Director of Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics & Health

The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health is an joint initiative of The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the African-head-quartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The Centre, has nodes in Edinburgh, Nairobi and Addis Ababa, which are strategically located to leverage the world-class facilities and capabilities of the three partner organisations.The Centre consists of dedicated groups and individuals committed to livestock genetics and health research ‘with the end in mind’. CTLGH will deliver research-driven solutions that support improved livestock-based livelihoods and address the challenges of food security, health and well-being, and gender equity for people in the tropics. Providing a unique and exciting opportunity to interface high-end research with in-country farmer-facing activity, CTLGH provides a meaningful delivery environment, enabling each partner to influence the research impact.

The Roslin Institute The Roslin Institute is a world-leading research institute focused on the biology of farmed animal species, genetics, animal breeding, infectious diseases and fundamental biology. Within the University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The Roslin Institute is one of eight institutes strategically funded by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Roslin Institute is co-located at the Easter Bush Campus of the University of Edinburgh with other leaders on veterinary and agricultural research, including the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Scotland’s Rural College and the Moredun Research Institute. Also, located in Easter Bush Campus is the Roslin Innovation Centre that houses established and start-up companies on biotechnology and agricultural technologies.

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) SRUC conducts internationally respected, interdisciplinary research, which seeks to address the major challenges of growing global demand for food and nutrition security, climate change and dwindling natural resources with emphasis on resource use efficiency.  SRUC research ranges from discovery to applied and industry-led research, and includes collaborative, co-developed research and knowledge exchange (KE) activities with academic, industry, policy, and public stakeholders. The translation of SRUC innovative research outputs, by close interaction with its Consultancy services, helps rural industries through the delivery of up to the minute advice and consultancy to approximately 18,000 clients, in Scotland, across the rest of the UK and beyond.

SRUC receives strategic funding from the Scottish Government Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services (RESAS).

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a critical player in the sustainable transformation of animal-based food systems for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) across Africa and Asia; addressing food security and safety, poverty alleviation, gender equality and environmental sustainability. ILRI’s farmer-facing programmes – especially in dairy and poultry genetics are paradigms of ‘action research’ in which novel digital tools have been deployed to link with tens of thousands of farmers in multiple countries to effectively create unique ‘distributed breed improvement schemes’. Such programmes exemplify the critical pathway by which CTLGH provides an interface between advanced research and the farmers who are primary beneficiaries. ILRI also provides an environment spanning multiple other important research dimensions including the new CGIAR Platform for Gender and Equality in Food Systems Research, ILRI’s unique Mazingira Research Centre on livestock, climate and environment, which supports research on the role of smallholder livestock in greenhouse gas emissions, high quality laboratories, large animal facilities (including BSL2+ animal facilities), a large research station for extensive field trials, a large newly built poultry research facility and a state-of-the-art biorepository. ILRI’s location and facilities are especially important for studies of disease resistance and other economically important traits including work on pathogens endemic to the tropics but highly regulated elsewhere.

For more information on the Centre including research and publications, please visit www.ctlgh.org