Grace Hood

Virologist

I’m an Australian veterinarian researching viral spillover (where viruses jump between hosts) in wildlife hunting communities in the Republic of Guinea, west Africa. I’m particularly interested in what drives these jumps, and investigating the role of environmental changes such as deforestation.

More broadly, I’m interested in One Health, which is the idea that the health of humans, animals and the environment are inextricably linked, and focuses on finding sustainable solutions for global health challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, emerging infectious diseases and food security. I first became interested in One Health during my veterinary training at the University of Queensland. I then completed my Masters of Public Health focussing on infectious disease epidemiology at Columbia University, New York, before beginning my PhD in the Carroll group for High Consequence Emerging Pathogens at the University of Oxford.