One Health Aotearoa researcher Dr Ayesha Verrall from the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago’s Wellington campus is the recipient of an HRC Emerging Research First Grant. Dr Verrall receives $250,000 for a project to investigate epigenetic markers of BCG protection for M.tuberculosis. The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine BCG is the…

Leptospirosis is a globally important multi-host, multi-pathogen disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals, with more than one million cases and 60,000 deaths annually. Humans are infected through contact with urine from infected mammals including wildlife, rodents, farmed species and pets. Associate Professor Jackie Benschop from Massey University’s School of Veterinary Science will…

One Health Aotearoa hosted a strategic workshop in Wellington at the end of March to further develop the programmes of research and future direction for the alliance, with view to a Centre of Research Excellence bid in 2019. The workshop involved over twenty participants from our partner institutions.

Following an extensive international search, Professor Miguel Quiñones-Mateu has been appointed as the second holder of the Webster Family Chair in Viral Pathogenesis in the University of Otago’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences. Inaugural recipient Professor Andrew Mercer held the position from 2005 until his retirement last year. Professor Quiñones-Mateu thanks…

Our Summer 2019 newsletter features a review of the 4th One Health Aotearoa Symposium held in December 2018, spotlights ESR’s climate change and environmental disruption research and provides save the date details for the next World One Health Congress meeting in Edinburgh in 2020. View the One Health Aotearoa Summer 2019 newsletter.

A refined model for understanding the source of campylobacter infections may be a key management tool for public health officials around the world. The pathogen campylobacter, which causes the gastrointestinal infection campylobacteriosis, is the most frequently notified enteric disease in New Zealand, according to the Ministry of Health, and places an incredible stress on the…

OHA Co-director Professor David Murdoch has become a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology – only the fourth New Zealander to receive the honour. The Academy is the leadership group of the American Society for Microbiology, the world’s oldest and largest life science organisation. Professor Murdoch is also the head of the University of…

A three-year project aimed at pinpointing the most effective ways to prevent and control rheumatic fever and associated heart disease in New Zealand is being launched tomorrow (Tuesday 12 February) at the University of Otago, Wellington. The project was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand last year. The…

One Health Aotearoa Management Group member Professor Russell Death from Massey University was awarded the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society Medal at their annual meeting last week. The medal is the Society’s highest honour and recognises Russell’s outstanding services and contribution to freshwater science through his commitments to research, scientific publishing, teaching and communicating his…

Professors from the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington are calling on the government to set up a research fund to help prevent pandemics and increase New Zealand’s preparedness to deal with such disasters. Professors Michael Baker and Nick Wilson are the co-authors of a study reviewing the 1918 pandemic, which…