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Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are known for a long time to contribute significantly to the global burden of disease. These lead to epidemics, which upset health security and affect the socio-economy of a nation. Vectors and VBDs are all sensitive to climate, and the ongoing trend of climate change and variable weather conditions may lead to a change in the global scenario of these diseases. With changes in global climate, VBDs may shift to new regions, suitable for the pathogens and their vectors, and as such may switch to new host species. Being a parasitologist, I study parasites of veterinary importance and related diseases. My special research interest lies in understanding how vectors interact with pathogens, the effect of climate change on their ecology and epidemiology, and related sustainable control strategies.

To predict future changes in the ecology and epidemiology of the vectors and VBDs, first, we need to work on and understand the three primary entities within this disease transmission system, i.e. the pathogen, vector and the host. Secondly, we need to identify the climatic and environmental requirements of the vectors and vector-borne pathogens and the underlying cycle of events which run between them to help sustain the disease in a particular region. The global distribution of various VBDs and possibilities of spill over of these diseases between various regions and animal and vector species interests me the most. In the UK, my research was focussed on molecular and spatial epidemiology of ticks and flea-borne diseases. Further, I worked on a climate-based predictive model for the global distribution and risk of Haemonchus contortus (round worm of sheep). This model predicts the survival of worm larvae on pasture, based on the temperature and precipitation data and can help to predict the future spatial and temporal distribution and spread of H. contortus. Further, this model, along with targeted selective treatment (TST) of sheep, could help in reducing the pace at which anthelmintic resistance is developing in H. contortus and may help in sustainable sheep farming.

Currently, my lab is investigating the temporal and spatial distribution of zoonotic parasites among pet dogs in various regions of Southeast Queensland. In this project, we are collecting data from dog owners through an online survey pertaining to their knowledge of risk associated with dog parasites and their transmission into humans. Also, we are collecting dog faecal samples for microscopic and PCR analysis for various parasite eggs and oocysts. The data obtained from this survey will be analysed for determining the risk of spread of parasites among dogs as well as to humans in shared spaces and the relative risk of infection between parks.

Another study being conducted in my lab is about identifying drug resistance mechanisms in canine hookworms in Australia. The study will provide a baseline data on the frequencies of SNPs, known to confer benzimidazole resistance in animal helminths.

We have recently received an NHMRC 2021 grant looking into Targeted surveillance of major zoonotic arboviral and other vector-borne diseases in Australia using spectroscopy technology. Infectious diseases transmitted by vectors represent a significant health threat to the Australian biosecurity. Detection methods used in current surveillance of these pathogens are expensive, time consuming and require highly trained personnel. We propose to conduct a set of experiments to test the best spectroscopy technique to identify infected vectors and demonstrate its capacity as surveillance tool for vector control programs against these pathogens.

I always look forward to collaborating with fellow researchers within Australia and from different parts of the world to gain different perspectives of research of my interest.

Ben is a specialist in equine surgery and is board certified by the American College of Equine Surgeons (www.acvs.org) and the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation (www.vsmr.org) he is one of only a handful of veterinarians in Australia with these dual qualifications. He has authored multiple book chapters and has published on a wide range of topics ranging from orthopaedics and lameness, to novel tie-back procedures and stem cell therapies. Ben has a Phd related to laryngeal surgery in horses.

Professor Rachel Allavena is a specialist veterinary pathologist, multidisciplinary researcher and Deputy Head of School, at the School of Veterinary Science, Gatton. She develops cancer treatments called immunotherapies which wake up the immune system so it fights the cancer. Her unique approach uses pet dogs with natural cancer to conduct the research. This helps the dog and it's family, as well as progressing the development of veterinary treatments and simultaneously advancing human medicine. As Deputy Head of School she aims to support staff and students to make UQ one of the top school's in Australasia, supporting both pets and people. Rachel is a multi-award winning teacher, lecturinging in veterinary pathology, toxicology, animal welfare and laboratory animal science. Her specialist expertise is nationally and internationally recognised in forensics, animal cruelty and toxicology where she acts as an expert witness in criminal and civil legal cases. She is a strong advocate for racing animal welfare, investigating racing animal injury and deaths and conducting research on how to improve animal welfare in sport, society and research. Prof Allavena has an active media profile and has been featured in national and international media including The Conversation, ABC national and regional radio and TV news, commercial and community TV and radio. In 2022-2023 she is a 'Flying Scientist' for Queensland's Office of the Chief Scientist. Rachel really enjoys doing presentations to school students and teachers as well as public outreach events to promote science to the general public. She has presented a TEDx talk on how dogs can help us cure cancer.

