Flavia Zendri
Flavia Zendri received her Bachelors degree in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) in 2015 from the University of Bologna, Italy; in 2016 she moved to the United Kingdom to undertake a Master’s degree in Veterinary Public Health at the University of Glasgow, researching the transmission dynamics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) between people and companion animals. After working in a veterinary mixed practice clinical role, she commenced her standard Residency training under the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (ECVM) at the University of Liverpool in 2018. She has since been an academic involved in microbiology diagnostics, research and teaching activities; her main professional interests are the diagnosis and control of veterinary infectious diseases, novel approaches for routine diagnostic application, Fourier-Transform InfraRed spectroscopy for bacterial typing, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial stewardship, molecular epidemiology of AMR bacteria, infection control in veterinary hospitals and AMR surveillance amongst others. After obtaining the ECVM Diploma in September 2022, Flavia became Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool for her continuing research collaborations with the Department, particularly in the field of veterinary infection control and antimicrobial stewardship. During this time, Flavia also went on an adventure to South America volunteering as a veterinary clinician at a wildlife animal sanctuary in Bolivia, working with primates and Amazon birds.
In May 2023, Flavia was appointed Lecturer in Veterinary in Clinical Veterinary Microbiology at the University of Liverpool, returning to the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology (VAPP) and managing the Veterinary Microbiology Diagnostic Laboratory alongside Prof. Timofte. To further expand on her research skills, Flavia embarked on a part-time PhD journey in March 2024 alongside the lectureship. Her PhD titled "Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Companion Animal Clinical Infections and Veterinary Environments in the UK" has the dual aim to generate standardised AMR surveillance data in clinical isolates from dogs & cats obtained from UK-based veterinary diagnostic laboratories (funded by VMD-NBN) and to investigate the role of clinical environmental contamination in relation to the occurrence and patterns of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in companion animal (smallies and equine) clinics, focusing on mapping the spread of AMR bacteria across animal, human and hospital environmental sources.
At the University of Liverpool, Flavia is also member of Biosecurity and infection Control and of the Mentorship Committees of the School of Veterinary Science.
Professionally, Flavia is active member of the European Network for the Optimization of Veterinary Antimicrobial Treatment (ENOVAT), the JAMRAI European Antimicrobial Surveillance Network in Veterinary Medicine (EARS-Vet), the ESCMID Study Group for Veterinary Microbiology (ESGVM) and the European Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (EAVLD) and she has actively contributed to the scientific and organisational side of various societies annual conferences, particularly concerning the early career researcher (ECR) sessions. In addition, Flavia is Chair of the Residents Committee of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (ECVM) and coordinates the Residents journal clubs and other activities like the ECVM Training Schools.