Presentation at 3rd GRF One Health Summit 2015 Session Education and Capacity Building within One Health

1. Opening the One Health
Workforce Pipeline:
INTEGRATIVE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
DEFINE UNPRECEDENTED ONE HEALTH
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM
David Bruce Conn, M.S., Ph.D.
Berry College One Health Center
Mount Berry, Georgia, USA
Presented at the Third One Health Summit of the Global Risk Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 6 October 2015

2. A First in One Health Education
 Throughout the United States and around the world, many
universities now have graduate level programs emphasizing One
Health.
 Except for seminars and special courses at some universities, few
academic institutions have developed One Health curricula for the
undergraduate level.
 In the highly integrative field of One Health Science, there is a
growing need and demand for undergraduate curricula designed
to prepare students for graduate and professional training and the
One Health workforce.
 Berry College has created an unprecedented undergraduate
degree program that we propose as a model for others to consider
as this new integrative field continues to gain traction globally.

3. Berry College campus comprises
27,500 acres (>107 km2) in the
Southern Appalachian foothills.
Largest university campus
in the U.S.A. actively
managed as a field site for
research and education in
the natural sciences.
Berry College One Health Center
100 km NW of Atlanta

4. PRIMARY BUILDING
19 Multimedia Lecture Classrooms
18 Classroom Laboratories
Biology, Chemistry, Computer
Science, Geology, Physics,
Astronomy, Math, Animal Science
Core Research Facilities
Discipline-Specific Research Labs
Administrative & Faculty Offices
Support Spaces
PLANNING IN PROGRESS FOR
MAJOR EXPANSION FOR ANIMAL
SCIENCE INCLUDING
ONE HEALTH SCIENCE
First Floor Plan
Of Three Floors
School of Mathematical & Natural Sciences

5. New Animal Science Building Underway
Including New One Health Facilities to
Support the New OHS Center & Program

6. Other buildings
and facilities
associated
with animal
science and
land resources

7. Diversified
watershed
and
terrestrial
habitats with
wildlife

8. The Berry College One Health Center hosts
researchers from other institutions to conduct
studies on our 107-km2 laboratory. Some examples:
 United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 Harvard University, USA
 Johns Hopkins University, USA
 University of Georgia, USA
 University of North Dakota, USA
 University of Valencia, SPAIN
 University of Warmia and Mazury, POLAND
 Lethbridge University, CANADA
 Academy of Sciences of the CZECH REPUBLIC
 Institute of Technology – Sligo, IRELAND

9. One Health Science students typically
will have concurrent enrollment in one
of the following academic majors:
 Biology
 Animal Science
 Environmental Science
 Chemistry

10. Required Courses
 OHS 200 - Concepts in One Health 3-0-3
 OHS 300 - Case Studies in One Health 3-0-3
 OHS 490 - One Health Seminar 1-0-1
 Research Required: one of the three OHS focused topic courses
below:
 OHS 480 - Advanced Topics in One Health 2-6 Hours
 OHS 496 - One Health Academic Internship 2-6 credit hours
 OHS 498 - Directed Studies in One Health 2-6 credit hours

11. Elective Courses: Student must choose at least
18 hour credits, taken from at least 2 disciplines
 BIO 301 - Microbiology 2-4-4
 BIO 305 - General Ecology - 4
 BIO 307 - Entomology 3-3-4
 BIO 334 - Wildlife Diseases 3-0-3
 BIO 335 I - Parasitology 3-3-4
 BIO 352 I - Immunology 3-3-4
 BIO 353 - Epidemiology and Public
Health 3-0-3
 ANS 302 - Veterinary Microbiology 3-3-4 *
 ANS 421 I - Animal Health and Diseases
3-2-4
 CHM 315 I - Analytical Chemistry 3-3-4
 CHM 375 I - Medicinal Chemistry 3-0-3
 EVS 405 - Environmental Sciences
Methods 2-4-4
 MAT 303 - Linear Algebra 3-0-3
 MAT 304 - Differential Equations 3-0-3
 MAT 311 - Probability and Statistics 3-0-3
 GEO 320 - Environmental Geology 3-3-4
 GEO 420 - Hydrology 3-2-4
Number Key: Hours of lecture-lab-credits

12. Research projects as pedagogy at the
Berry College One Health Center
One Health research is
a critical part of our
teaching program in
One Health Science.
Each student is required
to complete a project
under the direction of
one of our faculty
researchers.

13. 1. Epidemiology of Zoonotic Pathogens and Parasites at the Human-Animal-
Ecosystem Interface on the Berry College outdoor laboratory
2. Biomonitoring for Zoonotic Diarrheal Pathogens in the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes
Watershed
3. Sentinel Organism Biosurveillance for Zoonotic Waterborne Pathogens in
Principal Rivers of Europe
DAVID BRUCE CONN RESEARCH GROUP
Pathogen Distribution Across Lake Ontario & St. Lawrence River
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
550.111
509.6
509.5
509.4
501.2
491.8
407
391.7
391.5
391.2
390
389
388
387
386
385
383
382
379.2379.113379.112379.111379.111379.111379.111379.111353.117353.117353.116353.115353.115353.115353.115353.114353.113
347.5
Mile Markers West of Toronto (left) to Upper River (right)
CombinedGiardia,
Cryptosporidium,Enterocytozoon

14. Christopher A. Hall Research Group
Chagas’ Disease Project 1. Infection dynamics and adaptations
for the sylvatic and peridomestic transmission of Trypanosoma
cruzi in the southeastern United States
Chagas’ Disease Project 2. Reducing congenital transmission of
Trypanosoma cruzi through DNA vaccination

15. Dominic Qualley Research
Group
Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV)
Biophysical characterization of
retrovirus replication
West Nile Virus (WNV)
Role of structure of the core
protein (capsid protein) drives
function in the assembly of
new virions
+
BLV Matrix protein BLV genomic RNA
w/ fluorescent tag
Fluorescence
quenches upon
binding

16. Reneé Carleton Research Group
• Survey of Mycobacterium avium subsp.
paratuberculosis (MAP) on the Berry
College campus
• Assessment of Tick Exposure on the
Berry College Campus and Surrounding
Areas
• Consumption and Contamination of
Livestock Feeds By Wildlife
• Long-term effects of Mycoplasma
gallisepticum in House Finches
frequenting bird feeders. (Future)
• Prevalence of tick-borne and mosquito-
borne diseases among bird banders
and bird watchers. (Future)

17. Surveying for amphibian chytrid fungus
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) infection in Georgia, USA
Christopher B. Mowry, Ph.D., Michael B. Morgan, Ph.D.
Stephanie Prisland, Chris Keene, Taylor Moore, James Ross,
Andy Montgomery, Brett Tyler, Alex Mowry
Berry College
Pigeon Mtn. WMA
• Bd a fungal pathogen that can cause lethal chytridiomycosis in
amphibians
• Infection rate varies with local climatic conditions
• How prevalent in temperate zones?
• We are surveying amphibians in Cumberland Plateau and
Ridge and Valley ecoregions in Georgia, USA
• Skin swabs will be analyzed for Bd spores using real-time PCR
Christopher Mowry Research Group

18. Tamie Jovanelly Lab
Expedition Elgon: A Journey to Discover the Wonders of East
Africa’s Volcanic Mountain and Its Wildlife and People
• TEAM OF 5 INTERDISCIPLINARY
RESEARCHERS FROM GERMANY,
UGANDA, KENYA, AND UNITED
STATES (BERRY COLLEGE)
• MT. ELGON IS LOCATED ON THE
UGANDA/KENYA BORDER
What role do bats play in the Elgon
ecosystem? Do the Marburg and
Ebola virus currently exist in the bat
population?

19. Michael Morgan Research Group
Characterizing transcriptional responses in corals exhibiting
Caribbean Yellow Band Disease

20. Presence of Ciguatoxin in Caribbean Lionfish?
Lionfish have been
collected from the Cayman
Islands, BWI, Utila Island,
Honduras, and Bonaire, NA.
In an effort to reduce the number of
invasive lionfish in the Caribbean, many
countries are promoting the consumption
of lionfish. The question is – is that safe
or could they contain harmful levels of
ciguatoxin which could cause Ciguatera
fish poisoning in humans?
Once the extractions have been
completed, the samples are being
assayed using brine shrimp nauplii,
mice, and HPLC- tandem mass
spectrometry.
To date no harmful levels
of ciguatoxin have been
detected in any of the fish
tested.
William Davin Lab

21. © David Bruce Conn, 2015
Presented at the Third One Health Summit of the Global Risk Forum
Davos, Switzerland, 6 October 2015