Sunday, 30 August 2026 • From 08:30 to 17:00 • Room 1

Coordinator: Marta Mendel, PhD, DSc, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland, marta_mendel@sggw.edu.pl

Thanks to the efforts of the Congress Presidents, Prof. Jean-Hugues Renault and Dr. Pedro Lameiras, the local organizers of the GA Congress 2026 gareims2026.org, the GA-networking group on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products in Animal Healthcare and Veterinary Medicine was invited to organize a one-day Pre-Congress Symposium again. The idea behind our net-working group, and in particular the symposium, is to bring together practitioners, scientists, and industry professionals in our field. After two years, we will meet again!

The symposium will cover the following aspects:

  • animal self-medication
  • ethnoveterinary medicine
  • veterinary pharmacology of medicinal plants
  • science and practice of veterinary phytotherapy
  • clinical, in vivo, and in vitro research with medicinal plants or natural products for ani-mals
  • feed additives and animal health care products based on plants rich in phytochemicals

The programme will comprise keynote lectures, invited short communications, and contributed presentations. Research contributions related to animal health and veterinary applications within the main congress will be showcased in a poster session organized as part of the Pre-Congress Symposium. In parallel, an international industry exhibition will feature companies presenting herbal feed additives, veterinary medicinal products, and phytogenic health solu-tions for animals. Scheduled breaks will provide opportunities for extensive professional ex-change and networking among scientists, practitioners, and industry representatives.

The Pre-Congress Symposium will take place on Sunday, 30 August 2026. Participation in the symposium may be booked either as a standalone event or as an addition to the main congress programme.

Preliminary programme

  • 08:30 – 09:10 Registration
  • 09:10 – 09:15 Welcome

  • 09:15 – 10:30 Impulse lectures

    Impulse Lecture I: Medicinal plants in animal health – a European legal perspective
    Sophie Barreteau, France

    Impulse Lecture II: TBC

  • 10.30 – 11.15 Coffee Break, Posters, and Industrial Exhibition

  • 11.15 – 12.30 Veterinary Phytopharmacology and Clinical Research

    Keynote Lecture: Essential oils and essential oil components as antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine
    Matthias Melzig, Germany

    Invited Short Lecture: Discovery of Antiparasitic Lead Compounds from Medicinal Plants in China for Veterinary Drug Development
    Xiaofei Shang, China

    Contributed Short Lecture

  • 12.30 – 14.00 Lunch-Break, Posters, and Industrial Exhibition

  • 14.00 – 15.15 Ethnoveterinary medicine

    Keynote Lecture : Historic and current ethnoveterinary use in Britain and Ireland ?
    William Milliken 

    Invited Short Lecture: Thirty years of experience in prospecting the Brazilian biodiversity for veterinary medicines.
    Ivana Barbosa Suffredini, Brasil

    Contributed Short Lecture

  • 15.15 – 15.45 Coffee Break, Posters, and Industrial Exhibition

  • 15.45 – 17.00 Animal Self Medication

    Keynote Lecture : Orang Utan – self medication
    Ivona Foitová; Czechia

    Invited Short Lecture: tbc
    Carolina Bravo Parraga

    Contributed Short Lecture

Registration fee

CategoriesRegistration fee
Member VET Symposium€ 250
Non Member VET Symposium€ 350
Student Member VET Symposium€ 150
Student Non Member VET Symposium€ 200

Registration for the various workshops will open next February.