Alan Mackay

Alan has been a private equity investor for more than 25 years in roles including Senior Partner and Global Head of Healthcare at the private equity firm 3i Group plc. He was appointed to the board of 3i plc in 1993 and became CEO of 3i Nordic plc, based in Stockholm, upon the acquisition of Sweden's largest listed private equity company Atle AB in 2001. Alan has served on the boards of a number of healthcare companies, including most recently Phibro Animal Health Corporation which completed a successful initial public offering (IPO) in April 2014. Latterly he has been Managing Partner, CEO, and Chairman of the Investment Committee, of Hermes GPE, an active co-investor in private equity backed healthcare. Alan holds a Bachelor's degree in Law, an MSc in Enterprise and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD. He is Chair of the BVCA for 2016 – 2017 and previously chaired its Responsible Investment Advisory Board.

Alf-Helge Aarskog

Mr. Aarskog has served as CEO of Marine Harvest since 2010. Prior to this position, he was the CEO (2009 to 2010) and Exective Vice President (2007 to 2009) at Lerøy Seafood Group ASA. His previous positions include Managing Director (2004 to 2007) of Lerøy Midnor AS, a subsidiary of Lerøy Seafood Group ASA, and Head of Production (2002 to 2004) at Fjord Seafood ASA, a company that was later merged with ours. He holds a degree in Fish Nutrition from the University of Agriculture in Norway.

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas has been working as a senior government affairs and communications advisor in Brussels and Washington DC for 20 years.

He will move to IFAH from EuropaBio, the Association of Biotechnology Industries, where he has been Director for Agricultural Biotechnology for some 4 years. Prior to EuropaBio, Carel worked at international consultancies and think tanks in Brussels and Washington DC, most often serving clients with science-based policy and communications challenges.

Clare Allen

Clare is Deputy Director of Teaching (Quality Assurance) in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, where she oversees quality assurance of veterinary teaching in the university. She has also chaired taskforces to develop a curricular thread on professional skills and introduce pedagogical innovation through the use of learning technology throughout the professional veterinary course. Clare graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1996 and after completing an equine ambulatory internship at Millbrook Equine Practice in New York she started teaching on an equine studies programme and founded her own equine practice.  

In 2005-06 Clare taught at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and became interested in veterinary education and curriculum development. Clare completed her PhD in Higher Education and Student Affairs at the Ohio State University in 2013, with her doctoral research focusing on the career choice of veterinary students in the context of the feminisation of the profession.

Dirk Ehle

Dr. Dirk Ehle has been a member of the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee and responsible for the Animal Health Division since May 1, 2012.

Dirk Ehle was born on May 26, 1969, in Cologne, Germany. He studied law at the universities of Freiburg, Aix-en-Provence (France), Wurzburg, and New York (USA).

After three years in law firms, Dirk Ehle started his career at Bayer in 2001 in the Law Department of Bayer HealthCare. In 2006, Ehle transferred to Bayer AG’s Corporate Office where he worked as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Management. He was also in charge of Corporate Policy & Advocacy as of 2008. In 2010, Ehle was appointed Senior Bayer Representative for Central Eastern Europe and Bayer HealthCare Representative for Poland.

Dirk Ehle is married with three children.

George Gunn

Dr. Henrik Bjørn Nielsen

James M. Wilson

James M. Wilson, MD, PhD is a Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he has been at the nexus of the field of gene therapy from its birth. Dr. Wilson began his work in gene therapy during his graduate studies at the University of Michigan over 30 years ago. He created the first and largest academic-based program in gene therapy after being recruited to Penn in 1993, initially focusing on the clinical translation of existing gene transfer technologies but soon redirecting his efforts to the development of second and third generation gene transfer platforms, the first of which was licensed to a biotechnology company he founded that resulted in the first, and only, commercially approved gene therapy in the western hemisphere.

More recently, his laboratory discovered a family of viruses from primates that could be engineered to be very effective gene transfer vehicles. Dr. Wilson has also been active in facilitating the commercial development of these new gene therapy platforms through the establishment of several biotechnology companies. He is currently leading a national dialogue on the challenges of commercializing these potentially lifesaving treatments due to the disruptive nature they will have on traditional business models. Throughout his career, the focus of Dr. Wilson's research has been rare inherited diseases, ranging from cystic fibrosis to dyslipidemias to a variety of metabolic disorders. He is the founder of a 501(c)3 called Health Through Fitness in Orphan Diseases and Director of a bicycle team called Rare Disease Cycling whose participants compete at a national level and help raise money for rare disease research.

Dr. Wilson has published over 550 papers, reviews, commentaries and editorials in peer-reviewed literature and is an inventor on over 117 patents. He was the second President of the American Society of Gene Therapy, the 2014 recipient of the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award of the University of Pennsylvania and 2015 recipient of the Scientific Achievement Award

Karin Hoelzer

Karin Hoelzer is a senior officer in health programs supporting Pew’s safe food and antibiotic resistance projects.  Hoelzer, a veterinarian by training, focuses on research and policies related to foodborne pathogens, the use of antibiotics in animals, and other public health risks related to the food supply.  

