Solenne Costard
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Solenne is a Research Associate appointed jointly by the Royal Veterinary College and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI Website) in Kenya. She has recently completed her PhD and is currently working on several epidemiological projects and various diseases including African Swine Fever (ASF) and Avian Influenza.
Biography
Solenne graduated with a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the National Veterinary School of Nantes, France in 2002. She obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Tropical Veterinary Medicine from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, France in 2003 and immediately embarked on an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology at the RVC. After working in dairy and pig practice in France, she joined the college as a Research Associate in 2005. Solenne has recently completed her PhD on the epidemiology of ASF in Madagascar, under the supervision of Prof. Dirk Pfeiffer. She received a joint appointment with ILRI in 2008.
Research
Since her appointment, Solenne has been involved in various activities of the Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health (VEPH) Division. She first worked on the epidemiological component of an international and multidisciplinary project on ASF in Africa, using a range of epidemiological studies and analyses. Solenne applied risk analysis and risk mapping approaches in 2 projects on Avian Influenza in Africa conducted in collaboration with ILRI. She is currently working on a project whose objective is to determine the risk of introduction and establishment of ASF in Europe, using the same analytical tools. She also contributes to two other research projects run by the International Livestock Research Institute. One is using risk-based approaches to improve food safety in informal markets of livestock products in various countries of Africa - see Safe Food Fair Food. The other aims at using ecosystem approaches for the management of Zoonotic Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Southeast Asia region - see EcoZEID.
Solenne is one of the epidemiology tutors who offer support to the herd health week students on their Farm Animal Rotation. She has been involved with directed learning sessions on the BvetMed undergraduate course and provides statistical support to some final year research projects. She has also contributed to training programs run by the VEPH Division.