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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).

Veterinary Degree at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lisbon. Master in Clinical Ethology and Animal Welfare at the Faculty of Veterinary from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. PhD in Veterinary Science at the Institute of Biomedical Science Abel Salazar in O’Porto. EBVS specialist in Behavioural Medicine and Diplomate in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Legislation by the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine. Secretary of the Executive Committee from the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS). Vice-President of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE). President (2017-2020) of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (ECAWBM). Founder and President (2011-2017) of PsiAnimal – Portuguese Association of Behavioural Therapy and Animal Welfare. Professor of Animal Behaviour, Welfare and Ethics both in the Veterinary Master and Veterinary Nurse Degree of the Egas Moniz School of Health and Science. Lecturer in Seminars, Conferences and Congresses national and internationally. Author, Co-author and Coordinator of several studies in animal behaviour and welfare science.

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.

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.

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.

Charly Pignon was graduated in 2005 from Alfort National Veterinary School (France) and did his veterinary thesis on a wildlife conservation project in Cambodia. Then he worked in the wildlife rescue center in Alfort and worked in Paris Zoo (la Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes). In 2009, Charly Pignon completed an Exotic Medicine Internship at Tufts University and when he came back to France he created the Exotic Medicine Service in Alfort National Veterinary School. Charly Pignon is a Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Small mammals), member of the Executive Committee, a board member of Yaboumba (French association for continuing education in exotic and wild animals), and was president of the Association of Exotics Mammal Veterinarian (AEMV). His field of interest are pain management in exotics medicine, endoscopy, and his current field of research are ear surgeries and orthopedic surgeries in small mammals, and blood transfusion in ferrets.

Sylvie CHASTANT is a French vet (Alfort 1990), European specialist in animal reproduction (Dipl ECAR), currently president of the European College of Animal Reproduction, full member of the French Veterinary Academy, teacher-clinician-researcher in French National Veterinary Schools. She currently works at Alfort National Veterinary School in France. Her passions are knowledge sharing, clinical activities and applied research. She was offered the opportunity to work in many animal species, mainly bovine and carnivores and she is convinced about the importance of comparative physiopathology in reproduction. After having explored canine oocytes and embryos, she developed interest and research on canine and feline neonatalogy and pediatrics, with specific emphasis on colostrum, milk, birth weight, neonatal growth and nutrition, mortality causes and maternal programming in puppies and kittens.

Dr. Helio Autran de Morais graduated from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and went on to earn a PhD. He completed a dual residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Ohio State University and is board-certified in both specialties by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Additionally, he holds certifications in Veterinary Hospital Management from Purdue University and the AAHA. Currently a professor at Oregon State University, Dr. de Morais integrates AI tools into his daily professional and personal activities. Dr. de Morais has authored over 200 publications, including more than 70 book chapters in leading veterinary textbooks and is a sought-after speaker globally.

Martina Colombo is a researcher at the University of Milan (Italy). She started her research career in the same University, investigating enriched culture conditions for cryopreserved feline oocytes in collaboration with São Paulo State University (Brazil). She later obtained a PhD in Veterinary and Animal Science with studies focused on gamete long-term preservation and especially oocyte vitrification, also collaborating with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Germany). Currently, her research concerns reproductive biotechnologies in animal models, and especially the use of three-dimensional culture systems and the study of intracellular mechanisms affected by cryopreservation.

Daniel Combarros graduated from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, in 2012. Following two years of work in private clinics in Paris and southern England, he completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine at the Veterinary Faculty of Liège (Belgium). He then decided to specialize in dermatology, undertaking internships in the specialty at the University of Nantes and in Toulouse (France). Between 2017 and 2020, he completed a dermatology residency of the European College of Veterinary Dermatology, earning his specialist diploma (Dipl. ECVD) in 2021. His doctoral thesis (PhD) focused on studying skin barrier defects in dogs with atopic dermatitis, using both in vivo and in vitro models (reconstructed epidermis). He currently works as an associate professor of dermatology at the Veterinary Faculty of Toulouse.

Nazaré Pinto da Cunha graduated in Veterinary Medicine from University of Porto in 2005 and later earned a PhD in Animal Pathology, with a thesis on immunocytochemistry, from the University of Milan in 2010.
She completed a residency at the University of Milan by the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) and in 2011 became the first Portuguese European specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology.
Nazaré actively contributes to the field as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ESVCP).
She has organized several meetings, including the first ECVCP Summer School and the European Congress in Lisbon in 2023.
She is the author of several articles published in international journals, a guest speaker at national and international congresses and courses, and a scientific reviewer.
She is a founding partner of Vedis laboratory, where she is currently clinical director, and an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Lusófona University in Lisbon.
Her main areas of interest are diagnostic cytology and immunocytochemistry.

Prof. Alain Fontbonne, DVM, MSc, PhD, Habilitation, Dip. ECAR.
Alain Fontbonne is currently Full Professor in Small Animal Reproduction in the Veterinary Faculty of Alfort (Paris-France). He is a diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR) and has supervised 8 residents who all successfully passed the European specialist examination. He has also been one of the founding members and former President of the European Veterinary Society for Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR) and elected as an Honorary Member of EVSSAR. He is also Vice-President of a French NGO involved in assisted reproduction in wild felids. His topics of interest are control of fertility in dogs and cats (large or small), assisted reproduction, infectious diseases affecting reproduction. He has published more than 100 publications for veterinarians and breeders and has been invited to lecture in many international congresses.

