About Welfare Concepts

Richard qualified as a veterinarian in south Africa before starting his career in the surveillance & control of economically important diseases. His interest in herd health led him to a post-grad Epi qualification, after which he joined the Bayer in a Clinical R&D role. In pursuit of new learning opportunities, Richard relocated his family to his current home in NZ, where he worked in various National and then Regional/ Global roles, obtaining a post-grad Business qualification part-time.
His diverse background, interest in cultures and markets, and passion for the commercialization of R&D projects has resulted in Richard’s involvement in business development across Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa. Having identified the need for innovation in production animal medicine, and hoping to make a difference in animal welfare, health and productivity, Richard Emslie together with Richard Olde Riekerink co-founded Welfare Concepts Limited (2021).

Richard Olde Riekerink co-founded Welfare Concepts in 2021 alongside Richard Emslie, driven by a shared passion for enhancing animal welfare. Richard’s dedication to dairy farming led him to New Zealand immediately after graduating as a veterinarian in the Netherlands. After nearly two years in dairy practice, he pursued a PhD in veterinary epidemiology, specializing in mastitis, at Prince Edward Island, Canada. Upon completing his PhD, Richard returned to the Netherlands, where he served as a mastitis extension specialist and contributed to laboratory product innovation and development.
In 2012, Richard returned to New Zealand, taking on roles as a clinical studies manager for the region and later as a global dairy innovation scout, where he focused on advancing practices and innovations for the benefit of dairy animals, farmers, and veterinarians.
Outside of his professional life, Richard enjoys spending time with his partner and their four children in their blended family. His hobbies include camping, horseback riding, hiking, and barbecuing.

Greg Walker, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Otago’s School of Pharmacy with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical drug formulation and development. He has honed his expertise through work in Vienna, Munich, and Nottingham. Greg is the inventor of PeproStat™—a first-in-class topical surgical haemostat that was successfully developed through Phase I clinical trials and subsequently acquired by Ergomed plc.

With more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and several major grants, Greg is recognized for his impactful research. He maintains active collaborations with industry experts, ensuring that Welfare Concepts Ltd develops innovative formulations that improve animal welfare and productivity.

Outside of his professional life, Greg enjoys spending time with his son, gardening, and following rugby, where he occasionally coaches.

Ian Tucker, BPharm(Hons), PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Otago. He has extensive teaching and research experience on the formulation and delivery of drugs for human and veterinary applications, research which aims to improve drug therapy and animal welfare through appropriate formulation and delivery strategies. He has 200 peer reviewed publications and is an inventor on a number of patents. Animal health products arising from his research group are in use in production animals. Ian has been a consultant to Welfare Products Limited since its inception.

He is a Past-President of the international Controlled Release Society, received the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association Medal in 2008 for contributions to pharmaceutical science and the Nagai Distinguished Scientist Award from the Asian Federation of Pharmaceutical Scientists, 2019. He enjoys time with family (this includes 10 grandchildren), gardening, trying to improve his golf handicap and serves several organizations in the community.

Gint Sillins, PhD, is a Registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney

Gint joined us as our Intellectual Property Manager in July 2023, and since then has assisted us in managing and growing our IP portfolio. He obtained his BSc degree in chemistry at the University of Wollongong, as well as an honours degree and PhD at the University of Queensland in conjunction with CSIRO (Tropical Animal Production). His work in biochemistry, molecular genetics and bioinformatics led to postdoctoral research at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Since 1998 Gint has worked in the IP profession and has managed IP portfolios of universities, research institutions, big pharma, SMEs and start-ups (specialising in life sciences, healthcare and animal care), and so brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our team.

Rishi Shah has recently submitted his PhD thesis and successfully completed his oral defence examination at the School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, New Zealand.  He has completed his Bachelor of Pharmacy (2013) from Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune – India and his Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Technology (2014) from the University of Bradford, Bradford – United Kingdom.

His PhD work focuses on the pulmonary delivery of biological molecules incorporated into nanoparticles that can be used as a therapeutic approach for treating pulmonary diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). As a part of his PhD work, he has identified and evaluated the possible biomarker potential of the targeted biomolecules that are associated with pathological modifications of COPD. He is involved in the designing, preparation and optimization of nanoparticle formulation to encapsulate biomolecules and carry out in-vitro characterization studies. Rishi has also designed and optimized a method for spray-freeze drying technique for the production of microparticles for inhalation. His long-term objectives centre on biopharmaceutical inhalable nanoformulations, with a focus on powder formulations produced via spray-freeze drying.