EWDA Network Meeting

Valentina Caliendo obtained her degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Napoli, Italy. Her passion for veterinary medicine and curiosity for diverse cultures motivated her to travel across many countries to expand her skill, and work with different taxa. For several years, she provided veterinary care for a large raptor collection in the Middle East. More recently, her interest in avian medicine and medical research led her to pursue a doctorate at Erasmus Medical Center, the Netherlands, to explore the dynamics of avian influenza in wild birds. Since 2023 she works at the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre at Utrecht University, researching health and diseases of Dutch wildlife.

Mario Chiari is a veterinary public health officer with extensive experience in animal health, epidemiological surveillance, and emergency management at regional and national level. He is current Director of the Complex Unit Animals and Environment at ATS Metropolitan City of Milan and Deputy Commissioner appointed by the Italian Ministry of Health for African Swine Fever (ASF) control. Skilled in coordinating veterinary services, managing epidemic responses (ASF, avian influenza, vector‑borne diseases), and implementing One Health strategies he has background in wildlife health, biosafety in livestock production, and development of veterinary information systems, including regional oversight of Classy‑Farm. Mario is a Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health), an author of numerous scientific publications on wildlife diseases, arboviruses, and zoonoses, and has been a Member of the Board of Directors of IZSLER since 2020. He is driven by a One Health vision that integrates science‑based decision‑making, preventive strategies, and effective institutional coordination.

Aleksija Neimanis is a wildlife pathologist at the Swedish Veterinary Agency where she is responsible for the Research and Development section at the Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases. She is also Associate Professor in Wildlife Health at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Aleksija has worked with national wildlife health surveillance programs in Canada and now Sweden for the past 20 years. Her research interests include emerging and re-emerging diseases of wildlife and marine mammal health. She is the secretary of the EWDA network committee, associate editor of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases and served as Chair of the Nordic section of the Wildlife Disease Association from 2013 – 2017.

Rob Robinson is one of the senior scientists of the British Trust for Ornithology and provides strategic leadership and co-ordination of research across BTO as a whole. Rob's main interest lies in understanding how changes in bird populations and distributions are determined by demography and how, within an applied context, the sum of individuals creates them and how they vary at different scales. Increasingly, this means understanding the role that diseases play, both in shaping bird populations but also their wider impacts. He has been involved in working on a range of diseases over 20 years both in a research context and developing webtools to inform policy. Rob is also the current Chair of the European Union for Bird Ringing (Euring), which coordinates the work of over 40 ringing schemes across Europe.