Page 5 - Science for the Planet

ONE WORLD
CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH DELIVERING GLOBAL IMPACT
The quality and breadth of our veterinary and biomedical science research demonstrates the RVC’s commitment to improving human and animal health and welfare, and the important role that veterinarians and biological scientists play on the international stage.
Our approach extends from understanding the molecular basis of disease, through whole animal clinical research to intervention and control at the level of the population. Our underpinning disciplines include animal welfare, biomechanics, genetics, bioinformatics, pathology and epidemiology, and public health.
OUR IMPACT 1 Schistosomiasis, an intestinal and urogenital infection caused by a parasitic worm that lives in fresh water, affects the poorest people and their livestock in sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental anthropogenic changes have led to a hybridisation between the animal and human schistosomes. Our team, led by Professor Joanne Webster,
was responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of large-scale sustainable control programs, which contributed
to changing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) strategic plan and to a positive vision for eliminating the disease as a public health problem by 2025.
OUR IMPACT 2
In our Structure and Motion laboratory, Professor Richard Bomphrey’s research into the flight mechanisms and techniques used by birds and insects is providing a better understanding of aerodynamics than ever before. His findings and the resulting bio-inspired technologies are being applied in aeronautics, the aerospace environment and the wider science community.
OUR IMPACT 3
In 2019, the RVC announced the launch of the £20M One Health Poultry Hub, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund of UK Research and Innovation.
The One Health Poultry Hub brings together an international team
of laboratory, clinical, and social scientists to address the rising demand for poultry meat and eggs in developing countries, while minimising risk to international public health. Unfortunately, the demand and increased production creates conditions in which animal diseases can spread to humans, including bacterial food poisoning and strains of avian influenza with epidemic or pandemic potential. The Hub will have impacts on human health, animal welfare and other issues such as antimicrobial resistance.