Kate Sharpe (AHVLA): Junior Vice-President

Kate graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1981. She spent 8 years in mixed practice before joining the State Veterinary Service as a Veterinary Officer in 1998 also working as Field Veterinary Adviser and then Divisional Veterinary Manager. She completed an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology in 2000 and led the Field Epidemiology Team during the 11 notifiable disease outbreaks in the UK until 2008.
She has taken an active role in various professional and specialist organisations such as BVA, BVPA and SVEPM.

Trish Logie: Council member

Trish qualified from Glasgow in 1993 and spent many years in general veterinary practice ranging from specialist equine, rural farm practice and finishing her time in a large small animal practice as responsible for all surgery.  She then worked in industry for a period with special interest in animal welfare. Trish has been at the VMD since 2005 and has filled a number of roles including that of Veterinary Assessor for pharmaceutical and feed additive veterinary medicinal products, and Head of the General Assessment Team. She recently undertook an internal loan to core Defra acting as Veterinary Advisor responsible for the implementation of the NCP for Salmonella in Turkeys and commencing a review of Defra's antimicrobial resistance policy. Most recently Trish has moved to become Head of Communications and Quality Management for the VMD.

Aiden Foster (AHVLA): Secretary                                               

Aiden joined the VLA in 2004 after being a senior lecturer in veterinary dermatology at the University of Bristol. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Veterinary Dermatology and represents the AHVLA on the board of In Practice. He works as a veterinary investigation officer at the AHVLA Shrewsbury regional laboratory. Particular roles include project manager for miscellaneous & exotic farmed species (including camelids and deer).

Adrienne Conroy: BVA Representative                                             

Adrienne has a wide range of experience from across the Profession having worked in private practice, for a large charity organisation, Industry and a number of Government organisations including Local Authorities, MAFF (now Defra), the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). At the FSA she was involved in key areas addressing public health controls relating to food safety. These covered high-profile outbreaks from foodborne illness including areas such as E.coli and BSE. She has also been a member of the Government Veterinary Journal Editorial Panel. Adrienne has been active in various Professional organisations such as BVA, RCVS and VPHA. She currently works in Industry and continues to contribute to AGV activities as BVA Council Representative for the Organisation.

Rebeca Garcia (Defra Food & Farming Group): AWF Representative

Rebeca has worked in the UK since 2001 when she joined Eville and Jones to work as an OV. She then moved to the MHS as an Employed OV and became a York based Veterinary Advisor in 2005. She moved away from the MHS at the end of May 2008 to become a London based DEFRA Veterinary advisor, working in animal welfare, zoonoses and surveillance. She has recently completed a PhD on the topic “The development and application of EU food hygiene legislation in slaughterhouses”.

Lévon Stephan (AHVLA): Council member

Lévon was born in London, but has an Armenian background. He qualified in 1991 from the Dick Vet with a Veterinary degree and an Honours degree in Neuroscience. After spending 10 years in a purely farm and specialist poultry practice, he then joined the Meat Hygiene Service as a Principal Official Veterinary Surgeon, later becoming a Regional Veterinary Advisor in the South of England. He now works as a Veterinary Officer for Animal Health based in Exeter where he is involved in all aspects of Divisional work, but has a special interest in poultry, zoonoses and animal welfare.

Alex Tomlinson (FERA):  Council member

Alex graduated from Cambridge in 1992 and worked in general practice for six years, followed by positions as a DEFRA VO and a university lecturer. After completing the MSc in Wild Animal Health at IOZ/RVC in 2004, she spent a stimulating year at the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre in Cornwall, developing skills in wildlife pathology. Alex now provides veterinary expertise for the Wildlife Ecology and Management Group with the Central Science Laboratory (part of the Food and Environment Research Agency) and is based at Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire. She is also working towards a PhD on the correlates of infection with Mycobacterium bovis in Eurasian badgers (Meles meles).

Enrique Fernandez (AHVLA): Council member                             

Enrique graduated in 1997 at the University of Zaragoza, and subsequently gained an MSc in Pig Production at the University of Aberdeen. Since 1998 he has worked in the UK, mainly in Yorkshire and in the Midlands, in a variety of roles ranging from small animal practice to Meat Hygiene Service work. For the last four years he has worked as a Veterinary Officer with Animal Health, his role including contingency planning and welfare amongst others. He is a member of the BVA, PVS and the BSAVA and has a special interest in pig and poultry medicine and welfare.

John Lawrence (AHVLA): Council member

John graduated from Massey University New Zealand and worked in predominately large animal and equine practice in New Zealand and the United Kingdom prior to joining the State Veterinary Service as a VO based at Lincoln. After five years he left the SVS to establish and run a large practice specialising in meat hygiene work and he gained the RCVS certificate in Veterinary Public Health. He took up the position of Veterinary Team Leader in the East Midlands two years ago. 

Stewart Donald (AHVLA): Council member                      

After qualifying from Edinburgh University in 1976, Stewart worked in mixed practice in Aberdeenshire and for the VI Service in Dumfries before returning to his home town of Inverness where he was a partner in a practice there for over 20 years. He took a sabbatical period in 1995 to work in Australia. He was a TVI during FMD in 2001 and on leaving practice in 2004 joined AHVLA as a Veterinary Officer in Inverness covering all aspects of divisional work but with a special interest in Animal Welfare – he is currently helping to develop AHVLA’s role in fish-farming welfare in Scotland. He also retains an interest in clinical work by doing regular weekend cover for his former practice.                     

Fred Landeg: Council Member                                               

Fred qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1971. After a spell in private veterinary practice, he entered public service in 1975 as a Veterinary Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, (now Defra). In his career he held a number of departmental posts concerned with public health, animal health and animal welfare. He played a major role in the control of outbreaks of foot mouth disease (2001, 2007), avian influenza and bluetongue. He was appointed UK Deputy Chief Veterinary in 2004 and was made acting UK Chief Veterinary Officer in November 2007, shortly before retiring from public service at the end of April 2008. He was awarded CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2008. Currently, he is a trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Trust. He is also a trustee of the Animal Health Trust and operates a specialist private consultancy. He chairs the Veterinary Policy Group of the British Veterinary Association. 

PAST PRESIDENTS

1979/80   T J Blackburn                    1980/81   B M Williams

1981/82   D J Lucas                          1982/83   F H Whaley

1983/84   A Dudgeon                       1984/85   R D Locke

1985/86   J M Bach                           1986/87   M E T Watts

1987/88   M H Lamont                      1988/89   R A Bell

1989/90   M Kelsey                           1990/91   R D Drummond

1991/92   F A Eames                         1992/93   J A Keele

1993/94   J M Williams                       1994/95   P A Manser

1995/96   M J Prince                          1996/97   R A Paul

1997/98   T M Phillips                        1998/99   C M McVicar

1999/00   N M James                         2000/01, 01/02, 02/03   J A MacKenzie

2003/04   A B MacPhee                     2004/05   J M W Jones

2005/06   Sarah Jackson                   2006/07   Sophia Rizvi

2007/08   Neil Smith                          2008/09   Jane Clark

2009/10   Adrienne Conroy                2010/2011 CM McVicar