Confirmed 2026 Speakers
We're already underway securing a stellar 2026 speaker line-up with decision-makers and thought leaders from across the entire ecosystem.
Find out who's already confirmed below.
Introducing our 2026 Selection Committee
Announcing the first industry leaders responsible for identifying and evaluating innovators to present in our biggest ever AHNTI Innovation Showcase in 2026.
Andreas Kastenbauer
Dr. Jamie Crittall
Jolian Howell
Natalie Marks
Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.
Paul Dick
Dr Paul Dick D.V.M. M.Sc. obtained his veterinary medical degree with honours in 1984.
While working in clinical practice he completed his Masters in Immunology and Virology transitioning into the Pharmaceutical industry in 1988. Dr. Dick has over 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical space including general management and leadership roles, business development, commercialization, regulatory affairs, and product development encompassing medicinal, non-medicinal and natural health products.
His work in this sector has ranged from small “start up” companies to medium and large multi-nationals functioning in various capacities from research to COO and CEO.
Dr. Dick has worked extensively with Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on numerous regulatory submissions and on several Departmental Committees.
In addition he has been a recipient of the NSERC Synergy Award and has served as a peer reviewer of NSERC strategic grants. He is currently heading his own consulting firm ( Paul Dick and Associates Ltd.) and is the managing partner and president of a venture capital partnership (Vet Venture Capital Inc.).
Oliver Viner
Julia Stephanus
Julia has been a visionary entrepreneur and strategic brand builder in the veterinary industry for 30+ years. Her achievements include building and scaling two successful start-up veterinary pharmaceutical businesses and launching 28 veterinary products. She was Founder and CEO of Summit VetPharm, which exited to Ceva Animal Health in 2010. As Chief Commercial Officer of Aratana Therapeutics (PETX), she was instrumental in the IPO and the buildout of a fully integrated commercial organization. Julia led the co-promotion and the licensing of Aratana’s lead osteoarthritis product, Galliprant®, to Elanco. Aratana exited to Elanco in 2019.
Julia is Founder and President of Avviare, LLC, providing consulting services to start-ups and established players in veterinary biopharmaceuticals. In addition to the start-up experience, Julia’s career includes senior-level positions at Ceva, Forest Laboratories (Allergan) and Pfizer Animal Health (Zoetis) and their legacy companies.
Julia presently serves on the Boards of PBI Gordon, ReduxBio, and Jenga Biosciences. Julia is a Founding Director and Board Member of Feather in Her Cap, recognizing outstanding women in Animal Health.
Julia received her Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with additional education at the Wharton School of Business, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University.
Global Advisory Board
Tim Bettington
Jamie Brannan
Paul Casady
Claire Fowler
After completing a degree in Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge University in 2002, her first professional experience was working in clinical veterinary practice before joining Boehringer Ingelheim in 2005. She subsequently completed an MBA at London Business School.
In Boehringer Ingelheim she has held positions at a local, regional and global level across business management, marketing and technical functions, mainly in Animal Health. This includes senior leadership roles such as the responsibility for the Boehringer Ingelheim Italian animal health subsidiary, and most recently for the overall commercial performance of the region encompassing Europe and Canada. She also spent some time in Consumer Health Care as Category lead in global marketing.
Claire was appointed Head of Global Strategic Marketing in January 2025 and became a member of the Executive Committee of the Animal Health Business Unit at Boehringer.
Rob Kelly
Julia Loew
Alan Mackay
Linda Rhodes
Dr. Rhodes has over 30 years of accomplishments in human and animal drug discovery, development, biomedical research, and clinical veterinary medicine.
Dr. Rhodes was educated at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (VMD) and Cornell University (PhD). She has an extensive background in physiology, veterinary medicine, and drug development, and many publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Rhodes practiced clinical veterinary medicine for five years, with experience in both companion and farm animal practice. As a senior research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories for 8 years, she led pre-clinical biology evaluation of several marketed human drugs. She worked for Merial Ltd. as director of large animal development projects, leading project teams developing novel compounds for a variety of indications. In April 2001, she formed AlcheraBio, a consulting, marketing, and contract research firm specializing in developing new drugs for animals, working with biotechnology and animal health companies world-wide. AlcheraBio was acquired in 2008 by Argenta, and Dr. Rhodes served as executive vice president to transition the company when in 2011, she accepted a position as CEO of Aratana Therapeutics, a startup company developing innovative new medicines for dogs and cats. Subsequently, when the company became public she served as its Chief Scientific Officer. During her 5-year tenure, the company achieved FDA approval of three new pet therapeutics: Galliprant, Nocita and Entyce. She is currently retired and an independent consultant. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Zoetis, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Alliance for Contraception in Dogs and Cats and the Michelson Found Animals Foundation. She founded Feather in Her Cap, a non-profit that recognizes the achievement of women in the animal health industry. She is the recipient of the Iron Paw Award.
Dave Ross
Aaron Schacht
Beatrice Vos, PhD
