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Paulo Borges graduated in the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal. Presented his master thesis in the topic of “Heat-Shock Proteins in the canine semen throughout cryopreservation techniques”. Paulo performed an internship in the University of Lisbon (FMV-UTL). During 6 years, he was an assistant consultant in the CERCA, ENVA (Centre d’Études en Reproduction des Carnivores) and co-responsible of the dog and cat breeding department (UMES) in the National Veterinary School of Alfort (ENVA) – Paris. He fulfilled the residency program of the European College of Animal Reproduction, in the CERCA-ENVA-Paris, becoming an ECAR diplomate in 2015. After one year working in a private practice in Paris, he did between 2017-2018, one year as a PhD student in the NeoCare Unit of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT) in the field of infectious diseases in neonatalogy and pediatrics in dogs. Furthermore, he worked in the carnivores semen bank, CRECS, in the south of France for one year. He created the reproduction center of Atlantico Anicura Veterinary Hospital from 2020-2023. He now works as a reference consultant and lecturer in reproduction and collectivity medicine mainly in Portugal and he is the responsible of the reproduction service in Allvetcare Hospital, in Alverca, Portugal. He is an assistant professor in the Lusófona University in Lisbon, Portugal since 2016. He was the vice-president of the reproduction group in France, GERES-AFVAC. He was former secretary and now he is vice-president of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR). He has been invited to lecture in different countries in South America, Asia and Europe. He is also author and co-author of several scientific articles, along with several chapters of books and manuscripts.
Florence Kahn-Ramos, is an expert in transversal project management in multicultural environments. After 20 years in the pharma industry, congress & event manager for International events, Florence created her own International business event organization agency YES I KAHN working mainly for the veterinary industry, managing for her clients their internal & customer events, scientific advisory boards, booth projects, congresses anywhere in the world. France-based office, working in 5 languages (French, English, German, Portuguese & Spanish)
https://www.yes-i-kahn.com/en/home/
Assistant Professor of the Veterinary Sciences Department at University of Trás-os-Montes and Researcher at CECAV-UTAD, Portugal. In charge for the Animal Reproduction Medicine Service of the UTAD Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Technical University of Lisbon. European PhD in Veterinary Sciences from the Veterinary Faculty- Complutense University of Madrid-, in dog semen cryopreservation technology. She attended the Advanced Training Program in Companion Animal Reproduction I and II at the European School of Advanced Veterinary Studies (ESAVS). Publication of several articles in specialized journals on theriogenology being the main areas of interest the new reproductive technologies, reproductive medicine in small animals, and the use of animal models for understanding reproductive ageing.
Luisa Mateus obtained her degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1995 and her PhD in 2002 at the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in the field of postpartum uterine infections in cows. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine teaching Reproduction and Obstetrics. She is the head of the small animal reproduction service and Coordinator of the Diagnostic Center at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the FMV_Ulisboa. Her main research interest is canine and feline pathophysiology of pyometra: host-bacteria interaction. She is the author and co-author of 50 peer-reviewed indexed articles and has contributed to more than 30 congress abstracts. She is a member of EVSSAR.
Graça Lopes holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon and a PhD in Veterinary Sciences from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (ICBAS-UP).
She is an Assistant Professor at ICBAS-UP, where she is responsible for the training of veterinary students in the fields of small animal and dairy cattle theriogenology. She has also taught small animal theriogenology to veterinary students in more than 10 different countries under the ERASMUS+ program. She is actively involved in international collaborative projects aimed at improving veterinary education and contributing to the improvement of teaching methods, particularly in the field of theriogenology.
She has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed, indexed scientific articles and has presented her research at numerous international and national congresses. She also performs clinical activities at UPVET, ICBAS-UP, where she is responsible for the canine assisted reproduction service.
Graduated in Veterinary Medicine from UTAD in 1992, he has been practicing as a small animal clinician in the city of Porto since his graduation. Since 1999, he has held the position of Clinical Director at the Montenegro Veterinary Hospital. In addition to being a general practitioner, his main areas of interest are reproduction and surgery.
