying, teaching, writing or looking for bugs, Jess enjoys adventure sports and travel, learning new languages and playing the saxophone and drums. Jess is fluent in (South American) Spanish and can communicate in British Sign Language.

Minibeasts is Jess's new book with masses of mindblowing minibeast facts!

Kim qualified from the Royal VeterinaryCollege (RVC) in 1989 and spent two years as a locum vet in a small animal practice near Bristol. Apart from this spell in practice, he has spent most of his career in veterinary and medical education, mainly involved in the design and delivery of new online and face-to-face courses for both undergraduates and postgraduates. He joined the RVC in May 2006 as Senior Lecturer in Independent Learning.

Kim obtained a Masters degree in Medical Education from the University of Bedford in 2010, and now Co-Directs the RVC's MSc in Veterinary Education. He is also Chair of the BVetMed 4 Exam Board, Director of the Development of Academic Staff, Deputy Director for Professional Studies, Assistant Senior Clinical Tutor and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the HEA in 2014.

At this very moment, you will find me dividing my time between; running around after 2 children, our crazy menagerie of animals (including; sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats etc. – Typical vets!) and managing our joint property portfolio and my own social marketing business.  But how did I get to here?

Graduated in 2003 from Liverpool and spent time in mixed and then equine first opinion practice, interspersed with a brief dabble into academia as part of the anatomy department at the RVC (which I loved).  I continued in equine practice, spending 4 years as a clinician in the practice at The University of Liverpool.  I moved from here to set up and run an equine practice alongside my husband (also an equine vet) where my role gradually became more managerial and less clinical over the course of 5 years.  It did however allow me to develop my interest and skills related to running a business, so that when I stepped down as a director following the arrival of our second child, it seemed a logical progression to set up another business of my own.

Emma Davis graduated from Veterinary Science with Honors in University of Sydney Class of 2001 with her second  degree, her first being Bachelor of Applied Science (Equine Studies) through Charles Sturt University. In 2001, before graduating Emma started a consultancy for Charles Sturt University to successfully propose and design a new veterinary school to Government in response to the Rural Veterinary Review.  Emma's lifelong love of horses led her to equine practice and then rural mixed veterinary practice. In 2007 Emma joined the Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and here worked on AusAID projects on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In 2009 Emma gained an Executive position in the DAFF team responding to the Callinan Review into the equine influenza outbreak and worked to implement the 38 recommendations, Emma and the team received an Australian Public Service Australia Day Award for this work in 2011. Emma was Operations Manager in the Export Meat Program in 2012 looking at quality assurance in veterinary certification systems. Following her interest in the breadth of veterinary career opportunities, Emma launched the website VeterinaryCareers.com.au in 2015 with two colleagues and has started a complementary Veterinary Career Coaching. Emma is working on a PhD looking at Australia's veterinary capacity with respect to surveillance and the value veterinarians brings to the agricultural system and is currently in the United Kingdom researching different systems of how government interacts with the veterinary profession.

Alex is a mixed practice vet with a passion for supporting student and new graduates and the use of technology within the industry.
After working in the Clinical Skills Lab at the University of Bristol and completing a People Internship with The Vet Group Alex now works full time in mixed practice in Devon along with providing consultancy services to Provet Cloud Practice Management and a major corporate chain.
Alex’s passion for technology was first ignited when he taught himself to code at university. Not long after he started working for Provet Cloud, an innovative and forward thinking practice management software provider that’s spreading across Europe.

Taimur qualified from Bristol vet school in 2009. After starting down the internship & residency path, frustration with the difficulty in learning and teaching complex anatomical & clinical concepts led him to founding IVALA, a tech company creating interactive 3D learning content for the veterinary community. IVALA is proud to have subsequently merged with and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Veterinary Information Network 

Adrian is a Bristol 1995 vet grad and has been working in the vet profession for 22 years. He has a varied background, having spent 6 years in small animal practice followed by a fourteen-year career at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a Colgate Palmolive company where most recently he was Customer Development Director for the UK and Irish vet channels, directing the vet channel commercial team of 30 people. For the last 2 years he has been running his own business consultancy and building the EMERGE Veterinary project.

Adrian is inspired by veterinary people and worried by the challenges many face, whether it be career, personal or business issues. He designed the EMERGE project to help improve the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals, regardless of their role in the profession.

Nuala is a veterinary cardiologist and has spent the past 15 years working in both academia and private practice. During this time, she recognised the need to make specialist veterinary healthcare more accessible to first opinion Vets wanting to diagnose and manage more of their own cases in-house. Seeing the opportunity to do this through a real-time, collaborative and educational digital platform, Nuala created Virtual Veterinary Specialists, together with her co-founder Rafe.

Ben is a Liverpool graduate from 2008. His first decade in the veterinary profession has led him from mixed, to equine , to small animal practice and more recently a small animal locum since 2015. Somehow he finds himself now fuelling a recruitment revolution since setting up Simply Locums in 2016. 

