Speaker Bio's

Dr. Connie Araps received a B.S.in chemistry from Douglass College-Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Princeton University.  She has an extensive background in organic and photo chemistry and has authored 16 US patents and numerous publications. President of Prometheus Strategies, Dr. Araps consults to companies involved in advanced air and surface cleaning technologies. She has overseen third-party chemical, microbiological and toxicology studies related to photohydrolytic oxidation technology, and co-authored a study validating its mode of action in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (2017).  Dr Araps is Chair of The Pyure Company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Bailey Arruda is a pathologist and research scientist specializing in swine and influenza A virus. She earned both her DVM and PhD from Iowa State University and is currently a Science Advisor at APHIS within the USDA, contributing to its mission of safeguarding and promoting the health of U.S. agriculture.

Dr. Rod Bagley is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in both Neurology and Internal Medicine and certified in canine rehabilitation (CCRP) and veterinary Acupuncture (CVA). He has been practicing, teaching, and presenting worldwide on topics related to Clinical Neurology and allied subjects for over 36 years.

Dr. Lisa Becton is the associate director with the Swine Health Information Center. Her main focus is on fulfilling SHIC’s core mission to protect and enhance the health of the US swine through targeted research investments, support and analysis of swine health monitoring programs and strategic communication of research results.
 
Dr. Jenna Bjork is the Associate Director and Public Health Veterinarian at the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University where she manages various projects related to veterinary education and infectious disease prevention. Dr. Bjork enjoys opportunities to promote human, animal, plant, and environmental health.

Dr. Matt Brewer DVM, PhD, DACVM is an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology at ISU College of Veterinary Medicine where he leads the diagnostic parasitology service. He also supervises a basic research lab that investigates parasitic disease and drug resistance.

Dr. Caleb Brezina is a PhD candidate, field services veterinarian, and ACAW Resident at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Brezina received his DVM from Iowa State University in 2023. Dr. Brezina’s research focuses on the social relationships of feedlot calves, and the impacts social relationships have on stress.
 
Dr. Jesus Diaz Bujan received his veterinary degree from the University of León (Spain) in 2010, after three years in small animal practice in the United Kingdom; he completed an internship at the Animal Health Trust in 2016, followed by an ophthalmology internship at a private referral center in the United Kingdom. In 2021, he completed a three-year ophthalmology residency program with a master’s degree at the Royal Veterinary College, London. After two years working in a private referral hospital in Ottawa (Canada), he joined the ophthalmology service at Iowa State University (ISU) as a clinical assistant professor in September 2023. In his free time, Dr. Diaz enjoys traveling, cooking, and any outdoor or indoor sport, but especially loves basketball.

Dr. Joy Campbell is Sr. Director of Global Technical Service at APC where she has focused on discovering the role plasma functional proteins play in improving animal health. Dr. Campbell is a member of several professional associations and has authored multiple refereed publications, abstracts, patents, proceedings and technical publications.
 
Dr. Sara Chaplin is in her second year of the Masters program through the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine.  Her background includes several years in dairy production private practice in California, and several years in mixed large animal practice in a rural setting in the Rocky Mountain West.  Here in Iowa she is enjoying keeping students on their toes, and her topic of research, Benchmark establishment in Iowa cow-calf herds.

Guillermo Couto, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM and Oncology) graduated from Buenos Aires University, Argentina in 1976. He spent 5 years as a private practice small animal practitioner in his hometown, and then completed a Clinical Oncology Residency at the University of California-Davis. He is coauthor of the textbook Small Animal Internal Medicine with Richard W. Nelson, now in its sixth edition, and has over 350 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the areas of oncology, hematology, and Greyhound medicine. Dr. Couto served as Editor In Chief of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and President of the Veterinary Cancer Society; he received numerous teaching and service awards while at the University. After over 30 years in academia, he is now providing consultation and educational services through Couto Veterinary Consultants, Redmond, Oregon.

Dr. Grant Dewell received his DVM from Colorado State University in 1993 and was in a primarily beef cattle practice in central South Dakota. Besides obtaining a Master’s degree in Agriculture Economics and a Ph.D in Epidemiology from CSU he was a clinical instructor at University of Nebraska’s Great Plains Veterinary Education Center, in Clay Center, Nebraska.  Since 2008 he has been the Beef Cattle Extension Veterinarian at Iowa State University. Dr. Dewell’s research interests are health management of cattle, animal welfare and economic considerations for beef production operations.

Dr. Renee Dewell received her DVM from CSU and earned a Master’s from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at Great Plains Veterinary Education Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. Since 2009 she has been affiliated with the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Dewell’s research interests include cattle welfare and population health.
 
