Aarti graduated from the RVC in 2006, before completing her rotating small animal medicine and surgery internship at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, RVC, in 2007 and her PhD in canine inflammatory bowel disease at the RVC in 2011. Aarti then completed a three year residency program in small animal internal medicine at Cornell University in 2014 and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She also completed a two year small animal clinical nutrition residency program at the University of California-Davis in 2016 and is a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Aarti was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Bristol between 2016 and 2018, before returning to the RVC in 2018.

Julien completed his Veterinary Medicine degree in 2002, followed by a rotating internship and thesis at the University of Bern. He did his specialist training in Small Animal Internal medicine as a joint program between the University of Bern and Louisiana State University and became a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2008. 

Julien has worked in the UK as a lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Liverpool and then as a medicine consultant at IDEXX before moving to Australia. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in gastroenterology and worked as a Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine until May 2022. He has also been locuming in both private and academic referral clinics in Australia and in the UK during this period. Julien is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuse includes gastro-intestinal diseases, immune-mediated disease, and use and monitoring of pets treated with immunosuppressant drugs.

Julien is a passionate clinician and teacher and especially interested in clinical research to improve evidence-based medicine. Outside work, he enjoys spending time with my family and exploring the outdoors.

Background

Silke graduated from the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, in 2003 and has since specialised in Small Animal Internal Medicine (EBVS ® European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine, also called Diplomate in ECVIM-CA) with the particular focus on gastroenterology. She has worked in both private and academic referral hospitals in Germany, at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Silke started as Senior lecturer at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in 2016, and became Head of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service in 2022. Since August 2023 she is Personal Chair in Small Animal Gastroenterology (Prof.) & Head of Small Animal Internal Medicine.  She has a particular interest in canine inflammatory bowel disease (now called canine chronic inflammatory enteropathy), how this relates to pain and possible effects on behaviour, but also the use of alternative treatments like probiotics, prebiotics and faecal microbiota transplants. She has published approximately 40 scientific papers in the area, several book chapters and continues to lead and participate in studies "around the dog gut". She is one of the editors of the one "Feline Gastroenterology" book. Silke is also a member of the Comparative Gastroenterology Society (CGS) and the past-president and webmaster of the European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology (ESCG). She speaks at specialist conference as well as CPD events and gives webinars regularly. In her spare time she loves to bake sweet treats and bread, and exploring the Scottish country side with her husband. She has a cat called Maisy and a dog called Jaeger

Teaching

Silke has been teaching since being a post-graduate doctoral student at the JLU university in Giessen, Germany, in 2003 (courses, seminars, single lectures of interesting cases). She has been responsible for the small animal gastroenterology lecture stream at that same university from 2013 to 2015 and gives lectures regarding the same topic at the R(D)SVS from 2016 on. In addition, as she has spent 50% of her time "on clinics", she teaches undergraduates as well as Residents by assessing and working through real clinical cases. In 2019, she gained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Clinical Expertise and Specialisation

Since Silke graduated from vet school in Germany in 2003, she has worked in environments and institutions specialising in small animal internal medicine. During those years, she acquired clinical expertise through experience of simply "working in the field", but also by completing a rotating internship and being awarded the title of Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine for Companion Animals (DipECVIM-CA). Silke is also holder of a German national specialisation title for Small Animal Internal Medicine. She has also acquired a PhD in canine gastroenterology/ gastroimmunology, and is one of only 2 people being recognised as a small animal gastroenterology specialist by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

Bio to follow.