MEET OUR WORLD-CLASS SPEAKERS
Dr Burak Sarpel Ruperez
Technical Sales Manager, EMEA
Sponsored by: Chemuniqué
Dr Burak Ruperez is a veterinarian with extensive experience in the livestock industry, particularly in the area of monogastric animal production. He generally focuses on digestive integrity, management strategies, and the use of functional feed additives, with a strong emphasis on organic acids for feed hygiene, acidification, prevention, and performance enhancement.
For the duration of his studies, he has been actively involved in poultry farm visits and has completed training in poultry integration and a poultry disease diagnostics laboratory.
Throughout his career, Dr Ruperez has been involved in a wide range of technologies, including biologicals, antibiotics, farm hygiene, and a variety of feed additives such as probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, mycotoxin control, and botanical extracts. He has traveled to over 40 countries and has published several reviews on disease control, antibiotic resistance, and product-related know-how.
For the past five years, Dr Ruperez has served as the technical sales manager for EMEA at Perstorp Animal Nutrition, where he provides technical support to regional sales managers, distributors, and end-users, as well as collaborates on technical marketing and product development.
Dr David Bravo
Chief Science Officer, Nutreco
Sponsored by: Westside Enterprises
Dr David M. Bravo is a seasoned industry leader with extensive experience in product creation and development. He is also a senior scientist with over 100 peer-reviewed papers, with a research focus on the impact on physiology and production of animal health and performance of ultra-specialty ingredients (e.g., phytotechnologies).
David holds two M.Sc. and a Ph.D. and he is a Harvard University alumnus. After graduation, he joined the company now known as Neovia where he conducted research and expertise on ruminants and poultry. In 2006, he was recruited as R&D director of the feed additive company Pancosma. He created the R&D department and was, later, appointed Chief Innovation Officer. In 2018, he joined Land O’Lakes business unit feed to be Director for Innovation and Technology Scouting. Since 2021, David has been Chief Science Officer at Nutreco where he is head of Nutreco’s creative engine, the discovery and development group called Nutreco Exploration.
David’s passion lies in leveraging the power of large companies and working with leaders to embrace complexity, transformation, and establishing a corporate exploration mindset.
Dr Tom Verleyen
Director, Kemin
Sponsored by: Kemin Industries
As of March 2018, Tom Verleyen is the Global Director of liquiSMART and nutrient absorption for Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health. Kemin’s liquiSMART programme delivers tools to the industry to improve feed production efficiency and feed quality. Over the last few years, Tom has been leading KEMIN’s strategy on digitalization and sensor technology. Also, Tom has a strong affinity with the sustainability topic which is reshaping our industry.
Tom Verleyen joined Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health EMENA in 2002 as Technical Service Manager where he was involved in product development and technical support. In 2008, Tom became the New Product Planning and Development Manager. In 2011 Tom was promoted to Marketing Director in the EMEA region.
Tom graduated in 1998 as a master of Bio-engineer in Chemistry at the Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences at the University of Ghent in Belgium where he completed his doctoral thesis on vegetable oil processing in 2002 before joining Kemin. Additionally, Tom earned an Executive MBA degree at the Flanders Business School in collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. He has been a speaker at numerous seminars and conferences and is the author of multiple papers published in peer-reviewed papers and magazines.
Dr Lysiane Duniere, PhD Microbiology
Research Scientist, Lallemand Animal Nutrition
Sponsored by: Vitam International
Lysiane Duniere has worked for 10 years as a Research Scientist in Microbiology for Lallemand Animal Nutrition at the Ruminant Center of Excellence, hosted by INRAE (The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment) in Clermont-Ferrand, France. She is the author or co-author of more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed international journals.
Her main areas of research include the microbial interactions within the ruminal ecosystem, through bioinformatic analysis on NGS technologies); the interaction between gut microbiota and the host, particularly focusing on the interactions with the animal’s immune system and metabolism; and the effects of live microorganisms (probiotics) or their derivatives on the animal and its environment. She has led studies on the establishment of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota during early life and maternal imprinting as a strategy for achieving long-term effects on offspring performance and health.
Education
From 2012 to 2014, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in partnership with Pioneer Dupont, at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, AB, Canada
From 2008 to 2012, PhD in partnership with Lallemand Animal Nutrition, at VetAgro Sup Clermont-Lyon in France
Manu De Laet
Phytogenic Poultry Technical Lead, Cargill
Sponsored by: Nutribase
Manu De Laet graduated in 2009 as a bioengineer from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He has a Master's degree in Animal Production and a Minor in agricultural economy.
