Nnomzie Atama

Project
Track: 2. Wildlife Surveillance
Promotor
Prof. Dr. marion Koopmans
Primary Supervisor
Reina Sikkema (EMC)
Cosupervisors
Judith van den Brand (UU); Henk van der Jeugd (NIOO)
University
Erasmus University Medical Centre
Description PhD project
I am enthusiastic about bridging the gap between veterinary and human health. I work with wildlife to solve problems related to wildlife health and public health and have been passionate about this from my veterinary school days. The passion drove me afterward to acquire knowledge and earn postgraduate degrees in Fiweld Epidemiology and in Conservation Medicine.
For 10 years, I worked as a field veterinarian with the government managing livestock health and transboundary animal disease surveillance. In recent years, I have expanded my experience to bat disease research and conservation. I have worked on the ecology and phylogeny of bat malaria parasites in Nigerian bats and am now very keen about viral spill-over events from bats and birds to understand the dynamics of transmission of viral zoonoses. Therefore, I found the “Wildlife Surveillance” PhD track as a perfect match for me to achieve my career goal in Wildlife Disease Ecology. I could not imagine myself doing something else other than that.
During the PhD, I hope to build research capacity in molecular analysis of viruses and arboviral surveillance and possibly acquire bird ringing permits to support subsequent research pursuits. Importantly, I hope to build strong collaborations with members of the One Health PACT OIO cohort and the outstanding advisors and promoters.