Council members
There are currently seventeen TroCCAP members selected on basis of their expertise and ability to represent a region in the tropics and sub-tropics.
Dr. Malaika Watanabe
Malaika Watanabe obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2001. She worked for a year as a demonstrator and research assistant at the Parasitology Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM before furthering her studies. She joined the United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Yamaguchi University in 2003 and graduated with a PhD degree in Small Animal Internal Medicine in 2006. Following her PhD, she was appointed visiting professor at the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan. She then joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM in 2008. She was promoted to Associate Professor of Companion Animal Medicine at the Department of Companion Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM in 2012 where she is currently employed. Dr. Watanabe is also the head of Companion Animal Medicine (wards) at the University Veterinary Hospital, UPM. Her research interest is canine and feline infectious diseases with special emphasis on vector-borne diseases. She is currently actively involved in various collaborative research projects both nationally and internationally. She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored a book on cats.
Professor Dr. Rebecca J Traub
Rebecca is a Professor of Veterinary Parasitology at Murdoch University, Western Australia. She previously held academic appointments at the University of Queensland, The University of Melbourne, where she was also an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, and City University of Hong Kong, where she served as Head and Chair Professor of Parasitology. Professor Traub has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters focussed on the diagnosis, epidemiology, and control of companion animal parasites and vector-borne diseases, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. She serves as a Key Opinion Leader and consultant to the veterinary pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries and has acted as a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Gates Foundation and other non-for-profit organisations. Her contributions to research, education and service have been recognised through the John Adrian Sprent Prize (2004) and the Bancroft Mackerras Medal for Excellence (2019) awarded by the Australian Society for Parasitology and Australia's Leader in the Field of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2018), by the League of Scholars. Professor Traub is a Founding Director of the Tropical Council for Companion Animal Parasites (TroCCAP) and served as President of the Australian Society for Parasitology (2020-2022).
Professor Peter Irwin
Peter Irwin is Professor Emeritus at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. Prof. Irwin is an internationally recognised expert in vector-borne diseases of companion animals and wildlife, and he is a member of the Companion Vector Borne Diseases (CVBD) World Forum (http://www.cvbd.org/), a working group of leading international. Peter graduated with a BVetMed from the Royal Veterinary College, London University in 1982 and his PhD studying canine babesiosis in Australia was awarded by James Cook University in 1991. Peter is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and a registered specialist in canine medicine. Peter continues his research focus on tick-borne infections of companion animals, wildlife and humans in Australia.
Dr. Jennifer Ketzis
Jennifer Ketzis received her PhD in Animal Science with minors in parasitology and epidemiology from Cornell University in 1999. After completing a post-doc focused on screening medicinal plants for bioactive compounds, she joined Novartis Animal Health, Basel, Switzerland employed first as a Research and Development Manager in Natural Medicinal Products and later as an International Project Leader in product development. In 2005, she joined Charlies River Laboratories, Ireland, a contract research organization, where she established a research and diagnostic parasitology laboratory and served as an investigator on numerous anthelmintic efficacy studies. Currently, as an Associate Professor at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on St. Kitts in the West Indies, Jennifer is focused on teaching applied veterinary parasitology and conducting research on the prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of dog and cat parasites in the region. Jennifer has published several peer reviewed journal articles and is an Associate Editor for Veterinary Parasitology – Regional Studies and Reports.
Dr. Filipe Dantas-Torres
Dr Filipe Dantas-Torres is a veterinary parasitologist and researcher at the Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fiocruz, Brazil. He obtained his veterinary degree from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco and his MSc and DSc from the Aggeu Magalhães Institute. He also holds a PhD from the University of Bari, Italy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Parasitology. Dr Dantas-Torres has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, 36 book chapters and a book, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Parasites & Vectors. He is a member of the Companion Animal Vector-Borne Diseases World Forum and Brasileish, and President of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology. His research focuses on companion-animal and zoonotic vector-borne diseases, particularly leishmaniasis, dirofilariosis and tick-borne diseases.
