Dr Jordi Lopez-Tremoleda

1. Could you tell us about your work? What does it mean to be Queen Mary's Named Veterinary Surgeon?

The Named Veterinary Surgeon is a role set up under the UK law and required for any establishment undertaking animal research. I am responsible for monitoring and providing advice on the health, welfare and treatment of animals used here, in accordance with UK regulations, as well as promoting best practice in our animal studies including the principles of the ‘3Rs’ (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animals in research). I also support the training and education of Queen Mary staff undertaking animal experimentation procedures, advising on the implementation of the animal license projects in accordance with the UK/EU regulatory requirements. I am also the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Laboratory Animals . The journal particularly focuses on research that reduces the number of animals used or which replaces animal models with in vitro alternatives. 

At the Queen Mary PS Staff conference last week, I gave a talk on my work as the named Veterinary Surgeon which you can watch here:  My role, what do we do, animal welfare and 3Rs

2.  You're also involved in trauma research. What is this? 

I am also a Senior Lecturer in Trauma, Animal Science & Welfare at the Blizard Institute's Centre for Trauma Science . The Centre for Trauma Science (C4TS) is a world-leading Centre of Excellence for translational trauma and research education. We focus on the immediate post-injury phase, with research into the pathophysiology of injury. Our primary clinical partner is the Royal London Hospital Major Trauma Centre.  My role is to support the development and validation of experimental models for effective translation into the clinics. Our research brings together expertise on complex models of trauma, haemorrhage & coagulopathy and central nervous injury, and has successfully supported the implementation of various clinical trials. As an academic, I am also extensively involved in training and education across various programs within FMD, also being a Fellow of the HEA.

3. Tell us a bit about your educational and training background and what advice would you give to a student wanting to follow in similar footsteps? 

I qualified as a veterinarian in Barcelona, and undertook my initial training in the UK, working with horses at Liverpool University and the University of Cambridge. Most of this was working as a stud veterinarian with racehorses, and included working in Newmarket, and in Australia during various breeding seasons. Then I started a research career in the field of reproductive biology, undertaking a PhD at Utrecht University.  I ended up moving to Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine to work on human stem cell therapies. Following on this, I coordinated the preclinical imaging work at Imperial College and then moved to Queen Mary’s Centre for Trauma Sciences.

My role as a veterinarian working in a medical institution, particularly working at the forefront of innovative trauma medicine can be challenging but it is also very rewarding to support medical discovery while ensuring the best care and welfare of our animals. Our work can really make an impact on health medicine and working in such a multidisciplinary interface provides an excellent opportunity for continuous learning. For any students that would like to follow this career path, I would advise them to take any opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team, challenging yourself to work with other professionals, particularly non-medics. Your clinical expertise will provide you with an excellent platform to collaborate with many other professional from other disciplines such as social and data sciences.