Svenja Sander is a DVM with a medical specialisation in pharmacology and toxicology. She is also a lecturer in veterinary law at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin. From 2002 – 2017 Svenja Sander worked in the field of neuropharmacology/neuroscience (preclinical pharmacological studies in disorders of the CNS (dystonia, Parkinson’s disease and depression)) and held lectures and tutorials (pharmacology, pharmacy, toxicology, veterinary pharmaceutical legislatoin) at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin.
She joined the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) in 2017. In the Department of Veterinary Drugs, she worked on the post-authorisation surveillance of the safety and efficacy of veterinary medicinal products. Since February 2022, Svenja Sander has been Head of the Drug Resistance Unit in the Veterinary Medicines Department. As such, she is responsible for the implementation of data collection on sales and use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine according to Article 57, Regulation (EU) 2019/6, which is mandatory in all European Member States since January 2023. The unit also provides scientific/regulatory advice on the development and implementation of strategies to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in veterinary medicine, taking into account the One Health approach.
Since 2021, Svenja Sander is on the Executive Board of the Berliner Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft.