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An Interdisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Cambridge
 

Biography

Head of Department of Veterinary Medicine 
Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science

Infection dynamics and control of diseases.

My research interests focus on the dynamic processes represented in all infectious diseases, at scales from the cellular and sub-cellular through to the more traditionally studied epidemiological scales of the population and metapopulation. Mathematical modelling and more traditional epidemiological approaches are combined with detailed molecular studies of pathogen and host in a multidisciplinary framework.

All studies of any infection must also consider the ecology of the host as well as of the infection itself and its pathogenesis. I have particular interests in the epidemiological dynamics of various virus infections of humans and other animals, including bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, African horse sickness, canine rabies and emergent lyssavirus and henipavirus infections and the methods needed to study them. Bovine tuberculosis poses interesting challenges at the interface of science and policy and is an important disease and challenge. Funded studies include the emergence of zoonotic viruses in sub-Saharan Africa and rabies dynamics. A number of students work on the dynamics of emergent viral infections in bats, in particular Eidolon helvum, in Ghana. In addition to my research interests, I am also involved in the Cambridge-Africa programme, which focuses on building links between Cambridge and African Institutions and which aims to strengthen Africa's own capacity for a sustainable research.

My position and research is generously supported by The ALBORADA Trust .

Publications

Key publications: 

Glennon, E.E., Jephcott, F.L., Restif, O., Wood, J.L.N. (2019) Estimating undetected Ebola spillovers. PLoS neglected tropical diseases 13, e0007428

Mekonnen, G.A., Conlan, A.J.K., Berg, S.,  BT Ayele, A Alemu, S Guta, M Lakew, ... (2019) Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and its associated risk factors in the emerging dairy belts of regional cities in Ethiopia. Preventive veterinary medicine 168, 81-89

Berger, K.M., JLN Wood, B Jenkins, J Olsen, SS Morse, L Gresham, JJ Root, ...(2019) Policy and Science for Global Health Security: Shaping the Course of International Health. Tropical medicine and infectious disease 4, 60

Lo Iacono, G., Cunningham, A.A., Bett, B., Grace, D., Redding, D.W. & Wood, J.L.N. (2018) Environmental limits of Rift Valley fever revealed using ecoepidemiological mechanistic models. PNAS www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1803264115

 

AJK Conlan, M Vordermeier, MCM de Jong, JLN Wood (2018) The intractable challenge of evaluating cattle vaccination as a control for bovine Tuberculosis eLife 7, e27694

TJ McKinley, D Lipschutz-Powell, AP Mitchell, JLN Wood, AJK Conlan (2018) Risk factors and variations in detection of new bovine tuberculosis breakdowns via slaughterhouse surveillance in Great Britain. PloS ONE 13 (6), e0198760

DTS Hayman, AD Luis, O Restif, KS Baker, AR Fooks, C Leach, (2018)  Maternal antibody and the maintenance of a lyssavirus in populations of seasonally breeding African bats. PloS ONE 13 (6), e0198563

Peel, A.J., Baker, K.S., Hayman, D.T.S., Broder, C.C., Cunningham, A.A., Fooks, A.R., Garnier, R., Wood, J.L.N. & Restif, O. (2018) Support for viral persistence in bats from age-specific serology and models of maternal immunity. Scientific Reports 8, 3859

Suu-Ire, R.D*., Begeman, L.*, Banyard, A., Breed, A.C., Drosten, C., Eggerbauer, E., Freuling, C. Gibson, L., Goharriz, H., Horton, D., Jennings, D., Kuzmin, I.V., Marston, D., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., Riesle, S.B., Selden, D., Wise, E., Kuiken, T., Fooks, A.R., Mueller, T., Wood, J.L.N. & Cunningham, A.A. (2018) Pathogenesis of bat rabies in a natural reservoir: comparative susceptibility of the straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) to three strains of Lagos bat virus. PLOS Negl Trop Dis http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006311

 

 

Suu-Ire, R.D., Fooks, A.R.,, Banyard, A., Selden, D., Amponsah-Mensah, K., Riesle, S., Ziekah, M.Y., Ntiamoah-Baidu, Y., Wood, J.L.N. & Cunningham, A.A. (2017) Lagos Bat Virus Infection Dynamics in a Population of Free Ranging Straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum). Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases 2, 35

Scoones I, Jones K, Lo Iacono G, Redding DW, Wilkinson A, Wood JLN (2017) Integrative modelling for One Health: pattern, process and participation.. Phil Trans R Soc B 372 (1725) 20160164. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0164

Cunningham, AA, I Scoones, JLN Wood (2017) One Health for a changing world: new perspectives from Africa. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372 (1725), 20160162

Cunningham, AA, P Daszak, JLN Wood (2017) One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372 (1725), 2016016

Jephcott, FL, Wood, JLN & Cunningham, AA (2017) Facility-based surveillance for emerging infectious diseases; diagnostic practices in rural West African hospital settings: observations from Ghana. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372 (1725), 20160544

 

Lo Iacono G, Cunningham AA, Fichet-Calvet E, Garry RF, Grant DS, Leach M,  Lina M. Moses, LM, Nichols, G., Schieffelin, JS, Shaffer, JG, Webb, CT & Wood, JLN (2016) A Unified Framework for the Infection Dynamics of Zoonotic Spillover and Spread. PLOS Negl Trop Dis 10 (9), e0004957       http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004957

Grenfell BT, Pybus OG, Gog JR, Wood JLN, Daly JM, Mumford JA, Holmes EC (2004), “Unifying the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of pathogens”, Science 303:327–332

Department of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinarian, epidemiology with interests in the infection dynamics and control of zoonotic diseases in Africa and globally.
Professor James  Wood
Available for consultancy

Affiliations

Departments and institutes: 
Person keywords: 
Ecology
Epidemiology
Global Health
Africa
Developing World
Dynamics
Disease vectors