Professor Michael Ward
Lab Director
Michael trained as a veterinarian at the University of Queensland and spent the first five years of his career as a field veterinary officer employed by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) in Townsville. During this period, he was involved in disease eradication (TB and brucellosis), export and disease control activities, and he also completed a Master of Science degree at James Cook University on the topic of bluetongue virus in cattle. Michael then completed Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and PhD degrees at the University of California, Davis, also on the topic of bluetongue virus epidemiology. He returned to Australia and continued work as a Research Scientist with the QDPI in Toowoomba and Brisbane.
In 2000 Michael took up a position at Purdue University in Indiana, and then in 2004 was appointed Professor at Texas A&M University. During this period, he focused on transboundary and emerging diseases, such as avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease and West Nile virus, using spatial analysis and disease spread models.
Michael returned to Australia in 2007 to take up the new position of Chair, Veterinary Public Health at the University of Sydney. He organized the inaugural GEOVET conference in 2010 and Chaired ISVEE 17 in 2024. He has held editorial roles in the international journals Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, Zoonoses and Public Health, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, and Frontiers in Veterinary Science. In 2024, Michael was awarded an ARC Laureate Fellowship.
Postdocs
Dr. Renata Muylaert
Dr Renata Muylaert develops models and knowledge syntheses to understand how land use change and habitat loss affect wildlife and human health. With a Master’s in Zoology and a PhD in Ecology and Biodiversity, her research focuses on assessing animal ecology and zoonotic disease risks with potential contributions to local-scale planning and primary prevention. She investigates the drivers of disease outbreaks, including landscape structure, social vulnerability, and climate-related events such as flooding. Passionate about open science and communication, she strives to build a more inclusive and reflective scientific community.
Dr Tatiana Proboste
Dr Tatiana Proboste’s background is in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and completed a master’s degree on terrestrial ecology and biodiversity management from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, after she completed a PhD degree at the University of Queensland on wildlife-urban interface and disease transmission. Tatiana’s research is focused on spatial analysis and animal movement, especially using network analysis to estimate contact rates.
Dr Jess Agius
Dr Jessica Agius has a background in animal and veterinary bioscience, graduating with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney in 2016. She completed her PhD in 2021 through a collaboration between the University of Sydney, the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, and the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health at Taronga. Her research focused on a novel Enterococcus species (E. lacertideformus) threatening critically endangered reptiles on Christmas Island, as well as broader infectious diseases affecting endemic wildlife.
Jessica’s research focuses on integrating pathogen genomics, molecular epidemiology, and infectious disease surveillance to inform both public health and animal conservation outcomes, with particular interests in antimicrobial resistance, One Health, and emerging infectious diseases in Australian wildlife.
Research Students
Thuy Hoang Thi – PhD student
Thuy is a PhD student with a background in veterinary medicine and wildlife conservation. Her research project, “Mechanistic Understanding and Risk Assessment of Avian Influenza Spillover at the Wild-Domestic Animal Interface,” uses a multidisciplinary approach to better understand and predict avian influenza spillover risks between wild birds and domestic poultry.
Niraj Meisuria – PhD student
Niraj is a PhD student researching the disease interface between wild and domestic animals across a range of systems – 2025
Ludovica Preite – PhD student
Xiao Lu – PhD candidate
Xiao is a current PhD candidate investigating leptospirosis in the state of New South Wales. She recently graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Biology (Honours I) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Sydney School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Sydney, in late 2022. Her research mainly focuses on the spatial and temporal aspects of the local zoonosis outbreaks, with particular interests in the environmental risk factors (wildlife reservoirs, landscape, socioeconomic status, and climate) and the concept of One Health. In addition to the academic activities, she also works as a primary-care veterinarian in western Sydney.