Safe and Sustainable Food
Our Safe and Sustainable Food group focuses on problems associated with different types of farming systems across livestock species. The Research Group is led by Dr Barbara Haesler.
RVC researchers work with welfare scientists, economists and sociologists and focus on increasing economic and welfare resilience by prioritising research into diseases and conditions that threaten reproduction, productivity, food security and public health. They are also in regular contact with farmers, breeders and industry groups.
They work on problems including:
- Infertility in dairy cows
- Bovine tuberculosis
- Johne’s disease
- Bovine viral diarrhoea
- Avian coccidiosis
- Porcine respiratory disease
- Porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS)
They also work on research areas such as:
- Reproduction and development
- Sheep genetics
The College offers a part-time, distance learning course in Intensive Livestock Health and Production which has led to the development of short courses and programmes designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those working in the agri-food industry.
Projects such as the Dairy-Co consortium (led by Nottingham) integrate knowledge of dairy calf rearing, disease control and welfare indicators in calves, and allow the collection and analyses of national data.
The availability on-site of a controlled environment facility allows RVC scientists to translate data from the field and laboratory to re-create accurate in vivo models in pigs and poultry for the study of socio-economic, genetics/breeding and welfare impacts of diseases and syndromes. Recent and ongoing projects include work on PMWS, porcine circovirus 2, swine influenza, Mycoplasma species and avian coccidiosis.
Useful links to related programmes outside of RVC:
IMMANA (Innovative Metrics and Methods for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions): is a new five-year research initiative funded by the Department of International Development (DFID). The aim of IMMANA is to develop robust scientific evidence guiding changes in global agriculture to feed the world’s population projected to hit nine billion by 2050 in a way that is both healthy and sustainable. The IMMANA collaboration is coordinated by the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH) and includes leading experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; SOAS, University of London; and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston (USA).
Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH): The aim of LCIRAH is to better address complex global issues surrounding the need to feed nine billion people healthily by 2050
Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA): LANSA is a new international research partnership. They are finding out how agriculture and agri-food systems can be better designed to advance nutrition. They are focused on policies, interventions and strategies that can improve the nutritional status of children in South Asia.
Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS): ZELS is a joint research initiative between the Department for International Development (DFID) and:
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC)
- Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)
Its aim is to make a step change in the research evidence available to inform decision makers on how to minimise the health risks associated with the rapidly changing nature of livestock systems in developing countries, focusing on those risks which impact on the livelihoods and health of poor people.
People in this Research Group
Dr Siobhan Abeyesinghe
Senior Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science & Head of Group, RC Animal Welfare Science & EthicsRVC Animal Welfare Science and Ethics, Hawkshead
Dr Pablo Alarcon-Lopez
Lecturer in Animal Health EconomicsVEEPH Group, Hawkshead
Mrs Houda Bennani
PhD studentVeterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health, Hawkshead
Professor Damer Blake
Professor of Parasite GeneticsDr Richard Booth
Associate Professor in Veterinary Extension Services and Infectious Diseases of CattleFarm Animal Health and Production Group, Hawkshead
Dr Lucy Brunton
Lecturer in Molecular EpidemiologyVEEPH, Hawkshead
Dr Charlotte Burn
Senior Lecturer in Animal Welfare and Behaviour Science & Deputy Head of Group, Centre for Animal WelfareRVC Animal Welfare Science and Ethics, Hawkshead
Dr Madeleine Campbell
Senior Lecturer in Human-Animal Interactions & EthicsDr Zhangrui Cheng
Research FellowFarm Animal Health and Production Group, Hawkshead
Mr Niko Dadios
Lecturer in Production Animal Health and Food SafetyDr Theo Demmers
Senior Fellow environmental ScienceAnimal Welfare Science and Ethics, Hawkshead
Dr Felicity D'Mello
LecturerDr Julian Drewe
Associate Professor of Veterinary EpidemiologyVeterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health, Hawkshead
Dr Ali Fouladi-Nashta
Reader in Reproductive Biology and TechnologyDr Liam Good
Professor of Microbiology and BiotechnologyProfessor Javier Guitian
Professor of Veterinary Public HealthVeterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health, Hawkshead
Dr Barbara Haesler
Senior Lecturer in AgrihealthVeterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health, Hawkshead
Professor Richard Kock
Wildlife Health and Emerging DiseasesCEEED, Hawkshead
Dr Rachel Lawrence
ReaderProf David Lloyd
Emeritus Professor of Veterinary DermatologyQueen Mother Hospital for Animals, Hawkshead
Dr Anette Loeffler
Associate Professor of Veterinary DermatologyQueen Mother Hospital for Animals, Hawkshead
Dr Imelda McGonnell
Acting Vice-Principal (Students)Dr Abir Mukherjee
LecturerProfessor Ludovic Pelligand
Professor in Clinical Pharmacology and AnaesthesiaQueen Mother Hospital for Animals, Hawkshead
Prof Dirk Pfeiffer
Professor of Veterinary EpidemiologyVeterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health, Hawkshead
Dr Geoff Pollott
Honorary Lecturer in GeneticsFarm Animal Health and Production Group, Camden
Professor Stuart Reid
PrincipalOffice of the Principal, Hawkshead
Prof Andrew Rycroft
Professor of Clinical and Veterinary MicrobiologyMicrobiology, Hawkshead
Prof Ayona Silva-Fletcher
Course Director for the MSc Vet Ed Course & Professor of Veterinary EducationLifelong Independent Veterinary Education (LIVE), Hawkshead
Professor Ken Smith
Professor of Companion Animal Pathology and Head of DepartmentPathobiology and Population Sciences, Hawkshead
Dr Mehroosh Tak
Lecturer in AgribusinessDr Carole Thomas
LecturerDr Lisa Thurston
LecturerProfessor Fiona Tomley
Professor of Experimental Parasitology and Director of the UKRI GCRF One Health Poultry HubProfessor Pierre-Louis Toutain
Visiting Professor in Veterinary PharmacologyMr Rifat Ucar
Phd StudentDr Steven Van Winden
Associate Professor in Population MedicineFarm Animal Health and Production, Hawkshead
Professor Claire Wathes
Professor of Veterinary ReproductionFarm Animal Health and Production Group, Hawkshead