Scientific Committee
Anke Stöhr
Anke Stöhr received her degree in Veterinary Medicine (med. vet.) from the University of Leipzig in 2008. She then worked multiple years as a small animal and exotics veterinarian in various animal hospitals and clinics in Germany and was certified as a Specialist for Reptile Medicine (Zusatzbezeichnung Reptilien) by the Veterinary Board of Baden-Württemberg, Germany in 2012. She also carried out multiple reptile-related research projects during this time. From 2017-2020, she performed a Zoological Medicine Residency (ACZM/ECZM) with a concurrent graduate program in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University (USA) and graduated with a Master of Science in May 2020. In April 2021, Anke passed the examination for board certification as a Diplomate of the European College for Zoological Medicine (Herpetology). She has authored multiple scientific publications, presented her work at national and international conferences, serves as a reviewer for scientific journals and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, as well as the Chair of the International Committee of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). Currently, she is working in her own private practice for exotic pets near her hometown (Freiburg i. Brsg.) in Southern Germany.
Cathy Delaney
Dr. Johnson-Delaney is a 1980 graduate of Washington State University and practiced avian and exotic animal medicine in the greater Seattle area. She was Exotic DVM 2003 and received the 2009 Oxbow Small Mammal Health Award. She is a past president of both the Association of Avian Veterinarians and the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians and is currently serving as Chair, Welfare, Ethics and Legislative Committees on the AEMV Board as well as serving on the Scientific and Education Committees. She is a Member at Large on the Board of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians. She is the author of Ferret Medicine and Surgery, Manual of Clinical Procedures in Pet Birds, Exotic Companion Medicine Handbook for Veterinarians and lead author for the guinea pig and ferret modules for Vetstream/VetLexicon. She is a co-editor for the BSAVA Manual of Exotic Pets: A Foundation Manual 5th and 6th editions. She is Medical Moderator for the ExoticDVM Forum (online), Manuscript Scientific Proceedings Editor (AEMV), Assistant Editor J Exotic Pet Med and serves on the AVMA Scientific Review Board and the AALAS Education Resource Committee. She is working with the Exotic Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation, JoJo’s Cavy Kingdom and the Washington Ferret Rescue & Shelter, all in Western Washington state, as well as the Oregon Tiger Sanctuary and the Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Frank Pasmans
Frank Pasmans (DVM, PhD, Dip ECZM (herpetology is professor in veterinary bacteriology and mycology and reptile and amphibian diseases at Ghent University and PI of Wildlife Health Ghent. He has a profound interest in infectious diseases in amphibians and reptiles with a research focus on wild amphibian health.
Jules Simard
Jules Simard graduated with honours from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, in 2016 where he received his Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine. He completed a rotating small animal internship followed by a ECZM residency training program and passed the examination for board certification as a Diplomate of the European College for Zoological Medicine (Herpetology) in 2021. He is an EBVS Veterinary Specialist in Herpetological Medicine and Surgery. He is currently serving on the ECZM Examination and Credential Committee and is the Resident Liaison for ECZM Herpetology residents. He is an assistant editor for the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, author of scientific publications and speaker on national and international conferences. He currently works in a small animal and exotic private practice in Belgium.
Dr. Kourtney Grimm
Dr. Kourtney Grimm was born and raised in central Illinois and returned home after graduating with a DVM from University of Illinois in 2012. Dr. Grimm serves on the ARAV Board, currently as President Elect, and she actively pursues additional education in exotic animal medicine to provide high quality care to many different species of animals. She is currently working under her long-time mentor and friend, Dr. Nikki Johnson (ARAV past president), at Pekin Animal Hospital in central Illinois. There she provides high quality medical and surgical care to exotics and specifically enjoys her reptile patients. She is also the main veterinarian for Wildlife Prairie Park, an 1800-acre zoological park that is home to 60 different species and over 150 animals that are or were native to the area and provides medical care for their extensive reptile and amphibian collection.
Dr. Lionel Schilliger
Dr. Lionel Schilliger is a French veterinary practitioner based in Paris, with a longstanding dedication to herpetological medicine and surgery. He is board-certified by both the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM, Herpetology) and the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP, Reptile and Amphibian Practice). He currently serves as the director of the Argos Paris Village d’Auteuil Veterinary Clinic and the Argos SpéNac Veterinary Referral Center, and acts as France’s representative on the International Committee of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). He was one of the four organizers of ICARE held in Paris in 2015.
Prof. Dr. Michael Pees
Prof. Dr. Michael Pees studied veterinary medicine at the Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany. After graduating in 1999, he worked at the Clinic for Birds and Reptiles, University of Leipzig. Since 2021 he has been the head of the Department of Small Mammal, Reptile and Avian Medicine and Surgery of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo), Germany. Dr. Pees is a diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM) in Avian and Herpetological Medicine, a specialist veterinarian (FTA) for Reptiles, Ornamental, Zoo, and Wild Birds, and Poultry, and an EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Avian Medicine and Surgery
Robert Ossiboff
Robert Ossiboff, though known to most by Oz, is a veterinary anatomic pathologist, molecular diagnostician, and virologist who specializes in diseases of reptiles and amphibians. He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine where he serves as the director of the Aquatic, Amphibian, and Reptile Pathology Service. Oz graduated from a combined DVM/PhD program at Cornell University in 2010, followed by an anatomic pathology residency at Cornell (2010-2012), zoo and molecular pathology fellowships at the Wildlife Conservation Society/Bronx Zoo (2012-2014), and a wildlife pathology postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell (2014-2016). He briefly was a member of the Zoo Pathology Program at the University of Illinois, before starting at the University of Florida in 2017. His research interests include identifying and characterizing reptile and amphibian pathogens, as well as more general pathogen discovery and disease characterization of captive and free-ranging wildlife.
Rachel Marschang
Rachel Marschang qualified as a veterinarian from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany in 1995 and has been working in reptile medicine and infectious diseases ever since. She received her doctorate in viruses of tortoises from the Justus Liebig University and her habilitation in Environmental and Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Virology from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. She is a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (ECVM) and of the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM) in herpetological medicine. She is a past president of The Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) and of the ECZM. She is currently working as a consultant veterinarian for reptile diagnostics at Laboklin GmbH & Co. KG in Bad Kissingen, Germany and as an adjunct professor (Privatdozentin) at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery.
Sean Perry
Sean Perry completed his undergraduate work at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He then earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Western University of Health Sciences in 2013. Following graduation, he completed internships in both emergency and critical care and small animal medicine and surgery and the University of Illinois and worked in private practice in the Florida Keys. In 2020, he completed his PhD at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine focusing on reptile assisted reproduction. Since 2020, he has been the associate veterinarian at the Mississippi Aquarium, while providing relief veterinary services to Zoos and Aquariums along the United States Gulf Coast. He is currently the president of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians.
Stacey Leonatti Wilkinson
Stacey Leonatti Wilkinson graduated with her DVM from the University of Tennessee in 2006. Since graduation she has been treating exclusively exotic pets, first as an associate veterinarian at Avian and Exotic Animal Care in Raleigh, NC and then in 2015 she opened Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital of Georgia in the Savannah, GA area. In 2013 she became a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certified in Reptile and Amphibian Practice. Dr. Wilkinson is also an adjunct assistant professor at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She has been published in scientific and non-scientific journals, written multiple textbook chapters, and lectures nationally on exotic animal medicine and care. She is Treasurer of the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians, and is also active in the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, Association of Avian Veterinarians, and Association of Fish Veterinarians.