The Fellows

The 2022 Fellows

Aliyu Ahmed

Aliyu Ahmed (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) will be studying the increased human interaction with wild and domestic animals in the Gambia to better understand disease transmission. He will focus on rural communities and land use change, and will assess both known zoonotic diseases and emerging diseases.

Vet, Aliyu says he hopes ‘to promote sustainable agricultural practices that reduce zoonotic disease risks, preserve biodiversity, and contribute to food security’.

Gemma Bowsher

Gemma Bowsher (King’s College London) plans to build on existing collaborations with Brazilian researchers across One Health disciplines. She will explore the Pantanal Wetland System in Brazil, and as a doctor will use her inter-disciplinary background to investigate ways to assess the risks of new and emerging diseases in human and animal populations in the region.

Gemma plans to collaborate with local experts in ecology, veterinary and human medicine, social sciences and public policy ‘to explore how integrating diverse biological and social science approaches can improve early warnings for infectious disease emergence within the Pantanal ecosystem’.

Joannishka Dsani

Joannishka Dsani (University of Bonn) is a vet with a background in organisational development. Zoonoses are estimated to cause millions of deaths every year. She will explore current surveillance systems for zoonotic disease in her native Ghana and their potential for intersectoral collaboration.

Her aim is to ‘contribute to the much-needed knowledge on “how” One Health can be practically operationalized in zoonotic disease surveillance systems’.

Ben Ndayambaje

Ben Ndayambaje (University of Nebraska) will investigate the links between childhood stunting, livestock disease and water quality in Rwanda. Stunting, a multifactorial form of malnutrition, prevents children from reaching their physical and cognitive potential. Despite Rwanda’s progress in achieving most development goals, stunting levels remain high at 38 per cent.

Vet, Ben says, ‘New research approaches are therefore needed to explore interconnected factors associated with child stunting and zoonotic pathogen exposure. By enhancing understanding of this complex interplay, I aim to develop innovative interventions to manage malnutrition globally’.

Khadija Omar

Khadija Omar (University of Glasgow) will explore the public health threats of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis transmitted to people through poultry in Tanzania. These important bacterial diseases cause gastroenteritis in people, but treatment can be challenging due to antimicrobial resistance. Data on the occurrence of resistance in bacteria in the poultry food chain are urgently needed in countries such as Tanzania due to the risks from these resistant bacteria.

Vet, Khadija’s study will assess the occurrence of resistant bacteria in Tanzanian poultry at slaughter, and, she says, ‘the evidence gathered will support interventions aimed at addressing practices associated with poultry production that could endanger people’s health’