His main aims with Simply Locums are to improve the knowledge and understanding of vets and nurses about how to be a successful independent professional and find their own 'vet happy', whilst improving accountability of vets and practices, and saving practices money on recruitment of both locum and permanent staff. Here's to change!

Carolyne qualified from the RVC (with honours) in 2002 and since has worked in large equine practice, both in the UK and New Zealand. Recognising that many of the challenges faced by today's veterinary surgeons and veterinary teams are non-clinical, Carolyne was inspired to train as a performance coach and mentor. She holds a diploma (with distinction) in personal performance coaching. Carolyne is an accredited trainer in DISC behavioural profiling, a CPCAB trainer in Stress management and Wellbeing and an Honorary Lecturer of the University of Liverpool. Carolyne has a Masters degree in Workplace Health and Wellbeing and she is a Mental Health First Aider. She is also a certified resilience trainer for individuals and  managers.

Carolyne runs Carolyne Crowe coaching as well as working with the VDS Training team

Danny graduated from University of Liverpool in 2008 with an intercalated MSc in Veterinary Infectious Disease Control. He has spent his career in mixed, equine and small animal practices all over the UK and New Zealand. Danny is regularly involved with One health projects involving rabies eradication, working horses and livestock in India, Iraq, Morocco and The Gambia. Danny sits on both RCVS Council and the BVA polcommitteeitte.

He is the founder of Veterinary Voices UK,  a trustee of Vetlife and a contributor to New Scientist

Gudrun became Senior Vice President of BVA in September 2017. Gudrun Ravetz’s career to date has taken in many different aspects of the veterinary world.

Alongside practising as a small animal veterinary surgeon on graduating in 2002, Gudrun furthered her interest in the business side of the veterinary profession by studying for the post graduate certificate in business.

Over the years Gudrun has worked as a clinician in a variety of different small animal practices, both in private practice and charity. As well as clinical jobs, Gudrun has also worked in a number of veterinary-related roles including working in industry, management and as a veterinary consultant to a number of companies.

Gudrun has also been involved in veterinary politics for a large part of her career and has played a vital role at the Society for Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS). She is Past President of the society (2012/13) and also worked as a councilor for them for several years.

Gudrun is a trained harassment listener, a skill she uses through her involvement with the SPVS graduate support network. Through this network she provides help to recent graduates with any problems they may be having in their jobs or with other veterinary related issues. She has also previously lectured to final year veterinary students on the subjects of employment law (she has a Graduate Diploma in Law) and basics of business in a veterinary practice.

Currently Gudrun works as a Veterinary Consultant to Pet Health Plans from Denplan and as an external interviewer for prospective veterinary students at University of Liverpool.

When not working Gudrun can often be found taking on challenges of a different kind, competing in endurance competitions like the Ironman triathlon, as well as marathon and fell running. She’s also successfully swum all of the major lakes of the Lake Districts!

Catherine is the VDS Risk Manager, looking at influence of safety culture on veterinary error, and at interventions to mitigate the frequency and severity of mistakes.

She graduated from Bristol vet school in 2000 and has worked in small and equine practice for 13 years. Catherine has a PhD in patient safety and her research investigated the causes and types of errors in veterinary practice, the effect of organisational culture on patient safety and the adaptation of an inter-professional teamwork training programme from human medicine for use in veterinary practice.

Graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1987, Stuart started his professional career in practice in Aberdeenshire before returning to graduate studies at his alma mater, and completing his PhD in 1992. He was appointed to a joint Chair at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde in 1996.

Stuart has worked in Africa, Australia and the USA and has published over 130 papers. Appointed first to Associate Dean (Research) in 2004 and subsequently as Dean in 2005, Stuart led the Glasgow school for six years before becoming Principal of the Royal Veterinary College at the start of 2011.

An RCVS Specialist in veterinary epidemiology, Stuart is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health, of which he was the first elected president. He is Chair of Trustees for The Donkey Sanctuary, Chair of ECOVE and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Society of Biology.

Stuart was appointed to RCVS Council by the University of Glasgow, in 2005, and has been the RVC-appointed member of Council since 2011. He served as President of the RCVS from 2014 to 2015 and chairs Mind Matters.

Penny graduated from the RVC in 2001. She has spent time in mixed and small animal practice. She is now a coach, trainer and NLP Practitioner, specialising in communication skills, resilience, leadership and team development.

http://eighteenfortyfour.life

Penny owns a  business doing coaching and training and is an associate coach and trainer with VDS. In a former life, she was also a management consultant.

Simon graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Glasgow in 2000, after which he worked for five years in mixed (predominantly farm animal and equine) practice in West Stirlingshire, Scotland, and in North Down, Northern Ireland. He was instrumental in setting up Veterinary Northern Ireland (VetNI) as a ‘one-stop shop’ for the local veterinary associations in Northern Ireland.

In 2007, Simon was appointed as a Veterinary Research Officer at the Veterinary Sciences Division of the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Stormont, Belfast, Simon returned to the private sector in 2014, and in 2015 he registered Blackwater Consultancy Ltd, which works with companies to drive inward investment and support export trade in the animal health and aquaculture sector on behalf of Dept of International Trade.

