Jane Sykes, BVSc (Hons), PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Jane Sykes is a Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine with an interest in small animal infectious diseases. She obtained her veterinary degree and PhD in veterinary microbiology at the University of Melbourne, Australia; residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Minnesota; and an MBA from the University of Georgia. She is Board-Certified in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
She has coauthored > 100 scientific publications and is the editor of the textbooks “Canine and Feline Infectious Diseases”, “Greene’s Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat”. She was the founder and first President of the International Society of Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID).
Richard Ford, DVM, MS, DACVIM, DACVPM (Hon)
Following graduation from The Ohio State University, Dr. Richard Ford practiced small animal and equine medicine for 3 years. Subsequently, he completed an internal medicine residency at Michigan State University, then joined the faculty at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine before becoming a professor of medicine at NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he is an emeritus professor. He also recently retired from the Air Force Reserve as a brigadier general, where he was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General at the Pentagon.
Dr. Ford is a coauthor of the American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Guidelines and the American Academy of Feline Practitioners Feline Vaccine Guidelines. For nearly 15 years, he has conducted continuing education seminars for veterinarians on infectious diseases and immunization. He has published over 200 papers and textbook chapters on infectious diseases in companion animals.
Susan Little, DVM, PhD, DACVM (Parasit.)
Dr. Susan Little is an Emerita Regents Professor and Krull-Ewing Chair in Veterinary Parasitology at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University. She is internationally recognized as a leader in veterinary parasitology and vector-borne diseases. She taught veterinary parasitology and oversaw a research program centered on tick-borne diseases and zoonotic parasites.
She was a founder and co-director of the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology, a past president of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists, and an Emerita Member and past president of the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC).
Andy Moorhead, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasit.)
Dr. Andy Moorhead is a small animal parasitologist and Associate Professor at the University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Moorhead received the DVM degree from North Carolina State University, followed by an MS in Veterinary Parasitology from Purdue University. He then received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University.
Dr. Moorhead's main research interests are the role of host-specific cues in the development of filarial worms and heartworm treatment. Dr. Moorhead became a Diplomate of ACVM (Parasitology) in 2015. He has been a member of the American Heartworm Society's executive board since 2016. He is currently the Symposium Chair for the 2025 symposium. He is also the Vice President of the American Association of Parasitologists.
Michael Lappin, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Following graduation from Oklahoma State University in 1981, Dr. Lappin completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia. After 2 years in a small animal practice in Los Angeles, he returned to the University of Georgia, where he completed a small animal internal medicine residency and earned a PhD in parasitology. Dr. Lappin was board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1987. He is currently Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Dr. Lappin studies feline infectious and immune-mediated diseases and has written many primary research manuscripts and book chapters.
His principal areas of interest are prevention of infectious diseases, vaccine-associated side effects, the upper respiratory disease complex, infectious causes of fever, infectious causes of diarrhea, and feline zoonoses. Dr. Lappin serves on the editorial board of Feline Medicine and Surgery and is the editor of the textbook Feline Internal Medicine Secrets. Dr. Lappin has received the Beecham Research Award and the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award. He is the Kenneth W. Smith Professor in Small Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University and is currently the Assistant Department Head for Research. He was the chairperson of the AAFP Panel on Feline Zoonoses and the AAFP Bartonella Panel Report. Dr. Lappin is also director of the Center for Companion Animal Studies.