From animals to humans: a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of zoonotic diseases
Monday 6 July 2009
Zoonotic diseases (infections that are transmitted from animals to humans) threaten our health, food safety and livestock industry and also have global consequences impacting trade, economics and security. The increasing importance of zoonotic diseases makes multi-disciplinary studies at the interface between human and veterinary medicine extremely important. The University of Surrey recently held a workshop on this topic, funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies, involving scientists from Surrey, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the Institute for Animal Health and North Carolina State University (NCSU).
The talks focused on combining the areas of human and animal health, to develop an integrated approach to the study of zoonotic diseases and to explore ideas for strategic development of veterinary/public health education. This meeting was an important step in the establishment of the global partnership network between the University of Surrey and NCSU and was the first time that a group of scientists from NSCU had visited the University to begin to forge such critical international collaborations.
The plenary talk was given by Professor Katharina Stärk from the Royal Veterinary College in London and other plenary talks were given by external speakers on topics ranging from swine flu to antimicrobial resistance in enteric pathogens. The meeting resulted in a number of specific actions to follow up, both in research collaborations and in creation of educational links in veterinary bioscience between the University and NSCU. This is an exciting development that coincides with the launch of Surrey's new degree programme in Veterinary Biosciences in October 2009.
Media Enquiries
Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689191, or Email mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk
Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689191, or Email mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk
