LOC & ISC

János received his DVM diploma in 1996. His PhD degree was completed in 2006. He is full member of European College of Zoological medicine since 2009. His main job was at Department of Pathology and Forensic Veterinary of Faculty of Veterinary Sciences between 1996 and 2012 where he is examined all of exotic and wild animal carcasses and samples. He established a new department in 2014 as Department of Exotic Animal and Wildlife Medicine where he is head of department. Between 2012 and 2013 Dr. Gál was employed in Morocco where he organised some local wildlife projects as a senior veterinarian. He has teaching activity in United Arab Emirates at College of Food and Agriculture from 2018 and at University of Padova (Italy) from 2019 as visiting professor. He is author of more than 200 scientific papers and couple of captures of scientific books. His research fields are clinicopathology of reptiles and zoo animals. He is actively collaborating with pheasant and partridge farms as a consultant vet and he organises some research programs there. His hobby is the arachnofaunistic examination area of Nord-Africa and Middle-East.
János is liaison to the ARAV Committee.

Viktoria graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest in 2013. She has been working as a veterinarian at the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden since January 2014. In 2016, she obtained her North American Certificate of Qualification and in 2017, she became accredited as an Exotic Animal Specialist by the Hungarian Veterinary Chamber. She is currently juggling work, her 2 kids and her PhD in raptor medicine.
Viktoria is liaison to the AEMV Committee.

Zsuzsanna started with her studies at the University of Veterinary Medicine of Budapest in 2015. Currently she is in her fifth year and she will get her diploma in February 2021. Alongside her studies she do frequent practical work at the Budapest Zoo and a small animal vet place. Her main area of interest is zoo and wildlife animal medicine. She is able to communicate in English and Hungarian at native level.

Márton graduated at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest in 2017 and after the graduation started to work as a zoo veterinarian at the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden. Since then he is a member of the veterinarian team. During his undergraduate studies he has completed the course of Wildlife Engineer BSc. He is taking part in the brown trout genetic line conservation program as a veterinary consultant in Hungary. In his private praxis he is also working with aquatic animals. He is providing veterinary services for fish farmers, aquaculture companies and hobby aquarists too. In 2019 he has earned the title of Veterinary Expert on Wildlife Medicine. He is recently working on his PhD thesis on “Investigating the tumours of farmed rainbow trout”.

In 1996 Karina was awarded a DVM degree from Munich, Germany, followed by her doctoral thesis in 2003 on mycoplasma and herpesviruses investigations in free-ranging and captive Mediterranean Tortoises in France and Morroco. In 2019 she was awarded a habilitation and Venia Legendi on “Diagnostic Imaging in Reptiles – Specific anatomy and morphology of different organ systems using current imaging techniques”.
Since 2010 she has served as service chief and clinician of the Department of Reptiles at the Clinic for Small Mammals, Reptiles and Birds, Veterinary University Hannover, Germany. Additionally she provides lectures on reptilian and amphibian medicine to veterinary students and presents clinical papers at national and international conferences. She is a Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM, herpetology) and is a certified specialist for reptiles and amphibians (Fachtierärztin Reptil; ZB Reptilien/Amphibien). Karina is the chair of the ARAV International Committee since 2012, and member of the ICARE steering committee since 2013.

Michael Lierz graduated in Hanover, Germany and earned his doctorate title by thesis from the Free University of Berlin, Germany working on diseases and rehabilitation of raptors. After being 4 years the director of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Research Hospital in the United Arab Emirates he returned to the Free University of Berlin in 2001, working as a scientific assistant. In 2009 he moved to the University of Giessen as the director of the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish. He holds the European Diplomate status of the European College of Zoological medicine, the European College of Poultry Veterinary Science, and the RCVS Diplomate status in Zoological Medicine (avian). In Germany he holds the specialist status in Poultry- and Avian Medicine, in Zoo- and Wildlife Medicine, in Microbiology, and in Species Conservation.

Chris Griffin received his DVM from the University of Georgia in 1995 and completed a private practice ABVP – Avian Residency in 1999. He passed his ABVP – Avian Boards in 2002 and recertified in 2012. He is a past President of both the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians and the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, and has previously served as Conference Chair for each association’s annual meeting. He opened an exclusively avian and exotic pet hospital in North Carolina in 2004, and serves as its Medical Director. He has published several papers/book chapters and served as a guest editor for the Common Procedures issue of Vet Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice. He has been both a presenter and moderator/session chair at international conferences for over 10 years, and has been involved in organizing conferences (including every iCARE and the first two ExoticsCon conferences) for several years.

Steve graduated in 2002 from the Royal Veterinary College, London, and spent 2 years in small animal practice in Hampshire. In 2004 he started a 4 year European College of Zoological Medicine internship and residency program run jointly between Great Western Exotics and the University of Bristol. In 2006, Steve gained the RCVS Certificate in Zoological Medicine. In 2008 he completed his residency program and joined a large independent mixed practice in Buckinghamshire to set up an avian and exotics service. In 2011 he gained the ECZM Diploma in Zoological Medicine (Avian). In 2016 he became the sole charge, full-time vet at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, one of the busiest wildlife hospitals in Europe. Steve has lectured at multiple conferences to vets and nurses and has published in various texts and journals including BSAVA Manuals. He enjoys all aspects of avian medicine, especially work with birds of prey and pigeons, and he also has an enthusiastic interest in backyard poultry medicine and legislation.

Rachel Marschang studied veterinary medicine and received her doctorate from the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany and received her habilitation in Environmental and Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Virology from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. She has been studying infectious diseases in reptiles since 1997. She is a diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (herpetology) as well as a certified specialist for microbiology (FTÄ Mikrobiologie) and for reptile medicine (ZB Reptilien). She is the past president of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV), the chair of the herpetology specialty of the ECZM, and the European representative of the Global Ranavirus Consortium (GRC). She has written multiple book chapters and peerreviewed papers on reptile medicine as well as presenting at many international conferences. She is currently working as a consultant veterinarian for reptile diagnostics at Laboklin GmbH & Co. KG in Bad Kissingen, Germany and as an adjunct professor (Privatdozentin) at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany.

Brian received his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983, has been a diplomate of ECZM since 1999, and ABVP since 1996. He is past-president of the AAV (1999-2000), the recipent of the Lafeber Award (2003), Speaker of the Year award at the North American Veterinary Conference (2006), and AAV President’s award (2007). He currently serves as a consultant for the Veterinary Information Network, ECZM Scientific Committee chair, Editor for the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, and director of the Medical Center for Birds. Brian is co-author of The Large Macaws (1995), Birds for Dummies (1999), and is primary Editor for Current Veterinary Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery, with anticipated publication in 2015. Brian is in private practice, focusing exclusively on avian species, in Northern California.

Nicola Di Girolamo is an associate professor of Exotics and Zoological Medicine at Oklahoma State University and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine. Before moving to the US, Nicola has been employed as a veterinary specialist in Hong Kong at Tai Wai Small Animal & Exotics Hospital. Back in Italy, he performed his ECZM residency at the Clinic for Exotic Animals in Rome. He completed a Master of Science in evidence-based healthcare at the university of Oxford and a PhD at the University of Bologna. Following that, he founded EBMVet, a study group on Evidence-based medicine. He is a past-president of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians.