Ruth Zadoks

Biography

Ruth Zadoks is currently working as a Professor in the Department of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine

Research Interest

As veterinarian working in the area of food security, I am interested in promoting the health, welfare and productivity of food-producing animals and, consequently, in the people that use them to make a living or to feed themselves and others. My main research interest is infectious disease of livestock and people, although approaches used for research on terrestrial animals also apply to aquatic mammals and fish. In particular, I am interested in the use of DNA-based methods to refine the characterisation of micro- and macroparasites. Such characterisation at sub-species level or "strain typing", which can be done with a wide range of methods depending on the target organism and the spatio-temporal scale of the investigation, provides detailed insight into pathogen sources, transmission routes and disease manifestations. Based on understanding of these mechanisms, we can provide advice to farmers, veterinarians and policy makers about ways to improve animal and human health and productivity.