Judson Vasconcelos, DVM, PhD
Dr. Judson Vasconcelos heads the Merck Animal Health Veterinary and Consumer Affairs team. The V&CA team supports Merck’s partners in the companion animal and livestock industries, academic institutions, and veterinary related associations by identifying key partnership opportunities and sharing relevant research, tools and insights with key stakeholders while encouraging collaboration in areas such as Animal Welfare, Sustainability, Veterinarian Wellness, Consumer Trends and Innovation. The team’s projects and initiatives seek to support current and future leaders and to enable more informed decisions in an ever-changing marketplace. A native of Brazil, Dr. Vasconcelos received his Veterinary Medicine degree from the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul in 1998. He started his career working as a beef cattle production consultant until 2002, when he moved to the Texas panhandle to start his graduate studies. He received his M.S. degree in Animal Science from West Texas A&M University in 2003 and his Ph.D. degree in Beef Cattle Nutrition and Management from Texas A&M University in 2006. After his Ph.D., Dr. Vasconcelos worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Texas Tech University before joining the University of Nebraska as an Assistant Professor of Animal Science to conduct beef cattle feedlot nutrition and management research. He is an author of more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on animal nutrition, management and productivity products. Dr. Vasconcelos has been in the Animal Health industry since 2010 and has broad knowledge of the global livestock industry with experience in many different roles in the technical, marketing, academic affairs, and corporate affairs areas of the Global Animal Health and Nutrition industry.