معرفی
Professor Joanne P. Webster is a leading academic in parasitic diseases at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), where she heads the Pathogen Flow in Ecosystems strategic grouping. She also holds an honorary Professorship in Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine and serves as Director of the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research (LCNTDR), a collaborative initiative involving RVC, LSHTM, NHM, and the University of London. Her career spans over two decades, with prior roles at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London, culminating in her pivotal work on schistosomiasis control in sub-Saharan Africa through the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), which earned the Queen’s Anniversary Prize.
- Education:
- BSc (First-class Honors)
- DPhil in Epidemiology of Zoonotic Disease (University of Oxford)
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Royal Society University Research Fellow
Joanne’s research focuses on zoonotic parasites, host-pathogen interactions, and the One Health approach to disease control. Her work addresses schistosomiasis, toxoplasmosis, and antimicrobial resistance, emphasizing genomic diversity, hybridization, and ecological dynamics. She has published extensively on schistosome hybridization, praziquantel resistance, and the molecular epidemiology of zoonotic transmission across Africa and Asia.
Her scientific awards include:
- CA Wright Medal (2005)
- NC3Rs prize (2007)
- Queen’s Anniversary Medal (2008)
- Chalmers Memorial Medal (2013)
- Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) (2022)
- Royal Society Leeuwenhoek Medal (2023)
Joanne supervises numerous PhD, MSc, and BSc students, many of whom have won accolades for their research. She is actively engaged in public science outreach, featured in documentaries like BBC’s Infested! and Body Snatchers, and has influenced global health guidelines through her roles on WHO Expert Panels and Wellcome Trust review boards. Her current projects include the UKRI GCRF Action Against Stunting Hub, addressing child stunting in India, Indonesia, and Senegal via interdisciplinary research.
