Reilly's Current Research

Fresh off his PhD work studying the networks of between-herd dairy cow movements in Ontario, Reilly is now working as a Post-Doc to apply these methods to assess the ‘what if’ scenarios associated with the introduction of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza into Ontario through imported dairy cattle. This involves a descriptive analysis of dairy cow imports from the United States to better understand where targetted surveillance may be more effective and efficient in Ontario. Future work will include mathematical modelling of within-herd transmission of H5N1 to assess the risk of spillover between dairy cattle and farm workers.

Riley's Current Research

This edition of the blog post is focused on team member Riley, who is entering the 2nd year of his PhD candidacy after completing his qualifying exams in the winter semester. Riley’s research consists of examining the impact of environmental and ecological factors influencing the current outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza – H5N1 on poultry farms in Canada, and has been recently accepted to present this research at the upcoming World One Health Congress hosted in Cape Town, South Africa.

We're back!!!

The summer semester is well underway and lots of exciting work is happening in the lab. Two summer students, Shawnice and Julia, have joined the team as undergraduate thesis students and are set up in our new lab at Trent. With the new team settled in, we will be reviving the blog! The team is currently working on several diverse research projects including:

• Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in correctional facilities

• The presentation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine evidence in court

• The exploration of equine biosecurity measures

• The investigation of Equine Herpesvirus-1 transmission dynamics

• The influence of environmental and ecological factors on outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

• And much much more!!!

With the team being divided between Peterborough and Guelph, we are eagerly awaiting the installation of our conference screen, which will make our virtual conferences easier and more accessible. We are also excited to announce that Gabrielle is preparing for her PhD defence for her research regarding equine biosecurity measures, which the team is thrilled to attend next month in Guelph. Stay tuned for more posts with further details regarding our projects!