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Lecturer in Veterinary Cellular Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
Rachael Graduated with a BVSc from Sydney University in 1999 and spent two years working in mixed practice in Australia and the UK. She then began a PhD studying retroviruses of koalas at the University of Queensland and was awarded this in 2006. She also continued to work part time in small animal emergency centres in Brisbane during her thesis. She spent a year in 2005-6 working as a postdoctoral researcher for the Queensland Department of Primary Industries participating in vaccine trials testing oral vaccination strategies for ruminants. She then spent a year working as a postdoctoral researcher at Georg August Universitaet Goettingen, examining the interactions between human coronaviruses, including SARs, and human plasmacytic dendritic cells. She joined the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in 2007
Rachael is a lecturer in Veterinary Cellular Microbiology and is currently responsible for co-convening the urinary tract module taught in second year.
I am co-convener for two courses in the Veterinary Curriculum, the pre-clinical and clinical modules on the Urinary System. Due to my background experience as a veterinarian I also do a lot of… read more
My primary research focus is on endogenous retroviruses. These viruses are the remnants of past infections that have become incorporated in their hosts genome (about 10% of the mouse genome is made… read more
I am co-convener for two courses in the Veterinary Curriculum, the pre-clinical and clinical modules on the Urinary System. Due to my background experience as a veterinarian I also do a lot of practical skills instruction in surgery, animal handling and clinical pathology in the Veterinary Course. Much of the vet schools instruction method relies on problem based learning methods and the early introduction of clinical material into undergraduate teaching, two areas in which I have been active in developing teaching sessions.
My primary research focus is on endogenous retroviruses. These viruses are the remnants of past infections that have become incorporated in their hosts genome (about 10% of the mouse genome is made up of segments of retrovirus). I am particularly interested in the process by which retroviruses become integrated into their host's normal cellular functions. As the infectious versions of these viruses cause diseases such as cancer in their hosts, one of the areas I am exploring is whether their endogenous counterparts are also involved in the development in cancer (particularly lymphomas). My PhD thesis was on endogenous retroviruses in Koalas but my current research is on dogs, horses and primates. I also have research interests in emerging viral diseases and viral diseases in domestic animals. I have in the past worked on pathogens such as SARs coronavirus and oral vaccination systems for ruminants. I have several smaller projects running at present on identifying novel viruses in wildlife species, and the epidemiology of viral diseases in small animals.
University of NottinghamSutton Bonington Campus Leicestershire, LE12 5RD
telephone: +44 (0)115 951 6116 fax: +44 (0)115 951 6415 email: veterinary-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk