Timothy Y. Woma qualified as a Veterinarian from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria in 2004 and obtained an MSc (cum laude) and a PhD in Veterinary Tropical Diseases from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His research focus is viral vaccinology and the molecular epidemiology of viruses within the genus morbillivirus. He has worked with this group of viruses for 14 years during which he described an African lineage of canine distemper viruses in domestic dogs in South Africa and also identified two co-circulating lineages of peste des petits ruminants virus in small ruminants in Nigeria.

Timothy’s scientific studies have led to the publication of over 15 peer-reviewed papers and this expertise has also led to his involvement as an expert consultant to the Regional Animal Health Centre (RAHC, Bamako, Mali) of the ECOWAS on the Swiss Development Cooperation funded project on the prevention and control of PPR and FMD in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. He is also a leading member of the European Union funded Livestock Diseases knowledge Integration (LIDISKI) project in Nigeria.

Timothy joined the molecular virology group under the leadership of Dr. Julian Seago to learn and contribute to the group’s work on the molecular biology of viruses and the development of a Quadrivalent FMDV vaccine technology funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the control of the disease in endemic regions (especially Africa).