I have graduated from the Justus-Liebig University (JLU) in Giessen, Germany, in 2003 and have since then pursued an academic career in small animal internal medicine. I completed my specialist training and Dr.med.vet at the same university. Following on to this, I was given the opportunity to complete a 4-year PhD in canine gastroenterology at the Royal Veterinary college, London, for which I investigated the effect of probiotics in canine chronic enteropathy. After my PhD, I returned to the JLU in Germany as a junior lecturer. In 2016, I took a post as senior lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, UK. I am currently head of Service and awarded a personal chair (Prof) in Small Animal Gastroenterology in 2023.