FIVM Series presents: Ecological change and the dynamics of zoonotic disease

In our warming and increasingly connected planet, change has become an underlying theme when addressing the challenges associated with zoonoses, emerging or otherwise.

On Friday, April 16, Dr. Patrick A. Leighton will explore the links between the ecological changes confronting ecosystems and the dynamics of disease systems operating within them, with a focus on wildlife zoonoses and vector-borne diseases. Dr. Leighton will share examples drawn from ongoing studies of rabies ecology in different biomes from the Arctic to the neotropics, and research on the changing risk of vector-borne diseases in Canada.

Dr. Leighton is Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montréal. His research focuses on the ecology and epidemiology of zoonotic diseases, with an emphasis on vector-borne diseases and wildlife zoonoses. A major theme in his research program is the integration of host ecology within epidemiological models to predict future disease risk under climate change. 

Since joining the University of Montréal in 2012, Dr. Leighton helped create and now co-directs the Masters program in Veterinary Public Health, as well as the One Health concentration in the MPH program at the School of Public Health.