Jacqui Matthews BVMS, PhD, FRSB, FRSE, FRCVS qualified as a veterinary surgeon, completed a PhD in parasitology and then worked in academia for more than 25 years, leading a range of interdisciplinary projects focused on helminth infections of ruminants and horses. During this time, she taught many undergraduates and postgraduates in the subject area, and was awarded more than £13 million in competitive funding for research, from which more than 140 peer-reviewed papers have been published.

Jacqui has written numerous layarticles, given seminars and workshops to stakeholders promoting sustainable helminth control practices, and for many years was technical advisor to the Control of Worms Sustainably in Cattle initiative and parasitology expert on the UK Veterinary Products Committee. She sits on several sub-groups of the CANTER initiative, set up to develop and promote best practice guidelines for parasite control in horses.

One of her inventions – an ELISA test for equine small redworm – was commercialised by Austin Davis Biologics in 2019 and, in 2022, she moved to this company as director of veterinary science, where she leads the research and development programme.