Dominik Fischer, President

Dominik graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany in 2009. Prior to his studies, he worked in different German bird of prey centres and wildlife parks. During his studies, he worked as student assistant in the Clinic for Pets, Reptiles, pet and feral Birds of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Since April 2009, he is the head veterinarian of the Bird of Prey Center and Wildlife Zoo Hellenthal and since December 2020 the Curator for Science and for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish at Zoo Wupertal, Germany.
2009 – 2020 he worked as veterinarian and researcher at the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish of Justus Liebig University Giessen. There he completed his doctoral thesis (Dr. med. vet.) about aspergillosis in falcons and worked parallel on an international PhD and scientific projects about assisted reproduction in birds and reptiles. By completing three 4 years specialization trainings and examination he earned the national veterinary specialist status in avian, in reptilian and in zoo and wildlife medicine in Germany. Moreover, he completed a 3-years residency training of the European College of Zoological Medicine and earned the ECZM and EVBS® Specialsist staus as Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health) by examination. In April 2019, after being EAAV secretary for 6 years, Dominik was elected as EAAV President and as Chairman of the ICARE Steering Committee.
Alberto Casado Gómez, Vice-president
Alberto graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, in 2014 and completed the MSc in Wild Animal Health at the Royal Veterinary College and the Zoological Society of London in 2017. Currently, he is working towards a Certificate in Advance Veterinary Practice in Zoological Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Over the years, he has seen practice in several exotic animal clinics, rehabilitation centres and zoological collections in different countries. At the moment, he works as a veterinary surgeon at West Midland Safari Park and Drayton Manor Park, in the UK. In 2017, he became the first president of the EAAV Student Section, in 2019 he became Officer of Student Affairs and in 2024 Alberto became Vice-presidente of the association. Alongside zoological medicine, Alberto has a passion for conservation and education.

Saskia Nemitz, Treasurer

Graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany in 2020.
From 2020 to 2024 she worked at the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians & Birds at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen as a vet and researcher, where she completed the practical part of her training as a specialist bird vet. Since November 2024 she is working at Kleintierpraxis im Westpark. She is currently completing her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michael Lierz on “Sarcocystosis in domestic pigeons”.
Gunther Antonissen, Secretary
Gunther Antonissen graduated from Ghent University, Belgium in 2011. He received a PhD in Veterinary Sciences at Ghent University in 2015, having studied the predisposing effect of the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and fumonisins on necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. Gunther Antonissen is appointed as chairholder of the Chair Poultry Health Sciences at Ghent University. The poultry research of the group of prof. Antonissen is multidisciplinary, focusing on a better understanding of the pathogenesis of infectious and non-infectious diseases, improving diagnostics, and demonstrating the efficacy and safety of prevention and treatment strategies.
Gunther also works as avian and poultry veterinarian at the clinic for birds and exotic animals of Ghent University. Together with his undergraduate and PhD students he is also investigating the renal physiology in different avian species, and the usage of NSAIDs in psittacines. Gunther is currently the secretary of EAAV.

Maelle Beck, Officer for Student Affairs

Maëlle Beck is a French veterinarian who graduated from the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2024. During her studies she was very involved in the EAAV Student Section, occupying the functions of both Communication Officer and President between 2020 and 2024. As a newly graduate, she joined the main EAAV Board as an Officer for Student Affairs, creating a link between students and veterinary professionals. In September 2024, Maëlle started her PhD at the same university she graduated from and hope to share more knowledge about avian medicine. In her free time, Maëlle loves to cook and spend time training her dogs.