Prof. Dr. Antonio Fernández Rodríguez, a global reference in the field of whale pathology, is a professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He completed his postdoctoral studies as a Humboldt fellow in Germany and at Cornell University in the USA. He is a member of the Expert Panel on Whale Strandings of the International Whaling Commission and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He has held various positions, including Dean of the Veterinary Faculty, Vice Rector for Research at the University of Las Palmas, and Director of the Institute for Animal Health and Food Safety. He has also served as an advisor to the Ministry of Science. In 2008, he received the Canary Islands Award for Science and Innovation. Currently, he serves as the Director of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Center for Marine Mammal Health and is the President of the Scientific Committee of the La Palma Island World Biosphere Reserve.

He was awarded the Premio Gorila in 2015 for his outstanding commitment to environmental protection and the extraordinary significance of studies conducted by the University Institute for Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) to secure whale populations in the Canary Islands and Macaronesia.