Professor Sarah Cleaveland honoured by the British Veterinary Association
Published: 23 September 2016
Professor Sarah Cleaveland has been honoured by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) for her “outstanding contributions to veterinary science” and named as a “true champion of One Health” research.
Professor Sarah Cleaveland has been honoured by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) for her “outstanding contributions to veterinary science” and named as a “true champion of One Health” research.
Professor Cleaveland, Professor of Comparative Epidemiology at the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, has been awarded the Chiron Award for 2016 in recognition of her “pivotal contribution to the development of international strategies for global rabies eradication”.
Sarah Cleaveland accepting her award
The Chiron Award is chosen and presented by BVA for outstanding contributions to veterinary science, or for outstanding services to the veterinary profession, judged in either case as being of a calibre commanding international or inter-professional recognition.
In April this year Professor Cleaveland became a member of the Royal Society in recognition of the impacts of her research on human and animal health.
The BVA commentated on Professor Cleaveland’s Chiron Award: “The award recognises the distinctive contributions you have made as a true champion for One Health and acknowledges the impacts of your research on human and animal health across disciplinary and geographic boundaries.
“Your pivotal contribution to the development of the international strategies for global rabies eradication, your extensive work on zoonotic and livestock diseases in developing countries, and your strong personal commitment to focus attention on the needs of marginalised communities in the control of animal diseases are highlights of a unique and truly outstanding veterinary career.”
Professor Cleaveland said: “I am honoured to have been given this award from the BVA. Awards like this are not just recognition of the contributions of one person, but reflect the work of many. I have been privileged to work with many excellent scientists throughout my career and this award recognises their contribution too.”
Professor Cleaveland is a strong advocate of using ‘One Health’ approaches in her work – building multidisciplinary teams that involve medical, veterinary, ecology and social scientists – and is committed to building and sustaining partnerships with African institutions and researchers as an integral part of the research.
This approach, combined with working across disciplinary and geographic boundaries, is at the core of Professor Cleaveland’s success. By continuing to build new links and find new ways of looking at disease challenges, she hopes to continue to create positive changes in the lives of disadvantaged people.
Professor Cleaveland started her career working on rabies, a terrifying and deadly disease that still kills tens of thousands of people in Africa and Asia every year. The research programme she established in Tanzania has provided important evidence to change the way that rabies is being tackled around the world, and is underpinning international efforts towards the global elimination of rabies, which is now a declared objective of the World Health Organization, the World Animal Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
She is currently leading Livestock, Livelihoods and Health, a research programme in Tanzania funded under the Zoonoses in Emerging Livestock Systems programme. This focuses on a group of infections that have been largely neglected, but are an important cause of fever in people, and further affect people’s livelihoods through production impacts on livestock.
For more information on Prof Cleaveland’s work visit http://livestocklivelihoodsandhealth.org
First published: 23 September 2016
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