Laure Bignon is a zootechnical engineer (master 2-degree equivalent), graduated from The Engineering Faculty of Life Sciences of Toulouse (ENSAT). After 10 years at the French Poultry Technical Institute (ITAVI) to work on the welfare and rearing systems of poultry and rabbit, she joined WISIUM as a poultry nutritionist. WISIUM is a part of ADM company which provides premixes, feed specialties, nutritional and technical advice to the feed industry. After 4 years, she joined CCPA group in 2022 as a poultry and rabbit nutritionist. CCPA group has 50 years’ expertise in animal health and nutrition and has been studying the effects of phytogenics for more than 20 years. Currently Laure provides nutritional and technical advice (farm management, biosecurity) to French and foreign customers.

Prof. Damer Blake (Great Britain)

Following a PhD focused on bacterial genetics from the University of Aberdeen, Damer began working with Eimeria species parasites in 2001 at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH, UK). During his time at IAH he carried out fundamental and applied genetics-led research, contributing to the Eimeria genome sequencing consortium and working towards new, cost-effective anticoccidial vaccines. Damer joined the Royal Veterinary College in 2010, becoming Professor of Parasite Genetics in 2016. Current research strands include population genetic analyses of recognised and new Eimeria species, development of novel vaccine delivery strategies, understanding the genetic basis of host resistance to coccidiosis, interactions of Eimeria with bacterial microbiota of poultry and gut health. Recent work includes the use of Eimeria and yeast as vaccine vectors and microbiome/metagenomics studies exploring the impact of host genotype, immune status and production system. In 2017 Damer became Editor-in-Chief of the journal Avian Pathology. Professor Blake participated in the Eimeriana Avia project conferences in 2016, 2020 and will also be a lecturer at the 2024 conference.

Dr wet. Kamila Bobrek (University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw).

Dr. Kamila Bobrek working as assistant professor in the Department of Epizootiology, Bird and Exotic Animal Clinic University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw, a member of the Polish Society of Veterinary Sciences. The title of specialist diseases of poultry and ornamental birds she received in 2012 and the title of doctor of veterinary sciences in the March 2014 year on the basis of the doctoral dissertation “Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of strains of Erysipelothrix spp. isolated from field cases of erysipelas in geese”. The scopes of scientific interests include parasitic disease of poultry and bacterial diseases of waterfowl. Co-organizer of the Eimeriana Avia International Technical Conferences in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2024.

Title: A propidium monoazide (PMA) based approach for in vitro evaluation of Eimeria maxima oocyst viability

Jana is working for 4 years as the Head of Protozoology R&D unit in the company BIOPHARM, Research Institute of Biopharmacy and Veterinary Drugs. The subjects of her Ph.D. studies were biochemistry, biotransformations and biotechnological applications of microbial enzymes at the Department of Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic. After graduation she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, AS CR.

In support of the Livacox manufacturing unit, the main objectives are: a new approach to improve the production of different attenuated Eimeria lines, the automated enumeration of Eimeria oocysts for rapid monitoring, the development of the in vitro systems based on molecular methods for the reduction of experimental animals.

Wojciech Gbiorczyk, M.Sc. (Zoetis Poland)

Graduate of the University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw, Faculty of Biology and Animal Husbandry, majoring in Zootechnics (2004-2009).
From 2010 -2021 he served as a manager at commodity turkey (8 years) and broiler chicken (3 years) flock farms, where he established his knowledge and gained experience.
For more than two years, he has been working at Zoetis as a Key Account Manager in the Livestock division.
Currently, he provides technical support to poultry farms in the areas of responsible use of coccidiostats, prevention of coccidiosis, as well as bioassurance.

Dr Corrado Longoni, MSD Animal Health 

Dr Longoni graduated in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Torino, he started working as a field veterinarian in Martini Group. In 2005 he took a degree the School of Technology and Pathology of avian species, rabbit, game bird (Universita di Milano- Veterinary Medicine). In 2013 he joined to MSD Animal Health team and his current position is Poultry Global Technical Director.

 Presentation title: The other side of the coin – toxicity of ionophore coccidiostats for poultry

PhD  DSc. Małgorzata Olejnik graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Medical University of Lublin. He has been dealing with the issue of coccidiostats, both in terms of residues in food and their toxicity to animals, from the beginning of his scientific career – initially at the National Veterinary Institute – National Research Institute in Puławy, and currently at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In the years 2013-2017, she led a research project aimed at explaining the relationship between different species’ sensitivity to the toxic effects of salinomycin and the degree of its biotransformation. Currently (2021-2025), he continues this research using an in vivo model as part of the NCN project “Mechanism of salinomycin toxicity – causes of differences in species sensitivity of chickens and turkeys”.

Luis got a Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) in 2000, with the specialty of Animal Health and Veterinary Surgery.
Since graduation, he worked as a clinical veterinarian and a poultry and feed additive specialist in different companies.
In May 2018, he joined HIPRA as Corporate Product Manager (Corporate Brand Manager from September 2019) specialized in avian coccidiosis vaccines.
In July 2022, he was promoted to his current position in HIPRA as Regional Technical Marketing Manager, in charge of the whole range of HIPRA´s avian vaccines for Northern, Central and Western Europe.

Assistant professor at the Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences in Lublin. He is the author and co-author of numerous scientific publications in the field of parasitology. Scientific achievements are based on the topic of parasitic invasions of companion, farm and wild animals. The main stream of research concerns the activity of selected ectoparasites, the transmission of pathogens carried by them and methods of preventing their spread. Due to participation in COST Action FA1404 (COREMI) aimed at improving understanding and research in the field of sustainable control of the red poultry mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, she currently continuing work in this area by searching for natural compounds that combat the red mites. He cooperates with foreign and domestic universities and NVI in Pulawy on the impact of natural and chemical substances on ectoparasites. It is also a member of the COST Action CA 21170 dealing with the prevention, prediction and mitigation of the risk of tick-borne diseases using the DAMA protocol (PRAGMATICK).

6th-year student, soon to graduate in veterinary medicine at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. He divides his time between studies and clinical internship, in his free time expanding his knowledge about poultry diseases.

Doctor of animal sciences. She obtained her education at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The doctor’s professional achievements are based on field experience in treatment, prevention and production management in pig and poultry herds. He has extensive experience in building relationships and analyzing customer needs on farm animal farms. He also has experience in team management, brand and product development. She learns new things quickly and is ready to take on new professional challenges. Currently (since 01/01/23) he is the head of the Health Products Department at Intermag.

PhD Barbara Szczepankiewicz, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences

Title of the presentation at Eimeriana Avia 2024: Avian cryptosporidiosis – a new health problem in poultry?

Veterinarian, assistant with a PhD in veterinary sciences at the

Department of Epizootiology and the Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. She has written more than 40 articles for professional and general science journals. Her research interests also include bacterial, fungal infections and parasitic diseases. She currently investigates the spread of both cryptosporidiosis and microsporidiosis in birds.

Professor Piotr Szeleszczuk- veterinarian, a specialist in diseases of poultry and ornamental birds. Works in Department of Avian, Exotic Animals and Fish Diseases Department of Veterinary Pathology and Diagnostics Institute of Veterinary Medicine Warsaw University of Life Sciences. He is author of over 700 scientific publications. He specializes in issues of pathology, therapy and immunoprophylaxis of avian diseases. In the years 2012 -2020 National Head of Specialization No. 5 “Diseases of poultry and ornamental birds.” Currently, in the 2020-2024 term, he heads specialization no. 18 “Diseases of ornamental birds and pigeons”. He conducted research on the epidemiology of coccidiosis in broiler chickens in Poland and new patterns of prevention of this invasion. In his team they conducted research on the molecular diagnosis of coccidiosis. Within the scope of his interests are also problems of diagnosis and treatment of pigeons coccidiosis. The author of the project “Eimeriana Avia” and main co-organizer of the Eimeriana Avia International Technical Conferences in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2024.

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1830-4232

Prof. hab. Ph.D. Krzysztof Tomczuk

Head of the Department of Parasitology and Fish Diseases and the Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences in Lublin. 1988 – veterinarian, graduate of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lublin. 1989 Employment, assistant at the Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases at the home Faculty. 1998 – obtained the degree of doctor of veterinary sciences on the basis of the dissertation “Ascariae of the genus Toxocara: selected aspects of invasiveology and threats to human health” – position of assistant professor. 2013 – he became a habilitated doctor in veterinary sciences based on the monograph: Characterization of Anoplocephala perfoliata invasion in horses, taking into account molecular and proteomic aspects. 2015 position of associate professor. 2019 – obtaining the title of professor of veterinary sciences in the field of Parasitology. Author of over 280 items of literature, including 56 publications from the A list, 66 from the B list, co-author of a textbook, author of one monograph, 13 chapters in monographs, over 100 reports to domestic and foreign scientific conferences and over 50 popular science works. Index Hirscha 14. In 2017, he completed a research internship at the Institute of Parasitology of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen; Reviewer of scientific achievements in three proceedings for the title of professor, five habilitation theses, ten doctoral theses, one honorary doctorate, numerous master’s theses, and over 80 scientific works in scientific journals: Medycyna Weterynaryjna, Bulletin of the Vetrinary Institute in Pulawy, Journal of Animal Sciences, Polish Journal of Veterinary Sciences, Parasitology Research, Annals of Parasitology, Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports, Clinical Phytoscience, Animals, Pathogens. The subject of the scientific work mainly concerns the issues of diagnosis, therapy, prevention and the broadly understood invasion of farm animals, companion animals and free-living animals, with particular emphasis on parasitic zoonoses. In the subsequent stages of his scientific work, he dealt with economically and epidemiologically important invasions in a given period. Among other things, he conducted research in the field of invasiveness and pathogenesis of pig mange, toxocariasis of carnivorous animals and humans, anoplocephalosis of solipeds, fasciolosis and neosporosis of ruminants, coccidiosis of calves, invasion of gastrointestinal nematodes in horses, cattle and sheep, heartworm disease in dogs, invasive diseases of birds and many other topics regarding veterinary parasitology. In addition to his scientific activities, he also conducts clinical activities as a field doctor. A significant percentage of patients in the diagnostic laboratory are pigeons and poultry.

A graduate of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering (2012) and Veterinary Medicine (2017). Specialist in Poultry and Ornamental Birds Diseases and Specialist in Veterinary Prevention and Feed Hygiene. He has been working in poultry for 8 years, currently

Monita Vereecken is poultry veterinarian working as a technical manager in Huvepharma. After graduation at the University of Veterinary Science in Ghent in Belgium, she has been involved in poultry industry throughout her career: first at the University of Ghent followed by the Animal Health Service. She is the secretary and treasurer of the Belgian branch of WVPA in Belgium. For the last 16 years Monita is working for the global animal healthy company Huvepharma. Her current position is R&D support for new poultry product developments and support of the poultry product range of Huvepharma in Europa with special focus on the coccidiosis vaccine range.