Livestock Diseases

I am a Professor in Food Safety. My research interests relate to interactions between microorganisms and crop plants. This includes work on food-borne bacteria that cause illness in humans and animals, and on phytopathogenic bacteria that cause disease on plants.  The aim of the work is to better understand the interactions and use the information to remove or control unwanted pathogens on plants. This ultimately contributes to human & animal health, and to plant health.

My research interests relate to the sustainable control of helminth parasites (worms and fluke) in livestock. The diseases caused by these parasites are amongst the most important and prevalent endemic production-limiting diseases of livestock, and represent a significant constraint on efficient livestock production, both in the UK and globally. This involves research into novel diagnostics, vaccine studies and disease control strategies. I also have a specific interest in the monitoring and management of anthelmintic (wormer) resistance.

I originally trained as a vet, but was less interested in treating individual animals, than in improving animal health and welfare in the population as a whole. I therefore moved sideways into veterinary epidemiology. In my present role I use a number of statistical and modelling techniques to make inferences from animal test and disease data, and determine the effect of various test and control strategies.
In a previous EPIC project, I have looked at data on E. coli O157 in calves, liver fluke in cattle, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD), sheep scab and bovine TB.

My long term interests focus on the relationship between sequence variation and protein function in relation to livestock disease.  I have studied the immune system of livestock species and genetic variation of pathogens for over 20 years and am interested in the molecular interactions between host and pathogen.

My research interests relate to the exploration and design of novel methods for controlling pests and parasites particularly through exploiting their unique physiology and their interactions with the host. I am head of the Vaccines Pillar at Moredun Research Institute and also part of EPIC, the Scottish Centre of Expertise on animal disease outbreaks.

Dave is a researcher at the Moredun Research Institute, and his current research interests focus on improving diagnostics and control strategies for nematode infections of ruminants.