Dr. Baliey Goos is a 2014 graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Goos spent two years in a private mixed animal practice in Eastern Iowa before joining the USDA. She spent three years with the Food Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) before joining APHIS Veterinary Services as a Veterinary Medical Officer in April of 2019. She currently lives in Tama, Iowa with her partner, daughter, two bonus kids, two dogs, two cats and 25 chickens. She enjoys traveling, gardening, baking and DIY projects.

Dr. Chris George is currently serving as a Medical Affairs Specialist at Elanco Animal Health. He grew up in Kansas City and after earning his DVM degree at Kansas State University, he completed a rotating internship at VCA Mission, followed by an internal medicine residency at Kansas State University. After residency, Dr. George moved to the Pacific Northwest where he built an internal medicine service at BluePearl Tacoma and practiced in the Tacoma and Olympia areas prior to joining Elanco.

Dr. Andrew Hennenfent, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, is the State Public Health Veterinarian for Iowa, overseeing zoonotic disease prevention and response.  Dr. Hennenfent completed an applied epidemiology fellowship in infectious disease at the District of Columbia Department of Health, then oversaw the city’s emerging and zoonotic disease program and served as the city’s public health veterinarian. After joining the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Hennenfent oversaw the Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) Program, leading planning and response efforts for antimicrobial stewardship efforts and infection prevention technical assistance provided to Iowa healthcare personnel to improve infection control practices in all settings. Prior to joining Iowa HHS Dr. Hennenfent worked for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS).

Dr. Megan Hindman serves as a Swine Technical Consultant for Elanco Animal Health. She was previously employed at Iowa State University. She earned her DVM and MS in Veterinary Preventative Medicine from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Her interests are beef cattle and show pigs and enjoys spending time on the farm with her husband and two boys.
 
Dr. Andrea Holmes is a 2014 graduate of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Holmes worked at a mixed animal practice for three years before joining the USDA. She then worked for FSIS for three and a half years before joining APHIS Veterinary Services as a Veterinary Medical Officer in October 2020. She lives in Marcus, Iowa with her husband Tim and their 3 sons. She and her husband enjoy going to as many Cyclone football and basketball games as possible.

Dr. Jeff Kaisand serves as State Veterinarian at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship working with federal, state and industry partners to protect the health of Iowa’s livestock industry and develop foreign animal disease response plans. He earned his DVM from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993.
 
Dr. Megan Mickelson is the surgical oncologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her doctorate at UW-Madison (2013), followed by a small animal rotating internship at North Carolina State University (2014), surgical residency at UW-Madison (2017), and surgical oncology fellowship at Colorado State University in the Flint Animal Cancer Center (2018). She previously was faculty at Iowa State University and University of Missouri prior to joining UW-Madison (2025) to start the surgical oncology program.

Dr. Meredith Petersen is a Professor and Director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL). ISU VDL’s team of 180 faculty and staff play an active role on the frontlines of US animal agriculture processing approximately 130,000 diagnostic case submissions and conducting more than 1.7 million diagnostic assays annually.

Dr. Rodger Main is a Professor and Director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL). ISU VDL’s team of 180 faculty and staff play an active role on the frontlines of US animal agriculture processing approximately 130,000 diagnostic case submissions and conducting more than 1.7 million diagnostic assays annually.

Professor Suzanne Millman is an applied ethologist and holds the Scott and Nancy Armbrust Professorship in Veterinary Medicine, in VDPAM and BMS departments at ISU. Her service includes IVMA Animal Welfare Liaison, AVMA Working Group on Companion Animal & Equine Maltreatment and On-Farm Evaluation Coordinator for Iowa Farm Animal Care.

Dr. Mariamawit Mohammed completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Ethiopia and is now enrolled in the dual master's and PhD program at ISU. Her work focuses primarily on PRRSV genome and lineage benchmarking reports for POMP project.
 
Jean-Sébastien Palerme (DVM, MSc, DACVIM): Dr. Palerme earned his veterinary degree from the University of Montreal in 2008. After two years in general practice, he returned to academia, completing a rotating internship at the Ontario Veterinary College and an internal medicine residency at North Carolina State University. Since 2015, he has been a faculty member of Iowa State University’s small animal internal medicine service with an interest in urinary tract diseases and minimally invasive procedures including interventional radiology.

Dr. Rafael Paiva was born in Venezuela, became manager of his family Dairy and Beef operation in 1994, received his DVM title in 1996 from “La Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado”, and started his large animal practice and vet lab, run more than 120,000 tests/year for all large animal diseases, worked as consultant in health programs mainly Brucellosis and Tuberculosis with the private industry and the government, also worked with BVDV, IBR, Bovine Leukemia, and Paratuberculosis. In 2002 received his title as “Bovine Reproduction Specialist” from “La Universidad del Zulia”, have several international publications and papers, in 2010 moved to the USA to do research in Ovum pick up and Embryo Transfer, Started a PhD at Texas A&M University in 2019, his current position in IDEXX Laboratories is “Professional Service Veterinarian”, this allows him to work together with all government and university labs and the private industry to control and eradicate all diseases that have an economic impact in the bovine industry.

