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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.


Publications

Evaluation of the use of alternative sample types for mosquito-borne flavivirus surveillance: Using Usutu virus as a model

November 21, 2022

Authors: Nnomzie C. Atama, Irina V. Chestakova, Erwin de Bruin, Tijs J. van den Berg, Emmanuelle Münger, Chantal Reusken, Bas B.Oude Munnink, Henk van der Jeugd, Judith M.A.van den Brand, Marion P.G. Koopmans, Reina S. Sikkema.