Irene Sanz Guijarro
Qualifications
Degree in Veterinary Science 2024
Internship in Wildlife Population Health 2025
Position
Internship in Wildlife Population Health 2024-25
Overview
I am a PhD candidate at the Wildlife Conservation Medicine research group (WildCoM) since April 2026. My work focuses on studying wildlife-associated tick-borne bunyaviruses and their potential interference with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus surveillance in the NE-Spain Mediterranean Ecoregion. My goals are to understand the eco-epidemiology of these viruses and the role of wildlife in their circulation.
Background
During my academic years I collaborated with the Ruminant Department of the Veterinary Hospital at the Complutense University of Madrid for two years, where I learned about handling, medicine and anesthesia of small and big ruminants. Simultaneously, I became a volunteer of the clinical area in GREFA Wildlife Rescue Center for three years, where I acquired knowledge in wild mammal, reptile and, mostly, avian medicine and conservation, as well as fieldwork, necropsy and laboratory techniques. There I developed my degree thesis about Echocardiography values in Common Krestel and Lesser Krestel.
Meanwhile, I engaged the veterinary association for assistance to exotic and wild fauna (AVAFES) and assisted, as well organized, several congresses and courses in the matter of ecology, wildlife medicine and conservation.
In October 2024, after obtaining my Veterinary Science Degree, I enrolled the Widlife Population Health Internship, were I gained a broad insight on Wildlife Health and Conservation, learning new skills and knowledge in the field, laboratory analyses, epidemiology and disease monitoring and surveillance. As part of my Internship Research Project I collaborated in the health monitoring of the Cinereous Vulture colony in Boumort, Catalan Pyrenees, working in the field and doing laboratory and data analyses.
I also had the opportunity to work in the many other research lines at WildCoM, and developed my interest in tick-borne diseases, my current research line.
