Dr Simon Spiro is the veterinary pathologist for the Zoological Society of London, where he is responsible for the diagnostic pathology of the society’s 23,000 animals of 800 species. He is also the pathologist for the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) which investigates dead whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, and seals in English and Welsh waters. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with degrees in veterinary medicine and pathology, and also has a DPhil in infection, immunology and translational medicine from the University of Oxford. After a dost-doc in avian oncogenic viruses at the Pirbright Institute he undertook a residency in anatomic pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, becoming a Fellow of the RCPath in 2018 and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 2019. He is the author of over 40 peer reviewed papers and is a module leader on the Royal Veterinary College's wild animal health and wild animal biology MSc courses. When not taking exams or cutting up exotic megafauna, he likes to relax with a pub quiz or a game of Dungeons and Dragons.   

Professor Roberto La Ragione – Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Head of the School of Biosciences, University of Surrey

Roberto graduated in 1995 and then went on to study for a postgraduate degree in veterinary microbiology at the RVC. In 1996 he moved to the government Veterinary Laboratories Agency (in collaboration with Royal Holloway, University of London) to undertake a PhD on the pathogenesis of E. coli in poultry. In 2005 Roberto was appointed Head of Pathogenesis and Control at the APHA and in 2010 he was appointed Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at the University of Surrey.

Roberto gained the FRCPath in 2010 and in 2012 was appointed the Associate Dean for Veterinary Strategy in the School of Veterinary Medicine.  In 2014 he was appointed Head of the Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases and 2019 Deputy Head of School. In 2021 he was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences. Roberto is a member of the Royal College of Pathologists Veterinary Pathology Specialty Advisory Committee, Chair of the Humanimal Trust, a Trustee of the Houghton Trust, a member of the APHA Science Advisory Board, a member of the FSA ACMSF AMR sub-committee, a member of ESGVM, a BSI committee member and contributes to associated ISO working groups, a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science and the Royal Society of Biology and an Associate member of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (AECVM). In 2020 he was awarded Honorary Associateship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (HonAssocRCVS) and in 2023 the RCPath Medal. Roberto is the past president of the Med-Vet-Net Association and the Veterinary Research Club.

Roberto’s current research interests focus on AMR and understanding the pathogenesis of zoonotic bacterial pathogens. Roberto has a particular interest in the development of control and intervention strategies, including rapid diagnostics, vaccines, and probiotics for the control of pathogens such as Salmonella, Brachyspira and E. coli in food producing animals. Roberto has led a number of commercial, BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, Defra, Innovate and EU projects and has published over 200 peer reviewed papers in the area of microbiology.