June 21, 2016
Diamond V appoints new food safety, poultry experts
Diamond V recently welcomed new members to its global poultry team. The expertise of Kevin Sheehan, Dr. Abel Gernat, and Dr. Wael Abdelrahman will help grow the company's leadership in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
For Diamond V in Europe, Dr. Wael Abdelrahman (pictured, right) recently joined Diamond V as poultry technical service and business development manager.
Chris van Anne, managing director (Europe), noted that Dr. Abdelrahman will focus on optimal poultry production, health risk mitigation, and food safety. His areas of special expertise include poultry gut health and immunology.
Following completion of his DVM and Master of Veterinary Science in poultry diseases at Suez Canal University in Egypt, Dr. Abdelrahman received his Ph.D. from the Royal Veterinary College (Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health Group) at the University of London. Since then, he has maintained a teaching role at the College as a guest lecturer on poultry health. Before joining Diamond V, he worked with Biomin and earlier with Meriden Animal Health.
Dr. Abdelrahman is the author of numerous publications and peer reviewed articles, and is the co-author of a book on probiotics in poultry production. He has particular interest in how feed ingredients can be used to help reduce antibiotic usage and reduce bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
Based in the UK for many years, Dr. Abdelrahman is fluent in English and Arabic at a technical level and speaks basic German. "It is a great pleasure to introduce Wael as one of the newest members of the global Diamond V family," Van Anne said.
Kevin Sheehan (pictured, left), director for Food Safety / Business Development of Diamond V's Poultry Team, holds a Bachelor's degree in marketing from Kansas State University.
He has had an extensive career with Cargill Turkey and Cargill Pork and served in various executive level positions including vice president and business manager (Retail Turkey) and vice president (Livestock Procurement). He also led teams focusing on supply chain management, risk management, government agency liaison, and animal welfare.
"Kevin's experience working at the executive level will open new opportunities for Diamond V's pre-harvest food safety programme," Mike Mitchell, director for North American Poultry, said.
Also new to the Poultry Team is Dr. Abel Gernat (pictured, right), now Diamond V's poultry specialist in Latin America.
"Abel has an extraordinarily strong background in both poultry research and service to the poultry industry," Francisco 
Portela, Diamond V's poultry specialist, commented. "In fact, he has taught a number of the key owners and managers of poultry integrations in Latin America."
Dr. Gernat is a graduate of Kansas State, with a doctorate in poultry management and nutrition and a Masters in poultry management. He is the author / co-author of more than 25 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as numerous other publications on poultry nutrition and management.
Dr. Gernat is a full professor in the Poultry Research and Teaching Center at the Escuela Agricola Panamericana-Zamorano in Honduras and an adjunct professor in Poultry Science at North Carolina State University. He is also the founder of the Honduran Association of Professional Poultry Producers.
In addition to providing technical service, Dr. Gernat will work closely with Fernando De La Colina, Diamond V's Latin America business manager, to grow Diamond V's poultry business in Central America and northern South America.
