Kurt’s teaching and research encompasses veterinary public health. His interests lie in the long-term sustainable utilisation of animals and their products, and how a One Health approach can achieve this goal. His research focuses on animal welfare at slaughter, antimicrobial usage as well as trade and food safety.
His research focus is companion animal epidemiology and he co-leads the VetCompass Programme that collects de-identified clinical data from over 1800 veteinary practices across the UK.
Javier conducts applied research on a range of topics across the animal and human health spectrum, mostly focusing on zoonotic diseases and food safety. His work combines epidemiological studies in livestock and human populations and analysis of animal and public health surveillance data. Javier is involved in research in the UK, India, Rwanda, Jordan, Peru and Bolivia
Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health,
Hawkshead
PhD: VetCompass eClinical Trials (VETs). Funded by Dogs Trust, this study aims to develop innovative statistical approaches to veterinary electronic patient records to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical interventions in dogs.
PhD: Re-Inventing Diagnosis and Management of Canine Hyperadrenocorticism. Funded by Dechra Veterinary Products, this project aims to evaluate the survival characteristics of dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, to identify novel technology methods to apply to VetCompass-derived clinical data to aid the diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism and to develop and validate novel tools to assist the monitoring of treatment for hyperadrenocorticism.
PhD: Antimicrobial usage in farm animal veterinary practice in the UK: A mixed-methods approach. This study aims to estimate current AM usage in Farm Veterinary Practice and investigate the intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors associated with farm veterinarian decision-making when prescribing antimicrobials as well as exploring the drivers behind farmers' decision when using antimicrobials.
Evidence-based prioritisation of disorders within dog breeds. Funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and Agria Pet Insurance, this study aims to build on collaboration between the Kennel Club and the RVC to expand the evidence base for breed related conditions and identify breed health related priorities.
RVC Pandemic Puppies Survey. Funded by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation, this study aims to investigate how, why and by whom puppies were purchased during the COVID pandemic in the UK and compare this with puppies purchased in 2019.
Stuart is our Senior Lecturer in Wild Animal Health and his current roles include being the pathway leader for the BSc/MSci Biological Sciences (Wildlife Health Sciences), and the tracking rotation leader for our final year veterianry students' zoo tracking programme. His main interests are in the relevance of disease processes to conservation, and how this changes as existing populations become more fragmented.
My research interests are in the area of developing novel diagnostics for mycobacterial infections primarily tuberculosis in people and cattle, as well as Johne’s disease. The technology I have developed uses bacteriophages to target mycobacteria, resulting in detection within hours compared to the several weeks it takes to culture. Using these methods I hope to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of mycobacterial infections, as well as providing an alternative tool for detection. I also have an interest in the role of badgers in the spread of TB – as part of a Defra funded project. I am currently funded by a BloomsburySET (Research England) research fellowship.
Sarah’s research focuses on investigating the epidemiology and ecology of zoonotic and animal viruses. Zoonotic virus outbreaks are intensifying worldwide because of climate change, land-use change and population growth. We know strikingly little about how most zoonotic viruses transmit amongst non-human reservoir species. Better understanding how viruses spread amongst animals will improve our ability to predict and control outbreaks of zoonotic and animal viruses.
Sarah’s work combines wet-laboratory data generation with phylodynamic analyses of virus genomes. She uses viral genomic sequence data to reconstruct viral outbreak dynamics and spatiotemporal dissemination. Sarah collaborates with colleagues at national veterinary and public health agencies in the UK and abroad, with industry in the UK and in Norway, and has helped advise the World Health Organization on virus genomic sequencing and analysis.
Early-life determinants of performance and the Economics of Thoroughbred breeding
The project will use data from an ongoing Thoroughbred birth cohort study, to (i) describe the proportions of horses which enter training and race, including reasons and destinations of any who do not, (ii) evaluate the effects of early-life health and exercise on horses’ training and racing performance, (iii) calculate costs of production and evaluate stud farm profitability and (iv) assess the financial impact of early life disease and injury.
This will be the first time that the effects of early-life exposures on later-life milestones and race performance and the financial impact of early-life disease and injury, have been evaluated in UK Thoroughbreds. Findings will aid in ensuring the sustainability of the Thoroughbred breeding industry by informing management strategies to maximise athletic performance and industry retention, providing novel understanding of the financial viability of current practices, and informing farm-level economic decision making.
Bree is interested in how human behaviour influences welfare, including how and why pets are rehomed. In her PhD project, Bree is researching commercial and private rehoming and reselling of UK dogs over 16 weeks old. She is using mixed methods from machine learning to interpret large datasets of classified ads to establish how the dogs are sold, to thematic analysis of interviews to understand people’s motivations for using these selling systems.
Elizabeth is working on a project looking into brachycephalic outcrossing as a method of improving brachycephalic health and welfare.
This proposal poses two questions:
Do brachycephalic-outcrosses exhibit improved respiratory and ‘innate’ health characteristics compared to their extreme-brachycephalic parent-breed?
Do brachycephalic-outcrosses meet the aesthetic-preferences of people who desire extreme-brachycephalic purebreds?
These questions will be addressed by:
Conducting health assessments of Pug-crosses (selected based on current popularity/availability for study) using validated respiratory assessments, questionnaires and conformational-health metrics (e.g. skull shape, tail length/shape, skin folds), to compare against existing data on purebred-Pugs.
Conducting a large-scale, online survey of aesthetic preferences and perceptions of the health, behaviour and ethics of brachycephalic-outcrosses more broadly, in current/prospective owners of extreme-brachycephalic purebreds.
The project is funded by the Animal Welfare Foundation, Blue Cross and RSPCA.
