Who is who - the ESCG board
Get to Know the Faces behind ESCG - European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology
Our board consists of volunteers (Diplomates and specialists) with an interest in gastroenterology.
The board is composed of:
President: Dr. Aarti Kathrani (since September 2026)
Past- president: Dr. Fabio Procoli (since September 2026, president 2024-2026)
Vice-president: Dr. Jan Suchodolski (since September 2026)
Secretary: Dr. Kathrin Busch (since November 2024)
Treasurer: Dr. Panagiotis Xenoulis (since November 2024)
General board member: Dr. Carla Vecchiato (since November 2024)
General board member (Eurogut): Dr. Stefan Unterer (since November 2024)
General board member (ECVIM): Dr. Karin Allenspach (since November 2024)
General board member (research & trainee grants): Dr. Rachel Pilla (since September 2026)
Web-master: Dr. Francesco Lotti (since September 2023)
Aarti Kathrani BVetMed (Hons), PhD, DACVIM (SAIM & Nutrition), FHEA
President ESCG
Aarti graduated from the RVC in 2006, before completing her rotating small animal medicine and surgery internship at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, RVC, in 2007 and her PhD in canine inflammatory bowel disease at the RVC in 2011. Aarti then completed a three year residency program in small animal internal medicine at Cornell University in 2014 and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She also completed a two year small animal clinical nutrition residency program at the University of California-Davis in 2016. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. Aarti was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Bristol between 2016 and 2018, before returning to the RVC in 2018.
Fabio Procoli, DMV, MVetMed, DACVIM, DECVIM-CA, MRCVS
Past President ESCG
Fabio graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Bari, Italy in 2003. In 2005 he moved to the United Kingdom where he worked as a small animal general practitioner for three years. In 2009 he completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. From 2009 to 2012 he completed a residency in small animal internal medicine at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) of London. In the year 2012-2013 he completed a MPhil in canine gastroenterology at the RVC. In the year 2013 Fabio was awarded the Diploma of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (DipACVIM). In 2014 Fabio was awarded the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (DipECVIM-CA). From 2013 to 2017 Fabio worked as consultant in small animal internal medicine and gastroenterology in a referral hospital in Winchester, UK. From September 2017 Fabio heads the Internal Medicine Service of the Ospedale Veterinario I Portoni Rossi a referral hospital in Bologna, Italy.
Jan Suchodolski DVM, PhD., AGAF, DACVM
Vice-President ESCG
Jan S. Suchodolski is a professor, Purina PetCare Endowed Chair for Microbiome Research, associate director and head of microbiome sciences at the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University. He received his DrVetMed from the University Vienna, Austria and his PhD in veterinary microbiology from Texas A&M University. He is board certified in immunology by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM). His research is focused on developing biomarkers for gastrointestinal disease and therapeutic approaches for the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. In 2024, he received the AVMA career achievement in canine research award.
Kathrin Busch DVM, Dr. med. vet., DECVIM-CA (Internal Medicine)
Secretary ESCG
Dr. Busch graduated with a veterinary degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU), Munich Germany. She worked several years at the clinic of small animal medicine while doing her doctoral thesis on the acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome. She is board-certified in internal medicine by the European College of Veterinary Medicine. She currently serves as head of the department of gastroenterology at the clinic of small medicine of the LMU.
Panagiotis Xenoulis DVM, Dr.med.vet., PhD
Treasurer ESCG
Panos Xenoulis is a Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Thessaly in Greece and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, USA.
Panos graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2003. In 2004 he was enrolled in a graduate program at the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University in collaboration with the Ludwig-Maximilian Universitat in Munich, Germany. He received his Dr.med.vet. degree in 2008 in recognition of his research on hyperlipidemia in dogs. The same year he started his PhD at Texas A&M University, focusing on the association between hyperlipidemia and pancreatitis in dogs, which was completed in 2011. He was awarded both college-level and university-level awards for his contributions as a PhD student at Texas A&M University.
Dr. Rachel Pilla, DVM, PhD
General Board Member – research & travel grants
Rachel is a Tenure-Track Researcher at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Italy. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and her PhD from the University of Milan. Following postdoctoral research in Germany and several years as a faculty member at Texas A&M University in the United States, she returned to Italy in 2024. Her research focuses on the gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolome, intestinal health, and gastrointestinal diseases, particularly in dogs and cats. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and is committed to advancing comparative gastroenterology through collaborative research and scientific exchange.
Karin Allenspach Dr.med.vet. FVH, PhD, FHEA, RCVS, AGAF, DECVIM-CA (Internal Medicine)
General Board member - ECVIM
Karin Allenspach received her veterinary degree from the University of Zurich. She did an internship in small animal emergency medicine and critical care at Tufts University and a residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She was awarded a PhD in veterinary immunology from the University of Bern, Switzerland for her work on canine chronic enteropathies. She is currently employed as Professor of Comparative Medicine at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, and is a PI of the SMART Translational Medicine Lab at the University of Georgia, which focuses on the development and culture of adult stem stem-cell-derived organoids from various species. Her latest efforts have resulted in the founding of a start-up company (3D Health Solutions, Inc.) with the goal of commercializing assays for drug screening based on organoid methods.
Stefan Unterer, Prof., Dr. med. vet.Prof., Dr. habil., DipECVIM-CA
General Board member - Eurogut
Stefan Unterer is Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Director of the Small Animal Internal Medicine Clinic at the Vetsuisse Faculty Zurich, Switzerland. He completed his internship and residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Zürich,Switzerland and University of Georgia,USA. Stefan Unterer became board-certified by the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2003. After one year in private practice, he returned to academia and became a faculty member at the University of Munich/Germany. He finished his habilitation thesis in 2016. Stefan Unterer is member of the Comparative Gastroenterology Society (CGS), the European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology (ESCG), and the Society of Comparative Hepatology. He supports the Examination Committe of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
His clinical research projects include the intestinal microbiome, acute hemorrhagic diarrhea in dogs, intestinal barrier function and longterm consequences of acute enteritis.
Carla Giuditta Vecchiato Med Vet, PhD, EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition
General Board Member
Carla Giuditta Vecchiato attained the title of European Specialist in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN) in 2024 in Liège, Belgium, following the completion of a training program in Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition. Since 2023, she has served as a junior assistant professor at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences at the University of Bologna. Her primary research interests focus on nutritional strategies for the management of diseases in small animals, with particular emphasis on chronic enteropathies, obesity, and diabetes mellitus.
Francesco Lotti, DVM, MSc, DECVIM-CA
Webmaster ESCG
Francesco graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Pisa, Italy in 2014. From 2015 to 2016 he worked as Internal Medicine clinician at "Clinica Veterinaria Valdinievole" in Monsummano Terme (Italy). In 2016 he moved to Colorado and in 2018 completed a Master of Science (in Clinical Science) at Colorado State University (Fort Collins). In 2019 he completed a one year Internal Medicine Specialty Internship at Colorado State University. In 2022 he completed a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine at "Ospedale Veterinario Anicura I Portoni Rossi" (Bologna, Italy). In 2023 Francesco was awarded the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Dipl. ECVIM-CA). In April 2023 Francesco joined the Internal Medicine team at "Clinica Veterinaria Valdinievole" (Monsummano Terme, Italy).