Professor of Veterinary Virology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
Rachael graduated with a BVSc from Sydney University in 1999 and worked in mixed practice in Australia and the UK. She then did PhD on retroviruses of koalas at the University of Queensland. She spent time after this working as a postdoctoral researcher for the Queensland Department of Primary Industries participating in vaccine trials testing oral vaccination strategies for ruminants and at Georg August Universitaet Goettingen in Germany, examining the interactions between human coronaviruses, including SARs, and human plasmacytic dendritic cells. She then joined the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in 2007 where she teaches undergraduate and clinical phase veterinary medicine students and runs a research program in animal infectious diseases. She is a European Diplomate (specialist qualification) in Veterinary Microbiology.
Rachael is an Associate Professor of Veterinary Cellular Microbiology and a European Diplomate in Veterinary Microbiology. Her research expertise is in animal virology, particularly retroviruses but covers a broad range of virology and genetics methods in domestic and exotic species. She is currently serving as the schools biosafety officer responsible for risk assessment of biological and genetic modification work. She is available for consultancy work on biosafety and biosecurity risks. She also teaches clinical skills and internal medicine into the undergraduate veterinary curriculum.
Due to my clinical background I teach across a range of courses at SVMS from 1st through to 5th year. This covers everything from basic animal handling and husbandry to antimicrobial prescribing and… read more
My research is split into two broad themes, the first on endogenous retroviruses. These viruses are the remnants of past infections that have become incorporated in their hosts genome (about 10% of… read more
Due to my clinical background I teach across a range of courses at SVMS from 1st through to 5th year. This covers everything from basic animal handling and husbandry to antimicrobial prescribing and epidemic disease impacts. I primarily teach on the 5th year clinical elective veterinary public health rotation and the second year biosciences course "Principals of Animal Health and Disease" for Animal Science Students
My research is split into two broad themes, the first on endogenous retroviruses. These viruses are the remnants of past infections that have become incorporated in their hosts genome (about 10% of the human 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. I have current projects on Koala retrovirus (KoRV), Feline Leukaemia virus (FeLV) and the role of human endogenous retroviruses in autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis. Past work has included retroviruses in dogs, horses, primates, chickens and squirrels. I also work on infectious retroviruses with current projects on the function and impacts of TMEM154 alleles in genetic resistance to Maedi Visna in Sheep
I also have research interests in emerging viral diseases and viral diseases in domestic animals. My current projects include SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife (UK ), Bluetongue and Schmallenberg virus impacts on ruminant reproduction. Past work has included rabies, tick borne diseases of Indian and Nigerian dogs, rodent viruses (hantaviruses and coronaviruses) and Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus 1 (the cause of a fatal haemorrhagic syndrome in juvenile elephants)
For details of this and other infectious diseases research in SVMS please see the "One Virology" research group pages.
The University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD
telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 6116 email: Email our Research Theme Leader