Mick Park

(APHA)

Mick graduated from Glasgow Vet School in 1988 and spent a year in farm animal practice before returning to Glasgow as a pathology resident and then took on a research fellowship on genetic resistance of sheep to gastro-intestinal parasites leading to a PhD.  Mick then left Glasgow for seven years of mostly farm animal practice in Aberdeenshire and then Lanarkshire.  Both the practices had MHS contracts and he contributed to the Official Veterinarian work.

 Mick joined the State Veterinary Service in 2003, and has had a number of roles including Veterinary Officer, Veterinary Business Partner for Scotland, Veterinary Head of Exotic Disease and Welfare, and now Veterinary Lead for Scotland, covering South East Scotland.  Key achievements have been working on exotic disease outbreaks including leading the tracing team in the response to FMD in 2007 and various roles in avian influenza outbreaks from field inspector to LDCC Veterinary Manager, delivering risk-based TB surveillance changes in Scotland and rolling out changes on welfare at time of killing in Scotland and England.  Mick is now committed to developing the veterinary and technical teams in APHA and improving animal health and welfare through his role in APHA, delivering an effective multi-agency approach and actively engaging with stakeholders and industry.

Liz Kelly

(Ex-Defra)

Liz graduated from the University of Glasgow with both a veterinary degree and a PhD. She then spent several years working at a variety of jobs available to vets including mixed practice (both small animal and cattle specialist), as a veterinary investigation officer for the West of Scotland Agricultural College and as a veterinary officer for a research and development dairy farm in Dumfries. She then moved down to England to work firstly in product development, followed by technical adviser, for a pharmaceutical company. A twelve year maternity break followed which included studying at the Open University (Diploma in French) and working on the farm at home. Liz returned to her veterinary career with a short stint as a casual veterinary officer for the SVS in Reigate (brucella and TB testing) and then joined Defra in London to work as a veterinary adviser in the surveillance team. She remained with Defra for 13 years, her longest spell anywhere, working in animal welfare, research and development and latterly as policy lead in zoonoses. She has now returned to the farm and acts as an independent veterinary adviser to World Horse Welfare.

Anthony Ridge

(Defra)

Anthony graduated in 2013 from the University of Cambridge with degrees in Veterinary Medicine and Zoology. He worked for 8 months at the RSPCA’s flagship Birmingham Animal Hospital providing veterinary care for stray animals, pets and wildlife before spending a year working as a veterinary surgeon at a large private small animal practice in Birmingham. He subsequently spent two years as the Parliamentary Veterinary Intern in the House of Lords working closely with Lord Trees (a vet and crossbench peer) to help provide a strong veterinary voice in Parliament. In 2017 he joined the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) as a Senior Veterinary Inspector. He now works as a Defra Veterinary Advisor for international trade. Anthony is interested in policy and in promoting the roles of veterinarians in society particularly in relation to animal welfare, environmental sustainability and One Health.

VACANT

Joana Crisostomo

(APHA)

Joana graduated in 2008 from Porto University in Portugal. She worked in small animal practice and veterinary sales before she moved permanently to the UK in 2012. She worked initially as a meat inspector and later joined the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). She currently works as an APHA field vet in Devon. As a student she took active part in her local and national veterinary students associations in Portugal and she is very happy to be able to contribute again to the veterinary profession through her representation at the AGV council.

Claire White

Adrienne Conroy

(Ex-FSA)

Adrienne graduated from UCD and has gained broad ranging experience from across the Profession having worked in private practice, large charity organisations, the food and pharma industry and a number of Government organisations including Local Authorities, Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). At the FSA she was involved in formulating policies and strategies to address public health controls. These included crises resulting from foodborne illness such as E.coli, BSE and nvCJD and required her to represent government at EU negotiations throughout the BSE crises. She has also been a member of the Editorial Panel for the Government Veterinary Journal, Chair of the GVS Communications & Networking Group and past president of AGV. Adrienne has been actively involved in initiatives for various Professional organisations including BVA, RCVS and VPHA and for both farm and companion animal veterinary associations. Currently she is Head of Policy for a membership organisation and continues to contribute to AGV activities whilst undertaking the role of BVA Council Representative for the Association. 

