Ms Sophie Mahendran
BVMedSci BVMBVS(hons) MSc DipECBHM FHEA MRCVS
Barham Benevolent Foundation Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Welfare
Department: Pathobiology & Population Sciences
Research Groups: Animal Welfare Science and Ethics
Clinical Groups: Farm Animal Health
Research Centres: RVC Animal Welfare Science and Ethics
Barham Benevolent Foundation Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Welfare
PhD student in calf health
Sophie Mahendran qualified from The University of Nottingham in 2012 with a degree in Veterinary Medical Sciences, Medicine and Surgery. She then went on to complete an internship followed by a three year residency program at the RVC in Production Animal Medicine. During this time she also undertook a Masters in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, which she recieved in 2016. During this prostgraduate training, Sophie developed a keen interest in both cattle lameness and calf health, and studied to become an ECBHM diplomate, which she recieved in 2018. This enabled her to become an RCVS Specialist in Cattle Health and Production in 2019.
Sophie worked as a Teaching Fellow at the Surrey University for 18 months, before returning to the RVC to take up a role as a Lecturer, as well as completing a part-time PhD in calf health. She completed her postgraduate certificate in Veterinary Education in 2021, and has a keen interest and active role in educating future farm vets, with particular involvement in final year rotations and links with the offsite teaching partners Synergy Farm Health.
Externally, Sophie is a past president of the AVTRW (2021-22), and continues to be strongly involved with the Association.
Mahendran, S.A.; Huxley, J.N.; Chang, Y.-M.; Burnell, M.; Barrett, D.C.; Whay, H.R.; Blackmore, T.; Mason, C.S.; Bell, N.J. Randomised Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effect of Foot Trimming before and after First Calving on Subsequent Lameness Episodes and Productivity in Dairy Heifers. Vet. J. 2017, 220, doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2017.01.011.
Mahendran SA, Booth R, Bell NJ, Burge M: Randomised positive control trial of NSAID and antimicrobial treatment for calf fever caused by pneumonia. Vet Rec 2017, 181(2):45.
Mahendran SA, Booth R, Beekhuis L, Manning A, Blackmore T, Vanhoudt A, Bell N: Assessing the effects of weekly preweaning health scores on dairy calf mortality and productivity parameters: cohort study. Vet Rec 2017, 181(8):196.
Mahendran, S.A.; Booth, R.; Bell, N.J. Randomised Control Trial of NSAID and Antimicrobial Treatments for Pyrexia Caused by BRD. In Proceedings of the BCVA Cattle Practice; Remnant, J.G., Ed.; Southport, 2017; pp. 259–266.
Mahendran, S.A. Use of Fever Detection in Combination with Thoracic Ultrasonography to Identify Respiratory Disease, and Compare Treatments of Antimicrobials and NSAID: A Randomised Study in Dairy Calves. Vet. Rec. Open 2020, 7, e000415, doi:10.1136/vetreco-2020-000415.
Mahendran, S.A.; Wathes, D.C.; Booth, R.E.; Blackie, N. The Health and Behavioural Effects of Individual versus Pair Housing of Calves at Different Ages on a UK Commercial Dairy Farm. Animals 2021, 11, 612, doi:10.3390/ani11030612.
Mahendran, S.A.; Wathes, D.C.; Booth, R.E.; Blackie, N. A Survey of Calf Management Practices and Farmer Perceptions of Calf Housing in UK Dairy Herds. J. Dairy Sci. 2022, 105, 49–423, doi:10.3168/JDS.2021-20638.
Mahendran, S.A.; Blackie, N.; Wathes, D.C.; Booth, R.E. Comparison of Environment Quality Measurements between 3 Types of Calf Housing in the United Kingdom. J. Dairy Sci. 2023, 106, 2461–2474, doi:10.3168/JDS.2022-22613.
Swift, B.M.C.; Denton, E.J.; Mahendran, S.A.; Huxley, J.N.; Rees, C.E.D. Development of a Rapid Phage-Based Method for the Detection of Viable Mycobacterium Avium Subsp. Paratuberculosis in Blood within 48 H. J. Microbiol. Methods 2013, 94, 175–179, doi:10.1016/J.MIMET.2013.06.015.
Manning, A.D.; Mahendran, S.A.; Hurst, B.S.; Blackmore, T.L.; Bell, N.J. Effect of a Prewash on Footbath Contamination: A Randomised Control Trial. Vet. Rec. 2017, 180, doi:10.1136/vr.103922.
Non-refereed Journals:
Mahendran, S.; Bell, N. Lameness in Cattle 2. Managing Claw Health through Appropriate Trimming Techniques. In Pract. 2015, 37, doi:10.1136/inp.h2011.
Mahendran, S.A. FeverTags: Engaging Technology in the Battle against Bovine Respiratory Disease. Livestock 2018, 23, 118–121, doi:10.12968/live.2018.23.3.118.