Dr. Susana Flores Villalva
Dr. Flores studied Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She holds a master’s degree in animal production and animal health from the same University. The development of diagnostic tools for bovine tuberculosis, a serious infectious disease that affects a variety of domesticated and wild animals and poses a global economic and public health burden, was her main area of study. Dr. Flores began working as an associate researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural, Livestock, and Forestry Research (INIFAP, in Spanish), where she participated in diverse projects involving the investigation of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and identification of biomarkers linked to cattle´s innate resistance to tuberculosis. Recently, Dr. Flores completed her PhD in Veterinary Pathobiology at the University College Dublin, Ireland. In her dissertation, she examined how vitamin D influences cattle´s innate immunological response to bovine tuberculosis. Currently, Dr. Flores holds a position as Principal Researcher at INIFAP, her research focuses on understanding common mechanisms driving disease susceptibility to improve the natural resistance to bovine tuberculosis.