Gonzalo Moreno del Val, new President of the Spanish Veterinary Association

17 de September de 2025

The Director of the Animal Facility Service at the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, Gonzalo Moreno del Val, has assumed the presidency of the Spanish Veterinary Association (Organización Colegial Veterinaria - OCV), the highest representative body of the profession in Spain, in a ceremony held last Saturday at the Real Casino de Madrid.

Photo: Gonzalo Moreno del Val during the swearing-in ceremony held at the Real Casino de Madrid.

Moreno del Val succeeds Luis Alberto Calvo Sáez, who has led the institution since 2019, and embarks on this new stage with a clear message: to promote science, strengthen the unity of the veterinary profession, and place it in its rightful position within society. Alongside him, the new Executive Board was sworn in, composed of Miquel Molins as Vice President, José Ramón Caballero as Secretary General, and board members Luis Colmenar, Yasmina Domínguez, José Miguel Gil, Elena Laguno, Juan Antonio de Luque, Antonio Rubio, Santiago Sánchez-Apellániz, and José Marín Sánchez.

The new president graduated in Veterinary Medicine from Cardenal Herrera University, is a specialist in Animal Health and Welfare at CSIC, and a specialist in Reproductive Biology at UMH. He also holds a Master’s in Occupational Risk Prevention from the Centro de Estudios Financieros and a Master’s in Clinical Medicine Research from UMH. In addition to directing the Animal Facility Service at the Institute for Neurosciences CSIC-UMH, he serves as Secretary of the institute’s Bioethics and Biosafety Committee.

Since 2014, he has presided over the Alicante Official College of Veterinarians, where he has promoted projects for modernization, continuing education, and enhancing the profession’s social visibility. In 2023, he was elected Vice President of the General Council of Veterinary Colleges of Spain, a position from which he has worked closely with public institutions and provincial veterinary colleges.

His career reflects a consistent commitment to defending the profession, advancing science, and disseminating the essential role of veterinarians in public health, animal welfare, and food safety, principles that will also guide his leadership at OCV. In his inaugural speech, Moreno del Val emphasized that science must be the banner that legitimizes and lends credibility to veterinary work, that prevention constitutes a silent yet decisive pillar for ensuring public health and food safety, and that professional unity is indispensable to strengthening institutional influence and projecting the true image of veterinary medicine to society.

Source: Institute for Neurosciences CSIC-UMH (in.comunicacion@umh.es)