Professor Michael Ward
People_

Professor Michael Ward

BVSc (Hons 1) MSc MPVM PhD FACVSc DVSc
Chair, Veterinary Public Health &
Food Safety  
Phone
+61 2 9351 1607
Fax
+61 2 9351 1618
Address
C01A - Jl Shute - Camden
The University of Sydney
Details
Professor Michael Ward

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 complete 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.

Michael again left Australia in July, 2000, to take up a position at the Purdue University Veterinary School and settled in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 2004, he moved to the Texas A&M University Veterinary School. In 2007 Michael applied for the newly created position of Chair, Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety at the University of Sydney, a position he continues to hold.

Michael's real passion is in infectious disease epidemiology, disease mapping and spatial analysis, and disease spread modelling. In 2024 Michael successfully applied for an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship. This is the pinnacle of competitive research funding for an individual in Australia, an unique achievement for a veterinarian employed in an Australian veterinary school. This 5-year, $5 million program will focus on the wild-domestic interface and how this influences the risk of disease spillover. Together with a team of three postdoctoral research associates and three PhD students, Michael’s goal is to develop a mechanistic understanding of the wild-domestic animal interface and how that drives disease spillover risk. This has great relevance to food production, animal welfare, environmental sustainability and ecosystems, and pandemic preparedness.

  • spatial epidemiology and disease mapping
  • disease spread modelling
  • transboundary and emerging diseases
  • diseases of wildlife
  • Veterinary Public Health and One Health
  • infectious disease epidemiology
  • Research and Enquiry VETS6107: Diagnostic tests, study design
  • Research and Enquiry VETS6307: Professionally-focused project
  • Research and Enquiry VETS6313: Professionally-focused project
  • Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship, “Defining the wild-domestic animal interface and microbial spillover risk”
  • Section Chief Editor, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, Frontiers in Veterinary Science
  • Fellow (Veterinary Epidemiology), Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists
  • Chair, Local Organising Committee, International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (Sydney, 11-15 November, 2024)
  • Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists: Most commendable paper published in the Australian Veterinary Journal, 2016 and 2023
  • Churchill International Fellowship, 2011
  • Ian Clunies Ross Award, Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, 1997
Project titleResearch student
Examination and validation of multiple diagnostic modalities for bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle, and development of a predictive model for risk of bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattleTony BATTERHAM
Emerging leptospirosis in urban Sydney dogs - sources, risk factors and preventionChristine GRIEBSCH
Canine Leptospirosis in Sydney: clustering, risk factors, inter-species transmission and modellingXiao LU

Publications

Selected Grants

2025

  • Defining the wild-domestic animal interface and microbial spillover risk, Ward M, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Australian Laureate Fellowships (FL)
  • Identification of pathogenic Leptospira serovars/serogroups found in environmental and animal samples in Sydney, Australia by advanced molecular testing, Westman M, Ward M, Griebsch C, Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases (Sydney ID)/Sydney ID Seed Grants

2024

  • Defining the wild-domestic animal interface and microbial spillover risk, Ward M, Sydney School of Veterinary Science (SSVS)/Research Support

Professor Ward is Chair of the Local Organising Committee for the International Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, to be hosted in Sydney in 2024.

In the media

Professor Michael Ward was interviewed on ABC RN Breakfast Radio "Scientists working to stop spread of deadly contagion" for the full story : http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/australian-scientists-work-to-impede-deadly-contagion/5554492

Related research articles

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