Marta Alonso
Mycobacteria Research Group,
Department of Animal Health at NEIKER (Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development),
Gasteiz/Vitoria, Spain
Dr. Marta Alonso
Dr. Marta Alonso holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) and a Ph.D. in Science from the Department of Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In 1999, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and began her work as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University (OSU). Supported by funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, 2000–2001) and the Oregon Sea Grant Program in Biotechnology (2002–2005), she conducted research in vaccine development, created a “suicide” DNA vaccine, and filed a patent for the invention. In 2005, she joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. With funding from the USDA Paratuberculosis (PTB) Integrative Program, her work aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of MAP-host interactions and identify key virulence factors. In 2008, Dr. Alonso returned to Spain to join the Mycobacteria Research Group within the Department of Animal Health at NEIKER (the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development), under a research contract with the Spanish National Institute for Agricultural Research. In 2013, she obtained the Certificate of Research Proficiency from the Spanish Agency for Research Evaluation and is also accredited as an Assistant Professor. She has participated in 31 research projects (20 PTB projects, 12 international projects, 7 with private companies, and 18 as principal investigator) and has contributed to 115 national and international conferences. She has been invited to speak at 27 scientific events. She is the author of 61 peer-reviewed research publications and 11 technical articles and is the lead inventor on four patents. She has supervised six doctoral theses (two currently in progress), eight master’s theses, two predoctoral students from other institutions, and five graduate students. She also collaborates regularly with master’s and doctoral programs of the University of the Basque country (UPV-EHU). She works closely with the Spanish National Research Agency, serving on the evaluation committee for livestock research projects. Internationally, she has served as a reviewer for the EU Horizon Program, the LEaDing Fellows Postdoc Program –Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Salute I+D from the Italian Ministry of Health, the Argentine Ministry of Science, and the Kazakhstan National Centre for Science and Technology. Since January 2025, Dr. Alonso serves as a member of the expert committee on paratuberculosis for both the European Discontools project and the International Dairy Federation. From 2022 to 2024, Dr. Alonso served as Vice president of the International Association for Paratuberculosis. In June 2021, she was appointed to the academic committee of the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG). She is a member of the NEIKER Mycobacteria Research Group, recipient of the 2020 Zendal International Award in Animal Health. She supervised a Ph.D. thesis that received the Accésit SYVA Award in 2022 for the best doctoral thesis in Animal Health in Spain, Mexico, and Portugal.
John Bannantine
Retired Research Scientist,
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center,
Ames, Iowa, USA
John Bannantine
After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin, he went on to perform graduate work at Iowa State University. While there, he earned a Master of Science degree working on genetics of Staphylococcus aureus then a Ph.D. analyzing transcriptional signals in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. He held two postdoctoral positions studying the pathogenesis of the obligate intracellular parasite Chlamydia at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana and then at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. He was a research scientist at the National Animal Disease Center, a USDA Agricultural Research Facility in Ames, Iowa. He took a 6-month sabbatical just outside Melbourne, Australia working at CSIRO’s Australian Center for Disease Preparedness. His most recent work centers on genomics and proteomics of M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis. His work is summarized in over 180 journal publications, book chapters and patents. His principal hobby is endurance racing, having completed over 250 endurance events around the world including over 35 triathlons.
Johannes Lorenz Khol
Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science,
Clinical Centre for Ruminant and Camelid Medicine,
Tyrolean Extension, University of Veterinary Medicine,
Innsbruck, Austria
Johannes Lorenz Khol
Johannes Lorenz Khol
Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science,
Clinical Centre for Ruminant and Camelid Medicine, Tyrolean Extension,
University of Veterinary Medicine, Technikerstraße 70, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria,
Johannes.khol@vetmeduni.ac.at
since October 2022
Occupation or position held: University Professor for Alpine Ruminant Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Main activities and responsibilities: Head of Research and Teaching Extension for Alpine Ruminant Medicine
November 2003 – September 2022
Occupation or position held: Post-doc assistant at the Clinic for Ruminants, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Main activities and responsibilities: Veterinary service for in-house patients including surgery and farm visits, clinical research, teaching of students, scientific work
July 27th, 2017
Title of qualification awarded: Dip. ECBHM, European College of Bovine Health Management
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Bovine health management
2015
Title of qualification awarded: Habilitation, venia docendi for ruminant medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Title: „Contributions to etiology, diagnosis, prevalence and abatement of Johne´s disease (paratuberculosis) in cattle“
2003
Title of qualification awarded: Doctor medicinae veterinariea (DVM), University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Doctoral thesis: “Influence of Lactation and Milking Technique on the Bovine Teat by Means of Ultrasonnographic Examination”
1995–2002
Title of qualification awarded: Magister medicinae veterinariae, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Studies of Veterinary Medicine
Heike Köhler
National Reference Laboratory for Paratuberculosis,
Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis,
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut,
Jena, Germany
Heike Köhler
Dr. Heike Köhler studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She performed post-graduate studies there working on the immunologic stress response of piglets. Her postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Bacterial Epizootics Research in Jena, Germany, focused on the host response to respiratory Pasteurella infections of piglets. She qualified as a specialised veterinary immunologist with interests in the pathogenesis of mycobacteria infections, vaccination and diagnostics. Since 2002 she is affiliated at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, in Jena, Germany. As the head of the German National Reference Laboratory for Paratuberculosis she is involved in the validation of diagnostic tests. From 2014 to 2024 Dr. Köhler was a member of the Governing Board of the International Association of Paratuberculosis.
Stefan Niemann
Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology,
Research Center Borstel,
Borstel, Germany
Stefan Niemann
Stefan Niemann is Head of the Molecular and Experimental Mycobacteriology at the Research Center Borstel, Borstel, Germany, Professor at the University of Lübeck, Lübeck Germany, and Visiting Professor at the University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia. The central aim of his research is the fight against tuberculosis and other lung diseases based on a better understanding of the causative agents e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains (Mtbc) or other bacterial lung pathogens. He is working on local and global transmission dynamics, resistance and compensatory mechanisms, population structure and evolution, virulence/physiology/pathobiology of mycobacteria, high-throughput technologies in research and diagnostics, implementation of new technologies in high incidence countries, individualized therapy and evolutionary medicine. Based on his achievements, he has been awarded the Eva and Klaus Grohe Prize of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 2011, the Main Prize of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology in 2016, one out of eight Schleswig-Holstein-Excellence-Chairs in 2016, the DZIF Prize for Clinical Translational Infection Research in 2019, and the Gardner Middlebrook Award in 2021.
Renate Schmelz
Medical Department I,
Gastroenterology, University Hospital,
Technische Universität Dresden,
Germany
Renate Schmelz
Renate Schmelz, MD, is a senior gastroenterologist and IBD specialist with over 20 years of experience in the clinical management and research of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Since 2008, she has been heading a tertiary referral center in Dresden, Germany dedicated to the care of highly complex IBD cases, where she continues to provide expert care for patients with severe, refractory or diagnostically challenging disease presentations.
Dr. Schmelz is an active faculty member in the national IBD training program of the German Society for Gastroenterology (DGVS), where she regularly lectures young clinicians in evidence-based IBD care. Her academic work includes extensive involvement in clinical trials, ranging from international multicenter collaborations to investigator-initiated studies, with a focus on innovative therapies.
