2025 PRO PLAN Symposium

PURINA® PRO PLAN® Symposium 2025

Integrative Approach to Gastrointestinal Health

Date: 2^nd April

Time: From 09:00 to 17:30 (CEST)

Location: Hybrid - Siena / Italy

Purina PRO PLAN is excited to announce the upcoming Purina PRO PLAN Symposium 2025, in collaboration with the EuroGut Society. This highly anticipated event will take place on April 2nd in Siena, offering a hybrid format for both in-person and virtual participation.
The symposium will bring together a select group of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from across Europe, who will share their expertise and insights in the field of gastrointestinal health. Participants can expect a diverse range of essential topics to be covered, including:

Fat Digestion & Hyperlipidemia: A comprehensive exploration of fat digestion and its role in managing acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases in dogs and cats. Practical strategies for managing complex hyperlipidemia cases will also be discussed.
Microbiota Analysis: Discussions on the significance of different microbiota analyses, their applications, and how to interpret results for improved clinical outcomes.
Biological Age: An investigation into the concept of biological age and its impact on gastrointestinal health and microbiome balance in pets.
Mental Resilience: Empowering sessions focused on enhancing personal and professional resilience, providing strategies and techniques to thrive during challenging times.
Veterinary Digital Landscape: Discover the latest AI (Artificial Intelligent) tools that can optimize clinical practice, boost productivity, and elevate patient care in everyday veterinary operations.

This symposium promises to be a rewarding experience, equipping participants with valuable knowledge and practical tools to advance veterinary practice and enhance the health and well-being of our beloved pets.

Meet the experts

Laura Woodward

MVB; CertVR; CertSAS; DipCouns; MRCVS

I have been a surgical veterinarian for over 20 years, spending much of it in London at the Village Vet Hampstead Hospital. Prior to this I worked at University College Dublin small animal surgery department, various referral centres in the UK, and several charities in India, Australia and the UK. I am also an accredited Psychotherapist and I run my own counselling practice in London treating mainly vets, vet nurses and doctors. I was asked to publish the book Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals by Wiley-Blackwell publishers which was released in October 2023 and which is available on Amazon.

Dr. Christina
Germain

PhD, Principal Nutritionist at Nestle Purina Petcare

Christina Petzinger Germain has been a nutritionist in research & development for Nestlé Purina Petcare for 11 years. Christina received her Doctorate in Nutrition from Texas A&M University. Her research in Monk parrots focused on fatty acids and risk factors for atherosclerosis, cognition outcomes, and growth rates during hand-rearing. She also completed a post-doc program with the National Zoo in Washington, DC working in their nutrition laboratory and leading work with their multi-species milk repository. In addition to her husband and children, Christina shares her home with a tortoiseshell cat named Juniper and a Gordon Setter-mix dog named Barley.

Dr. Cecilia Villaverde

BVSc, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (Nutrition), Diplomate ECVCN

Cecilia Villaverde Haro, BVSc, PhD, Diplomate (Nutrition) of the ACVIM (Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist®), Diplomate ECVCN (EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition) She obtained her veterinary degree in 2000 and her PhD in animal nutrition in 2005 by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. She worked as a post doctoral researcher in feline nutrition at the University of California Davis, where she also completed a residency in small animal clinical nutrition at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. She is board certified in veterinary nutrition by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition) and by the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN) since 2010 and is currently the past president of ECVCN. After working as the chief of service of the veterinary teaching hospital nutrition service in Barcelona (UAB) for 6 years, she is now a consultant in clinical nutrition for Expert Pet Nutrition (www.expertpetnutrition.com) and Veterinary Information Network (VIN). She is the co-chair of the WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee and has written several articles and book chapters on the topic of companion animal nutrition.

Dr. Panos
Xenoulis

DVM, Dr.med.vet., PhD - Professor of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Adjunct Professor, Texas A&M University

Panos Xenoulis is a Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the University of Thessaly in Greece and an Adjunct Professor in at Texas A&M University in the USA. Panos graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed a Dr.med.vet. and a PhD at Texas A&M University focusing on hyperlipidemia and pancreatitis in dogs. He is residency-trained by the ECVCN. His clinical and research interests include hyperlipidemia, gastrointestinal disorders, clinical nutrition and microbiota. He has been included in the top 1% of scientists globally according to the Composite Citation Index. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed journal publications, 30 book chapters and has lectured in national and international conferences.

Dr. Linda Toresson

PhD, Post Doctoral Research Associate, Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Texas A&M University

Linda Toresson graduated from the Swedish University of Agricultural Science in 1995, became a Swedish Specialist in diseases of dogs and cats in 2002 and a Swedish Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine in 2007. She has combined clinical practice, focusing on gastroenterology, at a referral animal hospital in Sweden, with research throughout most of her career. In 2018, Linda defended her PhD in gastroenterology at Helsinki University on oral cobalamin supplementation in dogs with chronic enteropathies. She is currently a Post Doctoral Research Associate, focusing on fecal microbiota transplantation and bile acid diarrhea at the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. She is the author of 20+ scientific papers and has contributed to several book chapters. Dr Toresson was a board member of the European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology from 2018-2024 and is a member of several advisory boards, including the Companion Animal Fecal Bank Consortium and the Scientific Committee of the Swedish Medical Product Agency.

Dr. Pascal
Steiner

PhD, Neuroscience, Senior Director Nutrition Scienceat Nestlé St Louis

Dr. Adele Williams

BVSc MRCVS DipECEIM PhD, Founder, AWX Consultancy

Dr Adele Williams, from the UK, is an artificial intelligence (AI) and clinical data expert in the vet profession. She is an equine internal medicine specialist, having a PhD and worked in various veterinary academic institutions. Adele has led the creation of AI tools in the pet care space, and getting data right for building AI tools and getting meaningful insights out of data. She is fascinated by data and building tools to help improve the lives of animals and also making life in the veterinary profession easier. Adele works as an AI and clinical data consultant to the veterinary profession, where she educates veterinary professionals, and advises veterinary businesses on AI and clinical data. She also advises veterinary technology start ups on development and deployment of vet tech products.

Rosa Carbonell

Head of B2B & Veterinary Affairs at Nestlé Purina PetCare & FEDIAF President

Rosa has held various leadership roles, she started her career in UNILEVER Spain, in concrete in the FIC (Food Industry Cleaning), then moved to Rhone-Mériuex as Marketing Director in Spain and quickly she had been promoted as European Marketing Director at Merial SAS in France, where she established marketing networks, developed strategies for key product portfolios, and coordinated product launches and business development. She decided to relocate to Spain and joined a new role as Specialist Business Unit Director at Nestlé Petcare España S.A., then she joined the European team in Switzerland as Head of Veterinary Channel EMENA were she developed a regional expansion model, implemented a new business model, and led the execution of growth, profit, and market share objectives. She moved to the international hub in Barcelona as Head of Veterinary Advocacy Zone Europe and recently she has been appointed as Head of B2B and Veterinary Affairs Zone Europe with focus on driving business transformation, creating a robust B2B strategy, recommending portfolio strategies, and developing strategic alliances and partnerships. She is currently FEDIAF President (Europan Petfood Industry) and member of the Board of Directors

Dr. Jenifer Molina

PhD, Veterinary Medicine, NPPE VHCP Scientific Affairs Manager

Jenifer finished her Veterinary degree in 2010 and her residency program in Small Animal Nutrition in 2016. She is doctor (PhD) in veterinary medicine and has worked as an associate professor in pet nutrition in the Veterinary School of the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB) (Spain) where she was also managing the research line in pet nutrition of the Animal Nutrition and Welfare Service. She was in charge of the Small Animal Clinical Nutrition Service in the Hospital Clínic Veterinari (UAB). She joined Nestlé PURINA EMENA in 2017 and she is currently the Vet Health Care Professionals Scientific Affairs at Nestlé PURINA Europe. Jenifer has scientific communications in national and international congresses and publications in national and international peer reviewed journals.

Dr. Miquel Montserrat

DVM, PhD, Science and Nutrition Lead at Nestlé Purina PetCare

Miquel Montserrat earned his Veterinary Medicine degree in 2019 and completed his PhD in Animal Nutrition in 2024 at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, focusing on prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics for dogs and cats, resulting in several scientific publications. He gained additional experience in companion animal clinical nutrition and pet nutrition research during his stays at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Utrecht University. Since 2023, he has served as the Science and Nutrition Lead at Nestlé Purina PetCare, providing technical support in pet nutrition across European markets.