Currently Hospital Director at the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Australia, Denis Verwilghen started off his career as an equine veterinarian in private practice in Ireland and the Netherlands immediately after graduation from the University of Ghent, Belgium in 2003. With the desire to improve his skills, Denis went back to academia end 2004 to become resident in equine surgery at the University of Liege, Belgium. In 2006 he defended a master in veterinary science degree on the subject of "Osteochondrosis and its relationship with IGF-I in the Horse". In 2009 he obtained a specialist diploma (DES) in Large animal Surgery from the University of Liege and in 2010 Denis successfully passed the exam of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. Denis then defended his PhD in Liege about clinical impact of developmental orthopaedic diseases in horses. In 2022 Denis became diplomate of the equine chapter of the European College of Veterinary Dentistry.

After spending some time in Sweden, Denis and his wife Gaby, an ECEIM diplomate, moved back to Belgium and started a consultancy based equine medicine and surgery service. In 2013, both have been appointed at the Equine hospital of the Copenhagen University before moving as an Associate Professor and Head of the Camden Equine Centre - Sydney University in 2018. Following a brief period in Germany in 2021, Denis returned to Australia to work for Melbourne University at their Goulburn Valley Equine practice.

Denis interests lay in general soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery. He has a special interest in surgical head disorders, dentistry and biosecurity in veterinary medicine with emphasis on surgical principles and hand hygiene. Denis has a broad range of publications on various aspects of equine surgery with a particular interest in asepsis research, orthopaedic biomarkers and dentistry.

Henry joined us at the beginning of 2017 from the Langford Vets at the University of Bristol where he has been a Senior Lecturer in Equine Surgery for the last 14 years. He was also Head of Equine Clinical Services until 2015, where he was responsible for teaching soft tissue surgery and dentistry to veterinary undergraduates.

Henry is an RCVS Specialist in Equine Surgery and Dentistry and his particular interests are upper airway surgery, maxillofacial surgery and dentistry. He has published widely in these fields, and lectured and taught at conferences and courses around the world.

Born and educated in Gloucestershire, Henry’s other interests include playing tennis, cycling, skiing, kitesurfing and occasional field sports.

Jonathon qualified from the Royal Veterinary College and following a short period working in Egypt for a charity veterinary practice joined Rainbow Equine Hospital as an intern for 18 months, where he developed an interest in advanced imaging, in particular CT and MRI. Jonathon then completed a 3-year senior clinical training scholarship (residency) at the Royal Veterinary College in Large Animal Diagnostic Imaging before returning to Rainbow. In January 2017 he became a European Specialist in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging.  He has particular interests in CT imaging of the head and neck, and MRI of the distal limb.

A graduate of University College Dublin, later obtaining a PhD in equine respiratory disorders at The University of Edinburgh, Professor Dixon has spent most of his professional life at the Dick Vet, where he has specialised in equine respiratory and dental disorders.

He is an internationally recognised expert in both these fields and our department is recognised as one of the foremost international centres for clinical work and clinical research in equine dental and upper respiratory surgery.

He is currently an editor of the standard international textbooks on equine respiratory and dental diseases and has over 200 publications and 3000 citations on these areas. He also lectures and gives practical workshops extensively around the world in these areas.