Dr. Jimenez is a comparative physiologist who became interested in dog ageing when her own dog, Emma, started showing signs of ageing. She has, to date, studied whole-animal implications of dog ageing, including metabolism, growth rates and reproductive costs. She has also studied cell-level implications of dog ageing including: cellular metabolic rate differences across ages and size classes of dogs, membrane saturation experiments, life-extending drugs on cellular metabolism, inflammageing, and more.

Professor Michelangelo Campanella is internationally recognized as an expert in the cell biology and pharmacology of mitochondria. His research focuses on the mechanisms controlling the quality of mitochondrial function, signalling and interaction with other organelles. His work has informed the current understanding of bioenergetic and dynamic interplay of the mitochondria for which he has devised pharmacological regulators. A recipient of several awards in research, he has been the first to characterize the physiology of the molecular mechanisms which control the mitochondrial consumption of ATP (i) and the physical contacts between mitochondria and nucleus which define stress responses. His dedication to biomedical research, academic support and service to scholars earned him the Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Foundation in 2014 and the Talented Young Italian Award in 2015. In the same year, he was named Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. In 2018 he obtained a Consolidator Award by the European Research Council (ERC) in Life Science.

Dr. Cortopassi has a lifelong passion for ageing research, mitochondria, transcriptomics and drug development. He has been fascinated with ageing and longevity since a Stanford undergrad studying DNA repair, considered at that time to be a major force opposing ageing. As a PhD candidate working with Allan Wilson and Bruce Ames at Berkeley, he became convinced that mitochondria impacted aging, and in 1990 he demonstrated that mitochondria accumulate pathogenic mutations with human ageing in brain and muscle. Dr. Cortopassi spent many years discerning how mitochondrial pathogenic mutations caused pathophysiology. He first engaged with the Shc project while on sabbatical in an Italian laboratory studying the mitochondrial consequences of Shc reduction. He was an 'early adopter' of transcriptomics techniques since 2000, intrigued by their ability to distill mechanism in complex biological systems. This resulted in an early discovery that Shc reduction reduced macrophage in inflammation and increased insulin sensitivity. His laboratory's research later found that reduction in both macrophage inflammation and insulin sensitivity could result from genetic Shc reduction, making mice more ketogenic. A collaboration with Jon Ramsey pushed the keto-hypothesis all the way to show that KD itself extends longevity. Dr. Cortopassi and his team's current RNAseq data of KD in mice supports a massive remodeling of liver to increase BHB production that elicits elicits anti-inflammation in the periphery.

Dr. Creevy's educational path includes Georgetown University (BS), the University of Tennessee (DVM), the University of Minnesota (small animal rotating internship) and the University of Georgia (internal medicine residency and MS in Infectious Disease). Along the way she has worked in emergency practice in the Twin Cities and Washington DC, as well as academic emergency practice at UGA, and completed a Cancer Research Training Award Fellowship developing protocols for chimeric bone marrow transplantation in immunodeficient dogs at the NIH's National Cancer Institute. After ten years as a small animal internist on UGA's faculty, she joined the faculty at Texas A&M University's School of Veterinary Medicine where she is now a Professor in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Dr. Creevy is the Chief Veterinary Officer for the Dog Aging Project, a multicenter, multidisciplinary research collaboration whose long-term goal is to understand the genetic and environmental determinants of healthy ageing in companion dogs. The Dog Aging Project is currently enrolling participants into the largest prospective study of companion dogs ever performed, following tens of thousands of dogs across the United States. In addition to her work on canine ageing, Dr. Creevy’s research interests include infectious disease, and the development of lifelong learning skills and critical thinking skills among professional students and early-career veterinarians.

Dr. Duggal is an assistant professor at the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham and a trustee for the British Society of Research in Ageing (BSRA) with a long-standing interest in the field of immunosenescence and its impact upon ageing and health. Her research group is focussed on investigating the role of immunosenescence as a contributor to pathological conditions that affect older adults with a higher incidence than the young , such as rheumatoid arthritis , C. difficile infections (CDI) and more recently COVID-19 infections. Dr. Duggal's research also focusses on the investigating the role of microbiome changes in driving immunosenescence and investigating the potential of microbiome-based interventions in reversing the immune ageing clock to promote healthy ageing.

