Dr Heather Elven BVMedSci BVM BVS Cert (Avian) MAHM MRCVS
Defra Research and Development Fellow
Animal and Plant Health & Welfare Directorate
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Heather started within the poultry sector as a teenager, working on layer farms in 2007.
She progressed into farm management roles whilst completing veterinary training. Heather graduated from the University of Nottingham as a vet in 2020 and went straight into poultry practice whilst completing a Masters in Avian Health and Medicine from the University of Georgia.
Alongside poultry clinical practice, Heather supported APHA field teams with HPAI outbreak management across the UK in the 2022/2023 season.
She has further worked globally with the poultry industry on biosecurity, welfare, and preventative medicine. She became Director of Operations with the British Hen Welfare Trust in 2023, alongside becoming a member of the Avian Expert Group, APHA.
In early 2026, Heather started her role in Defra on R&D of vaccination against exotic notifiable diseases.