Dr. Karsten Donat is currently working as a managing director at the Thuringian Animal Disease Fund, Animal Health Service, Thuringia, Germany. He serves as a specialist veterinarian for cattle, and a specialist veterinarian for epidemiology. He studied veterinary medicine and received a doctorate at the VMF at the University of Leipzig. Then, he held a habilitation and teaching position at the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen. The focus of his current research includes animal disease monitoring and control in Thuringia, and the management of infectious and non-infectious livestock diseases in cattle.