Research Activities

The academic staff at the Faculty of Veterinary Science have a very diverse range of research interests, which do not always correspond with their areas of teaching expertise. If you are interested in doing research in a particular area, use the following headings to guide you when approaching staff about projects.

Check the research groups website for more ideas.

Animal Production

Dr Russell Bush
Email:russell.bush@sydney.edu.au
Improving Dairy Production in China and Pakistan through Improved Nutrition
Improving Beef Production in Cambodia through Improved Nutrition
Improving Nutrition for Commercial Crocodile Production in Australia
Financial Modelling the Impact of Ovine Paratuberculosis

Dr Pietro Celi
Email:pietro.celi@sydney.edu.au
Livestock metabolism and endocrinology
Nutrition and reproduction in farm animals

Dr Kendra Kerrisk
Email:kendra.kerrisk@sydney.edu.au
Automatic milking for Australian pasture based dairy systems

Dr Jeff Downing
Email:
Endocrinology and stress physiology

Prof David R. Fraser
Email:
Calcium and vitamin D metabolism in mammals, birds and fish

A/Prof Sergio (Yani) Garcia
Email:sergio.garcia@sydney.edu.au
Pasture-based dairy production systems
Forage production and utilisation

Adjunct Prof Heather Greenfield
Email:heather.greenfield@sydney.edu.au
Nutrition and peak bone mass in adolescence
Nutrient composition of animal food products
Chinese dairy industry

Dr Peter Groves
Email:
Epidemiological approaches to poultry disease management

Dr Alison Gunn
Email:
Livestock health and production
Infectious diseases

A/Prof John K. House
Email:
Livestock health and production
Infectious diseases
Antimicrobial efficacy and susceptibility
Food safety

Dr R. E. Newman
Email:
+61 2 9351 1639
Avian metabolism and endocrinology

Applied Animal Reproduction

Dr Roslyn Bathgate
Email:
Applied reproduction in farm animals and wildlife

Dr Christopher Grupen
Email:
Gamete and embryo physiology
Assisted reproductive technologies

Dr Claire Kershaw-Young
Email:
Anatomy and physiology of reproduction in farm animals
Assisted reproductive technologies
Human embryonic stem cells

Companion Animal Health, Behaviour and Welfare

A/Prof Vanessa Barrs
Email:
Clinical research of infectious diseases in cats
Prevalence studies of genetic diseases amongst Australian cats
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of novel insulins in cats

A/Prof Julia Beatty
Email:
Infectious diseases of cats.
Neoplastic, genetic and endocrine diseases of small animals

Dr Graeme Brown
Email:
Dogs as reservoirs of human enteric pathogens and Streptococci and Staphylococci and their impact in Aboriginal communities.
Ticks and the rickettsial tick-borne diseases of dogs.

Dr Katrina Bosward
Email:
Veterinary Immunology and Microbiology
Pathogenesis of OJD
Snake envenomation in cats and dogs
Pathogenesis of chronic feline renal failure
Wound Healing in the Mulesing Operation

Dr Christine Hawke
Email:
Veterinary undergraduate education in professional practice (transition to practice, communication, ethics)
Canine immune responses to vaccination; feline immune responses to feline coronaviruses in the pathogenesis of feline infectious peritonitis
Aetiology and pathogenesis of periodontal disease and feline tooth resorption

Dr Corinna Klupiec
Email:
Development of integrated teaching resources
Comparative anatomy and pathophysiology of the eye

A/Prof Mark B. Krockenberger
Email:
Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions of Cryptococcosis
Diseases of Australian Wildlife, especially koalas
Diagnostic use of Immunohistochemistry in soft tissue tumours of cats and dogs
Infectious diseases of animals

Prof Paul D. McGreevy
Email:
Behaviour and welfare studies in domestic species, especially horses and dogs
Training of domestic and exotic species
Human-animal interactions

A/Prof Jacqueline M. Norris
Email:
Periodontal disease in cats
Feline infectious peritonitis
Feline immunodeficiency virus
Feline chronic renal failure

Dr Sanaa Zaki
Email:
Anaesthesia and analgesia

Educational Research and Practice Management

Dr John Baguley
Email:
Veterinary economics, law, ethics and business management.

