2018 EAD Symposium Speaker Bios An update on arboviruses, including BTV: Debbie Eagles, AAHL Debbie graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1999 from the University of Queensland, Australia. She subsequently worked in a mixed animal private practice in Brisbane for around 8 years, before completing a Masters of Veterinary Public Health Management Course and moving to Geelong, Victoria to work at AAHL. Debbie has since obtained a PhD, and Membership of the Australian & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (in Epidemiology). She has worked extensively in SE Asia, including both field and laboratory work and has a particular passion for application of epidemiological principles at the field/laboratory interface. Since January 2016, Debbie has held the position or Research Director for the Diagnosis, Surveillance and Response Program at AAHL. EADs of alpacas: Jane Vaughan, Cria Genesis The principal of Cria Genesis, Jane has been working with alpacas and llamas since 1991. Jane graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne in 1988, gained membership to the ANZCVS in Ruminant Nutrition Chapter in 1998 and completed a Doctor of Philosophy in the control of alpaca ovarian function in 2002. Jane performs commercial embryo collection and transfer in alpacas throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She also provides nutritional advice and Johne s disease Market Assurance and Q- Alpaca programs to alpaca breeders in Australia. Jane lectures regularly to farmers, veterinarians and veterinary students on alpaca reproduction, nutrition and husbandry in both Australia and internationally, and has coauthored a number of papers in refereed journals. She is a past-president of the Australian Alpaca Veterinarians (a special interest group of the AVA) and is the current Secretary and Newsletter Editor of the AAV. In collaboration with various universities, Jane has on-going research interests in reproduction, parasitology and genetics of alpacas.
The prevalence of dairy goats shedding Coxiella burnetii at the time of parturition in an endemically infected herd and associated milk yield losses: Jose Canevari, University of Melbourne José Canevari is a PhD candidate at The University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the epidemiology of Q fever in dairy goats. As part of his research project José has been studying the within-farm disease dynamics of Q fever in an endemic dairy goat enterprise and assessing the impacts of this disease on the performance of the herd. Also, José is working on developing a mathematical model of disease transmission to evaluate the impact of different control interventions. MRSA in Australian Pig Industry: What do we know? Shafi Sahibzada, Murdoch University Shafi has ten years of experience working in animal production and veterinary field. He worked initially as a veterinary officer and as a lecturer at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, before moving to Australia in 2009. Shafi has completed M.Phil in Animal Sciences from Charles Sturt University in 2012, and recently completed his PhD from the same University in Epidemiology and public health. His PhD focus was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in pigs and piggery workers. During his PhD, he investigated an ongoing MRSA outbreak in piggery workers and studied MRSA prevalence and risk factors associated with MRSA in relation to pigs in commercial piggeries in Australia. Presently, Shafi is working as a research fellow at Murdoch University in Perth at Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Diseases section. Shafi s main interest is in the epidemiology of infectious diseases of zoonotic and anthroponotic importance, antimicrobial resistance, risk analysis, and diseases modelling. How can host-directed technologies improve mastitis management for the dairy industry? Cam Stewart, AAHL Cameron Stewart is a Senior Research Scientist within the Mitigating Invasive Species and Diseases Program of CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, and is based at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL). Cameron's research is primarily focused on studying infectious diseases impacting both human and animal health in order to develop new disease mitigation strategies. Cameron s research particularly focuses on novel antiviral therapies and improved strategies for early disease detection. Cameron received his PhD from the University of Melbourne and undertook post-doctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and the CSIRO AAHL in Geelong, Victoria.