Prof Allavena has a PhD in Comparative Medicine from Cornell Univesity in New York, and undertook her pathology specialistation at Ontario Veterinary College. She has worked in drug safety research and development in the pharmaceutical industry in preclinical safety testing and discovery research in the United Kingdom. Her research interests are strongly focused on comparative and translational medicine and animal model validation and development in rodents, dogs and other laboratory animal species. Her major research projects include developing novel cancer immunotherapics and diagnostics for pet dogs naturally suffering from cancer both as a veterinary therapy and comparative model for human cancer. Further, she has extensive research in drivers of koala population decline in SEQLD. She has wide ranging research collaborations specialising in the pathological assessment and study design for animal models in a variety of areas including novel therapeutics, drug safety, toxicology and natural envenomations, biometallic implants, and animal welfare in laboratory animals and domestic species. She is a board certified veterinary anatomic pathologist with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) and a registered specialist veterinary anatomic pathologist with the Veterinary Surgeon's Board of Queensland through the Australian Veterinary Boards Council. She is the lead diagnostic anatomic pathologist in the UQ School of Veterinary Science Veterinary Laboratory Service, and in her professional capacity she oversees cases for Racing Queensland, Queensland Police and RSPCA Queensland, with a special interest in animal welfare and forensic pathology. She has an extensive successful track record of training anatomic pathologists for American College of Veterinary Pathology board certification. She was awarded a Faculty of Science Teaching Excellence Award in 2015 and a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2021. She has served as an office holder in the Pathobiology chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and the Australian Society of Veterinary Pathologists.

Stephen has taught physiology to about 40,000 UQ students across science, biomedical science, animal and veterinary sciences, health science, exercise science, human movement and nutrition science, dentistry, pharmacy, speech pathology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and medical doctor programs. During his career Stephen has been frequently recognised for his innovative teaching practice and strategic leadership in teaching and learning. Stephen was Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Biomedical Sciences from 2019 to early 2024, and in 2020 was awarded Academic Leader of the Year in the UQ Faculty of Medicine.

Stephen's research expertise is endocrinology. His laboratory examines the hormonal control of growth, metabolism, appetite, and reproduction - unravelling the complexity of how hormones regulate physiological mechanisms in healthy individuals versus dysfunction that occurs in disease states.

Stephen also has a keen interest in metacognition of learning, self-regulation of learning, and lifelong learning. He is currently investigating how students develop capabilities during their undergraduate studies that support their future professional roles.

Dr Andy Barnes obtained his BSc (Hons) in Microbiology from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and his PhD from the Medical School, University of Edinburgh. Andy worked for the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department and at the Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh before joining a small Canadian biotech company, Aqua Health Ltd, specialising in vaccines for aquaculture in 1993. In 1999, Aqua Health was bought by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and Andy worked in their animal health division for 4 years before beginning an academic career at The University of Queensland. Currently in the School of Biological Sciences, Andy’s Aquatic Animal Health Lab researches vaccines for the aquaculture industry and investigates health and immunity in aquatic animals ranging from reef-building corals, through prawns and oysters, to barramundi, stingrays and grouper.

Anne is currently appointed as a lecturer in Animal Science and Production and has a broad range of intests within the animal science landscape. Anne began her studies in the field of Equine Science and then further broadened to Agricultural Science which has provided a diverse backdrop to her current interests. The field of parasitology was the focus of her PhD studies as she investigated the underlying physiology of the periparturient relaxation to gastrointestinal worms in sheep, however, this multidisciplinary topic has led to interests across the board in immunology, endocrinology and nutrition. During her post-doctoral term, Anne worked on projects that investigated anthelmintic resistance in important equine and cattle parasites and on the development of molecular diagnostic tools. Her more recent work continues to build on these interests in equine parasitology through supervision of students in this field, but also includes projects focussed on small ruminant parasite management and nutrition. Anne's research interests are industry-focussed with a strong drive for useful outcomes to improve the management of horses and livestock.

Electrophysiology of synaptic transmission, ion currents and central pattern generation in CNS neurones.

Current research focuses on the electrophysiology of central nervous system neurones using various in vitro slice and in vivo preparations, patch clamp techniques, imaging, molecular biology and computer modelling.

Projects include :

• Neurobiology of motor control
• Motor neuron disease
• Synaptic transmission in the cochlear nucleus
• Potassium currents in the brainstem and cerebellum
• Rhythmic control of breathing movements

Dr François-René Bertin (DVM, MS, PhD, dipl.ACVIM (LAIM)) is an equine internist with expertise in clinical endocrinology.

