Raina Plowright, Principal Investigator

Professor, Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, Cornell Atkinson Scholar, Cornell University; Principal Investigator, Bat OneHealth


“If we understand how novel pathogens are transmitted from one species to another, a process we call spillover, could we predict or even prevent these events from happening in the first place?”

Raina Plowright is the Rudolf J. and Katharine L. Steffen Professor at Cornell University where she also serves as a Cornell Atkinson Scholar at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. She received her veterinary degree from the University of Sydney, and her M.S. (epidemiology) and Ph.D. (ecology) from the University of California, Davis.

Her research aims to unravel the biological mechanisms underpinning spillover events to inform prevention strategies. She leads large transdisciplinary collaborations to tackle complex problems regarding emerging disease biology with a focus on WHO-priority pathogens originating in bats. These multiscale studies, connecting sub-cellular to landscape processes, have revealed how land-use change and climate variation drive the emergence of infectious diseases, and how spillovers can be prevented by addressing the root causes. This work has helped to shape international policy on primary pandemic prevention. Plowright holds roles on several advisory boards, including the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education, and she is the co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover that is convening experts from approximately 20 countries to develop strategies to reduce the likelihood that viruses from wildlife will be transmitted to humans. She was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine (2023) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022) for transdisciplinary leadership in the field of emerging disease biology.

Contact:
Email: raina.plowright@cornell.edu
Twitter: @rainamontana

Publications: see publications page or Google Scholar.

Media: see media page.

Recent keynote or plenary talks, podcasts, and webinars:

  • Keynote: Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases meeting, Stanford University, June 2024.

  • Keynote: Wildlife Health and Pathology Short Course, Taronga Zoo, Australian Registry of Wildlife Health, Sydney Australia, February 2024.

  • Keynote: Applying One Health Principles to Wildlife Management Symposium, Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia, February 2024.

  • Plenary: Epidemics, Bologna, Italy, November 2023.

  • Keynote: Board on Animal Health Science, Conservation, and Research (BAHSCR) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC, 2023. 

  • Keynote: International Symposium on Zoonoses Research, Berlin, October 2023.

  • Plenary: Opening Plenary & Carlton M. Herman Cutting Edge speaker, Annual International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association, Athens, Georgia, USA, August 2023.

  • Discussion Leader: Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Population Biology, session on Origins and evolution of animal epidemics and pandemics; Gordon Conference, New Hampshire, USA, July 2023.

  • Keynote: One Health meeting organized by PREZODE in Montpellier, June 2023.

  • Opening Plenary: Integrative Biology of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IBEID), Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, June 2023.

  • Webinar: How to prevent the next pandemic, e-Cornell, June 2023.

  • Keynote: INGSA-NASEM Public Forum: Southeast Asia’s Zoonotic Threats: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Action. Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia, June 2023.

  • Podcast interview: One World, One Health. https://onehealthtrust.org/news-media/podcasts/, 2023.

  • Keynote: ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France, March 2023.

  • Opening Plenary: New York Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Annual meeting, New York, USA, 2023.

  • Keynote Biodiversity Science 30th anniversary, Seminar for biodiversity and health, Duke Kunshan University, China (>900 participants), 2022.

  • Keynote: World One Health Congress, Singapore, 2022.

  • Keynote: Planetary Health Annual meeting, Harvard University, Boston, USA, 2022.

  • Keynote: EU-funded MOOD Drivers of Zoonotic Diseases Emergence, Trento, Italy, 2022.

  • Keynote: U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Asian National Academies, Zoonotic Spillover Meeting, Bangkok Thailand, 2022.

  • Keynote: Infectious Diseases of Bats International Meeting, Fort Collins, CO, USA, 2022.

  • Plenary: One Health European Joint Programme, Orvieto, Italy, 2022.

  • Keynote: PREZODE “PREventing ZOonotic Disease Emergence” France, US, Canada collaboration to reduce risk of zoonotic disease, 2021.

  • Plenary: The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (>200 State Legislators), 2021.

  • Webinar: by Knowable Magazine: Preventing the Next Pandemic: Exploring the Origins and Spread of Animal Viruses. Conversation with Prof. Jonna Mazet, and A. Prof Raina Plowright, 2020.

  • Plenary: Global Landscapes Forum (World Bank and UN Environment), COVID & Landscape Immunology session organized by the World Bank, 2020.

  • Plenary: Indiana University, Environmental Resilience Institute, fall symposium, 2020.

  • Plenary: Systemics, Biogeography & Evolution International Meeting, 2020.

  • Keynote: Rocky Mountain Virology Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2019.

  • Keynote: International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man (INCDNCM), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2019.