Speakers
Dr. Marcelo Almeida
Iowa State University
Marcelo Almeida received his DVM degree from the University of Brasil in 2003, and a Masters Degree in Preventive Veterinary Medicine by the Federal University of State of Rio Grande do Sul in 2006. Marcelo has been working with the swine industry for the last 17 years with roles in a vertically integrated pork producer, genetic supplier, and pharmaceutical company. In 2016 he joined the graduate program at the VDPAM department at Iowa State University to work towards a Ph.D. degree and is also currently serving as a swine diagnostician at the ISU-VDL.
Dr. Betsy Armenta-Leyva
Iowa State University
Dr. Armenta-Leyva obtained her DVM degree in 2019 at the Sonora Institute of Technology, in Sonora, Mexico. She worked some time in a veterinary diagnostics laboratory in Mexico and then started her Master’s in the Veterinary Preventive Medicine program at the Iowa State University in January 2020, working with Dr. Jeffrey Zimmerman and Dr. Luis Giménez as major professors. Dr. Armenta-Leyva’s research focus is real-time PCR improvements for swine infectious diseases.
Dr. Justin Brown
Assistant Teaching Professor, Iowa State University in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department
Dr. Justin Brown is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Iowa State University in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department. Dr. Brown earned his DVM in 2016 from the University of Georgia. Dr. Brown joined the ISU faculty in 2019 following his time as a post-doctoral research associate with the Swine Medicine Education Center. Dr. Brown teaches swine medicine topics in both the undergraduate and professional curriculums, serves as the lead veterinarian for the ISU swine farms, and conducts research focused on collaborative, applied projects in swine production medicine, disease ecology, and foreign animal disease preparedness and response.
Dr. Eric Burrough
Diagnostic Pathologist and Section Leader of Pathology, Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Dr. Eric Burrough is a diagnostic pathologist and Section Leader of Pathology at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine and his research focus is on enteric diseases of swine. Dr. Burrough is currently the president of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.
Dr. Guilherme Arruda Cezar
Graduate Research Assistant at the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department at Iowa State University
Dr. Guilherme Arruda Cezar earned his DVM degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, in 2016, where he also got his Master’s Degree in veterinary science in 2020. After practicing for 2 years as a technical veterinarian assistant in an autogenous vaccine company, Dr. Cezar joined Iowa State University in 2022. Currently, Dr. Cezar is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department at Iowa State University, working with Drs. Daniel Linhares, Gustavo Silva, and Giovani Trevisan as major professors. The research focus is aggregating veterinary diagnostic data and applying this information to epidemiological studies regarded several pathogens that impact the swine industry. Also, Dr. Cezar is currently coordinating the Swine Disease Reporting System project.
Dr. Gabi Doughan
Post-doctoral Research Associate with the Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC) at Iowa State University
Dr. Gabi Doughan is a second-year, post-doctoral research associate with the Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC) at Iowa State University. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Central College in 2017 and her DVM from ISU in 2021. Her current position is a mix of educating veterinary students, taking coursework to obtain her Master’s and PhD, and professional practice. Dr. Doughan’s research is focused on water line biology including identifying the composition of the biofilm and water line disinfection methods in swine barns.
Dr. Nicholas Gabler
Professor in Animal Science, Iowa State University
Dr. Nicholas Gabler is a Full Professor in Animal Science at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA. He obtained his Bachelors of Agricultural Science and Ph.D. from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He has completed postdoctoral research at both Purdue and Iowa State Universities, before joining the Animal Science Department at Iowa State University in 2008 as an assistant professor in fundamental swine nutrition and metabolism. Presently, Dr. Gabler has an active and diverse research program that focuses on understanding and improving swine feed efficiency, nutrition by health, lean tissue accretion and intestinal physiology of pigs. He utilized both basic and applied, cellular and whole animal approaches. To date, Dr. Gabler has graduated six M.S. students and five Ph.D. students from his program. He has been active as an author and co-author and has published over 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and review papers. Further, he has presented his research at regional, national and international meetings. His research is making important scientific contributions to swine production and science.