Simon returned to the private sector in 2014, and in 2015 he registered Blackwater Consultancy Ltd, which works with companies to drive inward investment and support export trade in the animal health and aquaculture sector on behalf of DIT.

Simon was President of the North of Ireland Veterinary Association and of the Northern Ireland Branch of BVA from 2015-2016. He is a member of the UK Board of livestock development charity, Send a Cow, and a trustee of the Animal Welfare Foundation and is junior vice president of BVA

Karen’s work has encompassed front-line engagement in many differing capacities and settings. This has included general practice in North Yorkshire and farm animal practice in Herefordshire; voluntary service in Nepal and Jordan; field-based research to improve the health and productivity of Bedouin sheep flocks in Jordan; being a core technical contributor to the development of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) global welfare standards for working equines; and her current role as Executive Director of Dogs Trust Worldwide, where she is responsible for spearheading a programme to promote responsible dog ownership through sharing best practice globally.

Upon graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 1987, Karen spent three years teaching animal health and husbandry in Nepal before returning to the UK to undertake an MSc in tropical veterinary medicine in Edinburgh, which she completed with distinction. She then worked with the Overseas Development Administration (now DfID) in Jordan, Society for Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) as Veterinary Director, and Brooke as Head of Animal Welfare, before taking up her current role at Dogs Trust. Karen has been a longstanding member and Chair of BVA’s former Overseas Group, a current member of BVA’s Ethics and Welfare Advisory Panel, and a founder member and Director of Vetwork UK.

Ursula qualified as a vet in Germany but has actually never worked there, just before her final exams she took 6 months to work in conservation work in Namibia mainly with big cats.

After she qualified she m oved to Northern Ireland and worked as a farm vet. From there she moved to the UK and has since (the last 15 years) worked as a small animal vet and the last ten years as the Head Vet of Mayhew. Ursula has worked in nearly 20 different countries and has taught vets from over 30 different countries. It’s the best job to have if you like travelling and animals!

Ursula has a certificate in small animal surgery and is currently studying for her PG Cert in veterinary education.  

Christine Middlemiss is the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer.

She was appointed on 1 March 2018 having been working as the CVO in New South Wales, Australia since July 2016 where she led major improvements to biosecurity across many farming sectors. This work included implementation of new outcome focused, risk based biosecurity legislation; online animal certification processes; improving evidence and risk based disease control approaches.

Prior to moving to Australia, Christine led Defra’s Animal Traceability and Public Health policy team, and also previously surveillance including detection and response to new and emerging diseases such as Schmallenberg and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea. She is an experienced veterinarian.

Before joining the UK government services in 2008, Christine worked in private practice with specific interest in research, meat processing and livestock genetics for a number of years in Scotland and the north of England prior to joining the Animal Health Agency (now part of Animal and Plant Health Agency) as a Divisional Veterinary Manager in Scotland.

Christine comes from a farming family in the Borders of Scotland, with a background in beef cattle and sheep.

Kate graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London and spent nine years in a very mixed practice in Lincolnshire and Cumbria. She moved to the then State Veterinary Service as a Veterinary Officer and obtained an MSc (Veterinary Epidemiology) at the RVC/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. At AHVLA (now APHA) she has worked as a Field Veterinary Adviser then Divisional Veterinary Manager. She was Head of Research and Field Epidemiology through 11 notifiable disease outbreaks from FMD 2001 to 2013. Her last role at the agency was Head of AHVLA Scanning Surveillance. Kate is now an Inspector under the Animals (Science Procedures) Act at the Home Office. She is a Council member and Past President of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire BVA and Council member and currently President AGV and our BVA Policy Committee member

Jane is currently one of APHA’s Veterinary Leads in Wales and is a farmer’s daughter from Yorkshire who graduated as a vet from Edinburgh University in the 90s. Since then she has had an interesting and varied career starting with a post graduate project in Oman, working in general practice in the UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and studying veterinary acupuncture before working as a Temporary Veterinary Inspector for the then State Veterinary Service (SVS) during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak. Within Defra and APHA she has held roles in the operations, policy, veterinary and science directorates. This has included working as the Veterinary Lead for Avian Virology in the UK’s National Reference Laboratory at APHA, Weybridge as well as Head of EU Relations for Animal Health and Welfare during 2012-15 which held her in good stead for her presidency of EASVO.

Giles graduated from Liverpool in 2003 and spent 5 years working in mixed practice before joining the VMD in 2008, as a pharmaceutical efficacy assessor. In 2012, Giles moved across to lead the Pharmacovigilance Unit and, in 2016, he became Head of Legislation where he has been negotiating the new EU veterinary medicines legislation as well as preparing for EU exit. Throughout his time at the VMD, Giles has continued to work on Saturday mornings to keep in touch with reality!

