Aviagen’s Vice President of Veterinary Services Dr. Eric Jensen has been elected as the new President of the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP), replacing outgoing President Dr. Nathaniel Tablante, a Professor at the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland.
A long-time and active member of the AAAP, Dr. Jensen will hold this office for one year, after having served on the board of directors for five years and as president elect the previous year. He was officially appointed on August 4, 2019 during a ceremony at the 62nd annual AAAP Business Meeting, which took place August 2-5 in Washington, D.C.
Aviagen and the AAAP have a common mission to share the latest scientific developments, resulting in ongoing improvements that propel the poultry industry forward. Aviagen is a longstanding supporter of the AAAP, and this year pledged $5,000 as a Platinum AAAP sponsor, in addition to donating more than $5,000 to four Preceptor Scholarship Awards for 2019. The scholarship is intended to assist veterinary students as they explore avian medicine as a career.
AAAP – advancing health and welfare through knowledge
As a professional organization for poultry veterinarians in North America, with many Central and South American members, the AAAP endeavors to “promote scientific knowledge to improve the health, welfare and productivity of poultry in an effort to provide safe and abundant food for the world.” In doing so, it produces a wealth of scholarly articles, journals and other publications, and each year organizes the annual meeting as a forum for idea exchange and relationship building.
This year members explored the topic of “Investigating Disease and Assessing Productivity Using Epidemiological Tools.” There were more than 140 oral presentations and 130 posters on numerous topics, including case reports, enteric health, antimicrobials, avian influenza, food safety, diagnostics and more.
During his tenure as president, Dr. Jensen explained that the organization will focus on improving diversity in its membership, as well as advocating the profession to new veterinary and research graduates.
“It’s an honor to continue serving the AAAP as president,” he commented. “The future of the industry depends on attracting bright young minds with a passion to supply today’s and tomorrow’s generations with a secure, healthy and sustainable source of protein.”
About Dr. Jensen
Dr. Jensen has more than 30 years of experience as a veterinarian specializing in poultry medicine. He joined Aviagen in 1995 as Program Veterinarian and in 2015 was promoted to his current role as Vice President of Veterinary Services. He holds a Master of Avian Medicine and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, both from the University of Georgia.
