Cassidy Rist

Cassidy Rist is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech. She holds dual roles as Associate Director of the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine and a faculty member with expertise in One Health approaches to zoonotic disease control. Her professional background includes roles with the USDA, CDC, and Harvard Medical School, focusing on veterinary public health, emergency preparedness, and global health security.

Dr. Rist earned her DVM from the University of Florida (2005) and an MPH in Global Epidemiology from Emory University (2014). She completed a One Health Fellowship at CDC and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, researching economic impacts of livestock diseases in Madagascar. Board-certified in Veterinary Preventive Medicine, her work emphasizes interdisciplinary solutions at human-animal-environment interfaces.

Her research focuses on malaria vector control using endectocide-treated livestock, economic evaluation of One Health programs, and training veterinary students for public health careers. Notable contributions include developing the One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization Tool now used internationally under the Global Health Security Agenda.