Dr. Jim Rhoades is currently a Senior Professional Services Veterinarian for the cattle business at IDEXX Laboratories. Jim graduated from the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992 and the Executive Veterinary Program (EVP) for beef veterinarians from Kansas State University and the University of Illinois in 2018. He is a Missouri native and practiced veterinary medicine in Missouri, with a focus on farm animals. Professionally, his interests are in both the prevention of disease and driving production practices that are sustainable and profitable for the cattle industry. In 1998 he joined the animal health industry and has been with IDEXX Laboratories since 2016. Jim and his wife Susan live on a beef cattle farm in southwest Missouri.
 
Dr. Katie Rumsey serves as the Assistant State Veterinarian and Deputy Division Director for the Animal Industry Division within the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. She is a 2005 graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, received her Master of Public Health from the University of Iowa in 2019, and is a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She spent 14 years in private practice before joining the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in 2019.
 
Dr. Ryan Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology at Iowa State University. His research interests are broadly focused on mosquito and tick vectors and the diseases that they transmit. Since 2015, Dr. Smith has led vector surveillance efforts in Iowa. 

Dr. Emiline Sundman is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. She holds an MS in Animal Physiology and PhD in Population Sciences in Animal Health. Her research area is livestock behavior and welfare, with current work focusing on impaired feedlot cattle.

Dr. Giovani Trevisan is an assistant professor at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and his activities are focused on tools and applications for disease management and control.

Dr. Alexus Urbanik received her undergraduate degree at Lake Forest College, and her DVM from the University of Illinois. After veterinary school, Dr. Urbanik completed an internship in Emergency Medicine, and subsequently worked in a specialty referral practice in southeast Wisconsin as an emergency doctor and manager of blood banking services. Dr. Urbanik currently works as a Professional Consulting Veterinarian for Hill’s Pet Nutrition where she enjoys leveraging her clinical background to help veterinary practitioners utilize nutrition for best patient care.

Dr. Christina Walsh has been a Professional Services Veterinarian with IDEXX since 2024. A graduate of Atlantic Veterinary College in 2017, she spent 8 years in small animal medicine serving as an Associate Veterinarian followed by the Medical Director of a busy, two-location private practice. Dr. Walsh maintains her hands-on clinical proficiency by continuing to practice part-time in Nebraska. Her professional focus is centered on knowledge sharing and a commitment to lifelong learning within the veterinary field. A native of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada, her personal time is often spent on activities on or near the water.

Dr. David Williams leads the Diagnostics and Mammalian infectious Disease Research group at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria. His group focusses on the detection, pathogenesis, and epidemiology of emerging transboundary viral pathogens affecting animals and humans, including Japanese encephalitis virus and other arboviruses circulating in the Australasian region.
 
Dr. Kirby Weaver joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 2013 and currently serves as a Professional Services Veterinarian supporting veterinary customers and BIAH field Territory Managers. His previous role with BIAH was leading the Large Animal Veterinary Technical Solutions team (VeTS), which is comprised of doctors and technicians providing product support for the entire BIAH portfolio for the US business. Dr. Weaver is a second-generation equine veterinarian and grew up in a busy mixed animal clinic outside of Kansas City, MO. He graduated from the University of Missouri - College of Veterinary Medicine, and Heartland Horseshoeing School. Following graduation, he practiced in Ocala, FL at Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital then returned home to Kansas City, joining Wilhite & Frees Equine Hospital. His primary job is as a husband and father of four. He has coached football and baseball for many years and is also a proud dance dad.

Dr. Katie Woodard is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She serves as the Section Leader for the Client Services department where her focus is client outreach and education. She obtained her DVM from St. George’s University in 2014 and her Masters in Veterinary Preventative Medicine from Iowa State in 2021.

Dr. Jessica Young is a 2004 graduate of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Young spent 10 years as an ambulatory equine veterinarian in Iowa before coming to work for the USDA. She spent one year with FSIS, and then joined APHIS Veterinary Services as a Veterinary Medical Officer in September 2015. She currently lives in Ogden, Iowa with her husband Scott and their two sons, Colton (18 years) and Chase (14 years). Both of her children extensively compete in youth rodeo, and that keeps them busy as a family most of the year! Otherwise, together they enjoy horseback riding, fishing, camping and taking care of their small hobby farm.

Dr. Michael Zeller – is a bioinformatician at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. In this role he designs processes to streamline classification and analysis of viral sequencing data for pathogens. Michael currently maintains the ISU PRRSView and ISU FLUture web platforms.

Dr. Jianqiang (JQ) Zhang is a professor and virologist at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He is also the Lora and Russ Talbot Endowed Professor. He has served as the Virology Editor for the book Diseases of Swine (11th and 12th editions) and as Vice President for AAVLD.