François-René completed a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (University of Nantes, France), an American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) residency in equine internal medicine (Purdue University, USA) and a PhD in physiology (McGill University, Canada). He moved to the School of Veterinary Science at UQ in 2016.

François-René’s research interests lie in the pathophysiology of hyperinsulinaemia-associated laminitis and the disorders of the equine hypothalamo-pituitary adrenocortical axis. Some of his current projects examine the regulators of pancreatic b-cell activity and the mechanisms of pituitary gland senescence. François-René has received awards from the School of Veterinary Science and the Faculty of Science for his contribution to Research and HDR student supervision.

François-René teaches equine internal medicine into the veterinary science and veterinary technology programs and coordinates the Equine Clinical Studies course. He has received Teaching and Learning Faculty Awards.

Dr. Gry Boe-Hansen graduated with a DVM in 2001 and a PhD in Veterinary Reproduction in 2005 from The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL) Denmark. She took up a position as Assistant Professor at the department of Veterinary Reproduction and Obstetrics at KVL. In 2007 she was appointed at UQ as Lecturer in Veterinary Reproduction at School of Veterinary Sciences. Her overall research theme is causes of and methods to improve suboptimal reproduction in livestock. She is particularly interested in andrology, including venereal disease, with emphasis on genetic and environmental factors affecting reproduction and has published particularly in the field of sperm and semen quality, and biomarkers in relation to fertility. This has involved implementation of reliable, precise and accurate semen quality assays into conventional semen analysis, in both domestic animal semen laboratories and human clinics.

Dr Gary Cowin is the Facility Fellow for the Queensland Node of the National Imaging Facility (NIF) as part of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (NCRIS), based at the Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland.

Dr Cowin's research projects are:

• Ultrahigh field magnetic resonance microimaging
• Simultaneous dynamic MRI and PET imaging
• Multimodal MRI/PET/CT imaging
• Development of magnetic resonance techniques for non-invasive determination of liver steatosis and fibrosis
• Monitoring changing fat distribution in diabetes and exercise trials
• Spinal cord imaging research
• Prostate research
• Application of ultrahigh field MRI microimaging for tissue analysis
• Molecular imaging of novel contrast agents by MRI and PET
• MRI zebrafish brain atlas
• Lung imaging with hyperpolarized Helium in humans and animals
• Investigation of the effect of gradient non-linearity on image quality

Dr Bob Doneley graduated from the University of Queensland in 1982 and worked in veterinary practices in Bundaberg, Brisbane, Toowoomba and the UK before opening his own practice, the West Toowoomba Veterinary Surgery, in Toowoomba in 1988.

His interest in bird medicine was initially developed shortly after graduation when he was asked to give a talk to the Bundaberg Budgerigar Association and realised that he had been taught virtually nothing on this subject while a student. He pursued this interest through private study, visiting colleagues, and attending conferences. He was awarded his Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (FANZCVS) in 2003, becoming Queensland’s first specialist in bird medicine, the third in Australia. In the same year he was awarded the College Prize by the Australian College for outstanding contributions to veterinary science in Australia

In 2010 he sold his practice after 22 years to take up the position of Head of Small Animal Services, Veterinary Medical Centre at the University of Queensland’s Gatton campus. He is now an Associate Professor and Head of the Avian and Exotic Pet Service, a specialist bird practice, as well as treating reptiles, small mammals and wildlife. In 2015 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Award by the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists.

He lectures to both University of Queensland and James Cook University veterinary students on bird and exotic animal medicine, has published two textbooks on bird medicine (one of which has been translated into German and is about to be re-published as a second edition), written chapters for five other textbooks and has published numerous papers in veterinary journals.

Justine Gibson is an Associate Professor in Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology at the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland (UQ). She graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from UQ in 1996 and, after working as a veterinarian for several years, completed a PhD investigating the epidemiology and basis of fluoroquinolone resistance in multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and Enterobacter spp. from companion animals.

Assoc. Prof. Gibson's research focuses on antimicrobial resistance, stewardship, infection control, and point-of-care diagnostics to improve animal and human health in Australia and internationally. She has led projects investigating antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in companion and production animals, characterising resistance mechanisms using traditional culture and molecular techniques. Her work aims to translate pure research into clinical practical outcomes by merging pathogen identification and resistance mechanisms with epidemiological studies. Recent research has also explored the microbiota of wildlife, livestock and companion animals.

Passionate about teaching, Justine became a Senior Higher Education Academy Fellow in 2019. She encourages critical and independent thinking, fosters clinical reasoning skills, and incorporates eLearning pedagogies in her teaching.

