Research strengths and impacts

Associate Professor Rebecca Dunlop and Professor Michael Noad are Australian leaders in marine mammal research.

Areas of interest include: 

• behavioural ecology and acoustic communication in humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins
• assessing the impacts of underwater noise on marine mammals
• measuring the hormones and other physiological markers in whales
• using visual and acoustic surveys to estimate cetacean abundance.

Their current work focuses heavily on the impacts of seismic survey noise on humpback whales. Although regulations exist in some areas to mitigate impacts, they are not based on rigorously collected data. The study is the first to test behavioural effects experimentally, a large and logistically challenging task. Funding for the study, more than $10m over five years from the oil and gas industry and the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, was contested internationally. Once the full results of the study are published, it is expected to have significant impacts globally for industry and regulators alike.

The researchers are also responsible for official population estimates of the east Australian humpback whale population. Results are reported widely in the media and are used by the Australian and state governments to underpin conservation planning as well as by the International Whaling Commission as the most reliable estimate of abundance for this population.

Beef cattle production research in the School of Veterinary Science is conducted by a series of integrated multidisciplinary research teams collaborating with commercial producers, cattle veterinarians and research agencies across northern Australia. The focus of the research is on improving the profitability and sustainability of both beef breeding and growing businesses, and improving the health and welfare of cattle managed in these businesses. Current areas of research funded by MLA and ACIAR and  include:

• Determination of the major factors affecting the likelihood of lactating cows becoming pregnant and pregnant cows weaning a calf
• Evaluation of the impact on beef breeding businesses of implementation of selected management interventions to reduce calf wastage
• Development of a single shot vaccine to induce permanent infertility in female cattle
• Factors affecting the prevalence of Coxiella burnetti infection in northern beef herds
• Identification of genomic markers for reproductive traits to improve male and female fertility
• Development of novel methods of delivering pain relief to cattle undergoing these procedures.
• Investigation of new approaches to cooling cows experiencing increased heat load

Staff involved in this research are Gry-Boe-Hansen, Paul Mills, Nana Satake, Steven Kopp, Rachel Allavena, Natalie Fraser, Chiara Palmieri, Brandon Fraser, Andres Ardila, Joe Olm, David McNeil, Russ Lyons, Nigel Perkins, John Al-Alawneh, Tamsin Barnes and Michael McGowan. The research conducted by the group has been internationally recognised with invitations to present several plenary papers at the World Buiatrics Congress and has attracted nearly $1m of new funding in 2017. Over the past 6 years 6 Phd students and one MSc student have completed their research in this field. The graduates have gone onto to take up positions as the business manager for an international veterinary pharmaceutical company and various posts as research scientists within state government agencies.

This group of researchers comprises epidemiologists, virologists, parasitologists, nutritionists and veterinary clinicians (Joanne Meers, Joerg Henning, John Alawneh, Ricardo Soares Magalhaes, David McNeill, Tamsin Barnes, Kit Parke, Mal Jones) together with a large number of PhD and MPhil students.

The group is conducting research to improve animal health and farming livelihoods in low and low-middle income countries. Funding is sourced Australian and International bodies, such as the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the UK Department for International Development, the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. Current research projects include:

• Improving the productivity and competitiveness of the smallholder pig sector in the Philippines
• Determining constraints and opportunities for village-chicken and integrated chicken-fish production in Myanmar
• Improving dairy cattle health and production in Vietnam
• Defining risk factors for avian influenza infection in the poultry chain, and exploring household duck rearing as a tool to combat malnutrition and poverty among rural communities in Bangladesh
• Improving diagnostics for schistosomiasis in rural communities in Brazil
• Understanding geographical distribution and determinants of zoonotic, neglected tropical diseases in a range of countries

This research is making substantial contributions to improved animal health and human nutrition in diverse global contexts. Some of the projects have impacted on government policies, leading to changes in service-provision for human and animal disease control. 

Many of our international PhD graduates in this field have gone onto senior research, government or academic positions in their home countries.

The Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE) conducts research on the welfare of animals and ethical issues concerned with their management, through scientific evaluation of animal management practices. Led by Professor Clive Phillips, CAWE is a world-class research centre recognised for its scientific approach to animal ethics and welfare issues.

Research projects conducted at CAWE during 2016-2017 include:

• Animal welfare standards in South East Asia, funded by the World Animal Health Organisation. The project investigated impediments to improving animal welfare in SE and E Asia and trained more than 1000 stakeholders in that region.
• ASEAN Development of God Animal Husbandry Practice Code for poultry, which prepared the first code of practice for th4e welfare of poultry in the ASEAN region.
• Animal welfare standards in China, funded by Open Philanthropy
• Evaluation of welfare in cattle in gaushalas in India, and creation of a welfare index
• Evaluation of the effects of mining noise on wild mice
• Behaviours of sheep in simulated ship transportation, including effects of ammonia levels and different stocking densities
• Teaching ethics to veterinary students.

Comparative oncology is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that examines both cancer risk and tumour development across species, aiming to advance both human and animal health. UQ SVS researchers - Chiara Palmieri and Rachel Allavena – with their PhD and undergraduate students, are exploring prostate cancer, brain tumours, osteosarcomas, soft tissue sarcomas and lymphomas in dogs with the goal of developing cutting edge treatments that may benefit animals and humans.

UQ SVS researchers are conducting research in Australia and internationally to understand the distribution of high risk areas for zoonotic infections of public health importance. The work involves Ricardo Soares Magalhaes and colleagues and students in the UQ Spatial Epidemiology Laboratory.

Projects in this area include:

• Research and research training in spatial mapping of zoonotic diseases including Zika virus in Colombia and Brazil, and Anthrax, Japanese encephalitis and Brucellosis in India.
• Research to understand the role of live bird markets on avian influenza H5N1 and H7N9 subtypes in China to improve surveillance and outbreak response.
• Research into the geographical dissemination of Q fever in Australia which will help inform exclusion policies and environmental transmission patterns between livestock and human communities.

UQ SVS researchers involved in koala research include Greg Simmons, Jo Meers, Jenny Seddon, Helen Owen, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and collaborators at the University of Adelaide and the University of Nottingham.

Koala retrovirus (KoRV) is implicated as a cause of disease in koalas that may be contributing to population declines in some regions. The research group is investigating the mechanisms by which KoRV causes disease and the threat it poses to koala population viability. By comparing viral parameters and host response to infection between health y and diseased koalas in South Australia and Queensland, the research aims to better understand the impact of KoRV infection on vulnerable koala populations.