Mark Woolhouse

Mark Woolhouse is a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh within the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. He leads research at the Usher Institute focusing on zoonotic disease systems, antimicrobial resistance, and health systems in Africa.

• Trained as a population biologist with degrees from Oxford, York, and Queen's University (Canada)
• Former government advisor during the UK's 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic

His research spans emerging infectious diseases across human-animal-environment interfaces, including:

• Foot-and-mouth disease transmission biology
• Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2
• Antimicrobial resistance in low-income settings
• Viral zoonoses like schistosomiasis and trypanosomiasis
• Epidemiology of influenza and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

Recent publications emphasize predictive modeling of pandemic zoonoses, cross-species transmission dynamics, and diagnostic tool development. His work has received Royal Society of Edinburgh Mary Somerville Medal (2023) and OBE (2002) for infectious disease advisory services.

Current projects include:

• Hosts, Pathogens and Global Health (Wellcome Trust)
• VEO: Versatile Emerging Infectious Disease Observatory (European Commission)
• Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Botswana