Dr. Cara Haden
Director of Animal Welfare, Pipestone
Dr. Cara Haden is a 2014 graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Since graduation she has been a practicing swine veterinary with Pipestone Veterinary services out of the Independence, Iowa office. In 2022, Cara took on the role of director of animal welfare for Pipestone. She continues to practice swine medicine with a focus on pig welfare and antibiotic use and tracking. Cara is also very active on social media on behalf of pig farmers.
Dr. Derald Holtkamp
Professor, Department of Veterinary Diagnostics and Production Animal Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University
Dr. Derald Holtkamp is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostics and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, U.S.). He received his DVM, MS in Agricultural Economics, and BS in Agricultural Business with a minor in statistics all from Iowa State University. Prior to joining Iowa State, he was a private veterinary consultant. He has also served as a technical services veterinarian for ADViSYS Inc., Vice President of Swine Applications for MetaFarms Inc., Director of Pork Development for E-Markets, Inc., and as a veterinarian and service manager for Smithfield Foods in Warsaw, North Carolina. Dr. Holtkamp’s research focuses on managing infectious swine diseases, biosecurity, disease risk assessment, and the economics of animal health and disease. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications, is a frequent speaker in the U.S. and internationally with over 230 invited presentations, and has mentored over 260 professional and graduate students.
Dr. Anna Johnson
Professor, Animal Behavior and Welfare, and Tyrone D. Artz, M.D. Chair for Faculty Excellence in Animal Science Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University
Anna K. Johnson is a Professor Animal Behavior and Welfare in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Johnson’s appointment consists of 45% research, 20% teaching, 25% extension and 10% Service.
Johnson earned her doctorate degree in animal welfare from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, her bachelor’s degree in animal science from Reading University and a master’s degree in applied animal behavior and animal welfare from University of Edinburgh.
Johnson is the Instructor of Record for one undergraduate (AnS 336 Domestic Animal Behavior & Well-Being) and one graduate level class (AnS 537A: Animal behavior). She is in great demand as a guest lecturer in both the Agricultural and Veterinary Colleges.
Johnson’s research interests include caretaker-pig interactions, caretaker mental well-being, environmental enrichment and livability. To date, Johnson has been awarded 100 grants and gifts totaling ~$13M as either PI or CO-PI. To date, Johnson has published 125 papers, 143 abstracts, seven book chapters and has one patent. Currently she has three master’s students, a post-doctoral associate, one technician and is currently serving on 9 graduate committees. Johnson has been major or co-major professor for 16 graduate students, and has served on 42 graduate committees.
Johnson serves as a critical resource for livestock industries’ by creating and delivering educational livestock welfare material. Johnson serves on numerous state, national and international committees. Johnson is on the state training team for the Pork Quality Assurance Program (PQA-Plus V 5.0) and has trained ~2,000 advisors. Johnson is active in the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) and is a reviewer for international journals in the field of livestock behavior and welfare. To date, Johnson has published 170 peer-review extension articles, 106 non-peer review extension articles and contributed to 178 conference proceedings and invited talks.
Prior to joining ISU, Dr. Johnson was the first Director of Animal Welfare for the National Pork Board. Johnson developed and implemented Checkoff-funded swine welfare and welfare-related research within the Science & Technology Department. Johnson was instrumental in the formulation and launch of the Swine Welfare Assurance Program (SWAP).
Dr. Jeff Kaisand
State Veterinarian, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship
Dr. Jeff Kaisand serves as the State Veterinarian at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. He joined the Department in 2013 and served as the Assistant State Veterinarian for six years before he was appointed the State Vet. Dr. Kaisand works with federal, state and industry partners to protect the health of Iowa’s livestock industry and develop foreign animal disease response plans. Dr. Kaisand earned his bachelor’s degree in Animal Science at Iowa State University in 1989 and graduated from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993.
Dr. Isadora Machado
Iowa State University
Dr. Isadora Machado obtained her DVM at the University of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in 2018. She participated in technical studies in agriculture and livestock at Berufsbildende Schule and did a practical internship on a breeding herd farm for a period of one year in Germany. From 2019 to 2021, she worked in the Brazilian swine industry at Brazil Foods Company. She applied for an MS and Ph.D. program at the VDPAM at ISU to work with Dr. Linhares. Since then, she has been working in the FieldEpi Team at ISU, and her Ph.D. project is focused on PRRSV RNA detection in tongue tips from dead piglets to expand sampling options for veterinarians and producers.
