Invited Speakers

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
KEYNOTE Enhancing Successful Research Translation into Policy
Monday, August 8, 2022

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar was appointed President of the Public Health Agency of Canada on October 12, 2021. Since re-joining the Health portfolio in 2020, when he was appointed to the role of Associate Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Kochhar has become an integral player in Canada's COVID-19 response.Dr. Kochhar was Associate Vice-President of Operations at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) from 2015 to 2017, and was Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer and Canada's Delegate to the World Organization for Animal Health. He was responsible for delivering food inspection services across the country, as well as managing plant health and animal health issues. During his tenure at the CFIA, Dr. Kochhar managed several high profile cases to ensure the safety of Canada's food supply, including the official response to Canada's largest beef recall (XL foods).Dr. Kochhar started his career by practising veterinary medicine in south-western Ontario. He has a MSc in Theriogenology and a PhD in Reproductive Biotechnology from the University of Guelph where he also was an Assistant Professor at the Ontario Veterinary College.Among other awards, in 2012, Dr. Kochhar was honoured with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his professional and volunteer contributions, and in 2017, he was awarded the Canada 150 Medal for community services.

Dr. Bassirou Bonfoh
KEYNOTE One Health and AMR: Working Together on a Common Goal
Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Dr. Bassirou Bonfoh is from Togo and holds a DVM and a PhD in epidemiology. He worked for 5 years (1995-2000) in West Africa as a livestock development program coordinator for Vétérinaires Sans Frontières. He went for a 4 year (2000-2004) epidemiology postdoctoral fellowship at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). He subsequently led for 4 years (2004-2008) a research group in the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Central Asia where he contributed to validate the One Health concept. Between 2009-2018, he was the Managing Director of CSRS where he led the North-South science diplomacy. Since 2009, he is currently the Director of the consortium Afrique One contributing to the capacity development on zoonotic diseases elimination. Bassirou is a guest lecturer at University of Liège (Belgium) and at the Pan African veterinary school (Senegal) where he is also the chair of the scientific advisory board. He has researched numerous zoonoses and One Health topics with a focus on African countries. He has developed modules on soft skills for researchers in Africa (www.afriqueone.net) comprising research administration management and governance, research design and science communication and contributed to develop the “Participatory Risk Analysis” methods for animal source food in informal sector.

Dr. Mona Dverdal Jansen
KEYNOTE Contributions of Epidemiology to Fish Health and Infectious Disease in the Face of Climate Change
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Dr. Mona Dverdal Jansen is a veterinary epidemiologist working at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute. She works on a diverse range of epidemiological aspects in relation to salmonid aquaculture, including surveillance and control of infectious diseases and diagnostic test evaluations. In addition, she contributes to other areas of aquaculture research, including life cycle assessments and economic impact assessments. A significant part of her work is related to research and support under the OIE Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Assessment of Aquatic Animal Diseases (Europe). Areas of work include biosecurity assessments, descriptive and analytical epidemiological investigations, surveillance system designs and economic impact assessments in African and Asian aquaculture.

Dr. Thomas Marsh
KEYNOTE Economics and Implications of Animal Disease
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Dr. Thomas Marsh, PhD, is a distinguished professor of agricultural and resource economics in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health and the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University.  Dr. Marsh evaluates how policies and disease interventions interrelate with household decisions, markets and trade. Recent examples include quantifying the economic consequences of specific diseases (such as E. coli, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and mad cow disease), assessing the impact of diagnostic testing and vaccination (such as foot and mouth, east coast fever, and Newcastle disease) of livestock on households in Africa, and measuring the global burden of animal diseases.  

Dr. Annette O'Connor
KEYNOTE New Frontiers of Veterinary Epidemiology
Friday, August 12, 2022

Dr. Annette O’Connor is Department Chair of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at Michigan State University, and a Fellow of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists. Dr. O’Connor is a quantitative veterinary epidemiologist who works in food production, public health, food safety and uses of animals.  She conducts primary research and synthesis research in these areas. This work involves combining research in transparent and comprehensive ways that ensure maximum value is obtained from society’s investment in research funding.  She has worked in a diverse set of fields including food-borne pathogens of animal proteins, statistical approaches to antibiotic resistance data, food production, biomedical uses of animals, and veterinary public health. The main aim of Dr. O’Connor’s work is to help end-users better understand the results of research so decisions-makers such as industry bodies, veterinary practitioners and government officials can incorporate primary research into decisions (i.e. science supported decision-making). 

Presenters