Clinical farm animal veterinary medicine

Population health and metabolic status

Immunology and vaccinology 

Zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance

Alex studied veterinary medicine at The University of Cambridge. He intercalated in Natural Sciences and after graduating in 2008, he worked as a farm animal vet in private practices in Northamptonshire, Shropshire/Cheshire and Lancashire. During his time in private practice, he also developed a number of web based herd health reporting tools to monitor milk quality and composition.

In 2012, Alex undertook a PhD at the Roslin and Moredun research institutes. His project was sponsored by Bioniche Life Sciences (Canada) as part of their public health vaccine programme to characterise the cellular immune response of cattle during Escherichia coli O157:H7 colonisation. He undertook an industrial secondment with Bioniche in 2014, where he learned about industrial vaccine development, Good Manufacturing Practice and the public health vaccine market.

He started working as a lecturer at the R(D)SVS in 2015 and now divides his time between clinical and teaching responsibilities in the Farm Animal Division and research in population health. He has a particular interest in zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance, immunology/vaccinology and metabolic status.

Our role as farm animal veterinary surgeons is to support the farming community to profitably produce food that is safe, in a manner that contributes positively to the environment and is respectful of animal welfare. Infectious diseases in farm animals have a substantial impact on productivity and welfare, whilst also acting as a source of infection for humans. In addition, the use of antibiotics to treat infectious diseases in farm animals is under intense scrutiny as a selector of antibiotic resistance genes in both veterinary and human pathogens.

My research aims to contribute to our ability to better control infectious diseases in farm animals. I am particularly interested in:

• The interaction between metabolic status and immune function in livestock
• How improved management and new technologies can be used to improve immune function and vaccine performance in farm animals
• The quantitative assessment of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in commercial production systems and how this information can inform best practice and policy
• The control of zoonoses in livestock

During the COVID19 pandemic, I used my experience in population health and zoonoses to lead work to establish the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in Scotland.

David Gally

Tim Connelley

Jayne Hope

Ann Bruce

Michael Hutchings (Scotland's Rural College)

Tom McNeilly (Moredun Research Institute)

Tom Preston (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre)

Marie-Hélène Pinard (INRA)

Peers Davies (University of Liverpool)

Emoke Bendixen (University of Aarhus)

Jennifer Duncan (University of Liverpool)

Emily Gascoigne (Synergy Farm Health Ltd)

Fiona Lovatt (University of Nottingham)

Peter Down (University of Nottingham)

Kristen Rehyer (University of Bristol)

Andrew Singer (CEH)

Year 1

Animal Husbandry

Year 3

Professional & Clinical Skills 3

Year 4

Farm Animal (Course Organiser), Professional & Clinical Skills 4

Year 5

Final Year Preparation, Final Year Rotations, Student Selected Component 2

All Years

Professional Development

SRC Projects

MVetSci (online taught masters)

Recent Advances in Production Animal Practice

Mastitis

Production Animal

Dairy Herd Health and Productivity Service

School

Farm Animal Teaching, Student Support (PT), Admissions (MMIs), Infection Control Committee (Chair), Veterinary Ethics Review Committee, BVM&S Programme Director