Ramón A Juste

After graduating in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Zaragoza in 1979, I served in the Army as an aspirant to lieutenant and developed a short period of clincal practice in Aragón. Then, in 1982, I joined the Servicio de Investigación y Mejora Agraria del Departamento de Agricultura (SIMA) of the Basque Government as research group leader. During those years I participated in the first descriptions of several diseases not yet formally reported in Spain (bovine paratuberculosis bovina, besnoitiosis, hereditary parakeratosis in calves, Oslerus rostratus in cats, etc.). The need to face bovine paratuberculosis marked my introduction to mycobacterial diseases that has been my main line of work throughout my professional career. In general the innovative and collaborative atmosphere in SIMA and then NEIKER, allowed my implication in other problem, like small ruminant lentivirus, that as a model of slow infection has underlined a common perspective with mycobacteriosis and prionopathies in my scientific works. Apart from short stages in European universities and research centers like the Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover in 1979, my more extensive international experience took place after getting my PhD degree in 1990 at the universities of Nebraska (1991-1992) and Texas A&M (1994-1995) working on mycobacterial and virological classical and molecular techniques, as well as on experimental infections in ruminants. These experiences allowed me ot introduce in the Basque Agricultural research the PCR and Internet from the early 1990s. My ORCID code is 0000-0001-6037-5873 and, with over 170 scientific papers, my h-index is 34 which according to the independent estimates of Webcindario sets me as the 7th highest ranking in Veterinary Sciences in Spain and the first in Health Sciences in Bizkaia. According to ResearchGate, I am between the world top 2.5% all fields scientists. From 1998 until 2015 I have been Head of the Department of Animal Health of NEIKER. Our group was the only that succeeded in the isolation of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the Iberian peninsula. Later on, we also showed the first case of long distance aerial transmission over land of C. imicola that caused the blue tongue outbreak in the North of Spain. I have also inspired and directed the epidemiological and clinical works that led to the paradigm shift between mainly vertical to mainly horizontal transmission of maedi-visna infection. My main scientific contributions are focused on mycobacteriosis where we succeeded for the first time in the isolation of some sheep strains of M.a. subsp. paratuberculosis. I also have contributed to demonstrate the efficiency of paratuberculosis vaccination, developing the first simulation on epidemiologic and economic performance and have set up and directed the only filed clinical trial in Europe that has allowed the registration of the vaccine SILIRUM in France and Australia by the Spanish company that produces it. Additionally, I have proposed pathogenetic trans-specific models of inflammatory bowel disease, including studies in the human species. In the field of tuberculosis, I proposed the use of inactivated vaccines against the current dogma, that supported by SABIO-IREC and VISAVET are showing an efficacy much higher than BCG in animal models. After 4 years as the Managing Director of the SERIDA, the agricultural research center of the Asturian Government, I am back to NEIKER. My main scientific interest at this moment is to demonstrate the existence of a common innate mechanism for slow inflammatory diseases in animals and humans that can be managed for specificd and non-specific prevention and therapy.