Javier obtained a veterinary degree and a PhD in veterinary epidemiology from the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He also holds an MSc in data analytics. Before joining the RVC as a lecturer in population medicine in 2002, Javier worked in the private sector for three years, focusing on diagnostics and herd health in Spain. Concurrently, he lectured part-time at the University of Porto in Portugal. In 2010, he was appointed Professor of Veterinary Public Health. Javier serves as a consultant epidemiologist to the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency. He acts as the Head of the RVC’s FAO Reference Centre in Veterinary Epidemiology and as the Institute Lead of the WOAH Collaborating Centre in Risk Analysis and Modelling. Javier is a Graduate Statistician of the Royal Statistical Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. He holds an honorary research associate position at the Social Sciences Research Institute (INCISO) of Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Bolivia