Meet the Vet Show 30 Under Thirty Class of 2026

Jen has spent the last 5 years dedicating her time to not only improving and building on her knowledge and skills but also motivating everyone around her to do the same. She is passionate about teaching the next generation of vets that come through the practice as students, teaching with such enthusiasm it’s infectious and does so in a manor that feels safe and healthy, creating an environment that allows them to question, learn and grow. She took on the task of being a GDP advisor a year or two ago and has been so diligent with it that you can see how driven she is to be a positive role model and mentor for the graduate. Jen’s dedication to improvement and growth can also be seen in her patient care, always looking for new and innovating ways to improve patient care, firstly in her own work, but also in looking for areas in the practice too. She has broken down walls and changed dated ways of working that the practice got stuck in.

As a new graduate veterinary surgeon, Connor is not only developing his skills in general practice, but is also actively pursuing research into analgesia before, during and after canine dental procedures. His work aims to understand current analgesia use in UK general practice and to raise an important clinical question: whether dogs undergoing dental procedures are consistently receiving enough pain relief. Alongside his GP work and research, Connor volunteers weekly at South Essex Wildlife Hospital, developing practical handling skills and knowledge of British wildlife medicine and is passionate about improving confidence and education around wildlife care. Connor combines clinical ambition, research interest and a genuine commitment to animal welfare.

Clarisse Berardier is an inspiring veterinary professional. Over the past six years, Clarisse has divided her time between working as a locum veterinary surgeon in London and on Koh Mak, Thailand, volunteering her veterinary skills at Koh Mak Animal Clinic. Each year, she dedicates her time on the island to providing essential veterinary care to animals who might otherwise have limited access to treatment. Her work encompasses island-wide preventative healthcare, including vaccination and parasite-control programmes, as well as neutering and population-control initiatives. Clarisse also provides emergency veterinary care, treating animals in urgent need and managing cases across a range of challenging circumstances. She has chosen to spend her time volunteering her professional expertise, building a sustained relationship with the local community and becoming an important source of both education and veterinary care for the island.

Bernard is an exceptional veterinary professional whose dedication, compassion, and commitment to excellence make him a highly deserving candidate for the Vet Show 30 Under Thirty. Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic, outstanding clinical ability, and a genuine passion for animal welfare. Bernard approaches every challenge with professionalism and determination, continually seeking opportunities to develop his knowledge and skills while delivering the highest standard of care to patients and clients. He is a valued member of his team, known for his willingness to support colleagues, share knowledge, and contribute positively to the workplace culture. He strives not only to provide excellent care but also to inspire those around him through his positive attitude and dedication to the profession.

Steph founded Driscoll Therapy at just 19 and has grown it from a solo mobile service into a multi-practitioner canine rehabilitation and performance clinic, building a team and creating employment while supporting dogs ranging from postoperative and chronic-condition patients to sporting and working animals. Alongside clinical practice, Steph has spent eight years teaching within higher education, contributing to MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy programmes, supervising research and receiving the University of Nottingham’s Lord Dearing Award for her contribution to teaching and learning. Steph has delivered physiotherapy, physical preparation and welfare training to police dog sections, with elements of her training contributing to changes in working-dog management practices. Now, through the development of Think Physio, Steph is working to improve how veterinary professionals understand, access and integrate evidence-led rehabilitation into everyday veterinary medicine.

Holly represents the future of veterinary nursing: evidence-led, clinically relevant, compassionate and ambitious for the profession. Whilst completing her BSc (Hons) Degree in Veterinary Nursing with Small Animal Rehabilitation, Holly undertook a retrospective study which provided valuable insight into weight gain and weight fluctuation compared with surgical castration and identified a wider professional issue: low confidence among veterinary staff when advising owners of dogs implanted with Suprelorin about nutrition. This highlights her ability to connect research findings with real-world practice, patient welfare and nurse-led client support. Her research was presented at Vet Nursing Journal Live at BVNA 2025, where she received the award for best presentation. A summary article is also being published through CVS Inspire to share the findings with colleagues. Holly is already contributing through research, QI projects and improving nursing confidence.

In the past 12 months alone, Laura has demonstrated exceptional leadership, clinical ambition and commitment to developing others – a true powerhouse! She has brought stability, direction and ambition to the whole surgery team. She has proactively introduced case-study meetings, group BOAS training, and trials for an in-house out-of-hours provision and a diabetic maintenance plan. Laura actively encourages every Vet in her team to pursue their clinical interests, with all now embarking on funded certificates. Laura established The Pet Vet’s Graduate Development Programme, creating an engaging programme of in-house and external CPD, a peer-network group and monthly progress meetings. The scheme has proved so successful that it has become the blueprint for The Pet Vet’s future graduate intakes. She has also contributed to the wider profession as a BVA ambassador, and more recently BSAVA, and demonstrates her commitment to wellbeing through leading online yoga classes to raise vital funds for The Pet Vet's charity partner: Support Dogs.

Sioned genuinely cares about every animal and owner she meets. Since graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2022, she has worked in first-opinion practice, managed sole-charge responsibilities and moved into referral rehabilitation. She never sees only a diagnosis. She listens to owners, understands their individual circumstances and works with them to create plans that are compassionate, realistic and affordable. Sioned has supported newer graduates, encouraged colleagues to discuss cases openly and taken the initiative to introduce veterinary team meetings. Her dedication was recognised when she was nominated for Young Vet of the Year in 2024. She is prepared to ask difficult questions and speak up for animal welfare and clinical standards, even when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Caileigh Eddie has single-handedly established and grown her own veterinary physiotherapy and hydrotherapy centre, creating a trusted service that delivers evidence-based rehabilitation for a diverse caseload. From supporting dogs recovering from intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) and managing osteoarthritis (OA) to developing tailored cardiovascular fitness programmes, Caileigh provides high-quality, individualised care that improves both mobility and quality of life for her patients. Beyond her clinical work, Caileigh delivers educational Lunch and Learn sessions that promote best practice, encourage early referrals, and improve understanding of rehabilitation within primary care. Through her partnership with Rugby School Short Courses and involvement with their latest Veterinary cohort, she shares her knowledge and experience with aspiring veterinary professionals. She has built a successful business from the ground up, earned the trust of veterinary colleagues and clients, and continues to seek opportunities to innovate, educate, and improve standards of care.

Dr. Leatrize Gonzales has taken an unconventional path as a clinician, educator, author, artist, content creator, and veterinary leader, using each role to strengthen the others. She independently creates veterinary books, creative artworks, visual learning, and educational content while continuing clinical practice and pursuing advanced education across multiple areas of veterinary medicine. She brings what she learns back, simplifies it, illustrates it, teaches it, and shares it through her books, platforms, and veterinary team training. At the heart of her work is a simple belief: she cannot change the world alone. But if more veterinarians are empowered to learn, grow, and become better at what they do, together they can help more animals and create a much greater impact. Success is not measured only by how much she knows, but by how much of that knowledge she can pass forward, sharing the opportunities she gets with everyone.

Annabel has made an enormous difference to our practice in the past three years. A qualified HR professional she has introduced a new HR system, implemented many policies and procedures, has become Fear Free qualified, has recruited in excess of 120 team members. She has also devised a ground breaking CC (Harrison Family Vets name for receptionists) development programme working in conjunction with the BVRA. In addition she has also launched a leadership development programme for the managers within the business. Annabel has also developed and mentored an HR Assistant through her level Three IPD programme. On top of all this Annabel actively supports the practice and management teams and is a valuable team player.

Tilly completed the VetGDP at the Defence Animal Training Regiment around her Basic Military Training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Here she gained first opinion clinical experience with Military Working Dogs and Horses in the UK and Cyprus, as well as civilian practice at the PDSA and Liphook Equine hospital. Despite being new to the Corps, she was first to arrive treating two escaped parade horses in London, receiving a police escort across the city from the veterinary treatment facility at Hyde Park Barracks. In 2025 she was assigned as a Troop Commander to 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, Rutland. Commanding a 30-strong team of dog handlers and 20 dogs, Tilly manages the training, deployment and career progression of the soldiers under her command. Passionate about the welfare of the animals under her care, Tilly works hard to ensure she remains clinically competent alongside a busy day job.

Having completed his European residency in veterinary neurology and neurosurgery, Thomas has focused not only on delivering specialist clinical care but also on equipping others with the knowledge and confidence to provide the highest standard of care in practice. He regularly lecture's to new graduates, local general practice veterinary teams and veterinary nurses, delivering practical, evidence-based teaching that helps clinicians recognise, investigate and manage neurological disease with greater confidence - with the aim to bridge the gap between first opinion and referral practice, enabling vets to make informed decisions, optimise patient care and improve outcomes, regardless of where they work. Thomas was appointed an Honorary Assistant Professor in Veterinary Neurology at the University of Nottingham.

Arielle has combined clinical insight, scientific curiosity and technical innovation to make meaningful contributions to veterinary research at an early stage in her career. She embarked on a PhD investigating the genetics and pathophysiology of canine pancreatitis-associated diabetes mellitus. Recognising that answering these complex questions required skills beyond traditional veterinary training, she sought and undertook extensive training in bioinformatics and computational genomics, becoming the first member of her research group to implement low-pass whole-genome sequencing approaches for variant discovery and association studies in crossbred dogs. Arielle has published peer-reviewed work, presented at international conferences, secured competitive internal funding, and helped to establish collaborations across academia and industry. Her work reflects a commitment not only to scientific excellence but also to strengthening the wider veterinary profession.