Professor Andrei D Mihalca
Prof. Andrei Daniel Mihalca, DVM, PhD, DipECZM (Wildlife Population Health), graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 2002 and obtained his PhD in Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases from the same institution in 2007. He is currently Professor in the Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Since 2014, he has been a Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM) and a European Veterinary Specialist in Wildlife Population Health. He served as President of ECZM from 2022 to 2025 and is currently the Secretary of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP). His main research interests include the ecology and epidemiology of vectors and vector-borne diseases, companion animal parasitology, wildlife diseases, tropical parasitology, One Health and conservation medicine. He has published more than 260 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has coordinated more than 30 national and international research projects, including the European EurNegVec COST Action. Prof. Mihalca is Chair of the Guidelines Committee of the Tropical Council for Companion Animal Parasites (TroCCAP) and is involved in capacity-building activities within VectorNet. He has served as an expert or consultant for organizations including EFSA, ECDC, CITES, WWF and the IAEA, and is a member of the IUCN SSC Parasite Specialist Group. His research and field activities include extensive work on parasitic and vector-borne diseases of dogs, cats and wildlife, particularly in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. He has been involved in research, conservation medicine, veterinary capacity building and community-based animal health projects in numerous African countries. He serves on the editorial boards of several international peer-reviewed journals, including Parasites & Vectors, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, BMC Veterinary Research, and Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports. Outside academia, his main interests are wildlife photography and travel.
Dr. A Sangaran
Dr. A Sangaran graduated with Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1991, from Madras Veterinary College, Chennai. He obtained his Master’s degree in Veterinary Parasitology in 1994 and his PhD from Madras Veterinary College in 1999, with his research focus on sero- and molecular diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis in food animals and humans. He is currently working as a Professor at the Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Madras Veterinary College, Tamilnadu, and at the Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai. Dr A Sangaran has received several awards during his academic career including the Dr J P Dubey Young Scientist Award and Smt Nishamani Parija Oration award for his contributory work in the field of Parasitic Zoonoses and Public Health. He is a life member of various scientific bodies involved in animal health care including the Small Animal Practitioner’s Association of Chennai (SAPAC) and currently, he is the General Secretary of the Indian Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (IAAVP), affiliated to WAAVP.
Professor Gad Baneth
Professor Baneth graduated from the Hebrew University Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Israel in 1990. He did a Small Animal internship and residency at the Hebrew University until 1994 followed by a fellowship in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University 1994 – 1995. He received a PhD in veterinary parasitology from the Hebrew University in 2000. Professor Baneth served as the head of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Department at the Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. He is a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP), an associate member of the European Veterinary Parasitology College (EVPC) and an editorial advisory board member for the Journal Veterinary Parasitology since 2006. He was the vice president of the LeishVet group for standardization of the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of canine leishmanioasis and is a member of Board of Directors, Israel Society for Parasitology, Protozoology and Tropical Diseases. He was the Chairman of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Scientific Advisory Committee. His research interests focus on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of veterinary and zoonotic vector-borne infectious diseases including leishmaniosis, relapsing fever borreliosis, canine ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, hepatozoonosis, trypanosomiasis and dirofilariasis. Prof. Baneth is involved in the study of zoonotic and veterinary diseases in the Mediterranean Basin, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, and Southern Europe. He is the author of more than 380 scientific publications and book chapters. Prof. Baneth served as an advisor to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on leishmaniosis and was the Director of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, Israel between 2015-2023.
Dr. Gabriela Pérez Tort
Dr. Pérez Tort is Head of Virreyes Veterinary Hospital and was an Assistant Professor of Parasitic Diseases at the Veterinary School, University of Buenos Aires (JTP) till she retired in 2017. Since she graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 1979, she has devoted her career to canine and feline veterinary clinical practice and to parasitic disease control. She has postgraduate qualifications in Pet Clinical Veterinary Medicine (1992), Parasitology (1993), Superior Education (1993), Senior Superior Education (2012),Online Teaching (2019) and cat friendly professional practice (2019). She has published three books and many book chapters on parasitic and infectious diseases of dogs and cats, has delivered over 110 presentations at scientific meetings and workshops and published over 50 scientific papers. From 2013 she has taught into many postgraduate courses at the Universities of Argentina, Chile and Mexico. She has been recognized through being an award recipient for her research on dirofilariosis, demodicosis and enteric coccidiosis by the Argentine Association of Parasitology and also received two awards from the University of Buenos Aires. She has delivered over 200 international lectures on parasitic and infectious diseases of dogs and cats. She was Director of the Volunteer Veterinary Program of the National Education Ministry. She is a Member of many National and international Associations including the WAAVP, AAP,AHS, ISFM.
