Congratulations to Dr Cecilia Villaverde on her recent appointment as Co-Chair of the WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee!
Cecilia is taking over from long-time Co-Chair Dr Gregg Takashima, whom we thank for his fantastic service to WSAVA members. She will work with her fellow Co-Chair, Dr Marge Chandler.
Dr Cecilia Villaverde
Could you briefly introduce yourself to our members?
I am a veterinarian and an ACVN and ECVCN diplomate. I am Catalan. My parents are from Argentina, and I am currently living in Ireland with my husband and my two cats, Tweed and Carlotta.
Could you give a brief summary of your career?
I obtained my veterinary degree at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain, in 2000 and, after obtaining a PhD in animal nutrition in the same institution, I worked as a postdoc researcher at the University of California, Davis (UCD), USA, working in feline obesity.
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I did my nutrition residency at UCD and have been board certified in veterinary nutrition since 2010. After working for six years as a researcher at the UAB vet school and working as chief of the nutrition service at its teaching hospital, I am currently working as a clinical nutritionist and a nutrition consultant in Ireland.
What is your ‘day job’ – and could you ribe a typical day?
My day job is very varied but part of each day usually involves working in clinical cases that I see in the clinic or which are referred by my colleagues. I develop customized feeding plans for patients, usually with complex or multiple diseases, using commercial options or tailored homemade diets. I also consult on cases for veterinarians on VIN (Veterinary Information Network).
In addition, I write papers and book chapters and provide continuing education at conferences and other meetings. I also do some consulting work in industry. I am a member of some advisory boards and am currently serving as past president of the ECVCN.
What spurred your strong interest in nutrition?
I don’t know if I can pinpoint it. During vet school I loved to learn about how the body takes energy and nutrients from food to sustain life, and how something seen as so ‘simple’ can actually have such an important impact on health and disease. And, I’ve always liked math
You’ve been a member of the GNC for some time now. Why is its work so important?
Nutrition is such a key aspect of preventative medicine, and veterinary team members need to be equipped with adequate knowledge to help their patients to be fed in a safe and nutritious manner. Unfortunately, nutrition is also an area plagued with misconceptions and confusing, even contradictory, marketing messages. The GNC does excellent work providing independent resources to help the veterinary team and pet carers navigate this world.
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What do you enjoy about working on the Committee and what are you most proud of?
I enjoy getting to know and working with my colleagues from all over the world, and seeing how their challenges in relation to nutrition differ from mine. I am very proud of the GNC Toolkit we have developed. It is freely available to all our colleagues and is widely used and cited.
Congratulations on your appointment as Co-Chair with Dr Chandler. What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
I am very excited to be working even more closely with Dr Chandler, who is a role model for me. I hope we can keep developing useful tools for the veterinary team, and make the ones we have even more global and useful going forward.
Could you tell us something about you that might surprise us?
I have pretty mainstream hobbies (reading, movies, video games), but I do like to swim in the cold Irish sea.
Find out more about the work of the WSAVA’s Global Nutrition Committee
https://wsava.org/committees/global-nutrition-committee/
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