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.