Dr. Tawin Inpankaew
Dr. Inpankaew graduated with a degree in Veterinary Medicine from Kasetsart University, Thailand in 2002. Then he finished his MSc (Tropical Medicine) at Mahidol University, Bangkok on the molecular epidemiology of Giardia in humans and dogs in Temple Communities in Bangkok in 2004. After that he secured a Teaching and Research Lectureship in Parasitology at the department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok. In 2010, Dr. Inpankaew chose to pursue a PhD on domestic animals as reservoirs of zoonotic hookworm and Giardia duodenalis in a rural village, Cambodia, through the University of Copenhagen, Denmark for which he was awarded PhD in 2014. Dr Inpankaew’s research continues in the field of veterinary parasitology, with a focus on the epidemiology and control of parasitic zoonoses and canine vector borne diseases in Asia. Dr Inpankaew is currently Head of the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Thailand. He has published over 35 journal articles, many of which are in international peer-reviewed journals and is a member of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine Association of Thailand (http://www.ptat.org/th).
Professor Banie Penzhorn
Banie Penzhorn is Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, and research associate of the National Zoological Garden, South Africa. His primary research interest is tick-transmitted blood parasites, especially of dogs and cats, as well as wildlife. After an 8-year career as researcher with South African National Parks (during which be obtained a PhD on mountain zebra ecology and behaviour), Banie graduated with a BVSc from the University of Pretoria in 1980. He has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has supervised numerous MSc and PhD candidates. He is a diplomate (retired) of the European Veterinary Parasitology College (EVPC) and a member of the Companion-Animal Vector-Borne Diseases (CVBD) World Forum (http://www.cvbd.org/). In 2006 Banie was awarded the Elsdon-Dew Medal by the Parasitological Society of Southern Africa (PARSA) for his contribution to parasitology in Africa.
Dr. Pablo Borrás
Dr Pablo Borras is graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has a master's degree in zoonoses awarded by UNNOBA and ANLIS Malbrán in Argentina. He is a specialist in infectious and parasitic diseases in companion animals. He has published different scientific articles in national and international journals. He is associate editor of Parasites & Vectors. He is a researcher at the CCV - Maimonides University and advisor to different national organizations and private institutions. His interests are clinical research on parasitic diseases and infectious diseases of dogs and cats.
Dr. Domenico Otranto
Dr Otranto is a Professor of Animal Parasitic Diseases at the Department of Veterinary Medicine (University of Bari) where he is currently Head (2015-2018; 2018-). He is President of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology- WAAVP (2019-2022), Past President of the EVPC (2018-2020) and recipient of the Bayer Research Award (2019) and of the Young Scientist award (2007) from the WAAVP. His research output includes more than 500 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals and of numerous book chapters. His research focuses on the study of arthropods and arthropod borne diseases of zoonotic concern with both a basic and an applied approach. He has been Editor in Chief of Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2008-2017), co-Editor of Parasitology Research (2017-), Advisor Editor of Parasites and Vectors and editorial board member of five scientific international journals in the field of Parasitology. He is co-organizer of the Parasitology Summer Course.
Dr. Adrian P Ybañez
Dr. Ybañez is the Vice-President for Research and Development and a Professor of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the Cebu Technological University, Cebu City, Philippines. He obtained his DVM degree (Cum Laude) from the Visayas State University and his PhD in Veterinary Sciences (Internal Medicine) from the United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences of Gifu University and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. He is a Diplomate in the Philippine College of Veterinary Public Health and a candidate Diplomate in the Philippine College of Canine Practitioners. He is actively involved in small animal medicine, parasitology and tick-borne disease research. He was awarded as the Grand Winner of The Outstanding Cebuano Youth Leader (TOCYL) – Young Professional Category by the Cebu City Government, as Outstanding Veterinarian in the Veterinary Research Practice by the Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines, as The Outstanding Cebuano Awardee (Science and Technology Field), and as “Outstanding Young Professional in Veterinary Research” by the Philippine Society of Animal Science. He is also a current National Council Member of the Council on Education of the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association.
