Ilaria Capua

Born in Rome in 1966, Ilaria Capua graduated in Veterinary Medicine with  honours from the University of Perugia in 1989, after which she obtained her postgraduate qualification as a specialist in Animal Health and  Hygiene from Pisa University in 1991 and a PhD from the University of Padua.

Before joining the Italian Parliament, she was Director of the Division  of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the Istituto Zooprofilattico 
Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy and Head of the National, FAO  and OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) Reference Laboratories for Avian Influenza and Newcastle disease. She is also in charge of the  OIE Collaborating Center for Diseases at the Human-Animal interface.

Ilaria Capua is the recipient of many awards and international recognitions, including the 2011 Penn Vet Animal Health Leadership  Award, the most prestigious award in veterinary medicine.