University of Guelph experts will talk about the importance of taking a One Health approach to the COVID-19 pandemic in a one-hour, live panel discussion Aug. 25 at 10 a.m.

Hosted by the Ontario Veterinary College’s (OVC) Graduate Student Symposium, the free panel discussion will feature Profs. Amy Greer, Scott Weese and Katie Clow.

The three experts will share their expertise on how the pandemic has been handled, their recommendations for prevention of future pandemics and how they take a One Health approach with their own work.

Greer is a professor in the Department of Population Medicine and a Canada Research Chair in population disease modeling. She studies the introduction, spread, dynamics and control of infectious diseases in populations. She integrates empirical data with mathematical models to test the mechanisms leading to the epidemic spread of pathogens and to identify optimal intervention and control strategies. She is a member of the Public Health Agency of Canada COVID-19 Modelling Expert Advisory Group.

A professor in the Department of Population Medicine, Clow studies the ecology and epidemiology of vectors and vector-borne zoonoses, especially the blacklegged tick and Lyme disease. She also conducts research more broadly on One Health, including pedagogy and community-level applications. She is a member of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network, and regularly collaborates with public health professionals and veterinarians in private practice and industry.

Weese is a professor in the Department of Pathobiology, director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses and chief of infection control for the OVC Health Sciences Centre. His research focuses on a range of infectious disease issues involving animals and humans, including antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, emerging infectious diseases and infection control.

To watch the panel discussion, visit the Microsoft Teams live link on Aug. 25.