Staff

Research Staff

Dr Vanessa Barrs

Dr Julia Beatty

A/Prof Geraldine Hunt

Dr Sanaa Zaki

Students

Table of student details

Postgraduate Opportunities

Dr Vanessa Barrs

Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine
Specialist in Feline Medicine

Qualifications
1990 BVSc (Hons)
1997 MVetClinStud
2000 FACVSc (Feline Medicine)

Career History
1990-1993 Small animal practice
1993-1995 Pfizer Resident in Small Animal Medicine & Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney
1996-1999 Senior Small Animal Medical Registrar, University Veterinary Centre, Sydney
2000 Beaumont Animal Hospital, Royal Veterinary College, University of London
2000-2001 Feline Referral Centre, Hornsey London
2002-2004 North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre, Sydney
2004-present The University of Sydney

Research Interests
After graduating in1990, Vanessa returned to The University of Sydney in 1993 to complete a Pfizer clinical residency program in infectious diseases and small animal medicine. She completed a Master’s degree in Veterinary Clinical Studies for multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and other in vitro studies of Staphylococcus intermedius in 1997.

Subsequent to achieving Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Feline Medicine in 2000, Vanessa worked in University and private referral practice in London for two years. She returned to Australia to consult as a registered specialist from North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre. She was appointed Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Sydney in April 2004.

Research interests include prevalence studies of genetic diseases amongst Australian cats, such as polycystic kidney disease in Persian and related breeds and erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency of Abyssinian and Somali cats. Other research activities include clinical research of infectious diseases of cats including pyothorax and hepatobiliary infections, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of novel insulins in cats.

Dr Julia Beatty

Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine

Qualifications

1986 BSc (hons)
1989 BVetMed
1994 PhD
1999 MACVSc (Feline Medicine)
2002 FACVSc (Feline Medicine)

Career History
1989-1990 Small Animal Practice
1990-1998 University of Glasgow
1998-1999 University of Sydney
1999-2004 Feline referral practice
2004-present University of Sydney

Research Interests
Jules graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1989. After a year in small animal practice in London and Hong Kong, she moved to the University of Glasgow and completed a PhD on the immune response to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) with Professor Os Jarrett. She stayed on to carry out post-doctoral studies on the role of FIV in lymphosarcoma development. In 1998, Jules joined the University of Sydney as a Wellcome Research Fellow and commenced a training program in feline medicine. She returned to London at the end of 1999 and spent two years in private feline practice.

After returning to Sydney in 2001, she was awarded Fellowship of the Australian College in Feline Medicine and she is a registered Specialist in Feline Medicine. Jules worked in private referral practice until 2004 when she returned to the University of Sydney.

Jules is currently academic head of small animal medicine. She teaches small animal medicine to third, fourth and final year students and supervises clinical training programmes for postgraduate interns and small animal residents at University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Sydney (formerly UVCS).

Her research spans many disciplines. She uses training in cellular and molecular virology, immunology and oncology combined with clinical skills to investigate a diverse range of feline diseases.

Associate Professor Geraldine Hunt

Director University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Sydney (formerly UVCS)
Associate Professor in Surgery
Small Animal Surgical Specialist

Qualifications

BVSc(Hon) MVetClinStud PhD FACVSc Specialist Small Animal Surgeon

Contribution to the Profession and Community

Coordinator of VETS 3027 and VETS5348
Chair AVMA Management Committee
Council Member (2001 - ): Australian College of Veterinary Scientists
Examiner (2002): ACVSc; Small Animal Surgery
Invited Speaker (2002/2003): ACVSc Science Week, Gold Coast, July
Postgraduate Foundation in Veterinary Science Time Out Seminars, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane
World Small Animal Veterinary Association, Granada, Spain, October North American Veterinary Conference, Florida, January 2003

Research Interests
Congenital portosystemic shunts in small animals (genetics, embryology, diagnosis and treatment)
Congenital cardiovascular disease in small animals
Cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
Reconstructive surgery of skin

Dr Sanaa Zaki

Lecturer in Veterinary Anaesthesia

Qualifications
1992 BVSc (Hons)
1997 MACVSc
2005 GradCertEdStud (Higher Education)

Career History
1992 – 1994 Veterinary Practice
1995 – present The University of Sydney

Research Interests
Following the completion of a BVSc in 1992 at the University of Sydney, Sanaa worked in a busy mixed practice in Sydney’s West. After two years in private practice she returned to the University of Sydney in January 1995 to undertake postgraduate training in anaesthesia at the UVCS (now called University Veterinary Teaching Hosptial Sydney - UVTHS) under the supervision of Dr Martin Pearson. In 1997 she was entered as a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Chapter.

Sanaa then took up the position of Senior Registrar in Small Animal Anaesthesia. Her strong commitment to clinical research and undergraduate teaching saw her promoted to the position of Lecturer in Veterinary Anaesthesia in 2003. She is currently head of the Anaesthesia Unit of the UVTHS. In 2005 she completed the Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education).

Her main interest areas are pain management, anaesthesia for cardiothoracic surgery and intravenous anaesthesia. Her current areas of clinical research are in intravenous anaesthesia where she has completed two investigations:
- A clinical evaluation of Alfaxan CD for use in cats
- A study comparing alfaxan CD and propofol as an intravenous anaesthetic agent in greyhounds

Recently she has commenced an investigation comparing propofol, thiopentone, and a propofol/thiopentone combination to induce anaesthesia in the dog.

Students

Postgraduate Opportunities

Project Title
Evaluation of the hepatic microvasculature in normal dogs and dogs with a naturally-occurring vascular malformation of the liver (congenital portosystemic shunt).

Project Summary
Description of the electron microscopic characteristics of the hepatic microvasculature of dogs with a congenital vascular abnormality of the liver.

Contact
A/Prof Geraldine B Hunt
Ph:+61 2 9351 5320
Email: gbhunt@mail.usyd.edu.au

Download Project Description

If you are interested in a particular project within this research area, which is not listed above, please contact any member of staff for help and advice.