Research

Disease mechanisms: The aim of this work is to provide increased understanding of how pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites) interact with their host to cause disease.  This new knowledge will underpin the development of next-generation control strategies for a range of infectious diseases of importance to livestock production both nationally and internationally.

Disease Threats in the Environment: Investigate the importance of the environment in disease transmission and host susceptibility to improve risk prediction and ultimately disease control. This aligns with the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) strategy and will contribute towards the vison for capacity building and further integration.  The work is split into four main objectives: (1) wildlife ecology; (2) the impact of farm management practices on disease risk; (3) a role for the environment on disease transmission; and (4) systems approaches for disease control.

Ecosystem services provision:  To develop an in-depth understanding by 2021 of the impacts of selected management interventions (including restoration) on Ecosystem Service (ES) flows and of the associated trajectories of change. This will be linked to decision making and reporting towards international commitments at the national level, and help develop our impact and collaborations in the international scientific community.

To enable the uptake of measures that will improve water management, both to improve water quality and to contribute to flood risk management.  This RD examines the options to improve water management in the complex socio-economic and policy settings of 'real world' catchment management.

Originally, this research had two main aims. The first was to establish the nature of household food insecurity in Scotland, what societal sectors and communities are affected by and respond to it, how it affects health and wellbeing, and what can be done about it. The second aim was to examine the practicability of producing maps of the range and availability of culturally acceptable foods in Scotland.

The aim of this RD is to assess the environmental sustainability of different sectors of the rural economy and identify trade-offs and opportunities for the production and use of bio-materials in a circular economy. The key drivers for this research are policies for the circular economy and zero waste domains.

Disease has a detrimental effect on animal health and welfare and causes substantial losses in production. In order to assess the effectiveness of control measures and determine their economic impact, a quantification of the level of disease and/ or health status is needed.

This research targets a number of complementary, interdisciplinary strategies to support changes in food culture, social norms and dietary choices towards ‘sustainable and healthy balanced diets’. Socioeconomic and behavioural approaches will be applied to characterise factors affecting dietary choice and behaviours in different population groups and life-stages, particularly cultural influences. The aim is to explore the potential benefit of innovative interventions to change dietary habits.

The focus of the work is on microbial contaminants of food, either directly or via toxins, and heavy metal contaminants. The work will define risk factors and improve detection of the most important food-borne pathogens, toxins and heavy metals, and will examine the flow of antimicrobial resistance through the food and into the commensal microbiota, all of which will contribute to improved public health in Scotland through uptake by stakeholders in public health and the food industry.

This work aims to understand the relationship between Scottish consumption of domestic food and drink products versus imported products; and whether purchases of a particular provenance are due to prices or other reasons. Furthermore there is a need to understand the relationship between Scottish exports and domestic demand for those exported products and to what extent the goals of the Scottish Government of expanding the exporting base are compatible with domestic food security.