Researcher, School of Agricultural Science, University of Antioquia, Udea, Columbia

Education

• DVM, University of Cordoba (Spain)
• MS, University of Illinois
• PhD, University of Aberdeen (Scotland)
• Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Toxicology (residency, Iowa State University)

David Villar completed his DVM from the University of Córdoba in Spain (1991) and then worked towards his MS in Toxicology at the University of Illinois (1994). After earning his PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland (1998) he enrolled in a clinical toxicology residency program at Iowa State University and became a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology (2003). After taking several academic and research positions in Florida, he moved to Columbia in 2008 and has been actively engaged in studying the epidemiology of tropical cattle diseases, particularly those created by the cattle fever tick Rhipicephalus microplus.  He is now actively working with scientists from the USDA in Texas to implement “integrated parasite management” practices to control infestations by the Cattle Fever Tick in Columbia.  Most antiparasitic drugs against the cattle fever tick, and many other parasites of concern in ruminants, are no longer effective, so the need to search for alternative and more sustainable methods of control.