Dr. Patricia A. Conrad, DVM, Ph.D., is recognized with the Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement for her passionate commitment to global health and her tireless efforts to promote an engaged, activated, and educated global community focused on addressing important problems.
Conrad has established strong partnerships with veterinary schools around the world that build the international presence of our university abroad. As the school’s first Associate Dean for Global Programs, she established the Office of Global Programs and led its rapid program growth. Through her leadership, the school has supported veterinary students to conduct summer research projects and externships abroad in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America; contributed to innovative field course models in Sri Lanka and Tanzania that included students from developing and developed countries; hosted conferences and workshops to bring together faculty, students and staff to discuss global engagement; and facilitated the launch of new partnerships and research programs around the world to address emerging needs. She is an early adopter of the One Health approach and planetary health concept of collaborative problem-solving research and education that emphasize the interconnectedness of humans, animals and environmental health. Additionally, Conrad has been an advocate for collaboration cross the UC Davis campus and system-wide, as a leader and supporter of the UC Global Health Institute and NIH Fogarty-funded GloCal Fellowship Program.
Throughout her career, Conrad has made many outstanding discoveries and advancements to improve health. Her research has focused on the transmission of protozoal parasites between wildlife, humans and domestic animals. Beginning with her pioneering work as a post-doctoral researcher at the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases in Nairobi, Kenya, Conrad has engaged in research that impacts the world’s poorest populations in East Africa who depend on livestock. She is a true scholar of global health, publishing more than 220 scientific publications in the fields of emerging infectious diseases and waterborne pathogens. Her success has been recognized broadly including induction into the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and her recent election to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Dr. Conrad’s career has defined what it is to be an international scholar,” said Michael Lairmore, dean. “She has established her reputation as a scientist and an educator through her global research. She seeks to address the fundamental infectious disease problems that affect both animals and people while training the next generation of leaders in global health.”