Dr Melanie Collier
Email:
Veterinary science education
Endocrinology

Dr Christine Hawke
Email:
Veterinary undergraduate education in professional practice (transition to practice, communication, ethics)
Canine immune responses to vaccination; feline immune responses to feline coronaviruses in the pathogenesis of feline infectious peritonitis
Aetiology and pathogenesis of periodontal disease and feline tooth resorption

Dr Corinna Klupiec
Email:
Development of integrated teaching resources
Comparative anatomy and pathophysiology of the eye

Dr Susan Matthew
Email:
Students' experiences of learning in professional placements
Placement supervisors' and lecturers' experiences of teaching in Veterinary Science
Leadership in veterinary practice

Prof Roseanne A. Taylor
Email:
Neurological disease
Stem cells
Gene therapy
Veterinary education

Equine Research

Prof Andrew Dart
Email:
Clinical research
Biomedical Research
Equine Surgery
Equine Performance
Camelid medicine and surgery

A/Prof Christina Dart
Email:
Degenerative joint disease and cartilage healing
Gastrointestinal disease
Surgical management of colic

Prof Leo Jeffcott
Email:
Equine medicine and surgery, especially orthopaedics, paediatrics, internal medicine, clinical pathology and exercise physiology
In particular, back and spinal conditions of horses, and their effects on athletic performance; developmental conditions of horses, and the pathogenesis of Osteochondrosis; climatic effects on horses competing under hot/humid conditions at the Olympic Games.

Prof Paul D. McGreevy
Email:
Behaviour and welfare studies in domestic species, especially horses and dogs
Training of domestic and exotic species
Human-animal interactions

Dr Tony Mogg
Email:
Equine internal medicine, ophthalmology, cardiology and clinical pharmacology
Veterinary education

Dr Gary Muscatello
Email:
Equine infectious disease
Epidemiology of Rhodococcus equi
Epidemiology of Equine transport pneumonia
Aerosol culture methods to detect agents associated with respiratory disease in the horse
Sequence identification of unusual pathogens

Dr Christine Smith
Email:
Lameness and poor performance in horses
Degenerative joint disease

Farm Animal Health and Welfare

Dr Joy Becker
Email:
Infectious diseases of fish
Aquatic animal health

Dr Douglas Begg
Email:
Pathogenesis of Johne’s disease in sheep

Dr Katrina L. Bosward
Email:
Veterinary Immunology and Microbiology
Pathogenesis of OJD
Snake envenomation in cats and dogs
Pathogenesis of chronic feline renal failure
Wound Healing in the Mulesing Operation

Aaron Cowieson
Email:

Greg Cronin
Email:greg.cronin@sydney.edu.au

Dr Navneet Dhand
Email:
Epidemiology of ovine Johne’s disease
Statistical computing and data analysis
Relational databases and animal health information systems
Mathematical modelling

Dr Om Dhungyel
Email:
Ovine Footrot Research - Diagnosis, Molecular Pathogenesis and Vaccine Development
Ovine Johne’s disease

Dr Kumudika de Silva
Email:
Inflammatory response to injury/inflammation
Apoptosis
Ovine Johne's disease

Prof David Emery
Email:
Ruminant immunology related to infectious diseases
Parasitology and vaccination

Dr Peter Groves
Email:
Epidemiological approaches to poultry disease management

Dr Alison Gunn
Email:
Livestock health and production
Infectious diseases

Dr Marta Hernandez-Jover
Email:
Livestock traceability and biosecurity

Dr Patricia Holyoake
Email:
Pig health, welfare, reproduction and performance

A/Prof John K. House
Email:
Livestock health and production
Infectious diseases
Food safety
Animal welfare
Live export

Dr Wendy I. Muir
Email:
Avian immunology

Dr Karren Plain
Email:
Cellular and molecular immunology (in particular transplantation
immunology)
Ovine Johne's Disease
Immune regulation

A/Prof Jenny-Ann Toribio
Email:
Epidemiology of infectious disease
Smallholder livestock systems
Risk assessment
Innovative approaches to education

Prof Michael P. Ward
Email:
Public health and food safety
Analytical epidemiology
Spatial epidemiology and GIS
Simulation modelling

Prof Richard J. Whittington
Email:
Infectious diseases of livestock, fauna and fish

