Preliminary Scientific Programme

African Swine Fever (ASF)

Librado Carrasco Otero (UCO)

A graduate and PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Córdoba, he completed his training at various institutions, including the Institute for Pathology at the Animal Medical School Hannover (Germany), the Institute for Animal Health (Pirbright, UK), and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University (USA). Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Pathological Anatomy at the University of Córdoba, his scientific activity is carried out within the "Pathology and Immunology Group" (UCO-PIG; PAIDI AGR137), where he participates in 23 research projects and 25 technology transfer projects or agreements with companies. Indicators of the quality of his scientific output include his authorship of over 165 indexed publications, with an h-index of 32 and a normalized impact factor of 1.20. This work has also been recognized with various awards, such as the "R&D&I Projects in the Field of Agri-food Research 2010" award from the Caja Rural de Córdoba Foundation (2010), the second edition of the Animals Health Awards (2023), and the 13th Albéitar Award from the Andalusian Council of Official Veterinary Colleges (2023). He holds diplomas from the European College of Veterinary Pathology and the European College of Porcine Health Management, is a full member of the Royal Academies of Veterinary Sciences of Seville and of Veterinary Sciences of Eastern Andalusia, and participates as an expert in the "Andalusian Plan for Research and Innovation in Public Health 2024-2027" of the Andalusian Public Health System.

Orcid-0000-0002-4823-758X

African Swine Fever (ASF)

Antonio Rodríguez Bertos (UCM–VISAVET)

Professor Antonio Manuel Rodríguez Bertos was born in Madrid in 1966. He holds a degree (1989) and a PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) (1994). He has been a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the UCM since 1991. He completed postdoctoral stays in different European and American veterinary faculties, such as Hanover (Germany - 10 months), Utrecht (Netherlands - 2, 5 months), Davis (USA - 3 months) and San Bernardino (California Animal Health and Food Safety - USA - 4 months), in the departments of Veterinary Pathology. He obtained the position of Professor of University in 2002, in the Department of Internal Medicine and Animal Surgery of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the UCM. He has participated in more than 50 public and private financing projects and has directed 6 doctoral theses, all rated with the highest qualification. He has also participated in the publication of 57 scientific articles, most of them in the journals with the greatest impact in their category. In the same way, he has co-authored several books, monographs and popular articles in the field of Veterinary Pathology.

Orcid-0000-0001-9543-313X

Lumpy Skin Disease

Enric Vidal Barba (IRTA–CReSA)

Dr. Enric Vidal (Barcelona, 1977), DVM, PhD. He completed his veterinary studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2000 and completed his doctoral thesis on the study of the pathogenesis of BSE at the same faculty in 2006. Since 2002, he has been head of the PRIOCAT laboratory (the reference laboratory for animal prion diseases in Catalonia) located at IRTA-CReSA (Animal Health Research Centre) a BSL3 facility where he also leads a research line on the neuropathology of TSEs. The line focuses on the study of the mechanisms of interspecies prion transmission barrier, the etiology of idiopathic prion diseases, the variability of prion disease phenotypes in nature and, more recently also gene-therapy based therapeutic approaches. Since 2007, he manages the Slaughterhouse Support Service (SESC) on behalf of the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya (www.sesc.cat). This is a service to help official veterinary inspectors obtain a definitive diagnosis of slaughterhouse findings. He also participates in the anatomopathological studies of other CReSA research lines: tuberculosis, African swine fever, Classica swine fever, arbviruses, zoonotic coronaviruses, etc. and has an active participation in science divulgation activities (blogs, social networks, talks...). Since October 2025 he coordinates the scientific committee on Lumpy Skin Disease to support the government’s management of the current LSD outbreak in Catalonia.

Orcid-0000-0002-4965-3286

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI)

Margarida Henriques (INIAV)

Margarida Henriques Mourão is a senior researcher with a PhD in Biotechnology and over 20 years of experience in veterinary virology and molecular diagnostics. Based at the National Reference Laboratory (INIAV), she works on diagnosis, surveillance, molecular characterization, and phylogenetic analysis of animal and zoonotic viruses, within national and European disease monitoring programs.

Orcid-0000-0003-1835-3077

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI)

Javier Asín Ros (UC Davis)

Javier Asín Ros is a Spanish veterinary doctor and academic, recognized as a specialist in diagnostic pathology.In 2026, he remains a prominent figure in the field of academic and laboratory veterinary medicine.  
Academic and Professional Profile:
Current Position: Works as an Associate Professor of Clinical Diagnostic Pathology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in California, USA.
Specialization: Holds the titles of DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) and PhD, and is also a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP) .
Education: She obtained her doctorate from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, where she was a member of the RAYSA research group (Animal Reproduction and Health). 
Areas of Expertise
His work focuses primarily on laboratory diagnosis and pathological research, frequently collaborating with the California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Laboratory System. His scientific contributions include numerous publications in specialist journals on animal diseases and post-mortem diagnosis.