North Downs Specialist Referrals (NDSR) has welcomed two neurologists and a soft tissue surgeon to its team in Bletchingley, Surrey.

Josep Aisa has arrived from Glasgow University, where he spent four years as a lecturer focusing on soft tissue procedures. He has authored numerous scientific papers and given presentations to international veterinary meetings, specifically on orthopaedic conditions. 

Josep has a keen interest in oncological surgery and also boasts a broad area of expertise including orthopaedics.

Veronica Mortera has just finished a three-year residency in Neurology and Neurosurgery at Bristol University where she specialised in spinal surgery and inflammatory diseases of the brain. In 2014, she completed an internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at Glasgow University where she authored a paper on MRI abnormalities in dogs with portosystemic shunts. 

Veronica also spent three months in Geneva with the World Health Organization helping in the development of Public Health guidelines.

Joining Veronica in the neurology department is Francesca de Strobel, who earned a PhD from the University of Padua, in Italy, after writing a thesis on intervertebral disc degeneration in a large animal model. 

Francesca began work as a Small Animal Veterinarian and Clinical Assistant in Neurology at the University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital before moving to the UK in 2014 to begin an internship in neurology at Dick White Referrals, where she completed a three-year residency programme in small animal veterinary neurology and neurosurgery.

She enjoys all aspects of neurology and neurosurgery, with a particular interest for spinal surgery, metabolic and intracranial disorders. 

North Downs is also extending its facilities with new consultation rooms, extra theatre and procedure rooms, more kennels, new staff facilities and extended vet space, along with a new meeting room. It is also creating a central imaging suite, with new MRI and CT scanners. 

Hospital director Terry Emmerson said: "These are very exciting times at NDSR as work on the new extension begins and the plans actually start to take shape. 

"It’s definitely a powerful illustration of our commitment to offer the very best service possible to all our patients, both in terms of facilities and equipment and in our clinical care."

Photo: From left, Veronica Mortera, Josep Aisa and Francesca de Strobel

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