Dr. Antonio Velarde holds a Veterinarian Sciences degree, PhD in Animal Production, and master's in the Science and Welfare of Laboratory Animals. He is a European veterinary specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law at the European College of Animal Welfare and Behaviour Medicine. Currently, he is head of the Animal Welfare Program at the IRTA (Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology, Spain) and a member of the Animal Health and Animal Welfare Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). He is deputy coordinator of the European Reference Centre for the Welfare of Poultry and other small farmed animals. Since 2017, Dr. Velarde has been a member of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare as an independent expert. His research topics include animal welfare on farms, transport and slaughter, risk assessments of animal welfare, and sustainability in animal production. He has published 90 peer-reviewed papers in international journals and co-edited three books: ‘On farm monitoring of pig welfare’ (Wageningen Academic Publishers), ‘Animal welfare at slaughter’ (5m Publishing. Sheffield, UK), and ‘Bienestar Animal. Una vision global en Iberoamerica’ (Elsevier).