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Dr. LeRoith is a Clinical Professor of Anatomic Pathology at Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, where she has spent the last 19 years of her career.  She is the Director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and the Director of Virginia Tech Animal Laboratory Services. Before becoming VTH Director, she was heavily involved in pathology service, training residents, and teaching veterinary students.  She currently serves as the President-Elect of the American College of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, an organization dedicated to ensuring the quality of laboratory tests, and training the next generation of diagnosticians. The ViTALS lab is a member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the FDA Veterinary Laboratory Information Network, and works closely with the USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in detecting biological threats.

Ken received his B.S. from the University of Richmond, his master’s degree in Poultry Science from Virginia Tech, his veterinary degree and Ph.D. from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and is a Diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

Ken’s personal mission throughout his professional career has been to actively contribute to an agricultural system that provides safe and sustainable, high quality, affordable protein to millions of global consumers. As a veterinarian, this includes embracing the core tenets of the veterinary oath - protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health and the advancement of medical knowledge. Working within animal agriculture for over 25 years, Ken has held a variety of roles including leading live operations, commodity risk management, poultry health and nutrition, animal welfare, pre-harvest food safety and sustainability for several global food companies. Over the last half of his career, he provided leadership and focus in the areas of animal welfare and sustainability in the food animal sector. Most recently, he led enterprise-wide animal welfare and international sustainability for Tyson Foods. Today, he owns 3 Birds Consulting which focuses on assisting those in the food animal sector to drive continuous improvement throughout their organization by mitigating risks and capturing opportunities in the critical areas of animal welfare, antimicrobial stewardship, and sustainability.

As someone who has been committed to improving poultry health and welfare through research, education, communication, and leadership, he has authored/co-authored or presented over 75 invited talks, scientific presentations or publications on poultry heath, welfare, and sustainability. Ken has served as past-president of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians, is a past-chair of the American Association of Avian Pathologists’ Animal Welfare Committee, a founding board member and past chair of the International Poultry Welfare Alliance, a founding board member of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry and Eggs, and a past-chair of the Poultry and Egg Welfare and Sustainability Foundation. In 2023, Ken was recognized by the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine as its Lifetime Achievement Alumni Award recipient and in 2024 by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association as a Lamplighter Award recipient for sustained and exemplary service to the poultry industry.

Dr. Meriam Saleh is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University. She received her PhD in Veterinary Parasitology from Virginia Tech in 2017 after which, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship focused on ticks and tick-borne diseases at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Saleh’s research interests are focused on zoonotic parasites and include helminths, protozoa, ticks, and tick-borne diseases. She is also interested in research to improve parasitology diagnostics and in the scholarship of teaching and learning, specifically as it relates to parasitology instruction in the veterinary curriculum. Dr. Saleh teaches parasitology to veterinary students in both the preclinical and clinical curriculum. She is an active member of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists.

Annika Frederickson graduated from the VMCVM in 2003 after which she found her first job in private practice in Eastern Pennsylvania where she has since remained. After 15 years as an Associate, she partnered with another associate from their practice and started Stillmeadow Equine Veterinary Service in Chester County PA. The practice services everything from high level show horses to well-loved back yard horses, to Amish working horses. Dr. Frederickson's interests have focused mostly on equine dentistry, but she enjoys the variety that general practice brings every day. When not working she enjoys riding her horse, and spending time with her three kids and husband.

Ann Carpenter is a Veterinary Medical Officer in the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch in the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at CDC. She joined the branch as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in 2022. Prior to this, she worked for over 2 years in the CDC One Health Office. She practices on the weekend and has a passion for shelter medicine in the Atlanta area.

At present, Dr. Prado Sanchez is working as a Field Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer under Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Service (VS) Field Operations (FiOps) unit. Her primary responsibilities focus on planning, coordinating, adapting and modifying medical and program procedures to deal with animals, aquatic species, birds and poultry infected with or exposed to contagious diseases. She is also the Designated Scrapie Epidemiologist for the state of Virginia; focusing on Scrapie disease surveillance and eradication efforts for the state. Prior to joining the Field Operations unit, she worked as s Relief Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) under the USDA. Dr. Prado Sanchez is an active member of one of USDA’s incident management teams and has deployed in support of the 2022 HPAI Response. Before joining USDA, she also worked as a Small Animal Veterinarian (General Practice, Urgent Care and Emergency Medicine) in the Virginia Peninsula.