2025 Speakers

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.

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.

Matthias Hofer is the Managing Partner at Stonehaven Consulting AG with over 15 years of experience in Animal Health. He served on the executive committees of two major Animal Health companies for a total of 7 years. Between 2009 and 2013 he led the global Aqua Health business at Novartis Animal Health (NAH). Later on, he was Global Leader Emerging Business at Elanco and a member of Elanco’s global executive committee. During 2014 and with Elanco’s intention to buy NAH, Matthias served as overall pre-merger integration leader on the Novartis side. In that role, Matthias led a large team and efforts to prepare integration pre-closing overall including carve-out preparations of operations linked to Novartis.

Gerardo is an Industrial Engineer with a master’s degree in Business Management. After eight years of experience in various multinational companies, he leveraged his expertise to create a high-impact venture revolutionizing feed and biotherapeutics manufacturing.

ByBug empowers companies to enhance animal health through customized feed solutions. The company has developed an innovative biomanufacturing platform that utilizes the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) as a natural bioreactor to produce recombinant proteins—such as immunostimulants, peptides, and antibodies—directly within insect meal.

ByBug specializes in engineering these strains and licensing the technology to insect breeders. The breeders use the strains to produce enriched insect meal, which is incorporated into animal feed as a nutritional and health-enhancing additive, delivering value throughout the supply chain.

Celine Halioua is the Founder and CEO of Loyal, a clinical-stage animal health company
developing the first longevity drugs for dogs. Since founding Loyal in 2019, she has raised over $150M and has led the company through several historic regulatory milestones, including earning what is believed to be the first- and second-ever acceptances from the FDA that a drugcould be effectively developed for lifespan extension.

Prior to Loyal, Celine was Chief of Staff at the Longevity Fund and pursued a DPhil in the
economics of healthcare at Oxford University. She holds a B.S. in neuroscience from the
University of Texas at Austin.

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.