The contribution of livestock movements to the spread of antimicrobial resistance in East Africa

Supervisors:

Dr Paul Johnson, School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Dr Tiziana Lembo, School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Dr Jess Enright, School of Computing Science

Summary:

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health challenge that affects people’s health, and undermines food security and national economies through impacts on the livestock sector. The greatest impacts are felt in low-resource settings where livelihoods are highly dependent on livestock. Livestock mobility to access resources (grazing land, water and minerals) is critical to animal survival but could play a role in the spread of AMR across the landscape.

The successful PhD student will develop new statistical and mathematical methods to model and understand the complex system of livestock movements in traditional livestock production systems of East Africa, and will use bacterial whole-genome sequence data and population genetics modelling to assess the contribution of livestock movements to the spread of AMR. They will also test the transferability and robustness of these models for larger scale inferences. The connections of the supervisory team to national and international agencies will provide a link to decision makers for the practical application of this work.

Applicants should be highly quantitative ecologists or epidemiologists with an interest in deepening their mathematical and statistical skills, or applied statisticians aiming to develop their skills to address practical issues around the control of livestock diseases in natural systems.