Viruses are the good guys - their use as biocontrol agents for invasive pest vertebrates : Ken McColl, AAHL Ken McColl is a Principal Research Veterinarian at the high-security CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Australia. After graduating from University of Melbourne and then completing both a Residency in pathology and a virology/immunology PhD at Cornell University, he joined AAHL in 1990, and the Fish Group (at AAHL) in 2000. While at AAHL, he has worked on rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus as a biocontrol agent for rabbits, and he now leads a group investigating the use of koi herpesvirus as a potential biocontrol agent for carp. Global FMD Update: Jef Hammond A recognised world expert on prevention and control of transboundary animal diseases Dr Hammond has recently finished his term as Vice- President of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Jef was previously Director of the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute and Director of Science and Research for the Biosecurity and Food Safety Branch of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, where he provided scientific leadership and ensured safe operation of the secure facilities. Before returning to Australia, Jef was Head of the World Reference Laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) at Pirbright for 5 years and was cofounder of the Global FMD Research Alliance (GFRA) and before that spent time as a project leader at AAHL. More recently Jef has led several State Government/Australian University collaborative projects. He has published more than 80 scientific papers, reports and book chapters and is inventor on two international patents. Mycoplasma bovis situation in Australia and New Zealand: Peter Mansell, University of Melbourne Peter Mansell is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne. In previous chapters of his life he has worked in mixed practice in the Goulburn Valley, completed a PhD in canine haemophilia, spent time in laboratory research in Canada and worked in cattle practice in Maffra. Apart from his clinical teaching role, his primary research interests relate to the diseases, management and welfare of dairy cattle. He is also currently the President of the Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria.
ASF in China what are the regional implications? : David Williams, AAHL David Williams is the leader of the Emergency Disease Laboratory Diagnosis group at the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria. This group comprises multidisciplinary capability in virus diagnostics, contributing to national and regional emergency animal disease diagnostics and surveillance. Dr Williams research interests have included the detection, diagnosis, and epidemiology of emerging and exotic viruses that affect humans and animals in Australia and overseas. This work has focussed on mosquito-borne viruses, and the application of novel technologies for virus detection and discovery. More recently, his research has extended to the laboratory diagnosis and pathogenesis of African swine fever and animal influenza viruses. Canine influenza in our region. Kerry Daly, DAWR Kerry graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 2001. She spent a few years in small animal practice before completing a PhD in marsupial immunogenetics at the University of Sydney. Following this, she worked as a post doc in regenerative medicine at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in 2012, where she has worked in operations and is now part of the Animal Biosecurity Branch with responsibilities for companion animal import and export policy.
Towards better actions based on diagnostic test results: John Morton John delivers epidemiological consulting services from his base in Geelong, Victoria. He is currently involved in numerous dairy industry projects, and postgraduate and undergraduate research studies. Before this (most recent to least recent roles), he worked in academia (at the University of Queensland), did a PhD (at the University of Melbourne), was a government veterinary officer in Victoria, and worked in dairy cattle practice (at Timboon in Victoria). He is passionate about epidemiological research and application, and epidemiological teaching. His research areas are diverse. He has published extensively, and is regularly asked to act as a peer reviewer of scientific publications. He has been involved with the Veterinary Epidemiology Chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Science in various ways off and on for many years including contributing to Study Guide preparation, helping numerous candidates prepare for Membership exams, and acting as examiner. The LEADDR network - diagnostic capabilities across animal health laboratories in Australia: Kim Halpin, AAHL Kim Halpin is a veterinary graduate from the University of Queensland. She has worked in research, diagnostic and commercial settings. Her main focus has been on emerging infectious diseases. After completing her PhD on Hendra virus, Kim took a postdoctoral appointment at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA working on a Nipah virus reverse genetics project. In 2003 she returned to Australia and conducted experimental transmission studies as part of a henipavirus project funded by NIH at AAHL. In 2009 she moved to Singapore, working with Life Technologies where she lead the Animal Health and Food Safety Research and Development team, developing molecular diagnostic tests for pathogen detection. In January 2014, she returned to AAHL. She led the Veterinary Investigations and Epidemiology team from 2016-2018, and now leads the Pathology and Pathogenesis Group. Interactions between land use change, flying-fox ecology and Hendra virus dynamics: Alison Peel, Griffith Uni Alison completed her Veterinary Degree at the University of Sydney in 2003, a Masters in Wild Animal Health at the Royal Veterinary College and London Zoo Institute of Zoology, and then her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2012. Her PhD investigated the population genetics and epidemiology of viruses in African fruit bats. Alison is now based at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, funded by a 3-year Queensland government postdoctoral fellowship to model viral and host community dynamics in Australian fruit bats and a US-based grant aimed at preventing emergence and spill-over of bat pathogens in high-risk global hotspots. She's particularly interested in how Hendra virus, the most widely studied bat virus in Australia, exists within a diverse community of viruses in Australian flying-foxes. By examining this well know bat viral system in a broader context, she hopes to provide insight into both Hendra virus dynamics and bat virus spill-over in general.
