Tim Burnside is the Global Vice President of Welfare, Sustainability & Compliance at Aviagen Group since June 2022. With over 25 years of experience at Aviagen Turkeys prior to his current role, Tim has a comprehensive background in various aspects of the business including Quality Assurance, Health and Safety, Sales and Marketing, and R&D. He holds a Master of Science degree in poultry from the University of Glasgow, UK, and is certified as a welfare auditor by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO). Tim is actively engaged in several regional and global welfare and sustainability industry working groups, such as Avec, British Poultry Council, European Forum for Farm Animal Breeders, International Poultry Welfare Alliance, and International Poultry Council.

Mark Lyte is a Full Professor and W.E. Lloyd Endowed Chair at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames, Iowa, USA. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biophysics and Cellular Immunology. Transitioning from human disease, he joined Iowa State University in 2015. He is also a board-certified clinical laboratory scientist. Prof. Lyte’s research has revealed the ability of microorganisms to produce and recognize neurochemicals that impact host health, behavior, and disease development, founding the field of microbial endocrinology. He has received prestigious awards, including the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence and was a finalist for the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award.

Vincent holds a DVM degree from Lyon, France, earned in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Poultry Science from the University of Georgia, USA, completed in 1991. Since 1994, he has been a diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. Vincent’s career spans both the animal health and egg production sectors, including roles at Burnbrae Farms Ltd. He has represented the global Poultry & Egg sector in various intergovernmental organizations, addressing issues such as animal welfare, climate change, and food safety. As Managing Director of FFI Consulting Ltd., Vincent works internationally to enhance the role of animal-sourced foods in nutrition and food security, leveraging digital technologies and AI. His work includes collaborations with diverse clients, from the private sector to NGOs and research institutions. Additionally, Vincent serves as the Global Coordinator for Poultry Health and Production at the World Veterinary Education in Production Animal Health. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and he recently served as an Associate Editor for a book on Egg Science & Technology. Vincent is a frequent speaker at international conferences, industry seminars, and contributes editorials to Poultry journals.

Prof. Dr. Tomás Norton is an associate professor of Sustainable Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) at KU Leuven in Belgium. He leads the PLF research team at M3-BIORES and coordinates courses on Measuring, Modelling, and Managing Bio-responses and Sustainable PLF. He is involved in collaborative research projects funded by various organizations and holds fellowships with important institutions like IAgrE, iAABE, and FRSB. He chairs CIGR Section II and the CIGR Technical Board. With over 100 SCI publications, he serves as Editor-in-Chief at Elsevier journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture and as Specialty Editor at Frontiers of Animal Science. He is also a series editor for Springer Nature Book Series: Smart Animal Production.

Dr. Rodriguez Navarro has a PhD in Physics (1997) and is working as a full professor of Crystallography and Mineralogy at the Universidad de Granada (Spain) since 2003. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at Penn State University (from 1998 to 2000) and The University of Georgia (from 2000 to 2002). He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Granada (1997). His research is focused on biomineralization or how organisms control mineralization processes to form calcified tissues (bones, mollusc shells and egg shells). In particular, he studies how different genetic, nutritional and environmental factors (i.e., pH, temperature, salinity, oxygenation, food supply, parasitism) affect tissue mineralization mainly in birds and molluscs. He has development novel methods to study the bone quality and eggshell quality in laying hens and to study the food safety and the resistance to microbial contamination of eggs. In these topics he has coauthor over 150 publications in indexed scientific journals. He actively collaborates with researchers from academia: INRA (France), Roslin Institut (UK), Swedish Agricultural University (Sweden) and animal nutrition companies.

Benjamin Schusser, a veterinary medicine graduate from LMU Munich, earned his doctorate on Mx protein’s role in chicken influenza defense. His research centers on genetically modifying chickens to study their immune system. With experience at UC Davis and Crystal Bioscience, USA, he established a research group at LMU Munich, funded by DFG’s Emmy Noether Program. In 2016, he became a Professor of Reproductive Biotechnology at TUM. Schusser is an expert in chicken immunology and genetic engineering, specializing in using genetically modified chickens as experimental models. He’s certified as a specialist veterinarian in laboratory animal science since 2016 and in molecular genetics and genetic engineering since 2020.

