**About the Editors**

**Maciej Gajęcki**, DVM—Professor of Veterinary Sciences at the Department of Veterinary Prevention and Feed Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. He completed a full-time Master's degree program at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agriculture and Technology in Olsztyn, and received a Master of Science degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1973. From May 1973 to September 1975, he was employed at the State-owned Animal Health Care Center and Commercial Pig Farm. Since 1981, he has been employed at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. During his professional career, he has been awarded a doctoral degree in Veterinary Sciences, a postdoctoral degree in Veterinary Sciences and the academic title of Professor of Veterinary Sciences. Over the last 27 years, the research interests of Professor Gajecki and his co-workers have centered around the effects exerted by zearalenone on farm animals (gilts), companion animals (female dogs), and humans (female patients). Professor Gajecki has conducted studies investigating the influence of zearalenone on the health of the reproductive tract and zearalenone mycotoxicosis in female patients, with a particular emphasis on the mycotoxin's effects on the mammary gland. As part of his professional activities, Professor Gajecki provided advisory service to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. He was President of the Sanitary-Epizootic Council at the General Veterinary Inspectorate (prevention and control of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Aujeszky's disease). He is also the Director of postgraduate specialization studies in veterinary prevention and feed hygiene at the Polish National Veterinary Chamber. He has been elected three times as the Chairman of Polish delegates participating in annual meetings of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal Feeding (established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission) in Copenhagen.

**Magdalena Gajęcka**, DVM completed a full-time Master's degree program at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland (including a 10th semester at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University in Madrid, Spain) and received a Master of Science degree in Veterinary Medicine in 2001. In 2002, she completed postgraduate studies in analytics in environmental protection at the Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru´n. In June 2005, she completed postgraduate specialization studies in veterinary prevention and feed hygiene at the Polish National Veterinary Chamber. In 2006, she was awarded a doctoral degree in Veterinary Sciences at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, after successfully defending a doctoral dissertation entitled "The Effect of Experimental Zearalenone Mycotoxicosis on the Female Canine Reproductive Tract". In 2014, she was awarded a postdoctoral degree in Veterinary Sciences at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, after publishing a monothematic series of publications regarded as an outstanding research achievement, entitled "The Effect of Short-Term Zearalenone Mycotoxicosis on Changes in Selected Tissues of Female Dogs". In 2019, she was awarded the academic title of Professor of Veterinary Sciences. Professor Gajecka's research interests focus on feed hygiene, with a particular emphasis on animal waste management, the applicability of natural feed additives and feed materials, distribution and disposal of medicated feeds, safety and quality of animal feedstuffs, mycotoxicosis—implications for animal and human health, zearalenone mycotoxicosis: plants–animals–humans, diagnostic significance of selected Fusarium mycotoxicoses, zearalenone as a destructor of endocrine homeostasis of steroid hormones in female patients, gilts

and female dogs.

**Łukasz Zielonka** is a veterinarian and a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. He is Head of the Department of Veterinary Prevention and Feed Hygiene. He is an expert on veterinary prevention and feed hygiene, and swine diseases. He has completed postgraduate studies in computer science and analytics in environmental protection. He is the author or co-author of more than 90 original research articles published in peer-reviewed journals, and a reviewer in several scientific journals with a high impact factor. Professor Zielonka is an academic teacher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. He has delivered lectures at international and national scientific conferences. He is a member of the Polish Society of Veterinary Science, the Polish Society of Toxicology, and the Polish Society of Medical Biology. Professor Zielonka's research interests focus on the biological determinants of mycotoxin contamination of foodstuffs and feedstuffs, the effects of mycotoxins on human and animal health, laboratory analyses of mycotoxins and other biologically active substances, mostly with the use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. He holds a patent and has implemented several research projects. Practical implications of the research conducted by Professor Zielonka include mycotoxin biodegradation with the use of microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) and insect larvae, biological activities and effects of bovine colostrum, and biologically active plants.
