EPIC - Key Persons
I am primarily interested in developing statistically sound approaches to parameter inference in dynamic and spatio-temporal stochastic models. As part of the Scottish COVID-19 Response Consortium (SCRC), I spent much of 2020/21 developing a nationwide inference algorithm to analyse the pandemic.
Harriet is EPIC Director of Research.
Harriet is a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow within the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine. She is a veterinary epidemiologist with interests in the dynamics, impacts and control of livestock diseases, particularly vector-borne diseases and zoonoses. She holds a European veterinary specialism in veterinary public health and population medicine and a PhD in veterinary epidemiology.
Harriet is one of EPIC's co-directors, with responsibility for research delivery. She also co-leads Challenge 1 with Katie Adam, which includes EPIC's work on contingency planning, outbreak preparedness, knowledge brokering and knowledge exchange. She works particularly on policy-responsive research questions and integrating multidisciplinary approaches to address animal health priorities. Her research interests also include wildlife reservoirs of disease, antimicrobial usage and resistance, and animal health systems.
My work within EPIC includes translation and communication of science as effective and ethical evidence for animal disease preparedness policy and disease outbreak response. As an EPIC Knowledge Broker and co-lead for Challenge 1, I provide qualitative risk assessment for exotic animal diseases with Scottish Government policy-makers, translate science to non-scientific audiences, and facilitate communication between policy-makers and EPIC scientists to provide high quality advice for exotic animal disease preparedness and animal health policy. I also collaborate with EPIC colleagues across the whole of the consortium, including epidemiologists, social scientists, economists and mathematical modellers to deliver the EPIC Knowledge Exchange (KE) and public engagement strategy.
I am a Lecturer in the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems at the University of Edinburgh. My career has covered many aspects of animal health and One Health, including veterinary practice, population health in livestock and aquaculture production, epidemiology, social science, knowledge exchange and public health. While my research is mostly UK-based, I have also worked on projects in Norway, Tanzania and Malawi. My research interests lie in understanding the human factors that influence animal health, and in the development and implementation of practical, innovative strategies to prevent and control infectious disease in animal and human populations.
Publications
EPIC veterinary risk assessment: wild bird carcass collection in the event of mass mortality due to suspected highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)
One Health
Interventions
Job Titles:
- Agricultural Social Scientist
I am an interdisciplinary social scientist working on decision making and governance in agricultural systems. I use qualitative methods including interviews, participant observation and workshops, and quantitative survey methods. I'm interested in understanding change within agriculture: how change happens at the level of individual farms and sectors more widely. Within EPIC I've worked on the BVD eradication scheme, AI and sheep scab.
With colleagues and collaborators in BioSS and beyond I aim to show and extend the power of mathematical modelling to impact on societal challenges through real world application and development of improved methods.
As co-director of EPIC, I am responsible for Quantitative Innovation and Operations. I specialise in animal health and welfare and coordinate the work of EPIC's quantitative scientists, while also supporting activities that promote information sharing and collaboration across different partner organizations. Aside from EPIC's corporate governance, I worked with the Scottish Environment, Food, and Agriculture Research Institutes, as well as participated in work on other projects and centres funded by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division. Within EPIC, I lead Challenge 6 which focuses on data management.
Mathematical modelling of livestock diseases sparked my interest as an undergraduate mathematician, and my PhD project examined models for the spread of rabies, particularly the issue of incorporating spatial-temporal aspects. Prior to joining Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland in 1996, I worked for three years on disease diagnosis in East African livestock. With key partners such as Moredun Research Institute and SRUC, I led all BioSS activities related to animal health and welfare from 2006. As Head of Consultancy at BioSS, I've recently handed over responsibility for animal welfare and health to others.
Developing BioSS expertise in quantitative veterinary epidemiology has been an essential activity for me. In 2006, I became a founding member of EPIC after analysing and modelling E. coli O157 dynamics and ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma. During my time at EPIC, I have built statistical models linking different sources of epidemiologically significant data, modelled and parameterized models of pathogen spread, developed scenario planning methodologies for future policy-oriented issues, and designed more effective statistical methods for syndromic surveillance. The current EPIC programme (2022-25) involves developing models for integrating different datasets and sources of disease freedom information, managing provenances and other types of metadata when delivering policy-relevant quantitative science, and creating a framework for formulating scientific research proposals that are relevant to policy.
In addition to my work with EPIC, I am progressing with a long-term project to promote a better interpretation of veterinary anthelmintic test results using a comprehensive, statistically coherent framework. These ideas have been adopted as part of new guidelines to be issued by the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology. These guidelines will be aimed at the interpretation of test data when seeking to identify anthelmintic resistance.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Professor of Population Medicine and Veterinary Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh
Lisa Boden is EPIC Director of Policy and Impact.
Lisa is a Professor of Population Medicine and Veterinary Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh, based in the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security and the Roslin Institute; senior vice President of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (www.ecvph.org). She is a member of the SSAC (Scottish Science Advisory Council).
She co-leads Challenge 1 with Dr Harriet Auty which is responsible for EPIC's policy-responsive contingency planning, communication and coordination activities to improve disease outbreak preparedness and inform animal health policy. This work includes strategic, tactical and operational oversight of EPIC's knowledge brokering activities and emergency outbreak response. Her research concentrates on risk assessment and communication, foresighting/resilience, regulation and effective, ethical evidence-based decision-making in animal health to promote global food and animal health security and sustainability. Her aim is to improve veterinary public health and One Health outcomes and facilitate farmer and industry access to international export markets.
Professor Boden also leads a programme of One Health research in fragile and conflict affected regions (such as Syria and surrounding countries- see One Health FIELD Network) to improve preparedness and timely response to global health, environment and food security threats.
Job Titles:
- Infectious Disease Ecologist
I'm Professor of Infectious Disease Ecology and Mathematical Biology in the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Comparative Medicine at The University of Glasgow and co-director of the Boyd Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health. Mathematically trained, I bring 25 years' experience in veterinary epidemiology and have worked on a wide range of systems. These include endemic and epidemic livestock diseases in the UK; zoonotic pathogens; wildlife disease including canine distemper virus in tigers and rabies in Ethiopian wolves; vector-borne disease including Rift Valley Fever and African Animal Trypanosomiasis; the spread of antimicrobial resistance and optimal control strategies to limit the development of drug resistance.
With EPIC, I co-lead our outbreak preparedness challenge which focuses on ensuring we have the appropriate tools and expertise available to respond to incursions of livestock disease into the UK.
Publications
FAIR data pipeline: provenance-driven data management for traceable scientific workflows
One Health
Evaluation
Data management
Uptake of diagnostic tests by livestock farmers: a stochastic game theory approach
Livestock keepers
Economics
Behaviour
Interventions
I am an animal ecologist at the University of Glasgow, specialising in multi-trophic interactions with particular expertise on pests and parasites, especially the ecology of ticks and tick-borne diseases. My research is currently focussing on the environmental factors driving the risk of tick-borne diseases, tick-borne disease risk in urban green spaces in relation to wildlife corridors, and how humans (and livestock) may influence their own tick-borne disease risk by creating a landscape of fear in deer (and modifying habitat through grazing).
In EPIC I am a co-leader of Challenge 5: Changes in national and international exogenous drivers of disease risk: perception, economics and adaptation. I am collaborating with the social scientists, investigating how farmers, and policy-makers use EPIC-produced risk maps, interactive models and Apps as part of their biosecurity decision-making.
When not researching disease ecology, I love unwinding in the great outdoors, especially sea kayaking, mountain biking, hill walking and wildlife watching in the Scottish Highlands and islands.