The VBB Board

Catherine is the founder of Vets Beyond Borders. She has been a practising veterinarian for 12 years, specialising in Integrated or Holistic medicine and veterinary acupuncture. A practicing Buddhist of the Tibetan tradition, Catherine feels passionately about the sanctity of all life and that all living beings, human and animals deserve to live free from suffering. Catherine’s links with the Tibetan communities in North India including the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Sikkim government and veterinarians, and many Tibetan refugee communities has led to the co-operative development of street dog health and veterinary programs in these areas.

Margaret has held CEO positions in public health, overseas development and veterinary not for profits, and continues to hold a number of director positions on government and not for profit boards. Her qualifications are in management and political science, and she is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has a long-standing commitment to improving human and veterinary public health as one of the important building blocks on which to nurture an understanding and acceptance of global interdependence.

Jilea is a journalist with special interest in environmental issues, national politics and animal welfare. She has been the RSPCA's media manager, and provided media advice to Animals Asia Foundation and others. Jilea's achievements in animal welfare include the creation of the RSPCA's Last Chance Club, implemented in all RSPCA NSW shelters. Jilea has also created new partnerships between animal welfare organisations and with other agencies. She is highly experienced in generating media interest in animal welfare issues.

John is a 1999 graduate from the University of Sydney and has been working in small animal practice with an interest in Emergency Medicine. John first worked as a veterinary volunteer with Yudisthira in Bali. After the Tsunami in 2004 John traveled to Sri Lanka to assist in the large scale neutering programme that was implemented to control the stray dog population and rabies. It was here that he met many other volunteer vets working on the same project and was inspired to help form a network to organise and inform volunteer veterinarians. He has also worked on Vets Beyond Borders projects in Sikkim and Ladakh.

Veterinarian and member of the Surgical Chapter of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, Ian is the founder of Veterinary Surgical Referrals, the first small animal referral practice in South Australia, and is also current director of the Sikkim Anti-Rabies and Animal Health Programme in Northern India and chair of VBB's veterinary sub committee. He is studying towards his Masters in Conservation Veterinary Medicine and has a particular interest in the endangered fauna of the Tibetan Plateau. He established the Vet-To-Vet surgical training group in 2006 to deliver clinical training to overseas veterinarians working with animal welfare programmes.

Sue Schreiner graduated from the ANU in Law in 1962 and gained a Diploma in Criminology from University of Sydney in 1978. She became a New South Wales Magistrate in 1975 and retired in 1999. She was reappointed as an Acting Magistrate and still serves in that capacity. She has always had a strong interest in social justice matters, concentrating on people and their problems, as well as the suffering of animals.

Jane is a veterinarian with experience in both companion animal and mixed practice. She was the founder and mananger of a successful veterinary practice in far North Queensland which included work in remote indigenous communities. She has also completed a Master of Tropical Health and for the past ten years has been involved in international development with a focus on public health projects.

Peter is a 1972 veterinary graduate from Sydney University. He joined the biotechnology industry as a senior research scientist working on on gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) and developing an immunological castration/sterilization agent. Peter then completed a PhD in the molecular biology of male mediated birth defects. This remains his main research interest and he is just concluding his MScMed ( Reproductive health and human genetics) degree with a research project in the Fertility unit at Westmead Hospital Sydney. A highlight of his career, has been being involved with running large animal clinics and the ABC-AR program in Bodhgaya, India.

Anna is a 2003 veterinary graduate from the University of Sydney. Since graduation, she has worked in a busy hospital in Sydney, which offers general practice, referral specialist care, and a 24 hour emergency service. Anna completed her Masters of International Public Health through the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney at the beginning of 2008. Her main interest is the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases, and she completed an internship at the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific Regional Office in the Philippines in 2007. Anna is also interested in influenza (in any species!) and has undertaken research into human seasonal influenza.