Assoc. Prof. Gibson has authored over 50 conference papers and 70 scientific publications in bacteriology, mycology, antimicrobial resistance, stewardship and teaching.

Wendy Goodwin is a registered veterinarian in Queensland and has worked for the University of Queensland as a clinical anesthetist since 2010. She received her veterinary degree from the University of Queensland in 2004 and in 2013 was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy by the University of Queensland for her research thesis ‘Studies of Alfaxalone in Horses’. In 2008 she was awarded Membership of the Australian & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Equine Medicine and in 2013 was awarded Membership in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Critical Care. In 2016 Wendy sucessfully became a Fellowship of the Australian & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Critical Care.

Wendy is passionate about veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia and has dedicated the majority of her professional career to pursuing excellence in this field. Her clinical anaesthetic experience has covered a wide range of species including horses, small animal companion animals, farm animals, avian and exotic animals and animals used in scientific research. Wendy has a strong research interest and is keen to further explore research and development opportunities in the veterinary and medical sectors. She has papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals and presented her research findings at international conferences relating to veterinary anaesthesia and pain management.

Dr. Laura Grogan is a qualified veterinarian, Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Science, Chair of the Wildlife Disease Association Australasian section, and Leader of the Biodiversity Health Research Team (https://www.biodiversity-health.org/) - a collaborative multiple-university research group focused on finding sustainable solutions for the most challenging threatening processes currently affecting biodiversity.

Dr. Grogan has a background in research on wildlife diseases, ecology and conservation. She's particularly interested in investigating the dynamics, relative importance, and impacts of infectious diseases among other threats affecting wildlife across both individual and population scales, to improve conservation management. While she works across taxa and methodological approaches, her main study system currently involves the devastating amphibian fungal skin disease, chytridiomycosis, where at the individual scale she focuses on the pathogenesis and amphibian immune response to the disease, untangling the roles of resistance and tolerance in defense against infection. At the population and landscape scale she explores mechanisms underlying persistence in the face of endemic infection, focused on the endangered Fleay's barred frog. She also studies population and infection dynamics of chlamydiosis in koala using a mathematical modelling approach, exploring the relative benefits of different management approaches. In addition to working on amphibian and koala diseases, Laura is a keen birdwatcher, wildlife photographer and artist. She supervises projects across wildlife-related fields (predominantly vertebrates).

You can find out more about her research team here: www.biodiversity-health.org. Dr. Grogan has been awarded around $1.3 million in research funding since 2018. In late 2019 she was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA; DE200100490), worth $426,742. This project, titled "Understanding infection tolerance to improve management of wildlife disease", commenced in late 2020. Dr. Grogan was identified as one of the four top-ranked science DECRA awardees by the Australian Academy of Science’s 2020 J G Russell Award, and was also recipient of the highest award of the Wildlife Disease Association Australasia Section with their 2019 Barry L Munday Recognition Award.

PhD and Honours projects are now available in the following areas (plus many more areas - please get in touch if you have an idea):

• Can frogs be ‘vaccinated’ by antifungal treatment of active infections to develop protective immunity to the devastating chytrid fungus? (Principal Supervisor)
• Establishing the conservation status of south-east Queensland’s amphibians - occupancy surveys and species distribution models (Principal Supervisor)
• Tadpoles as a reservoir of the lethal frog chytrid fungal disease – measuring sublethal effects on growth, time to metamorphosis and ability to forage (mouthpart loss) (Principal Supervisor)
• Impacts of chytrid fungus on the survival of juvenile endangered Fleay’s barred frogs, Mixophyes fleayi, and importance for population recruitment (Principal Supervisor)
• Measuring the infection resistance versus tolerance of barred frogs to the devastating chytrid fungal disease to improve management outcomes (Principal Supervisor)
• Mapping the impacts of fire-fighting chemicals on endangered frog habitats (Co-Supervisor)
• Bowra birds: what do long-term monitoring data reveal about bird communities in the semi-arid region? (Co-Supervisor)
• Impacts of fire-fighting chemicals on endangered frogs: Implications for conservation and management (Co-Supervisor)

Jess has worked as a paediatric occupational therapist in private practice since graduating from her undergraduate degree. She gained additional training in animal-assisted therapy (canine and equine) in 2015 and became interested in the role animals could play in facilitating client motivation and engagement within therapy sessions. This interest led Jess to complete her PhD exploring the efficacy of canine-assisted occupational therapy with autistic children. Since completing her PhD Jess has continued her research into the impact of human-animal interaction to human and animal health and wellbeing resulting in a number of publications. In line with this research Jess is also the Co-director of The University of Queensland Animal-Assisted intervention Alliance, and the Community Engagement Manager for Animal Therapies Ltd. Jess is also qualified as a personal trainer and has clinical and research experience working to support people with disability engage in physical activity. Jess is a current researcher and coach within the UQ ParaSTART Program.