Before joining Pew, Hoelzer worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she developed and led risk assessments and conducted systematic reviews and meta-analyses on a variety of issues, such as drug residues in dairy products and Listeria monocytogenes in retail delicatessens. Previously, she was a research associate at Cornell University, where she traced the transmission of pathogens between livestock and humans.

Hoelzer holds doctorates in veterinary medicine from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany and comparative biomedical sciences from Cornell University. She has received numerous honors and awards, including a Morris Animal Foundation fellowship training grant, and is the author of many peer-reviewed publications. Hoelzer is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the International Association for Food Protection. She serves as scientific editor for the Elsevier journal Research in Veterinary Science.

Kevin S. Wilson

Kevin S. Wilson has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Heska Corporation (HSKA: NASDQ) since March 31, 2014. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer since February 2013. Heska is based in Loveland, Colorado, has approximately 350 employees primarily throughout North America, and is dedicated to veterinary healthcare through its companion pet and equine diagnostics (blood and imaging) business and its vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and biologics segment. Since 1992, Mr. Wilson has been involved in developing technologies for imaging devices and data management in the veterinary medical space. Mr. Wilson is a founder, member and officer of Cuattro, Cuattro Medical, and Cuattro Software. In 1996, Mr. Wilson founded Sound Technologies, Inc., a veterinary diagnostic imaging company, which was sold to VCA Antech, Inc. (WOOF) in 2004, following which Mr. Wilson served as Chief Strategy Officer for VCA Antech, Inc. until 2006. Mr. Wilson resides in Beaver Creek, Colorado with his wife of 25 years and their four children (the origin of the Cuattro name being “four”). Mr. Wilson serves and has served on the board of various private, non-profit, and educational organizations.

Marie-Paul Lachaud

Marie-Paul Lachaud, DVM is Head of Program Management Europe at Aratana Therapeutics. Her responsibilities include coordinating the process leading to regulatory approval by the European Medicines Agency for Aratana’s products targeted at unmet medical needs in cats and dogs.

Prior to joining Aratana, Dr. Lachaud served the veterinary pharmaceutical industry as an experienced consultant, with a specific focus on international drug clinical development. 

From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Lachaud was the European animal health director at ICON Clinical Research in Paris, France. In 1990, she co-founded PROTOCOLE, the first European veterinary consultancy and contract research organization focused on drug clinical development and regulatory affairs, which was acquired by ICON in 2000. 

Dr. Lachaud has been involved in transitioning human drugs to meet unmet needs in veterinary medicine for years. Her work has resulted in significant animal health product approvals in Europe and the United-States for companion animals in a number of innovative therapeutic areas, including reproduction, chronic heart failure, chronic kidney disease, pain management, oncology and neurobehavioral disorders. 

She received her veterinary degree from Alfort National Veterinary School in Paris and her doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Paris, France.

Peter McCarthy

Mr. McCarthy is now in his 7th year at Henry Schein, Inc. He is currently the Company's President, Global Animal Health Group, as well as a member of Henry Schein's Executive Management Committee.

Mr. McCarthy oversees Henry Schein's animal health business, which spans 24 countries including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, China, Malaysia, Brazil and 17 countries in Europe.

Before assuming his current position, Mr. McCarthy held key roles at Henry Schein with increasing responsibilities, including President, Henry Schein Animal Health, Europe, and President, Henry Schein Animal Health, International.

Prior to joining Henry Schein, Mr. McCarthy worked at Schering-Plough Animal Health (now Merck Animal Health), serving as Senior Director, Global Operations and General Manager, China. Mr. McCarthy also worked at Wyeth/American Cyanamid for 14 years, helping to grow the human pharmaceutical business.

Mr. McCarthy holds a degree in Applied Biology from the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K., and previously has served as a Member of the Board of the International Federation for Animal Health Europe, and the International Association Executive Animal Health Study Center, CEESA, based in Belgium. Mr. McCarthy is also a graduate and member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), which is located in the U.K.

Sam Al-Murrani

Babylon BioConsulting LLC is a human and animal health-based consultancy firm specializing in pre-revenue and early stage valuations of Animal Health and Biotech companies and providing clients with investor outreach, due diligence, business development and intangible asset management and valuation services. Dr. Sam Al-Murrani is also Managing Director for Bimini LLC, a privately owned manufacturer of pet dose-form health supplements and health treats.

Dr. Al-Murrani has a B.Sc. in Animal Science from the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D. in Immunology/Biochemistry from the Roslin Institute and the Department of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Edinburgh. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Baker University.

Simon Innes

Simon was appointed as Chief Executive in January 2004. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Vision Express from 2000 to 2004, over which time he built the business up to £220m turnover and 205 practices, and reversed a loss-making position to create one of the most profitable corporate optical operators in the UK. The growth strategy that was successful at Vision Express is now being implemented in the veterinary industry by CVS.

Prior to Vision Express, Simon was on the board of Hamleys PLC as Operations Director and gained 10 years’ management experience at Marks & Spencer. He also served seven years in the British Army, achieving the rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers.

Viggo Halseth

Viggo joined Nutreco in 1984. He has a longstanding career in Nutreco and had various positions in marketing, general and business unit management within Skretting ARC and Skretting. Viggo studied Animal Hubandry at Agriculture University and Marketing and Strategy Development at Norwegian Business School.