Prof Peter A. Windsor
Email:
Livestock health diagnosis & management
Neuropathology and reproductive & genetic disease

Genetics and Genomics

A/Prof Katherine Belov
Email:
Genetics and genomics of Australasian Wildlife

Dr Natasha Hamilton
Email:
Equine genetics
Genetics of parasite resistance in sheep

Dr Jaime Gongora
Email:
Wildlife genetics
Co-evolution
Phylogeography
Population genetics

Dr Elisabeth Jonas
Email:
Livestock genomics
Population genetics in sheep, modeling lactation curves, QTL analysis

Dr Mehar Khatkar
Email:
Integrated genomics
Linkage disequilibrium mapping
Marker Assisted Selection
Computing and data analysis

Prof Christopher Moran
Email:
Molecular genetics and functional genomics
Crocodile gene mapping and genomics
Platypus population genetics

Prof Herman W. Raadsma
Email:
Livestock genomics
Resistance to disease
Functional genomics

Dr Mohammad Shariflou
Email:
Molecular genetics focussing on sheep genomics

A/Prof Paul Sheehy
Email:
Functional Genomics
Gene Discovery
Gene therapy
Cell biology
Molecular diagnostics
Basic cellular biology

Dr Imke Tammen
Email:
Inherited disorders in livestock
Genetics of production traits

Prof Rosanne A. Taylor
Email:
Neurological disease
Stem cells
Gene therapy
Veterinary education

A/Prof Peter Thomson
Email:
Statistical genetics
Major gene analysis
Applied statistics

A/Prof Peter Williamson
Email:
Functional Genomics/Proteomics
Molecular immunology
Signal transduction
Bio-engineering
Lactation

Immunology, Photobiology and Pharmacology

Dr Katrina L. Bosward
Email:
Veterinary Immunology and Microbiology
Pathogenesis of OJD
Snake envenomation in cats and dogs
Pathogenesis of chronic feline renal failure
Wound Healing in the Mulesing Operation

Prof David Emery
Email:
Ruminant immunology related to infectious diseases
Parasitology and vaccination

A/Prof Merran Govendir
Email:
Veterinary clinical pharmacology
Immunohistochemistry

Dr Christine Hawke
Email:
Veterinary undergraduate education in professional practice (transition to practice, communication, ethics)
Canine immune responses to vaccination; feline immune responses to feline coronaviruses in the pathogenesis of feline infectious peritonitis
Aetiology and pathogenesis of periodontal disease and feline tooth resorption

Dr Susan Hemsley
Email:
Marsupial disease and immunology

Dr Wendy I. Muir
Email:
Avian immunology

Dr Karren Plain
Email:
Cellular and molecular immunology (in particular transplantation
immunology)
Ovine Johne's Disease
Immune regulation

Dr Vivienne E. Reeve
Email:
Photobiology
Immunity and skin carcinogenesis
Autoimmune diseases

Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology

Wildlife Biology, Health and Conservation

Dr Tiziana Beninati
Email:
Novel infectious diseases in ticks and mammals
Molecular characterization of Chlamydiales and tick-borne diseases
Electron microscopy and in situ hybridization analysis of intracellular bacterium
Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of intracellular symbionts in insects

Dr Rachael Gray
Email:
Marine mammal health and disease

Dr Susan Hemsley
Email:
Marsupial disease and immunology

Dr Damien Higgins
Email:
Pathogenesis and ecology of wildlife disease
Wildlife immunology
Medicine, surgery and management of terrestrial and marine wildlife

A/Prof Mark Krockenberger
Email:
Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions of Cryptococcosis
Diseases of Australian Wildlife, especially koalas
Diagnostic use of Immunohistochemistry in soft tissue tumours of cats and dogs
Infectious diseases of animals

Prof Christopher Moran
Email:
Molecular genetics and functional genomics
Crocodile gene mapping and genomics
Platypus population genetics

A/Prof David Phalen
Email:
Infectious diseases of wildlife, particularly birds

Dr Derek Spielman
Email:
Pathology, ecology and epidemiology of diseases affecting wildlife
Exotic, new and emerging diseases that affect wildlife (native and exotic)
Domesticated animal and human interfaces
How the genetics of small populations affects endangered populations and species

Dr Glenn M Shea
Email:
Biology of reptiles

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Veterinary Science