Dr. Ehrhart is the Director of Colorado State University’s Columbine Health Systems Center for Healthy Aging and a Full Professor in Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. She holds the Ross M Wilkins MD Limb Preservation Foundation University Chair in Musculoskeletal Biology and Oncology. She is the Director of the Laboratory of Comparative Musculoskeletal Oncology and Traumatology and has been involved in limb preservation research, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and cancer research for the last twenty years. She is actively engaged in translational ageing research to improve health and lifespan for ageing patients – both human and canine – and she focuses on comparative medicine as a powerful tool to bring new therapeutic strategies to slow ageing. She holds joint faculty positions in Colorado State University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Cell and Molecular Biology program, and the University of Colorado Gates Regenerative Medicine Center and University of Colorado Cancer Center. In addition to her leadership roles in many prestigious national and international scientific organizations (ACVS, VSSO, VOS, WVOC), Dr. Ehrhart was also the first woman to be granted a University-level Endowed University Chair at Colorado State University.

Dr. Suchodolski graduated with a veterinary degree from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria. After working for several years in a small animal specialty clinic, he returned to academia and received his PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from Texas A&M University for his work on molecular markers for the assessment of the intestinal microbiota. He is board-certified in immunology by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM). He currently serves as Professor and Associate Director of the GI Lab at Texas A&M University. He has published more than 340 peer-review manuscripts in the field of veterinary gastroenterology and microbiome. In 2023, Dr. Suchodolski became the Purina Petcare Endowed Chair for Microbiome Research.

Natalia Wagemans is the Global Head of the Purina Institute with headquarters in St. Louis, USA. Natalia Wagemans graduated in pediatrics with postgraduate certification in neonatology. Her academic carrier was related to the pediatric healthcare and nutrition in the State Medical University in Russia. PhD scientific research was performed in the field of iodine deficiency and cardiovascular system in children. She had over 100 scientific presentation at the different medical & scientific forums and over 40 publication in peer reviewed journals. She joined Nestlé in 2002 working in different areas of infant nutrition in Russia & CIS, India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Switzerland. From 2014 she was appointed as the Global Head of the Nestle Nutrition Institute (NNI) in Switzerland. Under her leadership, Institute became a one of the credible educational platforms in area of nutrition with a global on-line membership of 500’000 health professional from 191 countries. Since 2020, Natalia Wagemans leads the Purina Institute, which is the global organization that dedicated to sharing the latest nutrition knowledge and break through research with veterinary healthcare professionals worldwide to help pets live longer and better lives.

Dr. Olby completed her veterinary degree at Cambridge University in the UK in 1991. After a brief period spent in mixed general practice, she returned to Cambridge to complete a PhD and post-doctoral fellowship in spinal cord injury and a surgical training. Following completion of her PhD and post-doctoral research, she moved to North Carolina State University to do a neurology/neurosurgery residency and she has stayed at NCSU as a faculty member since then. She is currently a Professor of Neurology/Neurosurgery and holds the Dr. Kady M. Gjessing and Rhanna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology. She is a past president of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Neurology specialty and has published over 190 scientific papers, as well as more than 35 book chapters. Dr. Olby is co-editor of the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Neurology. Her research interests are spinal cord injury, neuropathic pain in Chiari like Malformations and neurodegenerative diseases. She has long had an interest in ageing of the nervous system, a process that is magnified in neurodegenerative diseases, and she now runs the Canine Neuro-Aging Program. This longitudinal study is focused on quantifying decline in sensory, motor and cognitive function with a view to facilitating pathophysiological discovery and performing therapeutic trials. In all fields, her research uses clinical cases to generate translational data and she focuses on training future clinician scientists.

Dr. Palmer is an Associate Professor of Immunology at the RVC, University of London and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Immunology at Imperial College London, Visiting Lecturer at Cambridge University and University of East London. His main research interest is focused on understanding the effect of age on the immune system and he has published over 50 research manuscript and written chapters in several books. Dr. Palmer teaches several undergraduate and postgraduate courses and also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. He is on the editorial boards of various scientific journals and is currently Education & Careers Secretary of the British Society for Immunology.

Dr. Steiner received his BSc from University of Lausanne, a PhD in Neuroscience from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2004, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Boston, in 2008. He then served as Director of Operations at Tilocor International, a biotech consortium, where he supervised the transfer process of drug candidate products from research towards clinical development. From 2010 to 2015, Pascal worked in the Neuroscience Department at Genentech in South San Francisco, leading an interdisciplinary team to discover and develop new drug targets in neurological diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and pain. In 2015, Pascal joined the Nestlé Institute of Health Science in Lausanne, Switzerland and was then appointed Head of the Department of Brain Health. In 2020, Pascal joined Purina PetCare R&D Center in St. Louis as the senior director of the Nestlé Purina Nutrition Science Team.

