The Intestinal Microbiome - In Health and Disease

Jan S. Suchodolski is a professor in small animal medicine, associate director for research, and head of microbiome sciences at the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University. He received his DrVetMed from the University Vienna, Austria and his PhD in veterinary microbiology from Texas A&M University. He is board certified in immunology by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM). His research is focused on developing biomarkers for gastrointestinal disease and therapeutic approaches for the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. He has authored or co-authored more than 340 peer-reviewed articles in the area of veterinary gastroenterology and microbiome research. 

Valerie Parker, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM), DACVN
Professor - Clinical, Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nutrition
The Ohio State University

Dr. Parker is currently a Professor – Clinical at The Ohio State University. She received her DVM from Tufts University, followed by a small animal internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. She then completed a small animal internal medicine residency at Iowa State University and a nutrition residency at Tufts University. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (SAIM and Nutrition). Dr. Parker’s primary areas of interest include kidney disease, gastrointestinal disease, and vitamin D metabolism, as well as nutritional management of a variety of canine and feline diseases.

Julia Fritz, Dr. med. vet., Dipl. ECVCN
Practice Owner
Napfcheck Veterinary Hospital

Dr. Julia Fritz graduated from the Veterinary Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany in 2003. Afterwards she completed her doctoral theses on the subject of digestive physiology in herbivores at the institute of animal nutrition and dietetics, followed by an internship and residency in comparative animal nutrition. After several years in academia, she  has now been running a nutrition consultation service for cats and dogs near Munich for more then 10 years. Besides daily questions on the proper nutrition, she focuses on the dietary management of various health issues and diseases, with gastrointestinal disorders being one of the hot topics. 

Katie Tolbert, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Clinical Associate Professor, Small Animal & Comparative Gastroenterology
Texas A&M University

Dr. Katie Tolbert completed her small animal internal medicine residency and Ph.D. in Comparative Biomedical Sciences at North Carolina State University. She is a clinical associate professor in the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University. She also holds a position as a Clinical Veterinary Instructor at North Carolina State University and is pursuing an alternate-track residency in small animal nutrition at the University of Tennessee. Her clinical interests and research program are focused on the treatment of acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases in dogs and cats. She has published over 60 peer-review manuscripts and received the Zoetis award for Excellence in Veterinary Research in 2018.

Stefan Unterer, Prof., Dr. med. vet., Dr. habil., DipECVIM-CA
Professor, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Director, Small Animal Internal Medicine Clinic
Ludwig-Maximilians-University

Stefan Unterer is Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Director of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Clinic at the Vetsuisse Faculty Zurich/Switzerland. He completed his internship and residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Zürich/Switzerland and University of Georgia/USA. Stefan Unterer became board-certified by the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2003. After one year in private practice, he returned to academia and became a faculty member and head of the gastroenterology service at the Clinic of Small Animal Internal Medicine of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich/Germany. He finished his habilitation thesis in 2016.

His clinical research projects include the intestinal microbiome, acute hemorrhagic diarrhea in dogs, intestinal barrier function and long-term consequences of acute enteritis.

Jenessa Winston, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Assistant Professor, Small Animal Internal Medicine
The Ohio State University

Dr. Jenessa Winston is an Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Biology from University of Florida in 2007. She then received her veterinary degree from the North Carolina State University in 2011. She went on to complete a rotating small animal internship and residency training in small animal internal medicine at NC State achieving board certification, as a Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, in 2015.  As a Clinical Investigator and NIH T32 fellow at NC  State, Dr. Winston completed a PhD in Comparative Biomedical Sciences with an Infectious Disease concentration in 2019. Her dissertation focused on defining the dynamics between the gut microbiota, microbial derived secondary bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid, and Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis.

As a clinician scientist, Dr. Winston’s primary research areas of interest include microbe-host interactions during health and disease and rational manipulation of microbial ecosystems including interventions such as fecal microbiota transplantation. Since starting at the OSU, Dr. Winston has launched the Companion Animal Fecal Bank, which serves as a unique research platform to accelerate our study and translation of microbial community sciences into safe and effective clinical applications. 

Linda Toresson, DVM, PhD
Senior Consultant, Gastroenterology, President, European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology
Evidensia Specialist Animal Hospital

Linda Toresson graduated from the Swedish University of Agricultural Science in 1995. Since 1996, she has worked at Evidensia Specialist Animal Hospital, Helsingborg, Sweden (ESAHHS). In 2001, she became a Swedish Specialist in diseases of dogs and cats and in 2007 a Swedish Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Linda was the Medical Director at ESAHHS during 2007-2013, a position she left to become an external PhD-student in gastroenterology at Helsinki University. In 2018, she presented her thesis on oral cobalamin supplementation in hypocobalaminemic dogs. Her main interest is clinical aspects of gastroenterology and modulation of the intestinal microbiome and metabolome. She is the current president of European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology.

Becca Leung, BVSc, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM (Nutrition)
Research Veterinary Nutritionist
Royal Canin

Becca was born in Hong Kong, and raised in the USA. She received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Florida, and then travelled across the world to Massey University in New Zealand to complete her veterinary degree. Following this, Becca stayed on at Massey University to complete a combined PhD and nutrition residency program with Dr. Nick Cave. Her research topics focused on body composition changes in long-stay patients and the effects of intermittent fasting in dogs. Becca joined Royal Canin in France three years ago and is currently in R&D as the Research Veterinary Nutritionist.