After the graduation she got a Diploma in “Prophylaxis in Infectious diseases of animals” from the School for the Scientific Research at the Zooprohylactic Institute of Lombardia and Emilia, in 1992. Between 1993 and 2007 she worked in the Bacteriology laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bari. Since 2007 she is responsible for the Bacteriology Unit. She is involved in education of students as a teacher of:  i) Microbiology and Biosafety at the Course of Veterinary Medicine; ii)  Prophylaxis of Infectious Diseases at the Course of Animal Sciences, and postgraduate education.  Her  research activity is focused on drug-resistant bacteria (with particular emphasis on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in human and animal infections,  Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in dogs, and Extended beta-lactamases producers isolates from wild animals), on micoplasmoses,   bacterial zoonoses  (Brucellosis,  salmonellosis) and viruses with zoonotic potential (rotavirus, calicivirus). She has been/is responsible for several National and International Research Projects and referee for peer-reviewed journals. She is happy to share her knowledge and experiences with EALVD members, contributing to the improvement of activities.

Bachelor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Univ. Valencia 1987. Doctorate in Microbiology, Univ. Reading, England 1993.
Pioneering early scientific contributions in phylogeny and genetic testing methods of application in prokaryotic systematics. Co-author of ca. 90 scientific publications, book chapters,
a patented PCR method (1994), co-director of 8 doctoral theses, and the description of 16 new bacterial species. Member of the “Aeromonas Working-group”, of the “International Committee on
Systematics of Prokaryotes”; directive member of AVEDILA (Association of Veterinary Specialists in Laboratory Diagnosis), secretary of the Association of Biotechnology Companies of Alicante (AEBA).

Director of the genetic PCR solutions™ (GPS™) laboratories providing custom-designed ready-to-use real-time PCR kits (qPCR) applied to veterinary and many other sectors. GPS™ has already developed and made available qPCR kits for over 300 pathogens. Quality policy certified to ISO 9001:2015 and UNE/EN ISO13485:2016. GPS™ uses guidelines of standard UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025 for validations. Registered as
manufacturer of animal health diagnostic reagents by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), Spain. The company is a guest member of the Animal Health Research Network (RISA-Spain). GPS™ has obtained the sanitary license from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Ministry of Health), under the label CE-IVD (in vitro diagnostics).

Viktor Ahlberg completed his veterinary degree at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala in 2010. He received his PhD in veterinary immunology in 2016 working with vaccine adjuvants and infection biology. He followed up his doctorate as a researcher at a private vaccine company. Since 2018 he is employed at the Swedish National Veterinary Institute as a veterinary laboratory microbiologist at the section for serology and virology, responsible for the poultry diagnostics as well as head of the national reference laboratory for rabies.

Jason studied biology at the University of Stirling and a PhD in the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester.Two years at Brewing Research International were followed by three years at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. Jason moved to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in 2000. His work at APHA has involved evaluating and introducing new laboratory diagnostic technology, working towards ensuring the APHA is using up-to-date and modern testing methods. More recently, he has been involved with bovine TB vaccine and diagnostic research and is currently the workgroup leader for the Bovine TB research group in the Department of Bacteriology at APHA Weybridge. He is the named expert for the APHA WOAH reference lab for mammalian tuberculosis. Jason lectures in veterinary diagnostic methods at the Royal Veterinary College and also carries out assessments of diagnostic test validation data as part of the test validation team at APHA which grants approval to tests prior to adoption as official UK veterinary laboratory tests.

After completing her Master’s degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands in 2019, Heather Graham started working at the Department of diagnostics of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research as a veterinary microbiologist in training. In addition to being involved in the interpretation of test results, test development and quality systems, Heather is also one of the point of contacts for clients, including veterinarians and the Dutch authorities regarding the diagnostics of notifiable and non-notifiable diseases. Heather is currently specializing in equine diseases (e.g. WNF, EVA, CEM), parasitology and bee diseases as a part of their national reference laboratories, increasing her knowledge and know-how of the diagnostics and epidemiology of those diseases. Since the 1st of July 2021, Heather has also become an official ECVM resident.

Istvan Kiss graduated at the University of Veterinary Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, in 1990, and obtained his Ph.D. in 1998 in the same Alma mater. He started as a veterinary surgeon at a multi-species farm; then joined a bovine in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory; followed by a human medicine company; and subsequently a government diagnostic institute. After a few years work at the National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, he joined the Scientific Support and Investigation Unit, Ceva-Phylaxia Ltd., Budapest, Hungary in 2010.

Marzia Pezzolato completed her veterinary degree in Veterinary Medicine in Turin in 2003. She received his PhD in Veterinary hygiene and animal pathology in 2013. Since 2004 she is employed at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta first with veterinary scholarship and from 2007 as official veterinary. She has over 10 years of experience in Histopathology and carries out histopathological
diagnosis for public and private users. She has gained experience in the standardization and validation of histochemical and immunohistochemical methods applied to animal pathologies and food safety in a lab accredited ISO / CEI 17025 by the ACCREDIA system. She carries out histopathological diagnosis in support of:

• necropsy activities in order to establish the cause of death
• freelance veterinarians for both pets and livestock to characterize suspected neoplastic tissues
• Public veterinarian in the field of inspection activities and plan diseases
• national and regional reference centers
• forensic toxicology for the detection of injuries related to poisoning and differential diagnosis.

Moreover, she carries out microscopy for the detection of fraud, illegal treatment and
conservation status of food of animal origin:

• diagnostic activity for the identification of illicit treatments (DOPING) of cattle
• development of multi-screening and untargeted methods
• identification of ingredients and additives; unwanted or prohibited substances; conservation methods of products with rapid techniques
• development of spectroscopic methods for food authenticity

She coordinates more than 10 Italian research project
She is author of more than 40 international publications.