Dr Tom McNeilly, a qualified veterinary surgeon, is an immunologist and infectious disease biologist with expertise in translational aspects of ruminant immunology, including vaccine development and population-based studies on immune variation in livestock species. He has been involved in the development vaccines to control parasitic, viral and bacterial infections in both cattle and sheep, including those which have progressed to field evaluation. His work has used advanced surgical and culture-based methods in ruminant species to define key host-pathogen interactions at the mucosal interface and has identified several heritable immune biomarkers in ruminants associated with increased resistance to disease. He has published over 100 refereed publications in international peer-reviewed journals.

  His current interests are: 1. The use of in vivo and in vitro study systems to understand host-pathogen interactions at mucosal surfaces; 2. The development of vaccines against major endemic pathogens of sheep and cattle, including gastro-intestinal parasites and the ruminant Hazard Group 3 pathogens Coxiella burnetii and Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC); 3. The epidemiology of these pathogens in terms of optimal vaccine deployment and/or assessment of zoonotic risk; 4. The causes and consequences of immune variation in in ruminant populations including trade-offs between productivity and immune function.