J. I. Barragán has been involved in poultry production since 1982, focusing primarily on nutrition and management for broilers, breeders, and layers. Since 2002, he has worked as a freelance consultant for companies in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and South America, providing technical support in pathology, nutrition, and management. He assists clients in optimizing production costs and evaluating performance. Additionally, he has a keen interest in carcass quality and maintain relationships with slaughterhouses in Spain, Portugal, and America.

His expertise lies in broiler production, particularly in nutrition and intestinal health, and I collaborate closely with additives companies worldwide. At Galimetría SL, he contributes to comparing and evaluating technical performances and cost values for various integrations in Spain, involving approximately 60% of total production.

Furthermore, he holds the position of Associate Professor in Poultry Production at a private university in Valencia, Spain, where he is actively involved in research programs. Some of his papers and presentations can be found online.

Andrew Catlett attended the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa completing a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture specialising in Animal and Poultry Science in 2007. After graduating Andrew relocated to the UK where he worked in research for 5 years before joining a large UK based broiler integration as Nutritionist. While working in the UK, Andrew completed his MSc in Applied Poultry Science from the University of Glasgow. He relocated back to South Africa in 2016 with his family and has since worked extensively within the Sub-Saharan Africa market as a Technical Manager. Andrew now works for Cobb Europe and manages the nutrition requirements for internal production as well as contributing to the R&D department with Cobb Vantress. Andrew also consults widely within the Europe, Middle East and Africa region with customers.

Animal Welfare Research Scientist at IRTA since 2005, he earned his BVSc degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 2000, followed by a Master’s degree in Animal Production and a PhD in Veterinary Sciences from UAB in 2003 and 2005, respectively. He also holds a Master’s degree in Management of Meat Industries since 2006 and became a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behaviour Medicine in 2016, specializing in Animal Welfare Science, ethics, and law. His expertise lies in animal welfare during transport and slaughter, farm and abattoir assessment, and behavior of farm animals and wild ruminants. His research focuses on various aspects of animal welfare, including stunning methods, religious slaughter, transportation, and the development of welfare protocols for multiple species. With numerous publications and presentations, he has also conducted extensive training for professionals in the field, including veterinarians, farmers, transporters, and slaughterhouse personnel. He has actively participated in EU animal welfare training programs, including the Better Training for Safer Food initiative, as a tutor.

Prof. Bruno Gonzalez-Zorn, a veterinarian and microbiologist, is the Head of the Antimicrobial Resistance Unit (ARU) at Complutense University in Madrid, which he founded in 2005. His research emphasizes One Health, investigating antimicrobial resistance gene and bacteria flow among humans, animals, and the environment. With a DVM earned in 1996 and a European PhD in 2001, he received a Ramon y Cajal tenure-track contract after a postdoc at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Notable accolades include the National Microbiology Award in 2011 and the National Antimicrobial Resistance Research Award in 2018. He’s a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of JPI AMR and has collaborated globally on antimicrobial resistance projects, emphasizing the implementation of the One Health approach in national action plans. His work, spanning genomics and molecular microbiology, aims to inform policy and practice worldwide in combatting antimicrobial resistance.

Pharmacy graduate with a PhD, serving as Professor of Nutrition and Food Science and Head of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Teaches human nutrition across various programs including Pharmacy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics, and Food Science and Technology. Directs the Master’s program “Nutrition, Health and Women” and co-leads the UCM research group VALORNUT. Research focuses on nutritional status across diverse population groups and the impact of nutritional imbalances on physical and mental health. Involved in national-level projects in collaboration with AESAN, such as the ALADINO, ENALIA, and ENALIA2 Studies, offering key insights into childhood obesity and dietary habits in Spain. With over 200 publications, including scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters, she is actively engaged in the Spanish Society of Community Nutrition (SENC) and the National Academy of Nutrition and Food Sciences. Additionally, she serves on the Delegate Commission of the Advisory Council of the Spanish Institute for Egg Studies.

