Theresa Fossum, DVM, MS, PHD, Diplomate ACVS

Dr. Fossum is a world-renowned board-certified veterinary surgeon, author of the best-selling textbook Small Animal Surgery (in its 5th edition), and a serial entrepreneur. Her textbook has been translated into over a dozen languages.

Dr Fossum’s background includes more than 35 years of educating veterinarians and pet-owners regarding diseases of companion animals. She has given over 1000 invited lectures to veterinarians throughout the world and has served as the keynote speaker at some of these meetings. She has been honoured with numerous awards, including Distinguished Alumni and Continuing Educator of the Year.

Dr. Fossum is the CEO and Founder of Dr. Fossum’s Pet Care and CEO and President of Phoenix Animal Wellness. These companies are developing and commercializing safe, efficacious, and reliable wellness products for pets and livestock.

Dr. Fossum has served as the principal investigator for over 30 million dollars in research funding from industry and the federal government. In 2018 she was the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Energy, developing STEM initiatives for the DOE. She is also the founder and former Director and Executive Director of the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS), a 60-million-dollar venture at Texas A&M University which promotes public-private partnerships to speed the development of medical devices and drugs.

In addition to her textbook which is considered to be the bible of veterinary surgery, Dr. Fossum has over 100 publications and numerous book chapters to her credit.

Pieter Nelissen, MVM DECVS CertSAS MRCVS

I graduated in 2001 from Ghent University in Belgium, after which I completed an internship in Small Animal Surgery. After a short spell in mixed practice, I moved to a small animal practice in the UK for 3 ½ years. During this time, I gained the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Surgery. In February 2007 I joined Dick White Referrals as an intern. I completed my residency (under the supervision of Prof Dick White) in Small Animal Surgery in 2011. From 2011 I stayed on as a consultant in small animal surgery at Dick White Referrals. In 2013, I passed the exam and became a European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Surgery. I worked until July 2017 as a Soft tissue surgeon at DWR. In October 2017 I moved to Germany and started working in a referral centre just outside Munich (Tierklinik Haar). In March 2022, together with my wife Dr Anna Adrian we opened a brand-new multidisciplinary referral centre (FRONTIER veterinary Specialists) in eastern Munich. I enjoy all aspects of soft tissue surgery with a focus on ENT, wound management, thoracic surgery, surgical oncology and minimally invasive surgery.

I have written several book chapters and have authored and co-authored many peer reviewed papers and written numerous other publications about various surgical and non-surgical topics. I have been lecturing about topics in small animal surgery all over the world.

Rachel Hattersley, BVetMed (Hons) CertSAS DECVS MRCVS

Rachel graduated from the RVC in 2003 and worked in first opinion practice for five years before undertaking a surgical residency at the University of Liverpool. Rachel obtained specialist status in 2012 and worked at both Davies Veterinary Specialists and Northwest Veterinary Specialists before joining the surgical team at DWR Veterinary Specialists in 2017 where she is now Head of Soft Tissue Surgery. Rachel enjoys all aspects of surgery but has a particular interest in surgical oncology, feline ureterolithiasis and tympanokeratoma. When not working Rachel can usually be found in the water training for her next marathon open water swim.