The Blue Book as a resource for field veterinarians: Sam Hamilton, DAWR Dr Sam Hamilton is a veterinary epidemiologist, with a background in simulation modelling of animal diseases, animal health surveillance, emergency animal disease preparedness, risk analysis and trade. Sam is Director of the Animal Disease Preparedness and Response section in the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. This section works to improve surveillance, laboratory diagnostics and emergency preparedness for animal diseases in Australia. Developing training materials to support the Blue Book, and Benchmarking FMD transmission network models that combine genomic and epi data and application to the 2010 outbreak in Japan: Simon Firestone, University of Melbourne Simon Firestone is a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne. He coordinates the Master of Veterinary Public Health program and also teaches into the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and the Agriculture and Science degrees. His research focuses on infectious disease modelling, Bayesian diagnostic test validation, zoonoses surveillance, outbreak investigation and control, with projects on foodborne disease, Q fever, antimicrobial resistance, foot-and-mouth disease, influenzas and arboviruses. Earlier in his career, Simon worked for the World Health Organisation in Indonesia and Cambodia, and Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières (Canada) across Southeast Asia. Simon s favourite companion animals are his two grubby sons, his bees and chooks. EAD resources, training and tools available in Victoria: Sally Salmons, Agriculture Victoria SaIly graduated from the University of Queensland with a BVSc (Hons). Since then she has been employed in private veterinary practice in South Gippsland, the dairy herd improvement industry and in the Victorian government veterinary service, working in regulatory, research, policy and management roles. Along the way, she has undertaken postgraduate training in epidemiology at the University of Melbourne and at Massey University. Her research interests are varied but include bovine Johne s disease, enzootic bovine leucosis and new approaches to animal health surveillance. She currently leads the Epidemiology and the Emergency Animal Disease Preparedness teams in the Victorian Chief Veterinary Officer's Unit where they have recently been involved in developing policy around managing anthrax, investigating vector-borne disease in horses and cattle and upgrading the IT systems that support surveillance and animal health certification in the State.
AHA training options including EAD Agents and Brokers online course and EAD Foundations Course: Claire Peterson, AHA Dr Claire Petterson graduated with a double degree in Veterinary Biology/Veterinary Science from Charles Sturt University in 2012. After working in small animal clinical practices in Sydney and Canberra, she joined Animal Health Australia in 2015. She currently manages the Training Services area, focused on developing and delivering training materials for AHA members and other stakeholders to enhance Australia s capability to detect and respond to emergency animal diseases. An overview of the recently developed National Wildlife Biosecurity Guidelines: Andrea Reiss, WHA Andrea is a veterinarian who joined Wildlife Health Australia as a part time project officer in January 2016. After graduating from Sydney University, Andrea completed a veterinary residency at Melbourne Zoo, gaining a Masters in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Andrea has over 17 years experience working as a clinical vet in Australia s major zoos, including Perth, Taronga and Melbourne Zoos and is a member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Australasian Wildlife. She has been involved in a wide variety of wildlife and conservation programs both within Australia and overseas, including in situ conservation programs for the endangered northern hairy nosed wombat, brush-tailed bettong, eastern barred bandicoot and African painted dog. Andrea recently lead a collaborative research project to investigate the potential role of disease in small mammal population declines in Northern Australia. Can a German serial killer story help EAD veterinarians? Michael Zalunardo, Thermo Fisher Michael Zalunardo is the commercial leader for AgriBusiness across the Asia Pacific region for Thermo Fisher Scientific. This business is dedicated to supporting veterinary diagnostics labs with production animal diagnostics. He gained a PhD in Biotechnology from the School of Agriculture at La Trobe University in Bundoora, and started his career at EMAI working on developing novel diagnostics for swine. He has stayed close to veterinary diagnostics with his most previous role managing the Bovine TB diagnostics facility in Melbourne for AsureQuality New Zealand. Using molecular surveillance tools to show that China and not Indonesia is the (probable) source of the current dominant genotype Newcastle disease virus: Peter Durr, AAHL