Dr. Rodger Main
Director, Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Rodger Main is a Professor and Director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL). ISU VDL’s team of 175 faculty and staff play an active role on the frontlines of US animal agriculture processing approximately 120,000 diagnostic case submissions and conducting more than 1.5 million diagnostic assays annually.
Rodger is the Principal Investigator of this highly collaborative USDA sponsored US Swine Health Improvement Plan development endeavor.
Prior to coming to the ISU VDL in 2009, Dr. Main served as the Director of Production Systems for Smithfield’s Hog Production Operations located throughout the Midwest and Western US, where he had worked since graduating veterinary school in 1996.
Dr. Mafalda Mil-Holmens
Iowa State University
Mafalda Mil-Holmens did an integrated MS degree at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal, graduated in 2020, and their MS was about Dairy cattle biosecurity. They worked in dairy cattle biosecurity and welfare and data analysis after graduation. In 2020 they applied for a MS program at the VDPAM at ISU to work with Dr Silva. They are working in the fieldepi team, and their PhD project is focused on disease surveillance models using KPI and feed intake on breeding herds for their PhD.
Dr. Edison Magalhaes
Iowa State University
Edison got his DVM in 2015 in Brazil and worked for 4 years in the Brazilian swine industry as a swine practitioner at Brazil Foods Company (BRF). In 2019 he came to the US to do his Master’s degree in Preventive Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University, which he finished in 2021. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD Degree in Population Sciences in Animal Health at Iowa State University, under the orientation of Dr. Daniel Linhares. His focus is on the development of automated models to manage and analyze swine big data collected under field conditions, providing insights for production systems that can support data-driven decisions.
Dr. Berenice Munguía-Ramírez
Iowa State University
Dr. Munguia-Ramirez obtained their DVM degree in 2019 at the “Technological Institute of Sonora” in México. They are currently a MS student in Veterinary Preventive Medicine at Iowa State University, with Dr. Jeffrey Zimmerman as their principal investigator and Dr. Luis Giménez-Lirola as their co-major professor. Dr. Munguia-Ramirez’s research work is mainly focused on diagnostic improvements for PRRSV RT-qPCR in different swine specimens.
Dr. Megan Niederwerder
Assistant Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University
Dr. Megan Niederwerder, DVM, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. Dr. Niederwerder earned her DVM and practiced as a veterinarian for 3 years prior to obtaining her PhD and starting her career in academia. She directs an internationally recognized research program in viral diseases of swine with focus areas on 1) the gut microbiome and PRRSV and 2) the risk and mitigation of ASFV in feed. Her research has been supported by over $4.2M since 2016, she is the author or co-author of 30 peer-reviewed publications, and she has delivered 46 invited presentations at national and international meetings. Dr. Niederwerder enjoys mentoring graduate students and increasing veterinary student interest in research and discovery as a career.
Dr. Henry Osemeke
Iowa State University
Dr. Osemeke obtained his DVM in 2014 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
He worked with the National Veterinary Research Institute, Nigeria, as a Veterinary Research Officer, where he did on-field and in-laboratory research studies on PPR, Newcastle disease, Small ruminant Pox viruses, Avian influenza, Monkeypox, FMD, and ASF, in collaboration with different international institutions and agencies.
Henry joined the lab of Dr. Daniel Linhares at VDPAM, ISU as a graduate research assistant in the Spring of 2020 and has been involved in several field-applied research.
Dr. Pablo E Pineyro-Pineiro
Associate Professor in Vet Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University
Dr. Pablo E Pineyro-Pineiro is a Associate Professor in Vet Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University.
Dr. Chris Rademacher
Conference Chair, ISU James D. McKean Swine Disease Conference
Clinical Professor and ISU Swine Extension Veterinarian, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine department at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Chris Rademacher is a Clinical Professor and ISU Swine Extension Veterinarian in the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) department at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rademacher is also Associate Director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University. Dr. Rademacher received his Bachelor of Science and Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Minnesota in 1998. Following graduation, he joined New Fashion Pork as Director of Health Services. In 2009 he joined Murphy-Brown Western Operations (Smithfield Foods) as the Director of Production Improvement. In December, 2014 he accepted the position of Swine Extension Veterinarian at Iowa State University. He has led programming efforts in Common Swine Industry Audit, VFD antibiotic regulations and most recently Foreign Animal Disease Producer Preparation for the Iowa Pork Industry Center as well as research on strategic antibiotic use, PEDV, PRRS and Senecavirus A.
