Etienne Thiry was born on 4 April 1957 in Brussels. He graduated as doctor in veterinary medicine in 1980 at the university of Liège (ULg) (Belgium).
He obtained a Master of Sciences in molecular biology in 1982 at the university of Brussels. He obtained a doctorate in veterinary sciences in 1985.
In 1992, he graduated in medical and epidemiology at the university Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and became diplomate of the European college for veterinary public health in 2001.
Since 1980, Etienne Thiry occupied several positions in the laboratory of veterinary virology at ULg.
He was appointed professor in 1993 and full professor in 2003.
Since 2000, he is also part time professor at the university of Brussels. He is head of the department of infectious and parasitic diseases of the veterinary faculty at ULg since 2001. He won the International Pfizer award by the international committee of the World Buiatrics Society in 1996.
Etienne Thiry is member of the National Committee for Microbiology of the Belgian Royal Academy since 1999. He was the treasurer of the Belgian Society for Microbiology for ten years. He is president of the Belgian Association of animal health and epidemiology.
From 1994 to 2000, he was a board member of the European Society for Veterinary Virology. He is member of several scientific committees, including the scientific committee of the Belgian Federal Food Safety Agency and of the expert committee for animal health at the French Food Safety Agency.
His research interests cover several aspects of animal virology, especially herpesviruses and caliciviruses.
He is the author of 263 papers in specialised scientific journals and of 192 communications in scientific congresses.
He has published four books in the collection “Clinical Virology” (Ed. Le Point Vétérinaire) on clinical virology of ruminants, dogs and cats, swine and equids.