Hafez M. Hafez was Head of the Institute of Poultry Diseases of the Free University in Berlin from 1997 until 2016. He is currently a guest senior professor at the same institute. Hafez gained his Master of Veterinary Science (MVSc) at the Department of Poultry Diseases from Cairo University, Egypt, in 1975. In 1981, he completed his Doctorate Degree (Dr. med. vet.) at the Department of Poultry Diseases, Giessen University, Germany. In 1994, he finished the Habilitation (Dr. med. vet. habil.) thesis at the Department of Poultry Diseases, Munich University, Germany. Dr. Hafez has been recognized as a veterinary poultry specialist since 1982, veterinary microbiology specialist since 1989, and veterinary animal hygiene specialist since 1996. He became the diplomat of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (Dipl. ECVPH) in 2005 and the European College of Poultry Veterinary Science (Dipl. ECPVS) in 2009. He is currently the honorary life president of the World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA). He was the past-president of the ECPVS, the chairman of the poultry scientific committee of the German Veterinary Chamber, the chairman of the German branch of the WVPA, the chairman of Working Group 10 (Turkey), and European Branch of World Poultry Science Association (WPSA). Besides, he has been an honorary professor at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, since 1996 and an honorary professor at Alexandria University, Egypt, since 2009. Since 2015, he has been an advisor to the Arab Federation for Food Industries (AFFI). Dr. Hafez' research interest focused on poultry disease diagnosis and control in general and food-borne diseases, management, animal welfare, and hygiene. Awad A. Shehata gained his bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt, and his license as veterinarian from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. In 2005, he obtained a master's degree in avian diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sadat City University, Egypt. In 2011, he completed his Ph.D. (Dr. med. vet.) in virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Germany. In 2015, he obtained his Dr. habilitatus (Dr. med. vet. habil.) in bacteriology and poultry diseases at Leipzig University, Germany. In 2022, he was honored with a professor of avian diseases title from Sadat City University, Egypt. Besides his academic work at several universities, Dr. Shehata has six years of industrial experience in vaccine production and the development of alternatives to antimicrobials. He is a certified quality manager, auditor, project manager, European Business Competence License level (EBCL), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), FELASA-B and -C, and phytotherapist. Dr. Shehata's research interests lie mainly in developing alternatives or complementary to antimicrobials and diagnostic strategies and studying avian pathogens' epidemiology and molecular epidemiology. Alternatives include developing and evaluating recombinant vaccines, live attenuated bacterial vaccines, inactivated vaccines, probiotics, and prebiotics. Dr. Shehata teaches avian diseases and microbiology courses in English and German at several universities worldwide. He is currently a project leader at the Structural Membrane Biochemistry, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany, who studies the analysis and mechanism of actions of natural products, metabolic pathways, and fluxes in various organisms by 13C-labeling experiments and profiling.