I graduated from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in 2008 and instead of going into practice (for a variety of reasons) I got a job there in the eMedia Unit where I worked as a consultant developer. Broadly speaking my work involved looking for ways to improve the curriculum through the use of technology; whilst there I developed a system for capturing clinical cases, did some teaching and also became involved in WikiVet. After 5 years with the RVC I joined Surrey’s new vet school in 2013 as the eLearning Coordinator.

My time at Surrey has been spent looking to improve our curriculum and incorporate technology, where appropriate, to enhance how the school functions. I’ve also been teaching, and now coordinating, a first-year professional skills module. I chair our Student Staff Liaison Committee, which acts as an interface between staff and students. Since January 2016 I’ve also been the Undergraduate Admissions Tutor.

Leo qualified from Bristol in 2009 and went straight to an equine internship in Yorkshire followed by three years in equine practice in Surrey. In parallel he completed an MBA at Imperial College London to progress his interest in business.  He made the move to Strategy Consultancy in 2013 by supporting a firm to enter the veterinary corporate market through writing an industry paper on Private Equity Investor Strategy. From there he moved to Accenture Strategy where he now focuses on Financial Services and Consumer Goods industries. He lives in London and has a daughter called Ruby!

Qualified at Cambridge in 2007 and went to Rossdales as a guinea pig for the diagnostic imaging internship. Worked for a global thoroughbred breeding operation for 7 years in Newmarket as an in-house vet. Returned to Rossdales as part-time ambulatory vet after starting a family. During this time Lucy was voted onto British Equine Veterinary Association Council, chairing the Ethics and Welfare committee, sitting on the Equestrian Sports Committee, and is a trustee of the charity. Through BEVA Lucy is co-opted onto the Horserace Betting Levy Board Thoroughbred Research Consultation Group. Lucy enjoys working with sports horses and racehorses, with a strong interest in orthopaedics, imaging and pre-purchase examination. Outside of work Lucy's spare time is consumed by two beautifully bonkers children, a lycra-obsessed husband, an aged Springer Spaniel and a spirited ex-racehorse. 

Sean spent six years after graduating from Dublin in clinical practice treating domestic and exotic pets as well as zoo species. During his studies, Sean founded and managed his own successful garden design and landscaping business which paid for student living costs, providing valuable client care and business management experience. With a strong interest in marketing and social media, he built an online profile and reputation to increase the exotics client base and revenue at two London vet practices. In 2016 at a crossroads in his veterinary career, he needed to decide whether to specialise in exotics medicine or leave clinical practice to pursue an industry role that would harness his marketing and business management passion and experience. An opportunity to join an exciting new startup bringing pioneering food technology and personalisation to the pet nutrition industry presented itself. Sean joined tails.com where he is now Head Vet and Manager, Veterinary Affairs. He enjoys the creativity the role allows, steering marketing and brand communications with dog health and welfare in mind, bringing an understanding of pet owner concerns to the business and working closely with teams across the business. Exposure to highly talented business entrepreneurs, tech and operations managers, marketing geniuses, graphic designers and an award winning customer experience team, who are all dog lovers, has made it a very rewarding experience and learning curve. Part of his role now involves increasing brand awareness and advocacy of tails.com in the veterinary industry, being the in-house vet for office dogs and externally he still lectures to vets and nurses on exotics topics on various webinars and CPD events.

Hannah Watts is a RVC graduate from 2008 and is a Brand Manager for Bayer in the UK.  Hannah’s brands include Bayer’s largest global Animal Health brand, Seresto.  She has been working in a marketing role since 2015 having gained 5 years of sales experience in a veterinary sales role prior to this. She continues to work as a practising Veterinary Surgeon two days a month and is close to completing a Diploma in Professional Marketing from the CIM.  She was nominated as a finalist for the ‘Young Marketer of the Year’ award at the VMA’s in 2017 and is looking forward to launching an exciting new Seresto campaign this year.  Her pets at home include two cute cheeky terriers called Bruce and Ted and they make sure there is never a dull moment in the Watts household!

Polly is a research advisor at Brooke. A qualified veterinary surgeon and NGO professional with strong applied research skills, practical experience working in low-resource settings and understanding of animal healthcare and welfare systems. Experience in clinical epidemiology, social sciences and research for policy impact. Her long-term ambition is to deliver an evidence-base for animal health programmes that provides lasting benefits for people and animals.

I completed my PhD in 2013 funded by a Wellcome Veterinary Training Fellowship at the University of Bristol. My PhD and early postdoctoral research focused on cellular mechanisms by which bone adapts to its mechanical loading environment. Unexpected findings made during that period led me to change research fields and I am now starting my own research group funded as a Wellcome Clinical Research Training Fellow at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. This fellowship is allowing me to apply my training in mechanobiology (the engineering-inspired merger of mechanics and biology) to mammalian embryology. My research specifically focuses on the mechanisms by which cells in the early mouse embryo generate the mechanical forces required to bend the flat neural plate into a tube, the precursor of the central nervous system. Failure of these processes leads to neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

Gwen Rees qualified from Liverpool in 2009 and worked in mixed, rural practice in South Wales for several years before moving to New Zealand to work as a dairy veterinarian. On returning to the UK, Gwen took up a post as a Teaching Fellow in Farm Animal Population Medicine at Bristol Vet School. Gwen is currently completing a full-time Langford Trust funded PhD aimed at understanding veterinary medicine use by UK dairy farmers within the context of antimicrobial resistance.  Her research interests are antimicrobial resistance, veterinary anthropology, multi-disciplinary research methodologies and dairy farming. Gwen sits on the editorial board and is an associate editor for Veterinary Record Case Reports and represents the University of Bristol on the BVA Welsh Branch Council.

