Dr Olivier Restif is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and the Alborada Lecturer in Epidemiology at the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Cambridge. He leads multi-disciplinary research on the dynamics of infectious diseases in people and animals, from the within-host level to the ecosystems.
Working with microbiologists in the UK and the USA, Dr Restif has developed mathematical models that help monitor the spread of bacteria among organs within laboratory animals. This research has provided new insights into the efficacy of different types of vaccine against typhoid.
Dr Restif is also part of an international consortium tackling bat-borne emerging infectious diseases, including rabies in North America, Hendra virus in Australia and Ebola virus in West Africa. The goal is to protect the health of people and domestic animals while preserving bat populations which provide essential ecological and economic functions around the world. This work was presented to the public by Dr Restif and his colleagues at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in 2011.