He has also participated as a speaker at various national and international conferences. Since 2009, he has been a guest lecturer in the Gynecology and Obstetrics course at the Veterinary Medicine program at Lusófona University.
Since the first edition in 2005, he has been involved in organizing the annual congress of the Montenegro Veterinary Hospital. In 2010, he completed a master’s degree at UTAD in the field of reproduction, focusing his dissertation on reproductive emergencies.
He contributed to and published the chapter "Reproductive Emergencies" in the 8th edition of the Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Ettinger, Feldman, and Côté).
Dr. Rita Payan Carreira is a distinguished veterinarian and academic with expertise in animal reproduction. Holding a PhD in Veterinary Sciences, she has built a significant career in research, teaching, and clinical practice. As a full professor at the University of Évora, she engages in innovative teaching methods to nurture her students clinical reasoning. Dr Payan Carreira investigation focuses on reproductive physiology, conducting research on domestic and wild species' reproductive health. Her work integrates advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to advance veterinary medicine. Dr. Payan Carreira's contributions have been recognized for their impact on veterinary science and education, particularly in reproductive medicine.
Eva Axnér obtained a veterinary degree (DVM) in 1991 at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). She obtained a PhD degree in 2000 with her thesis “Sperm morphology and maturation in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) with special reference to the morphology and function of the epididymis”. In 2008 she became an associate professor and in 2012 full professor at SLU. She has been a diplomat in the European College of Animal Reproduction (Dipl. ECAR, small animals) since 2002.
She has been a member of EVSSAR for more than 20 years and was elected a board member of EVSSAR in 2022. She works as a teacher at the division of reproduction at SLU, mainly for 4th and 5th-year veterinary students but also in veterinary nursing and MSc courses in animal science.
Her clinical activities are related to small animal reproduction including semen preservation and artificial insemination. She is responsible for the canine semen bank at SLU. She has more the 70 scientific publications with an h-index of 23 (Google Scholar). Her research has involved topics on sperm maturation and function in the domestic cat, AI in cat fertility and parturition and neonatal health in dogs and cats, diagnostics, sperm conservation, and field reproduction in the grey wolf and the Eurasian lynx.
Paulo Borges graduated in the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal. Presented his master thesis in the topic of “Heat-Shock Proteins in the canine semen throughout cryopreservation techniques”. Paulo performed an internship in the University of Lisbon (FMV-UTL). During 6 years, he was an assistant consultant in the CERCA, ENVA (Centre d’Études en Reproduction des Carnivores) and co-responsible of the dog and cat breeding department (UMES) in the National Veterinary School of Alfort (ENVA) – Paris. He fulfilled the residency program of the European College of Animal Reproduction, in the CERCA-ENVA-Paris, becoming an ECAR diplomate in 2015. After one year working in a private practice in Paris, he did between 2017-2018, one year as a PhD student in the NeoCare Unit of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT) in the field of infectious diseases in neonatalogy and pediatrics in dogs. Furthermore, he worked in the carnivores semen bank, CRECS, in the south of France for one year. He created the reproduction center of Atlantico Anicura Veterinary Hospital from 2020-2023. He now works as a reference consultant and lecturer in reproduction and collectivity medicine mainly in Portugal and he is the responsible of the reproduction service in Allvetcare Hospital, in Alverca, Portugal. He is an assistant professor in the Lusófona University in Lisbon, Portugal since 2016. He was the vice-president of the reproduction group in France, GERES-AFVAC. He was former secretary and now he is vice-president of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR). He has been invited to lecture in different countries in South America, Asia and Europe. He is also author and co-author of several scientific articles, along with several chapters of books and manuscripts.
luis Ferré-Dolcet graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the Cardenal Herrera University - CEU Valencia in 2011 and obtained a Master’s degree in Biology and technology of mammalian reproduction from the University of Murcia in 2012. He obtained a PhD in the transport of water and sugars in the feline uterus and placenta at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2016 and a second PhD in the control of feline reproduction with short and long-GnRH compounds in Padova in 2020.
He was also a resident of the European College of Animal Reproduction under the supervision of Dr Stefano Romagnoli at the University of Padova (2017-2020), obtaining the European diploma title in November 2021. He was the Head of the small animal reproduction unit at the San Marco Veterinary Clinic, Padova, Italy up to 2024 and nowadays he works as a private practitioner in Small Animal Reproduction In Barcelona.
He was elected as a Board member of the European Society of Small Animal Reproduction in 2022. Currently, he is the Board Secretary of the European Society of Small Animal Reproduction. He is also considered a Global Key Opinion Leader of Suprelorin by Virbac doing the launching of the product worldwide.
Nowadays he has more than 20 scientific articles in high-impact indexed journals and contributed with more than 30 abstracts in international congresses. His main interests are the uses of deslorelin, Physiology and pathology of the canine prostate, feline reproductive endocrinology and the long-term effects of surgical sterilization.
Ilona Kaszak graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) in 2015. Immediately after graduating, she started working in numerous animal clinics in Warsaw and the surrounding area, and in October 2016, she started doctoral studies at the KNOW Integrated Doctoral School at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. She completed her studies in 2019. Since September 2019, she has been working at the same faculty at the Small Animal Reproduction Laboratory as a research and teaching assistant. In 2019, she also started the European Animal Reproduction Residency (ECAR) under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Munich. In 2022, she obtained the Polish national title of Specialist in dogs and cats. Since June 2022, she has been a member of the board of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR). She is the author of numerous publications on dog and cat reproduction. She actively participates in numerous veterinary conferences in Poland and abroad.
Her scientific interest includes mainly canine mammary gland tumors, canine infertility, theriogenology and assisted reproduction.
Graça Lopes holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon and a PhD in Veterinary Sciences from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (ICBAS-UP).
She is an Assistant Professor at ICBAS-UP, where she is responsible for the training of veterinary students in the fields of small animal and dairy cattle theriogenology. She has also taught small animal theriogenology to veterinary students in more than 10 different countries under the ERASMUS+ program. She is actively involved in international collaborative projects aimed at improving veterinary education and contributing to the improvement of teaching methods, particularly in the field of theriogenology.
She has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed, indexed scientific articles and has presented her research at numerous international and national congresses. She also performs clinical activities at UPVET, ICBAS-UP, where she is responsible for the canine assisted reproduction service.
Specialized in animal reproduction, Dr Cindy Maenhoudt has been a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists (ACT) since 2010 and of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR) since 2011. After graduating from the University of Liege in Belgium, she has worked in Europe, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. She completed her residency program in Theriogenology at New Bolton Centre, University of Pennsylvania. Since 2010, she has been involved in small animal reproduction at the "Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort" in France.
Luisa Mateus obtained her degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1995 and her PhD in 2002 at the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in the field of postpartum uterine infections in cows. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine teaching Reproduction and Obstetrics. She is the head of the small animal reproduction service and Coordinator of the Diagnostic Center at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the FMV_Ulisboa. Her main research interest is canine and feline pathophysiology of pyometra: host-bacteria interaction. She is the author and co-author of 50 peer-reviewed indexed articles and has contributed to more than 30 congress abstracts. She is a member of EVSSAR.
MILANI Chiara_ DVM, PhD, graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 2003, and she obtained a PhD degree in 2008. She became Researcher in 2008 and Associate Professor in 2022 at the University of Padova in the area MVET-05/B “Clinical Veterinary Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Andrology and Neonatology”. Since 2005 she is working as clinician in small animal reproduction area at the Veterinary teaching hospital of the University of Padova, being in charge of the student’s traineeship, teaching into the course of small animal reproduction to the 5th year students of course of Veterinary Medicine, and to the Animal Care bachelor’s degree.
Her main research interests are in the field of andrology (methods of sperm analysis, optimizing freezing protocol, artificial insemination), and gynaecology (progesterone measurement, endocrinology and control of the reproductive cycle of the bitch) and obstetrics (US monitoring of pregnancy), as well as antimicrobial resistance in the breeding dog population. She is author and co-author of more than 40 peer reviewed indexed articles (H-index 14) and she contributed to more than 100 proceeding abstracts. She is EVSSAR (European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction) member, and she serves in the EVSSAR Board since 2019. She became vice-president in 2022 and President of the EVSSAR society in 2023.
Graduated in Veterinary Medicine from UTAD in 1992, he has been practicing as a small animal clinician in the city of Porto since his graduation. Since 1999, he has held the position of Clinical Director at the Montenegro Veterinary Hospital. In addition to being a general practitioner, his main areas of interest are reproduction and surgery.
He has also participated as a speaker at various national and international conferences. Since 2009, he has been a guest lecturer in the Gynecology and Obstetrics course at the Veterinary Medicine program at Lusófona University.
Since the first edition in 2005, he has been involved in organizing the annual congress of the Montenegro Veterinary Hospital. In 2010, he completed a master’s degree at UTAD in the field of reproduction, focusing his dissertation on reproductive emergencies.
He contributed to and published the chapter "Reproductive Emergencies" in the 8th edition of the Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Ettinger, Feldman, and Côté).
Dr. Rita Payan Carreira is a distinguished veterinarian and academic with expertise in animal reproduction. Holding a PhD in Veterinary Sciences, she has built a significant career in research, teaching, and clinical practice. As a full professor at the University of Évora, she engages in innovative teaching methods to nurture her students clinical reasoning. Dr Payan Carreira investigation focuses on reproductive physiology, conducting research on domestic and wild species' reproductive health. Her work integrates advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to advance veterinary medicine. Dr. Payan Carreira's contributions have been recognized for their impact on veterinary science and education, particularly in reproductive medicine.
Dr. Hasan Sontas earned the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University in 1999. In 2005, he received his PhD degree at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Istanbul University. Between 2012 and 2014, he worked at the Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Andrology at Vienna Veterinary University as a senior clinician. In 2013 he received his Associate Professor title in Turkey. Dr. Sontas became a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (DiplECAR) in 2014.
He is the author of many peer-reviewed articles and co-author of a chapter in BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Reproduction and Neonatology, 2nd edition. He is a member of the Communication Committee of the European Board of Veterinary Specialization (EBVS) and the national representative of Austria and Turkey for EBVS. He became a board member of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR) in 2023.
Currently, Dr. Sontas owns a private practice highly specialized in small animal reproduction in Vienna, Austria.
Ann Van Soom graduated in 1988 as DVM at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Belgium, and obtained a PhD in the development of bovine embryos in 1996. At present, she holds a position as a full professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University.
She has been a diplomat of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR) since 1999 and has been a member of the EVSSAR and the IETS for many years. She is supervising a group of about 10 PhD students and three postdocs working together on embryonic development and semen quality in different model species, like horses, cattle, cats, dogs and pigs. The main goals of the research performed at the Reproductive Biology Unit are to determine the causes of epigenetic changes and inferior quality of in vitro-produced embryos by focusing on the suboptimal culture conditions in vitro and, on the other hand, the embryo-maternal interaction in vivo in different species such as cattle, horses, pigs and cats, sometimes as a model for human or wildlife. More clinical research is focused on the effects of neutering on long-term health in dogs and cats, semen banking in dogs, the genital microbiome in cats and dogs, and its relation to fertility. Prof. Van Soom has published more than 450 papers with an h-index of 55.
Her teaching and her clinical activities are related to small animal reproduction, with an emphasis on semen collection, (research on) gamete cryopreservation and artificial insemination in cats and dogs. Finally, she has been breeding English springer spaniels and Somali cats as a hobby.