Marnie Brennan
Lecturer in Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Biography
Marnie graduated with a veterinary science degree from Murdoch University, Australia in 1998 and spent several years working in mixed practice in Australia and the UK. She worked for the State Veterinary Service during the foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK from 2001-2002, and then in peacetime from 2002-2004. Between 2005 and 2008 Marnie conducted a PhD in veterinary epidemiology entitled 'Contacts between cattle farms and their role in pathogen transmission' at the University of Liverpool. She worked temporarily for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) before joining the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at The University of Nottingham in February 2009.
Expertise Summary
Marnie is a Lecturer in Epidemiology and is Deputy Director of the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine. She is currently responsible for convening the embedded module epidemiology and biostatistics.
Research Summary
Marnie has large involvement in the development and research carried out within the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine. Along with Dr Rachel Dean, Marnie is a founding member of the… read more
Recent Publications
SHELTON J, USHERWOOD NM, WAPENAAR W, BRENNAN ML and GREEN LE, 2012. Measurement and error of hoof horn growth rate in sheep Journal of Agricultural Science. 150, 373-378 WAPENAAR, W, GRIFFITHS, H, LOWES, J and BRENNAN, M, 2011. Developing Evidence-Based Guidelines Using Expert Opinion For The Management Of Uterine Prolapse In Cattle Cattle Practice. 19(1), 17-21
BRENNAN, M L, KEMP, R and CHRISTLEY, R M, 2008. Direct and indirect contacts between cattle farms in north-west England. Preventive Veterinary Medicine. 84(3-4), 242-60
Current Research
Marnie has large involvement in the development and research carried out within the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine. Along with Dr Rachel Dean, Marnie is a founding member of the Centre. She developed a questionnaire on evidence-based veterinary medicine that was sent out to the veterinary profession within the UK, and to vets globally. These focused on the understanding of 'evidence-based veterinary medicine' within the profession, and what evidence vets use. Questions were also asked about the common conditions seen by practitioners and the perceived evidence available for these conditions. The idea of these surveys was to get a baseline of information for the future work of the Centre, and to inform practitioners of the work that the Centre aims to achieve. Currently the collected information is undergoing analysis. In addition, she has been involved in examining the methodologies used in population studies, particularly those estimating the number of cats and dogs within defined populations. Literature searches on published studies have been carried out, and focus group discussions have been facilitated with experts working in this area, including representatives from veterinary research, pet charities and practicing clinicians. This is important in order to get a better estimate of the prevalence and incidence of diseases in the pet population, which currently do not exist. Marnie is contributing to a systematic review of the methodologies of population studies, which is being carried out by Dr Martin Downes.
Past Research
Marnie's PhD research examined the direct and indirect contacts that occurred between cattle farms in a region. This was done by conducting interview-based questionnaires with cattle farmers within a selected region of England. These contacts were examined both descriptively and using contact network analysis, and hypothesized on the effect of such contacts on disease transmission. This included looking at factors that might affect the transmission likelihood of such contacts, such as any biosecurity carried out by cattle producers and their attitudes towards such preventive measures. In addition, the role of these contact routes in pathogen transmission was investigated by comparing known contacts with the genetic similarities or differences of Cryptosporidium parasites isolated from calves on the farms.
Future Research
Marnie will be involved in the future research of the Centre, which is currently being developed. This will be through assisting practitioners to generate the research questions relevant to them and to clinical practice, and by recording the common diseases and conditions seen in veterinary practice. This will also be carried out by looking at how data can be extracted from practice databases; it is hoped that research on the pertinent disease conditions lacking in knowledge in the veterinary literature can be conducted. In addition, she will be helping to develop methodologies for conducting systematic reviews and critical appraisal of the veterinary literature. Marnie would also like to further investigate the factors that influence producer decision-making in relation to biosecurity, and how advice from veterinarians and other professionals affects this. In addition, she is interested in looking further at contacts between farms as routes of disease transmission, focusing on both animal behaviour at boundary fences and fence line structure.