Scientific Committee
WVPAC 2027 BRUSSELS (Belgium)
CHAIRMAN
Prof. dr. Gunther Antonissen
DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECPVS
Gunther Antonissen is the chairholder of the Chair Poultry Health Sciences at Ghent University.
His research group adopts a multidisciplinary approach, with a focus on mycotoxins
(investigating their impact on intestinal health, interactions with infectious diseases,
mechanisms of action, and the safety of detoxifying agents), gut health (including antibiotic
alternatives and diagnostic tools), and poultry welfare (monitoring systems and intervention
strategies). He is also the initiator and coordinator of the Postgraduate Programme in Poultry
Health Sciences at Ghent University. Since 2024, he is the President of the Belgian Branch of the
World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA).
Scientific Programme Convenor
Prof. dr. Richard Ducatelle
DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECPVS, Dipl. ECVP
Richard Ducatelle is emeritus professor in veterinary pathology at Ghent University. His research is mainly on intestinal health and on interactions of zoonotic agents with the animal host reservoir, with a focus on poultry (necrotic enteritis, dysbacteriosis, Salmonella). He served as President of the Belgian Branch of the World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA) from 1991 to 2024. He has published more than 600 papers in peer reviewed international scientific journals. He was an invited speaker at more than 80 national and international congresses and symposia.
Secretary
Prof. dr. An Garmyn
DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECPVS
An Garmyn is an associate professor in Poultry and Companion birds and heads the Necropsy Division for the Clinic of Poultry and Exotic Animals at the Department of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, at Ghent University. Professor Garmyn has expertise in avian pathology, veterinary microbiology, in vivo infection modelling in poultry and poultry management. Research emphasis is on host-pathogen interaction and development of mitigation, situated in the field of bacterial infections in poultry with a focus on Campylobacteriosis.
Prof. dr. Omar Abdul Rahman
He served as the Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He has more than 25 years of teaching and research experience in avian viral diseases, including Newcastle disease, avian influenza, and infectious bursal disease.
Dr. Tahseen Abdul-Aziz
Dr. Aziz is the avian pathologist of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System of the State of North Carolina, USA. He is responsible for necropsy and histopathology of avian diagnostic submissions. He is internationally regarded for his expertise in the diagnosis of poultry diseases, particularly in the field of diagnostic avian pathology (gross pathology and histopathology). Dr. Aziz authored two books: Avian Histopathology and Gross Pathology of Avian Diseases: Text and Atlas. He is a frequent speaker about diagnosis and diagnostic poultry pathology at workshops and conferences.
Prof. Celia Abolnik
Professor Celia Abolnik, from the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, holds the South African National Research Foundation’s Chair in Poultry Health and Production. Her research focuses on diagnosis, epidemiology, genomics and vaccine development for several pathogens that impact the national flock, with an emphasis on high pathogenicity avian influenza.
Prof. Filip Van Immerseel
Filip Van Immerseel is Professor at the Department of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University in Belgium and is head of a research group that studies host-bacterium interactions in the poultry intestine. Filip Van Immerseel currently has more than 260 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals, has written book chapters and edited books on Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens and is a well-known speaker at international events. He is editor of the journal Avian Pathology and involved in many international collaborative research networks on disease control.