Jane Clark

(FSA)

Jane is currently the Food Standard Agency’s Director of Veterinary Services and is a farmer’s daughter from Yorkshire who graduated as a vet from Edinburgh University in the 90s. Since then she has had an interesting and varied veterinary career starting with a post graduate project in Oman, working in general practice in the UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and studying veterinary acupuncture before working as a Temporary Veterinary Inspector for the then State Veterinary Service (SVS) during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Within Defra and APHA she held roles in the operations, policy, veterinary and science directorates. This has included working as Defra’s Head of EU Relations for Animal Health and Welfare during 2012-15, as the Veterinary Lead for Avian Virology in the UK’s National Reference Laboratory at APHA, Weybridge and, most recently, one of APHA’s Veterinary Leads in Wales.

Within the wider profession, Jane is a member of BVA’s Welsh Branch Council, a Past President of both AGV and of EASVO (European Association of State Veterinary Officers) and is currently serving as a Vice President on the Board of the FVE (Federation of Veterinarians of Europe) for the 2023-25 term. 

Kate Sharpe

(APHA)

Kate graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London and spent nine years in a very mixed practice in Lincolnshire and Cumbria. She moved to the then State Veterinary Service (now APHA) as a Veterinary Officer and obtained an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology at the RVC/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her roles in APHA included Field Veterinary Adviser then Divisional Veterinary Manager. She later became Head of Research and Field Epidemiology through 11 notifiable disease outbreaks from FMD 2001 to 2013. Her last role at the agency was Head of Scanning Surveillance. Kate then moved to the Home Office to become an Inspector under the Animals (Science Procedures) Act and is now self-employed and with the National Emergency Epidemiology Group in APHA. She is a Council member and Past President of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire BVA and Council member and Senior Vice President of AGV and is also the BVA representative for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Jane Gibbens

B Vet Med, MSc (Trop Vet Sci), MSc (Epidem), Dip ECVPH, MRCVS

(ex Defra/VLA/APHA)

Jane is a vet and epidemiologist and currently provides part time professional consultancy, including membership of the FSA’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF), the Defra bovine TB Partnership, and as a Council Member and alternate BVA representative for AGV. Her main interest is in applied risk assessment and the capture and use of data to understand and control disease.

After qualifying from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) she spent two years in mixed practice before gaining an MSc in Tropical Veterinary Science and working in British Aid projects in Belize and Yemen. She joined the GB Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1991, as a Veterinary Investigation Officer and later gained an MSc in Epidemiology (with distinction) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She continued to work in MAFF (later Defra), first in VLA Weybridge on epidemiological research (zoonoses and surveillance) before moving to policy advice roles in Central London, providing epidemiological advice and training on surveillance and exotic disease control (including outbreaks of CSF, FMD, BT, Avian flu and others). She led and chaired the National Emergency Epidemiology Group (NEEG) and the UK Veterinary Risk Group in this time. From 2015-17 she created and lead Defra’s bovine TB Epidemiology Assessment Centre.

Jane has also provided post graduate teaching in epidemiology both as a lecturer, course organiser and examiner on the Veterinary Epidemiology MSc (RVC/LSHTM) and on courses for field vets and others in the UK and EU. 

Kate Richards

(Food Standards Scotland, Ex-Defra)

Kate graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh and worked as a farm animal vet in Aberdeenshire for fifteen years, a partner in a large mixed practice. Moving into the pharmaceutical industry Kate worked as a livestock veterinary advisor then livestock marketing manager, gaining a Diploma in Marketing. After working on Defra's Disease Emergency Control Centre during the Foot & Mouth Outbreak in 2001, Kate joined Defra in 2003 as a veterinary adviser. She progressed to senior civil service positions across Whitehall including managing the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee which was funded by Defra, FSA and Department of Health and considered risks surrounding BSE and vCJD. Kate was Principal Private Secretary to three successive Secretaries of State for Scotland whose portfolios spanned numerous policy areas not limited to animal health and welfare.

Kate has been a Council member of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, Chair of the RCVS Standards Committee, member of the RCVS Legislation Working Party, RCVS Certification Sub-Committee and Register & Registration Sub-Committee. 

Kate is a member of Council and Past President of the RCVS, she Chairs the RCVS Education Committee and holds Non-Executive Directorships on SRUC's Scottish Agricultural College Commercial, Moredun Research Institute and Food Standards Scotland Boards.

Kate divides her time between London and Scotland and, having gained a MA in Creative & Life Writing, writes when not working.