Laura Carrera

Qualifications

Degree in Veterinary Science

MSc Wild Animal Health

Position

PhD candidate

Research overview

I am a PhD candidate supervised by Dr. Oscar Cabezón, Dr. Sebastian Napp and Dr. Jesús Cardells. I am currently investigating Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) ecology and transmission dynamics in wildlife from the north-western Mediterranean basin. The results of this thesis will provide better understanding of the epidemiology of CCHFV in wildlife in Mediterranean ecosystems. I expect this project to guide further research and help improving the surveillance and control of CCHF in the area. I am also contributing to different projects from the WildCoM research group, working for the conservation of wildlife.

Background

In 2016, I obtained the Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). I have been contributing in SEFaS (Wildlife Ecopathology Service) and I developed my undergraduate thesis in CRESA-IRTA Animal Health Research Centre with the purpose of studying two different epidemiological scenarios of Border Disease Virus in a Pyrenean chamois population.

I have worked in several national and international institutions including wildlife rescue centres (Spain and France), wildlife conservation research groups (Alpine Wildlife Research Centre in Italy, Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda) and small animal practices (UK and Spain), gaining experience in research, fieldwork, laboratory and clinical skills. I have also participated in several studies about antimicrobial resistance at the wildlife-livestock interface in Uganda.

In 2019 I undertook the Wild Animal Population Health Internship at the Veterinary School of the UAB, directed by Dr. Oscar Cabezón, Diplomate in the European College of Zoological Medicine (ECZM), Wildlife Population Health speciality. There I performed wild animal necropsies for the national wildlife passive surveillance programme and participated in several PhD theses and research projects from the WildCoM research group. In 2020-2021, I undertook the MSc in Wild Animal Health, taught by the Royal Veterinary College and the Zoological Society of London, and I earned a Distinction. My masters project consisted in predicting which areas are more likely to detect peste-des-petits-ruminants virus in African buffalo in Serengeti, using an ecological niche modelling approach.