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Professor Michael Ward

Professor Michael Ward

Room S122
Shute Building C01
Faculty of Veterinary Science
University of Sydney NSW 2006
Phone: +61 2 9351 1607
Fax: +61 2 9351 1618
Email:m.ward@usyd.edu.au

Qualifications

  • BVSc (Hons 1), MSc, MPVM, PhD, FACVSc

Professional Distinctions

  • 1997 Ian Clunies Ross Award, Australian College of Veterinary Scientists
  • Fellow, Epidemiology, Australian College of Veterinary Scientists

Teaching Areas

  • Veterinary Public Health & Food Safety
  • Veterinary Public Health Management
  • Epidemiologic Methods
  • Spatial Epidemiology
  • Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Administration

  • Chair, Veterinary Public Health & Food Safety

Academic Experience

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, Indiana USA, 2000-2004
  • Professor of Epidemiology, Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas USA, 2004-2008

Contribution to the Profession and the Community

  • Collaborator, FAO Avian Influenza Control Program
  • Editorial Boards, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary
  • Research, Zoonoses and Public Health
  • Camden Bioscience Research Board

Research Interests

Michael left Australia in July, 2000, to take up a position at the Purdue University Veterinary School and settled in West Lafayette, Indiana. Having always wanted to work in academia – for both the research and teaching opportunities - and with few academic positions in epidemiology and public health at the Australian veterinary schools, Michael moved to the U.S. In 2004, he moved to the Texas A&M University Veterinary School. This is a large University that is also well known for engineering and agriculture in the “heart of Texas”. Deciding to return to Australia was not a difficult decision as Michael had previously studied epidemiology at the University of California (Davis), and then returned to work for the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.

Michael’s real passion is in epidemiological analytical methods and veterinary public health and applying new and interesting statistics and modelling methods. However, veterinary public health strikes a deeper chord in him as it involves using a range of techniques (often not very sophisticated) that can best help our society by reducing the impact of disease on both animal and human populations. He finds that as the disciplines public health is based on (including epidemiology and biostatistics) become more sophisticated, taking the methods available and applying them appropriately and with effect is a big challenge.

The field is so enormous in its breadth, ranging from economics and risk assessment to modelling and spatial methods, that it’s virtually impossible to be an expert in all of these emerging sub-disciplines. He feels that veterinary public health students not only need to take advantage of the opportunity to learn as many of the different tools that are available as possible, but to read and think about their chosen discipline: improving human health by improving animal health, whilst ensuring sustainability with high welfare standards in a cost-effective way.

Selected Publications

  • Ward, M.P., Glickman, L.T., Guptill, L.F. Prevalence of and risk factors for leptospirosis among dogs in the United States and Canada: 677 cases (1970-1998). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2002, 220: 53–58.
  • Ward, M.P., Perez, A.M. Soil types associated with bovine paratuberculosis in Indiana cattle herds. American Journal of Veterinary Research 2004, 65:10-14.
  • Ward, M.P., Guptill, L.F., Wu, C.C. Geographical risk factors for leptospirosis among Indiana dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2004, 225: 72-77.
  • Ward, M.P., Brady T.H., Couëtil, L.L, Liljebjelke, K., Maurer, J., Wu, C.C. Investigation and control of an outbreak of salmonellosis caused by multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhimurium in a population of hospitalized horses. Veterinary Microbiology, 2005; 107:233-240
  • Ward, M.P., Guptill, L.F., Wu, C.C. Geographical risk factors for leptospirosis among Indiana dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2004, 225: 72-77.
  • Ward, M.P., Brady T.H., Couëtil, L.L, Liljebjelke, K., Maurer, J., Wu, C.C. Investigation and control of an outbreak of salmonellosis caused by multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhimurium in a population of hospitalized horses. Veterinary Microbiology, 2005; 107:233-240
  • Ward, M.P., Ramsay BH, Gallo K. An association between rural cases of equine West Nile virus encephalomyelitis and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Vector Borne & Zoonotic Diseases, 2005, 5: 181-188.
  • Ward, M.P., Laffan, S.W., Highfield, L.D. The potential role of wild and feral animals as reservoirs of foot-and-mouth disease. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2007;80:9–23.
  • Ward, M.P., Maftei, D., Apostu, C., Suru, A. Geostatistical visualisation and spatial statistics for evaluation of the dispersion of epidemic highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1. Veterinary Research, 2008; 39:22.