We have arrived!

We are busy settling into our new spaces at Trent University. My office is starting to feel more familiar (and I really can’t argue with the huge window, natural light, and views that are not the rooftop technical ventilation system like at OVC). I will miss the sound of the horses downstairs.

I am working to get our lab space set up. It’s a great space with large windows, a private postdoc office, and lots of space for storing our equipment and also for setting up our computer hardware to ensure that everyone in the team has dedicated, protected workspace with computer monitors and docking stations (to make coding much less painful).

We can also hold our lab meetings in our new space without having to book a room. These are some photos from today. It needs some attention but the “bones” are amazing and we will get it into shape this winter.

Amy visits the STEM program at Assumption College School

On Friday May 6, 2022, Amy paid a visit to the STEM program at Assumption College School in Brantford, Ontario. Mr. Page is the Head of the Science Department there and he runs a large extra-curricular program in STEM. Their program has hosted a speaker series for many years that lets students interact with scientists from across academia, industry, and government. Amy shared a bit about her career trajectory with the students as well as some research highlights from projects that our team has conducted.

Congratulations to Reilly and Kamal!

Both Reilly and Kamal have had their abstracts accepted for oral presentations at the upcoming ISVEE meeting. We will be heading out east to attend our first in-person conference since the start of the pandemic. We are looking forward to meeting up with all of our veterinary epidemiology colleagues from around the world in Halifax this summer.

New paper out from Luz Kisiel on dog population control

Photo credit: Luz Maria Kisiel

Congratulations to Luz and team on the publication of her second MSc thesis research paper. This is a great example of how models can be used to model dog population dynamics and then use the model to look at different surgical and non-surgical population control interventions. Spoiler alert: if you are running a surgical dog population control program and have limited resources the model suggests that changing your focus to young, female dogs exclusively is more effective in the long run than focusing on mixed groups of dogs. You can read more here. 

Photo credit: Luz Maria Kisiel

Congratulations to former math.epi.lab members Gabrielle Brankston and Cyndi Boughen!

Gabrielle and Cyndi (both former math.epi.lab members) have just had a new paper published in PLOS ONE. If you are interested in the relationship between environment, livestock, and human incidence of cryptosporidiosis look no further! 

CIHR Impact Fellows Retreat

This week Dr. Salah Uddin Khan, Dr. Victoria Ng (Public Health Agency of Canada), and I had the great pleasure of attending the first CIHR Health Systems Impact Fellows Cohort Retreat in Toronto. Salah was awarded this prestigious postdoctoral award in the summer and began his fellowship in collaboration with the National Microbiology Laboratory this fall. The goal of these fellowships is to train PhD graduates in a way that focuses on both research and core competencies (such as project management, leadership, and change management) so that they can progress in their careers as leaders within the Canadian Health System. This was the first cohort retreat and it was a really excellent experience for both the fellows and their academic and organizational sponsors. I met many really interesting fellows who I expect will go on to do great things for the Canadian Healthcare system. One of the really amazing things about the inaugural HSI cohort? 80% of the fellows are women!  I am looking forward to the next retreat in spring 2018. 

Do you aspire to be a "future veterinarian?"

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

We are currently recruiting undergraduate students interested in helping out with a large equine research project that will be running from November until the Christmas break 2017. No horse experience is necessary. This is a great opportunity for students interested in a career in veterinary medicine to learn more about veterinary research and get some experience working in a large animal (equine) environment. You will be providing technical and logistical support to the study coordinator, Dr. Tanya Rossi. Please contact Dr. Amy Greer in the Department of Population Medicine to learn more about this opportunity. 

Recruitment and data collection for our newest study is underway

Yesterday Rachael, Beatrice, and Enise were out conducting a farm visit! They are collecting all of the preliminary information we need from the farms that are participating in our new equine contact network study. If you are a horse or farm owner who is interested in participating in our new study please contact us. We would love to speak with you about the project.