A senior manager in global animal health at Brooke with experience working with livestock in low and middle income countries. I am a veterinary surgeon with a strong interest in animal health systems in low resource settings. This passion was started following a student externship at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya in 2006. After gaining clinical experience with large animals in Canada and Somerset I completed the MSC in International Animal Health at Edinburgh conducting research in Nigeria on trypanosomiasis. This led to a job at Brooke which has taken me from animal fairs in India to working with paravets in rural Kenya. Expertise such as veterinary education qualifications, strategic planning and team management have been stamped into my veterinary passport in addition to the international travel! I also support a fantastic organisation; Kentish Town City Farm, as a veterinary  consultant on a voluntary basis to develop health plans and build best practice in animal welfare.

I’m looking forward to sharing my story and hearing yours at the very exciting Vets: Stay, Go, Diversify live event; see you all there!

Ru is a vet who combines her love for animals with a dedication to helping the people who care for them. She believes that creating compassionate culture that continually strives to improve standard of care, reduce error and enhance employee wellbeing, will build effective teams, improve patient care, and ensure customer satisfaction.

Ru has a special interest in teamwork and high performance and is currently studying for her Professional Certificate in Coaching accredited through Henley Business School and The University of Reading. Ru is passionate about creating a community that champions patient safety and individual wellbeing. Above all, she is dedicated to building great veterinary culture with a focus on authenticity, purpose and values.

Paddle Against Plastic was set up by Cal Major in 2016 as a way to reach people and talk about the issue of plastic pollution.

Paddle Against Plastic uses epic stand up paddle boarding adventures to capture peoples’ imagination, highlight the issue of plastic pollution so close to home, and to promote positive change by proposing simple solutions that we can all be proud and excited to be a part of.

Cal was unable to stand the amount of plastic washing up on her favourite surfing beaches any more without doing something about it, and so Paddle Against Plastic: Cornwall 2016 was born as a way to reach out to people.

Anthony Chadwick is the CEO of Alpha Vet International and is a veterinary dermatologist. Anthony qualified from Liverpool University in 1990 and achieved his CertVD in 1995. Anthony set up a practice in Liverpool in 1997 in Liverpool which he eventually sold in 2011 so that he could concentrate on The Webinar Vet which he started in January 2010. The Webinar Vet is the largest online provider of veterinary CPD in Europe and is a past winner of the FSB’s NW online business of the year and The Regional Business Awards’ Knowledge Business of the year. Anthony is also a veterinary futurist and is fascinated about new technology in the veterinary profession. At a futurist conference in 2016, he heard about the hololens and immediately set about developing Sheba, the holographic GSD which he demonstrated at that year’s London Vet Show. Anthony enjoys thinking strategically and connecting teams together- an ideal quality for project managing multi-disciplinary teams

Gabby is the currently parliamentary intern to Lord Trees. She is an equine vet and epidemiologist with a particular interest in working equids in Ethiopia

Bio coming soon!

I’m a 2004 Edinburgh graduate.  After 7yrs in mixed & small animal practice I diversified into industry in 2011.  I loved industry and worked for Virbac and latterly Bayer Animal Health. This summer I diversified again and now work for Vets4Pets in their People team in a brand new role as their Veterinary Talent Manager.  I’m SPVS Junior Vice President, CPD & Congress Officer and from 2011-2017 I organised their Lancaster student seminar. I’m really passionate about our profession and in particular the development of our next generation so all in all everything this Group stands for.

Dr Chris Mimnagh is a part-time GP partner in Liverpool and head of clinical innovation liaison and deployment at The Innovation Agency, the academic health science network for the north-west coast. He writes regularly for GPonline and strategically advises Merseycare mental health trust. He is also a GP for telehealth company Babylon Health and the medical advisor for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic!

Charlotte graduated in 2013 from Nottingham Vet school and went into small animal practice. She holds a PGCert in Veterinary education at Nottingham University and currently works part-time at Nottingham vet school as a teaching associate, teaching across all 5 years of the course.

Charlotte also works part time as a vet for pet blood bank and is working towards her diploma in personal performance coaching and associate fellowship of the higher education academy.

I’ve had a varied career; 3 years mixed practice in Cumbria, 1 year SA internship, 2 years sole charge emergency vet, and I now practice a combination of ECC shifts and shelter medicine.  I setup the resource signposting website www.vetsnet.net in 2017 to make the profession a better place for members.  Mum to 3 and 5 year old girls and a husband, 2 dogs, a cat, lots of fish… I enjoy running and cycling and occasionally brave the swim to do a triathlon, hence also creating the Veterinary Sports FB group.

I am a 2015 veterinary graduate from Bristol and my current role is as a Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the RCVS. After 18 months in practice I was feeling disillusioned and burnt out, and couldn’t see a clinical speciality or being a GP vet for life. I spent months before and after work researching alternative careers, further qualifications and trying to figure out what I enjoyed. The Brexit referendum made me curious as to the impact on the profession from the vote, and I sent an email to the College asking to “see practice” on my day off each week, and this turned into an internship and then became my current position in April 2017. I absolutely love my job and genuinely enjoy going to work, and whilst I still keep a hand in with practice by locuming I get more fulfilment through working on issues affecting the whole profession, and working for a really forward thinking organisation.

Anthony graduated in 2013 from the University of Cambridge with degrees in Veterinary Medicine and Zoology. He spent two years working in small animal first opinion clinical practice in Birmingham. In 2015 he sought an opportunity to diversify his career and spent the next two years as Parliamentary Veterinary Intern in the House of Lords providing both research and administrative support to veterinary Peer Lord Trees. He also worked as a clinical wildlife vet for the Wildlife Aid Foundation. He is the British Veterinary Association’s regional representative for London as well as a Council member of the Association of Government Veterinarians and Central Veterinary Society. He is now works as a Senior Veterinary Inspector for the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Anthony is interested in policy making and in promoting the roles of veterinarians in society particularly in relation to animal welfare, environmental sustainability and One Health.

Natalia Strokowska is small animal and exotic pet locum vet from Poland. She has international experience gained on five continents. She combines scientific career (she is currently finishing her doctorate at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Warsaw University of Life Sciences, professional (locum work in various veterinary clinics across Great Britain) and business (runs the Vetnolimits company providing educational services for the veterinary industry).

The author of the Medical English for Veterinary Professionals course for vets and students who are thinking of pursuing their career abroad. She is a teacher and an experienced medical translator. Organizes conferences in the field of exotic animal medicine under the name Furry Vets. Co-author of the two-day "Social Media in Veterinary Medicine" exclusive training.  

Mental health awareness advocate in veterinary profession in Poland. Together with her team just launched a nationwide survey on professional and living satisfaction in veterinary surgeons. Her latest project is "Wellness and well-being programme" - seminars for vets and students about stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, euthanasia, communication with difficult clients and passing the bad news.

Follow Natalia on instagram 

Jo graduated from Bristol in the 80’s and has been a practicing small-animal vet ever since. She is an ex-trustee of Vetlife and has several volunteer roles within that organisation. She is an elected member of RCVS Council where her main focus is on the welfare of vets, firmly believing that we can only deliver on our promise to be guardians of animal welfare if we firstly care for the carers. She is currently halfway through studying for an MSc in the psychology and neuroscience of mental health.

Matt graduated from the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in 2007 and worked as a mixed species vet in several practices in the north of England and New Zealand, focusing on large animals and specifically dairy in New Zealand. He joined Boehringer Ingelheim in January 2012 as Cattle Veterinary Adviser, responsible for technical support for the UK and Ireland for Boehringer’s cattle portfolio. In April 2015, Matt progressed to technical manager for three other veterinary advisers within the Boehringer cattle team, then onto brand manager in 2016. Matt completed a Masters in International Animal Health between 2013 and 2016, and in 2017 completed a Diploma in Professional Marketing through the CIM. He was a finalist for the VMA Young Marketer of the Year 2017

I qualified from the Dick Vet in 2004 and have worked primarily in small animal practice since then. I have enjoyed permanent roles as an assistant and now work as a Locum in central Scotland. In recent years I have become more interested in the challenges faced by our profession and felt a strong desire to become more involved in voluntary roles where I might make a difference. I have been fortunate to become involved with The Vet Trust
charity and I have recently been elected as BVA Scottish regional representative.
In my time off I love nothing more than walking my beloved whippet Farah and I spend time making quilts for friends’ babies. I started this hobby just a few years ago having taken some
evening classes in Edinburgh. I am still learning all the time and constantly see new designs I’d like to try. I hope it will be a hobby for life and that I will continue to improve. I have only ever made quilts for friends so this is my first charity effort though I hope to offer more quilts for charity in the future. I can highly recommend quilting and crafting hobbies as a great way to unwind and tap into the creative part of the mind.

Alistair has been in general practice vet since 2005 and struggled in silence for years with mental health problems. After having a mental breakdown he spent 6 years under the supervision of an RCVS health protocol. He has experienced first hand that suffering poor mental health in silence for years is dangerous and unnecessary and, whilst stigma and shame can be an obstacle for those in the process of 'coming clean' about their problems, having the courage to open up and ask for help can and should pave the way for better wellbeing and a happier life. Alistair now lives life to the full, having raised money for Mind, Vetlife and soon running the London Marathon for CALM, he feels strongly about encouraging open and frank discussion around mental health as well as improving the RCVS disciplinary and Health Protocol systems

Dr Adele Fitzpatrick BSc(Hons) BVSc MRCVS qualified from Liverpool Vet School in 2009.

