JL (Jose) Gonzales Rojas, PhD

Jose Gonzales obtained his degree in Veterinary Medicine from the UAGRM, Bolivia, 2000. In 2002 obtained his MSc in International Animal Health at The University of Edinburgh and later in 2012 obtained his PhD degree at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

From 2015, Jose works at the Epidemiology group at Wageningen Bioverterinary Research.  Previously (2012-2015), he was a senior scientist within the Transmission Biology group at The Pirbright Institute and in 2014, he became head of this group. Between 2008 and 2012, Jose made his PhD in the Netherlands and before that he was senior epidemiologist (2006 – 2007) at the Bolivian Animal Health Service where he was responsible of the design and evaluation of the surveillance programme for foot-and-mouth disease. Between 2004 and 2006, Jose was head of the Bolivian reference laboratory for the diagnosis of Brucellosis (LIDIVET).

In 2018, Jose became a member of the EFSA expert panel on Animal Health and Welfare (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/panels/ahaw)

His research work has focused on studying the infection dynamics of infectious diseases, the validation of diagnostic tests and the design and evaluation of surveillance programmes. He has worked on diseases such Avian Influenza, Foot-and-mouth disease, Brucellosis and Trypanosomiasis.