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Assistant professor at UTAD, teaches and researches in the areas of Animal Physiology and Nutrition.
In 1999 Master's degree in Animal Production at UTAD.
In 2003 Degree in Veterinary Medicine at UTAD
In 2008 PhD in Animal Science at UTAD
Between 2012-2015 did a residency at the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition, which took place in Utrecht in the Netherlands, Ghent in Belgium and at UTAD.
In 2016 obtained the title of EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition.
In 2017 founded the spin-off company UTAD (Nut4Pet, Lda) which provides consultancy services in the specialized area of pet nutrition.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Jane Morrell is faculty Professor in Veterinary Reproductive Biotechnologies at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. She is also a Diplomate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, UK. She has been active in research for 40 years, first in the UK, then Germany, and now Sweden, principally in how to improve sperm quality to increase reproductive efficiency in a wide variety of species, from honey bees to elephants, although most of her work has been done in livestock and horses. Recently her research has focussed on the microbiome of the reproductive tract and how it can potentially be manipulated to improve fertility. She has had many international collaborations and in addition has hosted many PhD students and post- docs from other countries in her group in Uppsala. A particularly relevant topic for society today is antimicrobial resistance, and one aspect of her current research is to find alternatives to replace antibiotics in the semen extenders used in artificial insemination. Apart from the topics already mentioned, she is particularly interested in conservation of endangered species and rare breeds.

Wojciech Nizanski graduated in 1992 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław, Poland. He defended PhD on cryopreservation of the dog semen in 1999 and habilitation on artificial insemination in relation to semen quality in dogs in 2009. From the year 2011 is employed as a university professor. Current Head of the Department of Reproduction on Wroclaw Vet Faculty since 2009. Member of the Board of the European Society for Veterinary Small Animal Reproduction EVSSAR in 2007-2013 and President of EVSSAR 2011-2013. Member of the Board of Society for Biology of Reproduction in Poland. Current Chair of Committee for Veterinary Sciences and Biology of Reproduction of Polish Academy of Sciences (2020-2024 and 2024-2028). Chair of Veterinary Discipline of Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences 2019-2024. Current President of Polish Small Animal Veterinary Association PSAVA. He has published more than 200 original studies, reviews and books dedicated small animal reproduction for practitioners, students and academics. Invited speaker of many national and international Congresses (Congresses ESDAR, ISCFR, EVSSAR, WSAVA, AI Vets, AGHR, ALARPA, CBRA, PSAVA, WVA etc). In 2014 received the title of Full Professor of veterinary sciences. Active practitioner on the field of animal reproduction, especially artificial insemination and fertility disorders in males and females. Researcher on the field of the use of Assisted Reproduction Technologies in programs of rescue of endangered animal species. He established in Wroclaw Bank of Gametes and Somatic Cells of Companion Animals and Endangered Animal Species. Has organized many international workshops and conferences dedicated reproduction of animals.

Dr. Maja Zakošek Pipan began her career at the Clinic for Reproduction at the Veterinary Faculty of Ljubljana in 2005. Between 2009 and 2011, she spent time at the prestigious Veterinary School of the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Dr. Margret L. Casal, an experience that profoundly shaped her professional path. Inspired by this, she pursued career in small animal reproduction medicine. Throughout her journey, she collaborated with renowned experts, including time at Alfort Veterinary School in France and the University of Padua under Prof. Dr. Stefano Romagnoli. In 2019, she published a book on neonatal care for puppies and kittens and has authored numerous scientific studies in the field of small animal reproduction. Recently, her research has focused on neonatal health, including studies on healthy gut development in canine neonates.

A.Prof.Dr. Sabine-Schäfer-Somi, DVM, Dipl ECAR
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Clinical Center for Reproduction
Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna
Tel.: +43 / +1 / 25077 / 6416
Fax: +43 / +1 / 25077 / 5490
e-mail:sabine.schaefer@vetmeduni.ac.at
Sabine Schäfer-Somi graduated in 1991 at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and became a DVM in 1993. Since 1994 she worked at the Clinic for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Andrology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna as a university assistant. Even though trained in all fields of animal reproduction, and being active for >30 years in large and small animal theriogenology, she always favoured small animal reproduction. In 2002, she became Diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction (Dipl. ECAR). She habilitated in 2006 to become an Associate Professor. She is now in the position of a senior lecturer, scientist and work group leader at the Clinical Center for Reproduction, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. She is mainly responsible for the area “Reproduction and Gamete Conservation in Small Animals and participates in the clinic’s theriogenology service. In the field of small animal reproduction, she cooperated with international specialists which resulted in 222 publications, and some book chapters. Her research interests include spermatology, cryopreservation of gametes, artificial insemination, immunology of pregnancy and the neonates, neonatology, and contraception. During the ISCFR-EVSSAR congress in Whistler, Canada in 2012, she received a Senior Investigator Research Award. She was active in the board of the Austrian Society of Veterinarians and in the board of the European Veterinary Society of Small Animal Reproduction (EVSSAR) and is currently a member of the Reproduction Control Committee of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA).

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Giovanni Burrai earned his degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Sassari in 2006, followed by a specialization in Animal Health, Breeding, and Zootechnical Production in 2011, and a PhD in Reproduction, Production, and Animal Welfare in 2014. He broadened his research and expertise during study periods at the University of Liverpool, Purdue University, and the University of Bologna. In 2020, he achieved board certification from the European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP). He is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Sassari’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, focusing on diagnosing diseases in both domestic and wild animals. Giovanni’s scientific contributions include numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences, with a special interest in canine and feline mammary tumors.