Following this Adele spent her first year in a busy small animal practice in Birmingham before completing a Small Animal General internship at Glasgow Small Animal Hospital and a Neurology internship at Liverpool Small Animal Teaching Hospital. 

After her internships Adele returned to first opinion practice as a senior veterinary surgeon for a new start up practice. Over the following three years Adele grew the practice and developed a service with an excellent reputation and high standard of care with a loyal client base. 

In June 2016 Adele made the decision to set up her own holistic and integrative pet centre to combine her ethics and approach to animal health under one roof. Adele wanted to move away from the traditional model of a veterinary practice to incorporate modern needs, demands and thinking; and to create a pet community dedicated to healthy pets, supportive pet professionals and happy clients. 

In January 2017 Adele opened Vet Crèche Ltd, a centre combining integrative, holistic veterinary care, raw feeding, dog day care, grooming, home boarding, training and classes in the south side of Glasgow. Adele also has a special interest in brachycephalic breeds and health. 

I studied Zoology at Aberdeen before moving to Edinburgh to achieve a lifelong dream of becoming a vet, qualifying from the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies in 2012. Since then I have worked in small animal practice in York, before returning to Edinburgh to undertake an internship at the Hospital for Small Animals.

I have been with Vets4Pets since September 2014 and I'm looking forward to opening my own practice in Straiton.

I have a rescued mongrel called Badger, a husband called Andrew and love knitting and sewing, cheese and wine!

Sophie and her husband Richard set up Meadows Farm Vets in 2010 covering Worcestershire. Fairly quickly the practice has expanded to include Shropshire and surrounding areas, giving farmers priority service and competitive medicine prices. Previously, Sophie has worked in the large animal departments of mixed practices in Herefordshire and Shropshire.

Her interests include herd health planning in cattle, sheep and pigs and she is a DairyCo Mobility Mentor. Born and bred in Worcestershire, Sophie has always had an interest in farming and is a keen supporter of the local Young Farmers clubs.

Mike Rhodes has previously worked as a referral veterinary ophthalmologist at Willows Referral Centre for nearly 10 years. Here he successfully completed the European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists’ Specialist training programme in 2010 under the expert guidance of Heidi Featherstone and Christine Heinrich. He then obtained the European Diploma in Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2013 and became head of the ophthalmology department at Willows in 2016.

Mike is also an appointed eye panelist which means he can issue official BVA/KC/ISDS eye test certificates for the Eye Scheme.

In launching Focus Referrals, Mike aims to offer his patients, pet owners and referring vets a personal, high quality referral service within a first opinion clinical setting at more affordable prices.

When not at work Mike enjoys spending time with his family – Sophie, William, Phil the cat and his wife Alice (also a vet).

I qualified as a vet from Liverpool University in 2010. Through-out university I increasingly felt that clinical veterinary practice was not for me. I had a growing interest in working in development and, wherever possible, I carried out EMS overseas. Following graduation I was awarded a BVA TAWS grant to assess perceptions of livestock owners to rabies in Ethiopia. It was here that I became fascinated by the livestock – human interface; the dependency of the world’s poorest populations on animals for their income and source of nutrition.

After a brief spell in equine practice I realised that I needed to gain more skills to work in the development sector. I went on to do a MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and a PhD in the drylands of northern Kenya planning strategic animal health programmes in drought prone areas.

Following on from this I became a lead analyst and coordinator on a project in South Sudan, monitoring food security of populations in a protracted crisis. This information provided analysis and support for NGO’s carrying out emergency humanitarian assistance. I have since developed a small consultancy company in Nairobi and work on projects in Somalia, South Sudan and northern Kenya. I work predominantly with a think tank and also with NGO’s and donors.

Increasingly my work is focussed on management of livestock in arid and semi-arid range lands in sub Saharan Africa. The open range lands systems are home to approximately 50 million pastoralists, 80% of the livestock population and a plethora of wildlife species that exist outside of national parks. These areas are highly prone to drought and contain some of the worlds poorest populations. Over 70% of the rangelands have suffered severe degradation since 1990 due to climate change and changes in livestock production. This has exacerbated the effects of drought in these areas on livestock, human and wildlife populations. Management of livestock in arid and semi-arid range lands is integral to a environmental sustainability, household survival and the nutrition status of children within them. Maintaining range land health and production is one of the greatest challenges our generation faces today.

As well as working in the development sector I have begun to work in my spare time on 2 charitable projects – one is running an ultramarathon and raising funds and awareness for anti-poaching units. The second is setting up a programme promoting pangolin awareness and protection is East Africa. It is my hope that we can protect the remaining landscapes and wildlife for those to follow and provide assistance, support and opportunities for those living within them to improve their prosperity.

