Professor Ian Brown, Head of Virology at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and a co-Investigator in the One Health Poultry Hub, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for services to animal health and welfare.

Professor Brown said:

It is a great honour to receive this award. I have been privileged throughout my career to date to be faced with opportunities and challenges that impact nationally and internationally.

 

Disease epidemics affecting animals and people requiring international action have enabled me to support a wide range of stakeholders and communities whilst bringing those benefits back to the UK and its international partners and friends has been immensely rewarding.

Professor Brown is the UK national expert on avian and swine influenza and Newcastle disease, and a designated World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) expert for the three diseases. His international activities – including providing response to emergencies and support to the poultry industry and other stakeholders – have provided a major strand of his work.

He is a founder member of the OFFLU Laboratory Network, the OIE and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) network of expertise on animal influenza, and has taken the lead on a number of key international issues related to the work of this group. He is currently its chairperson.

In the Hub, he is responsible for developing, harmonising and applying laboratory testing for avian influenza to international standards. He is also providing expertise on the development of surveillance and key analytical work on viruses.