AL SHAQAB STAFF
Chief Veterinarian

Dr. Francois Van den Berg Viljoen

A 25-year veterinary career with experience gained throughout the world provides an invaluable background for Dr. Francois Van den Berg Viljoen's role as Chief Veterinarian for Al Shaqab.

As a child Viljoen had a keen interest in working with animals while growing up on his family's wine farm near Worcester in the Breede River Valley of South Africa's Western Cape.

This interest led to his attending Boland Agricultural High School and graduation in 1984 from the renowned Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at University of Pretoria in Ondersteport, South Africa. Soon after, he was seconded back to this Faculty as part of his mandatory two-year national service in South Africa's Defense Force's Medical Service. During this time he ran a research project on endotoxaemia in horses and completed post-graduate work in physiology, clinical pathology and molecular biology.

This period of research work provided Dr. Viljoen a greater appreciation of the processes of research and how new knowledge is developed and implemented for the veterinary practitioner.

Dr. Viljoen worked in private practices for 15 years in Johannesburg. This experience with Thoroughbreds and Endurance horses supplied a pro-active approach for his equine veterinary practices. Prior to preparing competition horses for maximum performance, his veterinary background was in the treatment of diseased or injured horses.

A visit to a Dubai veterinary conference in 1997 encouraged Dr. Viljoen to consider working in other parts of the world. In 2000, he moved to Turkey to work for the Turkish Jockey Club's Adana Stallion Station. The next three years, he practiced outside Abu Dhabi for W'Rsan Farm owned by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed al Nahyan. In this position, he gained invaluable experience with Middle East endurance racing. After a short period in New Zealand, Dr. Viljoen returned to the Middle East to work for the Royal Cavalry of Oman.

He joined Al Shaqab in April 2009, and as Chief Veterinarian he heads the organization's equine medical efforts and veterinarians for all departments. Additionally, he will serve as a medical advisor for the new veterinary hospital that is part of Al Shaqab's expansion plans. Dr. Viljoen is joined in Doha by his wife Avona.

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