Robert finished his Masters degree in agriculture in 2005 at the University of Rostock, and also did his PhD there with focus on nutritional modulation of gut microbiota in monogastrics. He then spent some time as a postdoc at the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada before moving to the Institute of Animal Nutrition at the Freie Universität in Berlin in 2009. Since 2018, he is head of the unit ‘Feed and Feed Additives’ and since 2020 also provisional head of the Department ‘Safety in the Food Chain’ at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). One of his current focusses is on the transfer of undesirable substances and contaminants from feed into foods of animal origin. He is working in several national and international projects related to this topic and has published more than 130 peer reviewed Journal Articles.

Sandra Sevilla-Navarro, DVM, PhD, ECPVS Dipl., serves as Project Manager at the Centro de Calidad Avícola y Alimentación Animal de la Comunidad Valenciana (Spain), specializing in veterinary medicine. She earned her degree from CEU Cardenal Herrera University in 2016 and was awarded an International and Industrial Doctoral PhD in 2020, receiving the Extraordinary Doctorate Award. Sevilla-Navarro became a European Diplomate of the European College of Poultry Veterinary Science in 2023. During her predoctoral tenure, she conducted research stays at INRA in Tours, France, and the University of Loughborough, UK, focusing on phage therapy. Her current research involves collaborations with the agri-food sector, particularly on using bacteriophages to control pathogens in poultry and swine production. She leads regional and national projects, including European Horizon 2020 initiatives like PhagoVet and Netpoulsafe, aiming to enhance biosecurity and reduce antibiotic use in animal production. Sevilla-Navarro has published extensively, contributed to research agreements, and presented at national and international congresses. Additionally, she serves as an Associate Professor of Poultry Infectious Disease at UCH-CEU University and contributes to various master’s programs, supervising final projects and doctoral theses.

Birger Svihus graduated from the Agricultural University of Norway in 1991 with a degree in Animal Science, and completed his PhD in Poultry Nutrition at the same University in 1997. He is currently a Professor with the Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway. He is the author or co-author of around 90 peer-reviewed scientific papers (H-index 37) and is the author of or contributor to several books (including three within human nutrition), and numerous invited conference papers. His scientific work in poultry nutrition has mainly been within the area of cereal fibre and starch, feed technology, digestive tract function and feeding systems. He had a leading role in the organisation of the 14th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition (2003) and the 14th European Poultry Conference (2014), organized under the auspices of World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA). He was the president of the Norwegian branch of WPSA from 1996 to 2009 and the president of the European Federation of WPSA from 2014 to 2018. From 2015 through 2022, he was Editor-in-Chief in British Poultry Science from 2016 through to 2021.

Dr. Toscano, Group Leader at the University of Bern’s Center for Proper Housing of Poultry and Rabbits, earned his PhD from Purdue University in the United States. Since 2013, he has led research in Switzerland, following seven years of postdoctoral work at the University of Bristol, UK. With over $30 million in funding from Swiss, US, and EU sources, his research encompasses poultry and rabbit welfare and housing. He excels in behavior, physiology, and management studies. Dr. Toscano has played key roles in EU-COST Actions, focusing on Livestock Phenomics and coordinating keel bone fracture research. His work includes using sensor technology to understand animal behavior and improve breeding for cage-free systems. Noteworthy projects address feeder space, hen depopulation, and behaviors like piling and toe pecking. He received the Poultry Welfare Research Award from the Poultry Science Association in 2016. Dr. Toscano collaborates with industry partners and actively teaches, edits for Poultry Science, and engages with animal science and welfare societies worldwide.

Sijne van der Beek is the Chief Technology Officer of Global Layer Genetics, part of the EW Group. He oversees the Research, Innovation and Breeding Program activities of the layer genetic companies that are part of the EW group. Throughout his career in several roles in the animal breeding industry, he has been dedicated to innovations that lead to improved lives of farm animals, of farmers and of people across the world. He is honoured that today he can do this as part of a globally leading company active at the start of the egg production supply chain.