Dr Chris Lam
BA BVSc (Hons) Diplomate, ACVIM (Cardiology) 

Dr Chris Lam graduated as a veterinarian from the University of Sydney in 2015 and completed a small animal rotating internship at the Ontario Veterinary College in Canada in 2016. He subsequently ran a mobile veterinary service in the Canadian Arctic before returning to Australia to commence his clinical residency in cardiology in 2019 under Veterinary Cardiologists Australia (VCA) and became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) and registered specialist in 2022. Since then, Chris has continued to provide hospital-based referral cardiac care in Queensland alongside the rest of the VCA team as part of the largest veterinary cardiac service in Australia. 

Dr Philip Brain
BVSc, FANZCVS, (Small Animal Medicine), FAVA Internal Medicine Specialist 

Philip Brain graduated from the University of Sydney in 1985, gaining his Fellowship in Small Animal Medicine from the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in 2007.  Phil served on ASAVA executive for 19 years, being recognized with an AVA Meritorious Service Award in 1999, ASAVA Distinguished Service Award in 2005 and Outstanding Service Award in 2010. In 2016 and 2017, he received the ASAVA’s and WSAVA’s Small Animal Practitioner of the Year, respectively. Phil is a registered specialist in small animal medicine, practicing at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH), North Ryde and clinical interests include cardiology and interventional techniques. 

Dr Belinda Hopper 
BSc BVMS(Hons) MVS FANZCVS (Radiology) 
Founding Director, Animalius 
Adjunct Professor, City University Hong Kong 

Belinda is a veterinary radiologist with more than 20 years of experience in clinical and academic practice. Belinda provides education across several sectors of the veterinary industry, through delivery of post-graduate courses in Thoracic Radiology and Digital Radiography through the University of Sydney CVE, undergraduate veterinary teaching in radiology for City University of Hong Kong, and delivery of invited lectures for the WA AVA, ASAVA and ANZCVS. She has more than 20 years of active involvement in the Radiology Chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in various roles as Membership and Fellowship examiner, mentor, examinations and training committee member and former president. 

Dr Karen Jackson
BVSc (Hons I), MANZCVS (Internal Medicine), Dipl. ACVP (Clinical Pathology), Specialist Veterinary Clinical Pathologist 

 Karen is a specialist veterinary clinical pathologist who is passionate about undergraduate and post-graduate veterinary education and diagnostic clinical pathology. She graduated from UQ in 2002 and then worked in clinical practice before pursuing a Haematology and Transfusion Fellowship, clinical pathology residency and lectureship at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2011, she returned to Australia, and now works in diagnostics, holds an honorary academic position back at UQ, teaches through the CVE and works on a part-time PhD investigating red bellied black snake venom effects on RBCs. Her specific interests are in educating vets about the wonderful world of clinical pathology and working on haematology, transfusion medicine, snake venom research and oncology topics. 

Dr Luke Johnston
BVSc (Hons) MANZCVS (SAM) FANZCVS (SAM) 
Registered Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine 

Luke graduated from the University of Queensland in 2015 with a degree in Veterinary Science. With a passion for specialty training he completed a 6 month training program as a rotating intern at VSS and a further 12months internship training in the States. Shortly after he completed his residency training in Australia and his fellowship exams in 2021 and is now registered specialist in small animal internal medicine. He has worked in a multitude of hospitals to improve his expertise and knowledge including SASH (NSW) and VCA San Francisco (CA, USA). He is proud to be apart of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Science as president of the Small Animal internal medicine chapter and an examinee for future specialists of the college. His interests include endocrinology, gastro-intestinal disease and neurological disease. 

Dr Cheryl Fry
BVSc (Hons), MVS, CPC, ELI-MP 
Certified Professional Well-being Coach 

Cheryl is a veterinarian who pivoted from a career in animal health to veterinarian wellbeing. After over 11 years in small animal clinical practice, Cheryl qualified as a wellbeing coach in 2017, gained ACC accreditation with the international coaching federation in 2022, and completed her Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at Melbourne University in 2022. Cheryl has worked at Make Headway since 2017, passionately striving to advance veterinary wellbeing. Her work has included the development and delivery of wellbeing learning resources, workplace training, public speaking, graduate support programs, and coaching individuals to improve their wellbeing and life satisfaction. 

