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Raina Plowright, PhD, MS, BVSc

Faculty member

Department of Public & Ecosystem Health

Rudolf J. and Katharine L. Steffen Professor of Veterinary Medicine

Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability

Cornell Atkinson Scholar
 

Plowright Lab

Bat One Health Research Group

Cornell Public Health

Department of Public & Ecosystem Health
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Ithaca, NY 14853

Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
200 Rice Hall | 340 Tower Road
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

Email: rkp57@cornell.edu

Research and Practice Interests

Dr. Raina Plowright’s research program develops the science of pandemic prevention through transdisciplinary leadership, innovation, and translation. Her work advances a One Health approach by bridging the best available science in disease dynamics with effective public health practice and meaningful policy. Her systematic and interdisciplinary approach focuses on four areas of inquiry: Transmission of pathogens between species, Links between land-use change and pathogen spillover, Dynamics and drivers of viral pathogens in reservoir host populations, and Implementation of science for the protection of ecosystem and human health.

Education

  • 2009–2014 - David H. Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellow, and Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University

  • 2007 - Ph.D. Ecology, University of California, Davis     

  • 2005 - M.S. Epidemiology, University of California, Davis

  • 1997 - B.V. Sc. Hons I, University of Sydney, (Bachelor of Veterinary Science, First Class Honors; DVM Equivalent).

Biography/Professional Experience

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. Dr. Plowright received her veterinary degree from the University of Sydney, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. 

Her research develops the science of pandemic prevention through transdisciplinary science leadership and translation. She focuses on four areas of investigation: mechanisms of cross-species transmission (commonly known as spillover), how environmental stressors drive spillover events, the dynamics of viral pathogens in reservoir hosts, and the implementation of ecological interventions to mitigate spillover. Her work advances a One Health approach by bridging the best available science in disease dynamics with effective public health practice and meaningful policy. 

Dr. Plowright is dedicated to fostering excellence in transdisciplinary collaboration to tackle the complex challenges of zoonotic disease emergence. She leads Bat One Health, a research consortium investigating WHO priority pathogens in bats, with field efforts in Australia, Bangladesh, and Ghana. Their work aims to unravel the biological mechanisms underpinning spillover events to inform development of targeted prevention strategies. 

Dr. Plowright is co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover and holds roles on several advisory boards, including the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education, and the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine committee for Countering Zoonotic Spillover of High Consequence Pathogens. 

She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has been an Australian-American Fulbright Fellow, an Australian Centenary Scholar, a DARPA Young Faculty Awardee, the recipient of a WIMU teaching award and the Wiley Research Award, and a David H. Smith Fellow in Conservation Research. 

Dr. Plowright has contributed to over 120 peer-reviewed publications and given over 120 invited talks including plenaries and keynotes on zoonotic spillover. Her research has been featured in over 120 interviews and reports in the popular media, including in the New York Times, Scientific American, The Washington Post, The Economist, Le Monde, National Public Radio, Newsweek, Reuters, ProPublica, and Rolling Stone.    

  • 2022–present - Professor of Disease Ecology, Cornell University

  • 2022 – Professor of Epidemiology, Montana State University

  • 2020–2022 - Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Montana State University

  • 2014–2020 - Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Montana State University                          

  • 2014–2022 - Adjunct Faculty, Washington State University School of Veterinary Medicine

  • 2014–2019 - Adjunct Research Fellow, James Cook University, and Griffith University, Australia                                                          

  • 2009–2014 - David H. Smith Fellow in Conservation Research, and Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University. Based at USGS Northern Rockies Science Center, Bozeman, Montana

  • 2008–2009 - Part Time Research Scientist, Consortium for Conservation Medicine

  • 2001–2007 - Graduate Research Scientist, University of California, Davis                                        

  • 1998–2002 - Clinical Veterinarian and Field Wildlife Veterinarian

Publications

Complete list of publications:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LOYc-5UAAAAJ&hl=en

Selected publications:

Awards and Honors

  • 2023 - Elected to the National Academy of Medicine, United States of America

  • 2023 - Carlton M. Herman Cutting Edge speaker Wildlife Disease Association

  • 2023 - Rudolph J. and Katharine L. Steffen Professor at Cornell University

  • 2022 - Elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  • 2022 - Charles and Nora Wiley Award for Meritorious Research, Montana State University.

  • 2022 - Visiting Scientist Fellowship, Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions, France.

  • 2019 - Coppoc One Health Lectureship, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.

  • 2018 - RR Parker Memorial lectureship, 73rd International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man.

  • 2018 - Nominated for the Director’s Award by DARPA Biological Technologies Office.

  • 2017 - Kopriva Lectureship, Montana State University.

  • 2017 - Excellence in Teaching Award, Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah (WIMU) Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine.

  • 2016 - DARPA Young Faculty Award, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

  • 2009 - David H. Smith Fellowship in Conservation Research, Society for Conservation Biology.

  • 2002 - Veterinary Graduate Academic Program Fellowship in Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.                                                                        

  • 2001 - Fulbright Graduate Fellowship, Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

  • 2001 - Centenary Scholarship, Foundation for Young Australians.           

  • 1997 - First Class Honors, Bachelor of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney.

  • 1997 - J.D. Stewart Prize in Veterinary Science, University of Sydney.

  • 1997 - Wesley College Overseas Study Program Leadership Fellowship, University of Sydney.

  • 1996 - Lonsdale Prize for Clinical Studies, University of Sydney.              

  • 1993 - Wesley College Overseas Study Program Inaugural Scholarship, University of Sydney.

  • 1992 - Bryant Grainger Scholarship, Wesley College, University of Sydney.           

Professional/Academic Affiliations

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • Society for Conservation Biology
  • Ecological Society of America
  • Wildlife Disease Association
  • Australasian Bat Society