Our founders
Our founders are both passionate scientists who have practical cross-sector knowledge and experience. Their consultancy work bridges academic and commercial environments. They are passionate about communicating science clearly so it can be applied to maximum benefit.
Dr Jon Day
Founder & Director
Jon is an expert in animal welfare, consumer and health science, and behavioural research, with over 30 years of experience spanning academia, industry, and consultancy. As the Founder and Director of Cerebrus Associates, he leads a consultancy specialising in research innovation, strategic policy evaluation, and science communication within the life sciences, agri-food, and consumer sectors. His work bridges the gap between academic research and commercial application, helping businesses translate scientific insights into practical solutions for product development, marketing, and regulatory compliance. He has collaborated with a range of stakeholders to deliver several projects for the Commission as a technical expert in the fields of animal health and welfare, feed hygiene, manufacturing, and sustainable feeds. Jon has also led a number of research projects in support of EU animal welfare policy making (especially Council Directive 2008/120/EC) and participated in knowledge exchange activities with a number of member states. In addition to his published works, Jon has considerable expertise in study design, the collection of data, and its analysis and visualisation. He has 37 fully-refereed publications and 47 published abstracts and summaries in the field of animal behaviour, welfare and nutrition. Jon has a well-developed peer network through his broad experience working in both academia and the commercial sector. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
Dr Heleen van de Weerd
Founder & Director
Heleen is a Director of Cerebrus Associates and Cerebrus Advies B.V., agri-food consultancies that bridge the gap between scientific research and industry application. She engages with food businesses on farm animal welfare and work with government, corporate and NGO clients, applying animal-welfare knowledge to achieve improvements and policy change. She holds a Master’s in biology-ethology (Wageningen Agricultural University, NL) and a PhD from Utrecht University (NL). She is an internationally recognised expert on farm animal behaviour and welfare with more than 30 years’ experience and with 33 fully-refereed publications and 7 book chapters in the field of animal behaviour and welfare science (h-index 28). She has for the European Commission on the evaluations of the EU’s animal welfare strategy in 2010 and in 2020, and as an animal welfare expert on a range of EC projects (best practice at slaughter; alternatives to surgical castration of pigs) and most recently, on mapping European animal welfare labels. She has broad knowledge of the global level of animal welfare through her specialist consultancy work, e.g., on the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) and the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW). She is an independent expert in the subgroup on animal welfare policy indicators of the EU Platform for Animal Welfare. She is a member of the 3Ts Network of global stakeholders calling for ending painful piglet procedures, and a member of WPSA’s WG9 on Poultry Welfare and Management. She is also the animal welfare specialist of the Dutch AAP Foundation Board.