Charlotte Jones is a true credit to the Veterinary profession, despite starting Veterinary relatively late as a graduate student she has already made an indelible mark on the community. As AVS president she spearheaded and put countless hours into the harassment on EMS survey managing to ignite action from RCVS, VSC and BVA to improve protections and the welfare of students on placement. Now graduated she has excelled in clinical practice, a consult day is litter with patients specifically to see the new graduate (a rare sight), owners feel listened to and inpatients cared for.

Alex first came to the NSPCA in Rathfarnham at just 14 years old as a volunteer. He continued volunteering through his veterinary studies, eventually returning to the organisation as a veterinary surgeon - a remarkable reflection of his passion and commitment to animals. Today, Alex is an integral part of his veterinary team, appproaching every case with compassion, professionalism and an unwavering focus on the animal’s welfare. He is currently undertaking a surgical certificate to develop his skills further and increase ability to manage more complex cases in-house, while ensuring practices remain aligned with current gold-standard veterinary care. Beyond his clinical ability, Alex is the colleague everyone can rely on and consistently strives to do more for animals, while supporting his team and helping advance the standard of shelter medicine.

Grace is an exceptional early-career small animal vet whose impact reaches far beyond her role. During university studies, her research on rabbit housing was published in the Veterinary Record, and she presented her findings at international conferences. She was subsequently awarded Rabbit Student of the Year in the 2021 Burgess Excel Veterinary Awards for her contributions to rabbit welfare. Since graduating, she has continued to advocate for rabbits, as well as applying her knowledge in different ways, such as veterinary writing, animal welfare on set and volunteering. Alongside working a busy full-time clinical role, Grace enjoys mentoring aspiring veterinary students, helping to run programmes with InvestIn Education, and returning to her former secondary school to share her experience of veterinary careers and applications.

Charlie joined Lupa in November 2024 as their first senior commercial hire, when he was 26. Today, at 28, he is Chief Commercial Officer and owns every revenue line in the business across the UK, Europe and the US. He built the commercial function from nothing: pricing, the enterprise sales motion, the implementation model, and the team that runs all three. Lupa's revenue grew 50x in five months, and Charlie was the person on the other side of the table for the enterprise agreements that drove it. He has taken Lupa from a UK product to a platform live in 600+ clinics across Europe, and personally opened our US enterprise pipeline. Charlie went from VP Strategy, to General Manager of UK&I running a full P&L at 26, to CCO at 27. He negotiates directly with the executive teams of some of the largest veterinary groups in the world, and wins. He spends time in clinics, sits in on consults, and turns what he hears into product decisions.

During his undergraduate degree Samuel became interested in infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship and started to explore this, through student research projects and personal study. He brought this to his first graduate job, promoting world antimicrobial awareness week and promoting responsible antimicrobial use. Samuel worked on applying the concept of antibiograms to veterinary hospitals, and presented his work at the International society of Companion Animal Infectious Disease. This work led to a visit to the only UK specialist training centre in veterinary microbiology and becoming a resident and PhD student running a project on antimicrobial resistance surveillance. He has sarved as a council member within the comparative medicine section of the Royal Society of Medicine, acting as secretary to the UK One Health Coordination Group and now leading a group within the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Since graduating three years ago, Victoria demonstrates a continued commitment not only to expanding her own clinical knowledge but also to the development of future veterinary professionals. She has taken an active role in supporting placement and Bristol Vet students during their clinical rotations, creating a welcoming environment that helps bridge the gap between university and new graduate roles. Her dedication to education extends beyond student supervision, as evidenced by her award of a CREATE Associate Fellowship Advanced HE, demonstrating a commitment to developing evidence-based teaching skills and enhancing the student learning experience. Her ultimate goal is to show students that farm animal practice can be a viable career path post university.

When COVID-19 removed EMS opportunities for veterinary students, Nicole helped establish an online community to provide support, connection and opportunities. VetWings now has 18,000 members and continues to be an active community for vet students and new graduates alike. Some of Nicole's achievements include being appointed as a member of Chester Zoo’s inaugural Youth Board, joining the BVEDS steering group, alongside passing finals and graduating and being awarded the final year student award. In the past 2 years Nicole has completed postgraduate certificates in Neurology and Veterinary Education and most recently achieved Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. As an extension of her work with the British Veterinary Ethnicity & Diversity Society steering group she is now advocating for greater diversity, inclusion and access across the profession by representing the society in the BVA EDI Advisory Group. She also holds the role of Trustee at her local city farm, with the aim of connecting inner city kids and the local community with animals, nature and the environment.