In September 2009, he started working as Technical Commercial Responsible at Spoormans, the broiler integrator of the Aveve group, a Belgian feed manufacturer. Manu gained a lot of experience in the management systems of broilers during these 1,5 years.
After this, Manu started in April 2011 as Quality Manager at Inve Belgium, where he implemented the quality system for this company and assisted in formulating premixes for pigs and poultry. In March 2013, he started as Product Manager of Poultry at Nuscience (part of the Royal Agrifirm group). With his practical and technical knowledge in management and feeding, he assists the sales teams in reaching targets. Manu worked for 5 years at Nuscience and gained a lot of experience with vitamins, trace elements, MCFA’s, enzymes, and other additives used in poultry production. Manu already had experience with phytogenics from his work at Nuscience. To deepen this experience, Manu started working for Delacon as the Global Technical Manager of Poultry in September 2018. Manu is currently the Phytogenic Poultry Technical Lead since May 2023.
Natasha Snyman
Chief Operations Officer, Chemuniqué
Sponsored by: Chemuniqué
As chief operations officer at Chemuniqué, Natasha Snyman is responsible for the sales teams, laboratory, and blend production facility. With over 15 years of experience in the animal nutrition industry, she has a proven record of driving innovation and success during disruptive times.
Natasha’s career began as an operational nutritionist, responsible for multi-species feed formulation and quality control at a feed mill. She quickly rose through the ranks, becoming formulations manager and eventually, the monogastric technical executive, overseeing all technical aspects of the company’s monogastric feed, including product development and on-farm problem-solving.
After three years at Novus International as the technical manager for Africa, for the past seven years, Natasha has led the poultry team at Chemuniqué in applying innovative feed additives, including enzymes, organic trace minerals, and gut health enhancers.
Her educational background includes an MSc(Agric) in animal science from Stellenbosch University. She is passionate about helping the animal feed industry navigate disruptive times through smart choices in feed additives that drive success. Drawing on her extensive experience, Natasha will provide insights into how the strategic use of feed additives can help producers
Caitlyn de Vos
Ruminant Development Manager, Vitam International
Sponsored by: Vitam International
Caitlyn de Vos completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Pretoria, earning an MSc Agric degree in Animal Nutrition in 2019. Her research focused on the impact of feed additives on the amino acid composition of ruminal bacteria. Currently, Caitlyn serves as the Ruminant Development Manager at Vitam International, overseeing technical support for ruminant solutions in the Sub-Saharan Africa Market. She plays a pivotal role in marketing, technical, and R&D projects, with a focus on rumen efficiency and mycotoxin management.
Over the past five years, Caitlyn has cultivated extensive expertise in mycotoxins and their impact on ruminants. She actively contributes to AFMA sub-committees, notably the AFMA mycotoxin sub-committee, and has shared her insights through multiple publications in popular media. Caitlyn has also been a featured speaker at various local events, including the Intelact Technical Dairy Conference, and presented for the Dairy Standards Agency's webinar series. To stay abreast of advancements in the field, she attends international mycotoxin events and collaborates with global experts. Caitlyn's dedication to expanding her knowledge is matched by her commitment to sharing her expertise with others eager to learn more.
Prof Peter Surai
Consultant, Feed Food
Sponsored by: Adisseo Animal Nutrition
Dr Peter Surai started his career as a biochemist in Ukraine and 1993 he became Professor of Human Physiology there. In 1996 he moved to Scotland and in 2000 he became a full Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at the Scottish Agricultural College. Since then, he has also become an Honorary Professor at various universities in the UK (Glasgow University), Hungary (Saint Istvan University), Bulgaria (Trakia University), Ukraine, and Russia. He has more than 900 research publications, including 180 papers in peer-reviewed journals, devoted to antioxidants. Recently he has been developing the vitagene concept about poultry and animal production. For the last 25 years, he has lectured all over the world visiting more than 70 countries. His books devoted to antioxidants with a specific emphasis on selenium including “Natural Antioxidants in Avian Nutrition and Reproduction” (2002), “Selenium in Nutrition and Health” (2006), “Selenium in Poultry Nutrition and Health” (2018), Selenium in Pig Nutrition and Health (2021) and Selenium in Ruminant Nutrition and Health (2024) have become textbooks for many poultry/animal industry specialists.
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