LEADING equine vet Professor Derek Knottenbelt will be providing a consultant clinical service at Weipers Centre Equine Hospital, University of Glasgow.

Sandy Love, the director of the Hospital said: "Professor Knottenbelt is an internationally pre-eminent equine specialist clinician and it is extremely exciting to have him join the team at Glasgow."

Derek qualified from Edinburgh University in 1970 and after a four-year spell in his native Zimbabwe working in the State Veterinary Service as a research officer, he moved into private practice in the UK where he stayed for 12 years. During this time he developed an interest in equine medicine and so, in 1985 he turned to the academic world first in Zimbabwe and from 1989 at Liverpool.

Derek's expertise in equine internal medicine is recognised both nationally and internationally, particularly in equine oncology and dermatology. He is a Diplomate of the European College of Equine Internal Medicine and holds a personal Chair in Equine Medicine at the University of Liverpool. He has published widely in journals and textbooks and is frequently invited to speak at national and international meetings.

He received the Animal Health Trust Scientific Award in 2003, the BEVA (Blue Cross) Welfare Award in 2004 and the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2005 for his services to equine medicine. He is actively involved in many domestic and international charities relating to equine welfare and works tirelessly to support these causes.