Having built her career across a variety of small animal veterinary and management roles before becoming a Medical Project Manager, Alice recognised early that her passion lay outside of clinical practice. She is studying for an MBA to develop her ability to connect veterinary medicine with strong business principles, sustainable organisations and effective leadership. Alice maintains a positive attitude and uplifting presence, helping colleagues feel valued, supported, and able to perform at their best. Her ability to connect people, encourage development, and champion positive change has made a lasting impact on those around them. She demonstrates the ability to lead through change, support people through adversity, and deliver meaningful improvements across teams and services. As she progresses in her career, there is little doubt that her impact on the profession will continue to grow.

Lharanya Somasundaram has demonstrated exceptional ability, leadership and courage whilst maintaining her degree alongside the organisation animal aspirations. Throughout her time at the RVC she has gone above and beyond to ensure the profession more accessible and represented by everyone. She has contributed to the organisation Animal Aspirations, from workshop ambassador, to junior vice president and then president. Under her leadership, the organisation itself grew in numbers from ambassadors to schools she’s worked with aswell as more outreach opportunities with the organisation. In 2026, she was invited to parliament, a report examining workforce shortages in UK agriculture and pathways for young people into the sector. The report highlighted that 38% of young people would be open to an agricultural career, but many lack awareness of available pathways. Her impact across different fields has been recognised through the RCVS student community award in 2026 and veterinary woman champion for change.

Evie Tummon is more than an exceptional veterinary nurse, whose impact far exceeds her years in the profession. In clinical practice, she is knowledgeable, highly skilled, efficient, and super composed under pressure, no matter the circumstances, you can depend on her to deliver. Beyond practice, Evie has become a cornerstone of Canine Arthritis Management (CAM). Her organisational ability is exceptional, and she consistently delivers at a high level without fail. As part of The Pain Vet consultancy, Evie leads client discovery calls with warmth, ensuring every caregiver feels heard and supported while seamlessly coordinating the rest of the clinical team. Evie is an inspiring role model who will undoubtedly influence future generations of veterinary nurses.

Despite being one of the youngest vets in the team, Georgie is the person everyone turns to for advice and guidance, whether it’s a challenging medical case, interpreting diagnostics or discussing treatment options. She has already achieved her certificate in cardiology and is currently working towards a certificate to gain her advanced practitioner status, demonstrating her commitment to continuous learning and providing the highest standard of patient care. Her expertise is reflected in the confidence her colleagues have in her clinical judgement. Georgie is equally accomplished in both medicine and surgery. She is a highly capable surgeon while also managing complex medical cases, often balancing both roles seamlessly while maintaining exceptionally high standards of patient care, always advocating for the best possible outcome and treating every patient with compassion and dedication. Beyond this, Georgie is an outstanding mentor, always willing to support new graduate vets, taking the time to teach, explain and help build their confidence and clinical skills.

During her veterinary training, Elanor developed a novel sequencing approach to investigate the canine T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire across multiple disease settings, including lymphoma and solid tumours. Inn 2021 she received the International Canine Health Awards Undergraduate Student Inspiration Award, highlighting her contribution to furthering canine health through veterinary science. Eleanor is now undertaking a PhD at the UCL Cancer Institute, working in the Pre-Cancer Immunology Laboratory to understand how the immune system responds to cancer at its earliest stages, with the aim of understanding how anti-tumour immunity develops before invasive disease emerges. Rather than viewing human and veterinary medicine as separate fields, she sees the potential for each to inform the other, advancing both fields further towards revolutionary treatment strategies.

Since joining the team in January 2023, Lukasz has started working towards his CertAVP in small animal cardiology, in addition to gaining valuable, well-rounded experience as a first opinion Vet. Lukasz has enabled The Pet Vet to offer in-house cardiac diagnostics and treatments. While primarily based at The Pet Vet Rotherham, Lukasz has also created an in-house peripatetic service across multiple 'The Pet Vet' surgeries, further complemented by a Heart Scans @Home service, also developed by Lukasz to offer echocardiography, ECG and Holter monitoring in the comfort of the patient's own home. More recently, Lukasz has also developed an annual cardiac maintenance health plan, as part of The Pet Vet's strategy to support pets with chronic health conditions which is being trialled under Lukasz oversight, with a view to roll-out more widely if successful. Lukasz demonstrates excellent communication skills, focus under pressure and determination in achieving his career ambitions and goals for the diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions.