Our Team

Dr. Dave Renaud is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph. He received his DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College and a PhD in epidemiology from the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on identifying factors associated with improving cattle health, specifically in calves, and evaluating alternative management strategies to reduce the level of antimicrobial use. Dave is also practicing veterinarian working with dairy producers and calf raisers around the Guelph area.

Hanne Goetz is a Research Associate in the Department of Population Medicine. Prior to her current position, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology and PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on improving health and wellbeing of dairy calves, especially surrounding the transportation of non-replacement animals.

Lucas Lopes is an animal scientist and geneticist with a passion for improving animal productivity and health. After earning his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the São Paulo State University in Brazil, he advanced his expertise with a PhD in Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph. Lucas is committed to bridging the gap between innovative research and its practical applications in the field. With a robust skill set in animal science, quantitative genetics, genomics, and statistics, coupled with proficiency in R and Python for data analysis, he adeptly analyzes large-scale data to drive meaningful outcomes.

Emily received her Honours Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology in 2023. She worked as a research assistant throughout her undergraduate degree, where she became interested in the health and welfare of dairy calves. Emily is now completing her MSc in the Department of Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, under the supervision of Dr. David Renaud.

My name is Kendra Broadfoot and I am a thesis-based Masters of Epidemiology Student. I am from Stratford, Ontario but I have been living in Guelph since I began my post-secondary education back in 2017. 

I began the program in January of 2023, and I am currently in the process of data collection, which is anticipated to be done in April of 2024. I began the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program at OVC in the Fall 2023 semester, so I am completing my DVM and MSc simultaneously. 

My project purpose is to determine and quantify the impacts of EBL infection on the calf health and performance, as well as describe EBL transmission in young calves without direct contact with the adult cattle, to be able to provide actionable intelligence for VFO and DFO members.

Originally from Newfoundland, Havie moved to Guelph in 2016 where she completed her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in the Ontario Agricultural College and MSc in Epidemiology at the Ontario Veterinary College. Following her MSc, she worked as a beef cattle extension specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. Havie is now working as a Ruminant Nutrition Advisor at Trouw Nutrition and is a PhD student with a focus on antimicrobial stewardship in the dairy industry. In her free time, you can usually find her at the barn with her Welsh Cob, Pearl, and her pup Queenie!

Luiza obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Sao Paulo State University, Brazil, in 2015. Following graduation, she did a two-year residency program at the same institution (2016-2018). Then, Luiza completed a Large Animal Internal Medicine Internship (2018-2019), Large Animal Internal Medicine Residency (2019-2022), and obtained a Doctor of Veterinary Science degree (2019-2022) at the Ontario Veterinary College – University of Guelph. Luiza became board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large Animal) in 2022. Currently, Luiza is a PhD student at the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. Her main research areas of interest are neonatology and gastrointestinal disorders. While not working, Luiza enjoys spending time outdoors, running, biking, hiking, and reading.

Christina graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 2019. Following graduation she began working for a predominantly dairy practice in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. She continues to work in private practice part time as she completes a PhD under Dr. Dave Renaud, focusing on the transmission of Salmonella dublin in dairy operations.

Katheryn Spohn is a PhD student under the supervision of Drs. Dave Renaud and Charlotte Winder. Her research is focused on developing a validated core outcome set for bovine respiratory disease in dairy calves. She attended Bishop’s University for her undergraduate studies, where she also competed as a varsity rugby player. She then came here to the Population Medicine department at OVC for her Masters, with research focusing on evidence synthesis in food safety. Since graduating she has worked at Ontario Health, previously in evidence synthesis to support the four provincial cancer screening programs, and now is involved in symptom management for clinical cancer patients. In her free time, Katheryn enjoys running and spending time outdoors with her family and dogs.   

My name is Chengyu Wang.

In 2023, I joined Renaud’s lab as a PhD student. Prior to this, I spent several years in the dairy industry, working as a dairy nutritionist. I also held a position as an R&D Project Coordinator.

In my upcoming research, I will focus on utilizing various strategies—such as colostrum and transition milk, transfer time, and precision systems—to optimize the management of both purebred and crossbred calves.

Daniella is a veterinary epidemiologist working at the Public Health Agency of Canada with the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) as lead of the dairy surveillance program. She also works part-time as a dairy veterinarian in private practice (OVC 2017 graduate). She started a part-time PhD in fall 2023 under the supervision of Dr. David Renaud, focusing on antimicrobial resistance, use and stewardship in dairy cattle across Canada.