Dr. Pawelec received an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Transplantation Immunology from the University of Cambridge, UK. He is currently Professor of Experimental Immunology in the Department of Immunology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany and is an Affiliated Scientist at the Health Sciences North Research Institute of Canada, Sudbury, ON, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and was a Visiting Professor at Nottingham Trent University, UK and at King´s College London, UK, and held an Honorary Chair at Manchester University, UK. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Immunity and Ageing and the Journal of Ageing and Longevity is an Associate Editor of the Journal for the Immunotherapy of Cancer and Section Editor for Heliyon Cancer Research. Dr. Pawelec research interests are centred on how ageing affects immune function and influences the outcome of vaccination and immunotherapy, and how immunosenescence impacts human health and longevity.

Dr. Quimby is board certified in small animal internal medicine, completed a PhD studying feline CKD, and was on faculty at Colorado State University until 2017. She is now an associate professor of small animal internal medicine at the Ohio State University. Her current research areas include the study of renal pathophysiology, novel treatment strategies and evidence-based supportive care strategies. She has an interest in feline clinical pharmacology focusing on improving supportive care and quality of life in cats with CKD. Dr. Quimby has received the International Renal Interest Society Award and the AVMF/Winn Feline Foundation Research Award for her contributions to nephrology and feline medicine. In 2021 she was selected to serve on the board of the International Renal Interest Society.

Earned his medical degree from Bombay University, as well as completed his pediatric residency in New York and clinical fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Johns Hopkins University. Executive MBA from the Ohio State University.Prior to his current role, Ryan Carvalho held several positions in academia, most recently as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University, USA.Member of the North American Society of Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Served on several boards and committees over the last 10 years.

Dr. Volk is currently Professor of Small Animal Diseases and the Head of Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, Honorary Professor of Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery, Royal Veterinary College, London and Affiliate Professor of Veterinary Neurology, University of Copenhagen. He graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover in 2001, where he also did his PhD in Neuropharmacology studying basic mechanisms of drug-resistant epilepsy. He then completed his specialist clinical education doing an internship and a residency in Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC). The RVC also provided him with the chance to not only excel academically and clinically, but also in his leadership skills, going through the reigns from lecturer to head of service, clinical director of the Small Animal Referral clinic and last as head of department of clinical science and services. Dr. Volk is internationally known for his work in the field of SARS-CoV-2 Medical Scent Detection Dogs, neuropathic pain and epilepsy. He was President of the European College of Veterinary Neurology and active in the Executive Board of Veterinary Specialisation as treasurer. Dr. Volk serves as chair of the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force, which published seven consensus statements for canine and feline epilepsy, and was a co-chair of the recent published ACVIM consensus statement about medical treatment of epilepsy and ECVN consensus about movement disorders. He has been a recipient of several Jim Bee educator excellent in teaching awards, the prestigious Bourgelat Award from BSAVA, and the International Canine Health Award from the Kennel Club, and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) International Award. In 2022, Dr. Volk became fellow of the RCVS for Meritorious Contributions to Clinical Practice. He has published multiple books and book chapters, >250 articles, >170 conference abstracts, and is a frequent flyer on the international conference circuit.

Steve Horvath is a biogerontologist, whose research lies at the intersection of several fields including epigenetic biomarkers of aging, preclinical and clinical studies, genomics, epidemiology, and comparative biology. Steve Horvath is a Principle Investigator at the Altos Labs San Diego Institute of Science. Prior to joining Altos, he was a Professor of Human Genetics and Biostatistics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He and his UCLA colleagues published the first epigenetic clock for saliva in 2011. In 2013, he published the first pan-tissue clock, also known as the Horvath clock. Recently, he presented a universal clock that applies to all mammals. He is also known for developing weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA), a widely used data mining method used in genomic applications. The next phase of his research is the use of epigenetic clocks to identify novel anti-aging interventions. The recipient of several awards, Steve Horvath has been on Clarivate’s annual list of the world’s most influential science researchers every year since 2018.

Dr. Böhme leads and manages gut-brain axis studies at Nestlé Research. His research seeks to identify novel nutritional solutions to improve brain health across the lifespan, with a focus on the gut microbiota acting as a novel media between diet and maintenance of brain health. Marcus represents Nestlé Research in the internal probiotic strategic network and is one of Nestlé’s representatives for international scientic organization such as the International Scientic Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). He holds degrees in Nutrition (MSc) and in Neuroscience (PhD). His work has been cited more than 2700 times.

DVM, Dip ECVN, PhD, PGCAP, FHEA, MRCVS

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Dr. Caroline Childs is Lead of the BM6 medicine course, a program designed to widen participation in medicine, and Nutrition and Metabolism subject lead in the Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Childs' research focuses on diet and its links with immune function, iflammatory status, immunosenescence and the gut microbiome.