Prof. Alicia Rojas
Prof. Rojas is a microbiologist and parasitologist graduated from the University of Costa Rica. She obtained her PhD in Animal Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel where she focused on helminthiases of veterinary importance. Then she did postdoctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences about host-pathogen interactions of the human malaria parasite. Currently, she is affiliated to the Faculty of Microbiology and the Research Center for Tropical Diseases in the University of Costa Rica. Her lab researches the epidemiology, phylogeography and host-pathogen interactions of helminths of veterinary and human importance from a One Health perspective. She is the coordinator of the International Network for the Research of Angiostrongylus costaricensis, is associate editor of the journals Parasites & Vectors, Acta Tropica and Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases. She teaches medical helminthology for undergrad microbiology students and collaborates in programs of community welfare that aims the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of parasitosis in vulnerable children’s populations of her country. She has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, she was awarded the Odile Prize for Young Parasitologists in 2020 and an honorary mention for Young Women Scientist by the Interamerican Network of Academies of Sciences in 2022.
Dr. Vito Colella
Dr. Vito Colella is a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary and Medical Parasitology and a Senior Research Fellow in One Health at the University of Melbourne. He graduated as a veterinarian from the University of Bari, where he also earned his PhD with a thesis on neglected zoonotic parasitic infections in dogs and cats. His research team at UniMelb focuses on developing cutting-edge diagnostic tools to diagnose and control zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases in animals and humans across the Asia-Pacific region. The team also evaluates the effectiveness of One Health intervention strategies to reduce the impact of zoonotic parasites on both animal and human populations.
Dr. Olufunke Adebayo
Dr. Olufunke Adebayo is a consultant and researcher at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria where she heads the annex of the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital and also teaches clinical year students. Her research focuses on advancing the understanding, diagnosis, prevention and management of diseases affecting companion animals, with particular interest in vector-borne diseases. She is a graduate of Veterinary Medicine (2005) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and holds a PhD in companion animal medicine from Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria (2024). She is a fellow of the College of Veterinary Surgeons Nigeria and a member of Small Animal Veterinary Association of Nigeria (SAVAN). Olufunke is passionate about research especially on vector borne diseases in companion animals and she loves to do ultrasonography, haematology and molecular studies. She spends her leisure time educating clients and ensuring a better place for pets and pet owners.
Dr. Dinh Ngoc Nguyen
Dr. Dinh Ngoc Nguyen (Dinh Ng-Nguyen) is a veterinary parasitologist and Head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Tay Nguyen University, Vietnam. Dr. Dinh obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of zoonotic parasitic infections in companion animals, livestock, and humans. His work combines field epidemiology, molecular diagnostics, and One Health approaches. In addition to teaching and research, he is actively involved in companion animal veterinary practice. His interests include promoting evidence-based strategies for parasite prevention and control and reducing the public health risks associated with zoonotic parasites in Vietnam.
Dr. Alireza Sazmand
Dr. Alireza Sazmand is a veterinarian, parasitologist, and faculty member at Bu-Ali Sina University in Iran. His research focuses on veterinary parasitology; the molecular epidemiology of protozoan and helminth parasites; zoonotic diseases; and emerging parasitic infections relevant to veterinary and public health. Dr Sazmand’s scholarly work primarily examines vector-borne infections affecting humans, domestic animals, and wildlife, with particular emphasis on trypanosomosis, as well as food- and waterborne zoonotic parasitic diseases. He has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications. In addition, he serves on the boards of several international and national parasitology associations and holds editorial positions at more than ten scientific journals. His research interests center on integrating molecular techniques with epidemiological and One Health approaches to advance understanding of the transmission, epidemiology, and control of parasitic diseases.