After graduating from the University of Queensland in 2002, I worked as a veterinarian in a mixed animal practice in Victoria, as a small animal intern in Brisbane (BVSC), and as a Veterinary Associate in England before moving to Pennsylvania for five years to complete a Haematology and Transfusion fellowship, veterinary clinical pathology residency, and then lectureship. I passed my Memberships in Internal Medicine in 2006, completed my Haematology and Transfusion Fellowship in 2007, and my Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (Clinical Pathology) in 2010.

In 2011, I returned to Australia and worked as a specialist veterinary clinical pathologist for IDEXX in Sydney for almost four years then moved to an academic role as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide before coming home to Queensland when I was recently accepted as a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pathology here at the University of Queensland.

I am passionate about veterinary student education and hope to help UQ students to understand the importance and excitement of clinical pathology in veterinary medicine today. Although I enjoy all aspects of clinical pathology, I have specific diagnostic and research interests in haematology, transfusion medicine, immunohaematology, and oncology. I also love collaborative research with a clinical focus in any species so if people are looking for clinical pathology expertise as part of a project then please feel free to contact me.

A/Prof Stephen Johnston is a Reader in Reproduction (40% Teaching; 40% Research and 20% Service) in the School of Environment at the University of Queensland, where he teaches animal reproduction and captive husbandry to Bachelor of Wildlife Science and Science undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is current program coordinator for the Bachelor of Wildlife Science Program. He is also a research affiliate in the School of Veterinary Science. Stephen was trained as a zoologist and specialises in the area of reproductive biology in a broad diversity of species ranging from prawns to tigers but with a major focus on Australian mammals. A/Prof Johnston has published 300 scientific works in basic and applied science disciplines including reproductive anatomy, physiology and behaviour. He was the first person in the world to produce a pouch young following artificial insemination in a marsupial, a task that he and his colleagues have now carried out successfully in the koala, a total of 34 times. Stephen is also a specialist in the cryopreservation of marsupial spermatozoa and in the assessment of sperm DNA fragmentation, including human and domestic animal spermatozoa. A/Prof Johnston’s recent research interests and grant success include studies aimed at a better understanding of the effect of chlamydia on male koala reproduction, heat stress in koalas, sociobiology of koalas, genetic and reproductive management of koalas, wombat captive reproduction, echidna captive breeding, crocodile artificial insemination and prawn aquaculture. He is a Fellow of the Society for Reproductive Biology (2019)

Prof Tim Mahony joined QAAFI’s Centre for Animal Science in October 2010, after 15 years of conducting research projects with the Queensland Government. He obtained his PhD from James Cook University in the area of molecular microbiology. During 2001 and 2002, Prof Mahony was a visiting professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

Research interests

Dr Mahony’s research interests are in the area of molecular virology revolving around improving viral disease control in production animals such as cattle and poultry. His group is characterising the molecular interactions between invading pathogens and the subsequent host responses with the goal of developing new vaccines and diagnostic technologies. A key component of this work includes improving the basic understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underpin and drive viral virulence and evolution. Next-generation sequencing has been used to sequence the genomes of herpesviruses and adenoviruses from a variety of species including, cattle, chickens, marsupials, horses, and crocodiles. Prof Mahony’s team is also investigating the role of virally encoded microRNAs in virulence, replication, and disease development. His group was one of the first in the world to apply bacterial artificial chromosome infectious clone technology for the efficient manipulation of herpesviruses that have large DNA genomes. These strategies are also being exploited to understand viral gene function and the development of vaccines.

Currently, Prof Mahony is researching risk factors that protect and predispose feedlot cattle to developing bovine respiratory disease (BRD). He is also leading the development of new vaccines for BRD and cattle tick infestations. Prof Mahony has also led the development of new vaccine delivery technologies for the poultry industry targeting the application of in ovo strategies. Prof Mahony research into improving animal health is increasing industry productivity, food safety, and consumer confidence in food products and he is keen to explore collaborations with other scientists in this area.

Prof Mahony has a strong interest to work with post-graduate students and has supervised a number of post-graduate students from Australia and overseas. These projects have covered research areas in molecular virology, animal health, vaccine development, and pathogen-host interactions.