Swine in Biomedical Research

M. Michael Swindle, DVM, is a professor emeritus and retired chairman of the Department of Comparative Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received his BS and DVM from Texas A&M University and is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and the European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. He was in the US Army, ran a private veterinary practice, and was at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He has received several research awards and was honored as an outstanding alumnus of the College of Veterinary Medicine. His many publications and presentations are mainly in the areas of experimental surgery, anesthesia, and swine as animal models. He continues to be active in research and teaching as a private consultant for using porcine models.

Alison C. Smith, DVM, is the interim director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, interim chair and professor of the Department of Comparative Medicine, and an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She earned her DVM from the University of Illinois. Dr. Smith's earlier experience includes private veterinary and small animal emergency practices. She was trained in laboratory animal medicine at MUSC and is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. Her publications and presentations are primarily in the area of swine as large animal surgical models, anesthesia and analgesia of swine, and perioperative care of swine.

Christian Alfaro, DVM, MSI is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with a background in scientific illustration. He completed his veterinary degree at the National University of Costa Rica and has dedicated his career to bridging biomedical sciences and visual arts through anatomical education. Dr. Alfaro earned his Master's degree in Scientific Illustration from Maastricht University and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, where he focused on developing models for anatomical and surgical training. He has held academic and technical positions at the National University of Costa Rica and the Institute of Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His work combines over a decade of experience in veterinary clinical practice, teaching, and the development of both physical and digital anatomical models. He currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland, where he continues to create innovative anatomical resources that integrate accuracy, accessibility, and visual clarity to enhance the learning experience.

Kristi L. Helke, DVM, PhD is Professor and Chair Department of Comparative Medicine, MUSC College of Medicine. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2000 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her PhD in pathobiology was earned at Johns Hopkins Medical School in 2007, where she also completed her pathology residency following a year of private veterinary practice in Goose Creek, SC. Dr. Helke has been a veterinary pathologist at MUSC since 2007. During this time, she has developed numerous collaborations with researchers in many fields of interest at MUSC, including neuroscience, lipidomics, cancer, and transplant researchers. She has several successful collaborations with local biotech companies, and she oversees their animal studies, which are performed at MUSC. Dr. Helke is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and has served the following professional organizations either as a member of the board of directors, committee chairman and/or officer: Southeastern Association for Laboratory Animal Science, American College of Veterinary Pathologists, Society for Toxicologic Pathology, and the Trident Veterinary Medical Association. Her publications and presentations are mainly in the areas of neuroscience and cancer, as well as pathology, with many collaborative publications with researchers in varied fields.

Andrew Makin, BA, MSc, ERT, MRSB, is working as an independent toxicology consultant, having previously worked for nearly 40 years in contract research both in the UK and in Denmark. His experience covers a wide range of study types, involving many different species, and products from pharmaceuticals (large and small molecules), chemicals to medical devices and beyond. He has worked for more than 20 years with minipigs as a preclinical testing species and was one of the first appointees as Minipig Ambassador by Ellegaard Goettingen Minipigs.

Anthony D. Dayan, LLB, MD, FRCP, FRCPath, FBTS, retired as Professor of Toxicology at St Bartholomews Hospital Medical College, (now part of Queen Mary's University) London. His previous posts included Head of Toxicology, Wellcome Foundation Research UK. He has been a member of regulatory and advisory committees for foods, pesticides and medicines, and for animal experimentation for WHO, EU, British and German governments, and he has consulted widely for biotech and pharmaceutical firms.

Kenneth L. Hastings, Dr.P.H., D.A.B.T., Fellow A.T.S. earned his Doctor of Public Health degree from the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1987. He completed his doctoral research at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology. Dr. Hastings served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Pharmacology/Toxicology Research Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arizona. From 1991 - 2007 Dr. Hastings served in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, in various positions including as an Associate Director in the Office of New Drugs (2003 - 2007). Dr. Hastings was Associate Vice President for Regulatory Policy, Sanofi US. He served in many professional societies (President, Society of Toxicology Immunotoxicology Specialty Section; President, American College of Toxicology; President, SOT Regulatory and Safety Evaluation SS). Dr. Hastings served as President of the American Board of Toxicology. He is currently an independent consultant specializing in toxicology studies in drug development.

Niels-Christian Ganderup, MSc, MBA, is Snr. Business Development Manager at Copenhagen Capacity where he is engaged in attracting life science investments into the Medicon Valley region centered around Copenhagen. Prior to this he was in specialist clinical genetics testing company providing cutting edge genetic analysis for complex diseases in neurology and endocrinology. Before this he worked with engagement worldwide with academic, pharmaceutical, and other industrial research organizations and CROs in comparing the value of the minipig and other species in research and testing programs in pharmacology and toxicology. He founded the Minipig Research Forum which organizes annual scientific conferences in Europe about all aspects of the use of minipigs in biomedical research.