Gerdien van Schaik

Prof. Gerdien van Schaik is a Professor in Farm Animal Health at Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Her research focuses on veterinary epidemiology, surveillance systems for livestock diseases, and data-driven approaches to disease control. She coordinates the EU-funded DECIDE project (€10 million), aiming to reduce the impact of endemic animal diseases through innovative surveillance tools. Previously, she worked at Royal GD as Head of Epidemiology and led projects like STOC Free, which standardized disease surveillance across EU countries.

Her academic background includes a PhD from Wageningen University (2000) on infectious disease introduction in dairy farms and postdoctoral work at Cornell University and Universidad Austral de Chile. She teaches courses on farm animal health monitoring and has held roles in expert panels, such as the SDa project Care for Young Animals. Her research integrates quantitative methods, including risk-based and syndromic surveillance, to improve livestock health management and antimicrobial resistance monitoring.

Key projects include DECIDE's development of decision-support tools for farmers and veterinarians, and STOC Free's framework for comparing disease control programs. Her work bridges veterinary epidemiology, data science, and policy, with a focus on livestock and aquaculture health. Collaborations span disciplines like social sciences, economics, and artificial intelligence to address complex disease challenges.