Dr Paul Harrison

Dr Paul Harrison (PhD) is Director of the MBA program and Co-Director of the Better Consumption Lab at the Deakin Business School, and Adjunct Professor of Governance and Consumer Behaviour at Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milano, Italy. Paul is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His research, consulting, teaching, and writing informs businesses, public institutions, and social policy across a range of contexts, including consumer wellbeing, aged care, legal and regulatory environments, and public health/epidemiology through the examination of the effect of marketing and advertising on consumer behaviour, the psychology of emotional and rational behaviour, and the social aspects of consumption. 

Dr Geoff Wilson
BVSc(Hons) 

Dr. Geoff Wilson is a world-class polar explorer, dynamic keynote speaker and entrepreneur. He’s living a vast and varied life split between being a family man, veterinary surgeon and expeditionist – constantly squeezing every drop out of life. Currently CEO and Head Surgeon for VetLove, a group of 14 Intregrated practices, Geoff is passionate about bringing Polar Expedition Resilience into Veterinary Science. Currently halfway through a series of 6 Polar Expedirtions (Project Zero) Geoff is still an active Polar Expeditionist.

Tania Gover
Assoc.Dip.App.Sc.  VN 

Tania has over 25 years’ experience within the veterinary industry, including 10 + years of Practice Management, Business Development Management with Provet and over 6 years as a Senior Consultant with CCG. Tania has a passion for all aspects of Veterinary business with special interest in leadership, workflow efficiency systems, business financials, inventory, and customer experience. Tania is an internally recognised speaker and her knowledge combined with her positive, proactive, and enthusiastic style, makes her a well-respected and sought-after speaker, advisor, and trainer. 

Cat Walker 

Cat Walker is a veterinary consultant, lawyer, mediator, conflict coach, RVN, and self-confessed nerd. She has a wealth of experience in the veterinary sector including as clinic owner and manager in general practice and emergency hospitals. Cat empowers veterinary teams to maximise patient outcomes using evidence-based strategies grounded in conflict theory and neuroscience. Cat’s skills as a speaker shine through with her engaging yet professional style, and the pragmatic nature of her talks in which her goal is for individuals to walk away with clear strategies to apply to their working lives. Cat is the creator of the Radio Vet Nurse podcast with over 70,000 downloads.

Sarah Stoddart 

Sarah Stoddart is the director of Vitality Law Australia, a boutique commercial law firm which provides healthcare business owners with clear pathways and peace of mind. Sarah is a leader in the healthcare industry.  She has extensive experience with business transactions, applications for regulatory approval and business governance including ownership structures, partnership agreements and shareholder agreements.  In addition to legal practice, she also regularly speaks at conferences, delivers workplace training and offers guidance on issues facing current or prospective healthcare business owners via webinars and blogs.  In November 2021, Sarah was named the 2021 Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Australian Sole Practitioner of the Year. 

Paolo Lencioni 

Paolo has worked as a veterinary surgeon prior to working in public accounting and software development.  His real-world business experience ranges from owning a veterinary practice, working as an accounting software consultant, working in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry and project managing web-based application development.

He has attained a master’s in professional accounting through the University of Southern Queensland. He has also completed a City and Guilds in C programming and has experience in various IT roles. He is an associate member of the Institute of Public Accountants, a founding member of the APL Accountants, a founding member of Profitdiagnostix software and is one of the directors of Valuvet for business valuations.

Wodonga Council acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of the Country.

We also acknowledge them as Traditional Owners and Custodians across various lands.We pay our respect to their Ancestors, Elders, children and young people.
We acknowledge the strength and resilience of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and
recognise their continuous connections to lands, waters and communities across the country.