Irena Zdovc

Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Irena Zdovc is professor at the Institute of microbiology and parasitology at Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana. Her research focuses on bacterial and fungal pathogens in pets, as well as in horses, fish, and bees. She graduated at the University of Ljubljana in 1987. After five years of clinical work experience, she returned to the Veterinary faculty as a researcher where she defended her phD in 1997.

Since 2007 she has been the head of the two National Reference Laboratories (NRL), namely NRL for L. monocytogenes and NRL for Antimicrobial Resistance. She is active in research program group P4-0092 (Animal Health, Environment and Safe Food), where she is the head of the bacteriology section. So far, she has participated in 29 research projects, three of which she led. As an author or co-author, she has published 90 original scientific papers.

The most important part of her professional and research work is monitoring the antimicrobial resistance of bacteria, isolated from animals. Since 2005, she has been a member of the National interdepartmental commission for the prudent use of antimicrobials in Slovenia and co-author of the document National strategy for the rational use of antimicrobials and the Management of Antimicrobial Resistance in Human and Veterinary Medicine. For many years, she has been working as a co-organizer of the One Health meetings, which are organized annually by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the National Institute of Public Health.

She was collaborator in the international project group on the PREPARE-VET research, which strives for better and coordinated education of veterinarians in the field of antimicrobial stewardship and in this area for the unification of European curricula for veterinary medicine.

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