Laura qualified from the RVC in 2005 and worked in equine and mixed practice until joining Brooke in 2012. She began working as a veterinary trainer for Brooke running workshops in clinical skills in many different countries and many less than perfect circumstances including some memorable flooding in Northern India.

In 2013 she developed a training of trainers course to help vets educate both other veterinary professionals, and the owners of working equids. She has since moved into several other roles within Brooke as part of the Global Animal Health team. She also continues to maintain her own clinical skills by locuming as a small animal vet and looking after a vast menagerie of her own animals.

Jane RVN is award winning curator of social media with #planetrvn created and running for over 7 years for the veterinary industry and she is the most popular blogger in her industry.

Sharing stories is a universal desire in us all and I use modern technology to promote vet nursing, animal welfare and share the stories of those who need it.

Blogging

Jane can be found on social media and as the longest serving blogger for the largest veterinary newspaper The Veterinary Times as well as:

– recruit4vets with the most popular blogs of 2016 and 2017

– any-uk-vet.co.uk spearheading a new blog for pet owner

– numerous product reviews and industry newspaper articles

Academic writing 

– academic articles for The Veterinary Nurse Journal include hygiene for nursing uniforms and the ongoing issue of the hidden role of the veterinary nurse.

Some people ask ‘why academic writing when you blog’ – because if it isn’t referenced and peer reviewed how can you monitor improvement in your chosen subject?

Youtube and more

There’s also the very successful YouTube channel currently focusing on student vet nurses and a book on research and study skills is being published in 2018.

Then it’s time for some new projects… watch this space in 2018!

Writing/blogging/YouTube masterclasses are available – contact me here

Educating

Combining education and social media as @JaneRVN  she runs a YouTube channel for student vet nurses   specialising in clinical exams.

As an educator Jane has taught vet nurses for a number of years. She has her Postgraduate Diploma in Professional and Clinical Vet Nursing from the RVC as well as teaching and IQA qualifications. She has supported students in practice too as a clinical coach and has been an internal verifier and an OSCE examiner. She is studying towards a Masters in Clinical Education and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

To quote Yoda –When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be. The Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned. (starwars.com)

We must train and support our younglings – in whatever industry – I can help you.

Jane works as an educational consultant for FE and HE vet nursing and science courses – contact me here

Clinical skills

Older pets are her passion and she is focused on getting clients to recognise and treat pain in older pets. In clinical work her first love is anaesthesia and surgical nursing – contact me here for clinical work/practice or training consultancy.

When I can I head back into vet practice – there’s nothing like patient and client contact to keep you on your toes.

She is found in practice, in the classroom and on social media #planetrvn

Dan’s role at VetLed involves providing insights into human performance gained from his perspective across multiple fields; formally as a semi-professional athlete, sports coach, pilot instructor, and currently as a commercial pilot and human factors trainer.

Across all fields, Dan has consistently observed positive change as a direct result of non-technical factors such as leadership, communication, wellbeing and in particular positive organisational culture. He has written and delivered training courses to professionals from aviation, healthcare and veterinary medicine on various performance related topics including non-technical skills, systems and processes such as checklists and safety reporting, and organisational culture. As such, the power of a just culture and the associated growth mindset forms the basis for much of his work.

Dan greatly enjoys developing his knowledge across a wide range of subjects which he believes contribute towards human performance. He has recently completed courses in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Positive Psychology and has worked closely with a team of coaches and Psychologists when developing the VetLed HALT campaign, along with other wellbeing materials and initiatives.

Libby Kemkaran-Thompson MA VetMB MRCVS

 International Speaker

 Veterinary Surgeon

 Business Development Consultant

 Training and group workshops

 Change Management Consultant

 Degree in Behaviour

Before moving into Management Consultancy in growing and developing a business, Libby worked in the city as a recruitment consultant and built her own business there. After retraining to be a vet at Cambridge, where she also did a degree in Behaviour, Libby worked in Essex and Cambridgeshire as a first opinion small animal vet for 5 years.

Following a car crash which left her unable to perform surgery, Libby opened-up two new businesses and also moved back into the field of business consultancy, this time specifically helping vets. Now, Libby works passionately for the UK’s largest veterinary consultancy company, Vet Dynamics, where she offers a portfolio of coaching and bespoke development options for independent practices and their teams, to improve their performance and their quality of life in practice. Libby was the Keynote speaker for this year’s SPVS presenting for the week topics on Human Behavioural Psychology and ‘why people do what they do’.

Dr Claire Merrifield is currently a GP trainee at St Mary's Hospital in London and worked as a medical researcher before training as a clinician. She has a keen interest in the microbiome and its role in health and disease and is a member of the Science Translational Committee of the International Society of Probiotics and Prebiotics.

Prior to becoming a doctor Claire did her first degree in veterinary pathogenesis at the University of Bristol and then her PhD at Imperial college in the department of surgery and cancer.

She is passionate about patient and medic well-being. Including the power of nutrition and mindfulness and hopes to bring functional medicine into the consult room.