School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

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Martin Green

Professor of Cattle Health & Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Contact

  • workRoom C02 - Gateway Veterinary Academic Building
    Sutton Bonington Campus
    Sutton Bonington
    Leicestershire
    LE12 5RD
    UK
  • work0115 951 6438
  • fax0115 951 6440

Biography

Martin Green graduated from Bristol University in Veterinary Science (BVSc) in 1987. He worked full or part time in commercial farm animal practice 1987- 1989 (Hampden Vet. Hospital, Aylesbury) and 1989 - 2006: (Orchard Veterinary Group, Glastonbury). Martin undertook clinical specialisation in Cattle Health and Production; 1994 (RCVS Diploma in Cattle Health and Production), 1997 (RCVS Specialist Status in Cattle Health and Production), 2004 ( Diplomate (De facto) of the European College of Bovine Health Management). Martin obtained a PhD from the University of Warwick (Dept of Ecology and Epidemiology, 2003), entitled - Clinical Mastitis in Dairy Cows: Studies of Bacterial Ecology and Somatic Cell Count Patterns. In 2005 Martin was awarded the BCVA Marbocyl Achievement Award for "outstanding contributions to the cattle industry" and the Selbourne Medal (AVTRW) for outstanding contributions to veterinary research in 2016. Martin was awarded a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship in 2006. He joined the University of Nottingham (School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and seconded to School of Mathematics) in 2006. Martin has career grant income over >£8M including funding from Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, Innovate UK and AHDB and currently holds grants to a value >£3.5M.

Expertise Summary

  • Dairy cow herd health
  • Bovine mastitis
  • Epidemiology
  • Bayesian statistical modelling

Teaching Summary

My teaching is mainly in years 4 and 5, associated with clinical herd-based medicine. I focus on:

  • A variety of aspects of health and production of dairy cattle.
  • Approaches to and implementation of herd health.
  • Research methods, data management and analysis.

Research Summary

My aim is to further the understanding and promotion of outstanding health and welfare in domestic animals with an emphasis on endemic diseases of dairy cattle. My main research interests are bovine… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

My aim is to further the understanding and promotion of outstanding health and welfare in domestic animals with an emphasis on endemic diseases of dairy cattle. My main research interests are bovine mastitis, lameness and reproduction, dairy cow nutrition, statistical modeling of disease and decision processes especially Bayesian and Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches and health/behavioural abnormalities in Guide Dogs populations.

Much of my research has focused on bovine mastitis and in particular; E coli and Strep uberis mastitis, the dry period, somatic cell count patterns, holistic approaches to mastitis prevention and patterns of and predictors for intramammary infection. I have a particular interest in statistical modelling and increasingly in Bayesian techniques to model infection patterns and decision processes.

Current research projects include;

CATTLE HEALTH AND NUTRITION

- A five year programme comprising a variety of aspects of dairy cow health and nutrition, including national disease incidence, lameness, Johnes Disease, mastitis, barriers to infectious disease control, welfare and heifer rearing (DairyCo Research partnership)

BOVINE MASTITIS

- Use of Bayesian methods to evaluate farm-specific management interventions to prevent clinical and sub-clinical mastitis (BBSRC).

- Development and implementation of the "Mastitis Diagnosis and Control Plan" a national scheme to improve prevention of mastitis in dairy herds (www.mastitiscontrolplan.ac.uk) (DairyCo).

- Randomised clinical trials of intramammary therapies (various).

- use of molecular epidemiology to predict contagious transmission of S uberis mastitis (DairyCo).

- Optimising dry period management in dairy herds using probabilistic sensitivity analysis (Zoetis Animal Health)

- Are microbiomes important to mammary gland health in dairy cows? (BBSRC)

- Evaluation of MALDI-TOF-MS to differentiate sub sp (Innovate UK/BBSRC)

BOVINE REPRODUCTION/NUTRITION

- Evaluation of the influence of milk constituents in early lactation on subsequent reproductive performance (UoN).

- Evaluation of the importance of different reproductive parameters using probabilistic sensitivity analysis (UoN, industry)

- Evaluation of decision pathways towards optimising the use of reproductive hormones in dairy cows (Zoetis AH)

LAMENESS IN DAIRY CATTLE

- Investigations into the prevalence and significance of traumatic hock lesions, individual cow (within herd) risk factors for lameness (UoN-Malaysia link).

- A Bayesian evaluation of the relationship between body condition score, bodyweight and lameness in dairy cows, to predict optimal feed management (BBSRC)

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND STATISTICAL METHODS

-Random effects and Bayesian approaches to modelling animal health data.

- Model fit diagnostics in random effects discreet response models.

- Bayesian methods for statistical predictions and decision-making.

- Elicitation of clinical beliefs.

GUIDE DOG POPULATIONS

- the influence of health and behaviour in early life as predictors for qualification and a long working life (GBA)

Past Research

My research and scientific achievements have been focused in the field of bovine mastitis. A theme throughout my research career is that research outputs have been clinically relevant and led to important changes in clinical veterinary medicine. This has culminated in implementation of a national mastitis control scheme. My early research examined the treatment and prognosis of severe mastitis in dairy cows and led to improvements in the understanding and treatment of the condition. Importantly, the research also resulted in questioning the role that white blood cells in milk play in the immune status of individual cows and this was an area in which I subsequently published. Towards the end of the 1990s we identified that the dry (non-lactating) period was of crucial importance in mastitis control in UK dairy cows. We published key papers in the following areas:- • The link between dry period infection and risk of subsequent mastitis. • Interactions between different pathogens involved in dry period infections. • Adaptation of 'opportunistic' pathogens to the mammary gland environment. • Antibiotic and non-antibiotic intervention studies to identify best methods to control dry period infections (the birth of the modern 'differential' approach to dry cow therapy including the use of non-antibiotic teat sealants). More recently we have quantified the impact of individual cow traits and dry period farm management strategies on the risk of mastitis. We developed the concepts further, using modern Bayesian methodology, to incorporate clinical beliefs and quantify uncertainty in decision making for dry period management interventions. Importantly, we recently incorporated the research findings above into a holistic mastitis control plan which was tested in a national intervention study. The control plan resulted in a 20% reduction in clinical and subclinical mastitis over a 12 month period. This holistic mastitis control plan is now being implemented on a national basis and this started in 2009. As well as reducing mastitis, this national scheme provides a platform to gather important national data, and also to translate new research into clinical practice, quickly and on a widespread basis. Finally, I am specifically interested in Bayesian approaches to drawing inferences on disease prevention and decision-making. We have recently published two papers on statistical methods and several on Bayesian approaches to veterinary problems.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

University of Nottingham
Sutton Bonington Campus
Leicestershire, LE12 5RD

telephone: +44 (0)115 951 6116
fax: +44 (0)115 951 6415
email: veterinary-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk