Texas Tech College of Veterinary Drugs provides epidemiology skilled | KLBK | KAMC

AMARILLO and LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) – The following is a press release from Texas Tech University:

It is one thing to diagnose a disease in a patient and effectively treat it. However, understanding, managing, and preventing infectious organisms and diseases in populations is a completely different approach. Epidemiology is the field of science that studies populations to better promote the health of the population.

Epidemiological skills are important for veterinarians and therefore for society as a whole. It is easy to imagine a veterinarian being called in to investigate an outbreak of disease in a herd of cattle. However, just as important is the role of the veterinarian in human health. Indeed, the veterinarian’s oath includes making a commitment to protect animal and public health. Society benefits when new knowledge offers opportunities to advance this oath. New knowledge is created by curious researchers who answer important social questions.

Babafela Awosile is one of these researchers. Through epidemiology, Nigerian-born Awosile seeks to understand antibiotic resistance and the use of multiple damage control strategies to reduce the incidence of disease at all levels. Awosile will bring this passion and experience to West Texas to train the next generation of veterinarians who will serve the various rural and regional communities.

“Dr. Awosile will expand our school in many ways,” said Guy Loneragan, dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Texas Tech University in Amarillo. “As a veterinarian and epidemiologist, he combines the skills to study disease in both individuals and populations at the same time In other words, he can see both the forest and the trees. Dr. Awosile will find numerous collaborative opportunities to work with our amazing faculty to expand their research and pursue his research interests. This collective research will benefit our animals benefit our communities we serve and society at large. “

Awosile joins the growing faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine as Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health. He started work on Monday (January 4th).

“I am very excited to be on the faculty and part of the innovative program at Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine,” said Awosile. “I look forward to working with other faculties and training future veterinarians who will meet the needs of the Texas rural and regional communities in terms of both animal husbandry and public health. My aim is to equip future veterinarians with the skills necessary to fulfill their professional commitment to promoting public health and applying epidemiological principles to veterinary practice. “

Awosile joins Texas Tech University after spending the last 18 months in the Prince Edward Island Government’s Health Information and Services Division, Canada, first as a health information data analyst and later as a health information specialist.

As a data analyst, he was responsible for statistical analysis, methodology and reports, and for presenting data to aid decision-making and healthcare improvement. As a specialist in health information, he developed and implemented data requests from health information systems. data acquisition, reporting and analysis systems created; and developed dashboards for health data indicators.

His research uses epidemiological and genomic tools and One Health approaches to understand the incidence of infectious diseases, including antibiotic resistance and using mitigation strategies to reduce their incidence. As a teacher, he tries to get students to think as scientists in order to reach their potential regardless of their background.

Prior to joining the Prince Edward Island government, Awosile was a postdoctoral fellow at the Atlantic Veterinary College in the Province of Canada. There he analyzed aquatic epidemiological data and carried out a systematic review of viral and bacterial pathogens in wild salmonids.

He also served one year (2014-2015) as a research / field worker and laboratory assistant in the Veterinary Public Health Laboratory at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada.

Awosile was also a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Nigera (2012-14). There he did research on antibiotic resistance and taught basic courses in veterinary and preventive medicine.

Awosile received his Masters (2012) in Veterinary and Preventive Medicine and his PhD in Veterinary Medicine (2009) from the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Prince Edward Island and a Diploma in One Health from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada in 2017.

During his Masters, he was a Junior Research Fellow at the Federal University of Agriculture and continued his work in the field of antibiotic resistance while teaching courses in veterinary public health clinics.

He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and the Consortium Surveillance and Epidemiology of Drug Resistant Infections and the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association.

“DR. Awosile will be teaching foundation courses in the veterinary curriculum in epidemiology, public health, and approach to disease management,” said John Dascanio, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs. Awosile will help students, faculties, and industry logically study and develop strategies for disease outbreak investigations. He will contribute to our program to control and prevent diseases that are having an economic impact on our region. “

Awosile joins a growing and dynamic team of faculties and staff at the School of Veterinary Medicine. More team members will be added over the next few months as the school prepares to welcome its opening class in fall 2021.

About the School of Veterinary Medicine

Thanks to the generosity of Amarillo and communities across Texas, as well as the dedication of lawmakers from across the state, Texas Tech University founded the School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo in 2018. In September 2020 the school received a letter with reasonable assurance. from the Education Council of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and began the pre-class admissions process in August 2021.

The School of Veterinary Medicine will recruit and select students with a passion for rural and regional communities. The curriculum focuses on the competencies and skills required to succeed in types of practice that support these communities. Texas Tech’s innovative and affordable model works with the wider community of veterinary practices across the state to enable clinical, real-world learning.

(Texas Tech University press release)