Dr. Joel Sparks
AMVC Management Services
Joel Sparks is a swine veterinarian with AMVC Management Services, a livestock production and animal health company headquartered in Audubon, Iowa. AMVC runs veterinary clnics in Iowa and manages sow farms across seven states. Joining AMVC in 2015, Joel is located in Lafayette, Indiana, and he is responsible for AMVC farms in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Joel is also a member of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. and Senecavirus A.
Joel earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 2015. He also earned a Master of Science in Veterinary
Preventive Medicine from there in 2015. Joel graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science in 2011 from Michigan State University in
East Lansing.
Dr. Paul Sundberg
Executive Director, Swine Health Information Center
Dr. Paul Sundberg is the Swine Health Information Center’s Executive Director. The mission of the Swine Health Information Center is to protect and enhance the health of the United States swine herd through coordinated global disease monitoring, targeted research investments that minimize the impact of future disease threats, and analysis of swine health data. Dr. Sundberg is responsible for implementing the Center’s mission and objectives.
Dr. Sundberg was named to this position in July 2015. Before leading the Swine Health Information Center, he was a Vice President with the National Pork Board and responsible for the programs and personnel of the Science and Technology Department.
Dr. Sundberg attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he earned his bachelor’s degree in education. He completed his veterinary medicine curriculum and master’s degree in clinical science/preventive medicine at Iowa State University. He also earned a doctorate degree in veterinary microbiology with a specialty in preventive medicine from Iowa State University. He is board certified in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and is a past president of the College.
Dr. Sundberg is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association.
Paul and his wife Debra live in Ames, Iowa.
Dr. Greg Tarasiuk
Iowa State University
Dr. Tarasiuk obtained his DVM degree at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland in 2019. After that, he worked for over 2 years in large integrated company where he serviced GDUs and sow farms. He started a Master of Science program at Iowa State University in the fall 2021, working with Dr. Zimmerman as his major professor and with a research focus on oral fluids.
Dr. Pete Thomas
Director of Health Services for Iowa Select Farms
Dr. Pete Thomas is the Director of Health Services for Iowa Select Farms. He graduated in 2007 from Iowa State University with DVM and MS in Preventive Medicine.
Prior to that, he worked Smithfield Foods and Private practice in Worthington, MN.
Dr. Giovani Trevisan
PostDoc Trainee, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department at Iowa State University
Dr. Trevisan earned his DVM degree from Santa Catarina State University, Brazil, 2009; an MBA from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Brazil, 2013; and a Ph.D. in Population Sciences in Animal Health from Iowa State University, 2020. Currently, Dr. Trevisan is a PostDoc Trainee at Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department at Iowa State University, where he conducts works with an emphasis on veterinary diagnostic data and field applied epidemiological research to generate information to support stakeholders in making informed decisions on disease management and control.
Dr. Amy Vincent
Research Veterinary Medical Officer at the USDA-ARS National Animal Disease Center
Dr. Amy Vincent is a Research Veterinary Medical Officer at the USDA-ARS National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in Ames, Iowa, assigned to the project to study the virulence properties of swine viral pathogens and develop intervention strategies against them. She has 20 years of experience in swine production and animal health research. The primary focus of her laboratory is influenza A virus (IAV) in swine.
Dr. Jianqiang (JQ) Zhang
Professor and Virologist at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Dr. Jianqiang (JQ) Zhang obtained his medical degree from Beijing Medical University in China and his PhD degree from University of Kentucky in the USA. He is currently a professor and virologist at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He is focused on diagnostics, pathogenesis and vaccine development of viruses of veterinary significance. He has ~140 refereed journal publications and book chapters. He is one of the Editors of the book Diseases of Swine (the 11th edition) and the Virology Session Editor of Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation (JVDI).