We are extremely pleased to announce that Professor Dirk Pfeiffer of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health has been named as the Chow Tak Fung Chair Professor of One Health. Endowed professorships represent the highest honour that a university can bestow upon their academics and it is an enduring tribute to the donor who has established it.
Prof. Pfeiffer is also Associate Dean (Research) of the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences and the Director of the Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice (OHRP).
The endowment is associated with additional funding to support the chair holder’s research. Prof Pfeiffer is a veterinary epidemiologist who, before joining City University in 2016, had worked for 28 years as an academic researcher in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. His research relates to animal health and welfare issues on all continents of the world, and it includes zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza, bovine tuberculosis and Rift Valley fever, as well as animal diseases such as peste des petits ruminants and the highly topical African swine fever. His particular interest is in the translation of science into policy, and in this context Prof Pfeiffer has worked in scientific expert roles for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) as well as several national governments.