Our Speakers
Kelly Brayton, PhD
Kelly Brayton, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at Washington State University. She trained at Purdue and did extensive postdoctoral work at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa. Her career has focused on tick-borne pathogens of livestock. She provided the first genome sequences for Anaplasma marginale (bovine anaplasmosis), Ehrlichia ruminantium (African heartwater), and Babesia bovis (babesiosis). Her current research focuses on pathogen transmission, persistence, and vaccine discovery. She has received numerous national and international accolades for her work. She is also dedicated to mentoring students and junior faculty and addressing imbalances for underrepresented individuals in STEM.
Dustin Oedekoven, DVM, MPVM
Dustin Oedekoven, DVM, MPVM, has spent his career in regulatory veterinary medicine. “Dusty” served in the South Dakota Bureau of Animal Industry for more than two decades, including 13 years as the State Veterinarian. In 2021, Dr. Oedekoven was elected President of the US Animal Health Association, a group which combines regulatory, academic, and industry partners in animal health, to help guide federal and state decisions. In February 2022, Dr. Oedekoven transitioned to the position of Chief Veterinarian at the National Pork Board. In this role, Dr. Oedekoven leads a team of veterinarians and swine production experts in Pork Checkoff-funded work to deliver on the No. 1 concern for pork producers – foreign animal disease (FAD) preparedness and
protecting the U.S. herd from African swine fever.
Dr. Maryam Muhammad
Dr. Maryam Muhammad is Director and CEO of the National Veterinary Research Institute in Nigeria. As such, she oversees a large staff of researchers and diagnostics at the central facility in Vom as well as at the 23 regional laboratories around the country. She holds a DVM from Ahmadu Bello University and a PhD from the University of London. She has been active and instrumental in numerous control and eradication campaigns, including rinderpest, COVID-19, HPAI, and peste des petits ruminants. Dr. Maryam serves as an inspiration to many and insists that the numerous challenges presented to animal health every day are simply opportunities to engage and improve.
Huyam Salih, DVM, MS, PhD
Huyam Salih, DVM, MS, PhD, has served as Director of the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources since August 2023. She has an impressive track record spanning over two decades, spearheading numerous ground-breaking initiatives in the domains of livestock development, disease prevention, and animal health interventions, leaving an indelible impact on a global level. Currently she focuses on regulatory issues, including control of Transboundary Animal Diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance, Zoonotic Diseases, and is a champion of One Health.
Christian Happi
Christian Happi is the Director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. He is a native of Cameroon, graduating from the University of Yaounde. Dr. Happi obtained his PhD from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, then spent several years as a Research Scientist at Harvard University, and continues there as adjunct. Through his leadership, the Centre has made seminal discoveries and contributions to a wide variety of diseases, including Ebola, Lassa fever, HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and malaria.
Dr. Desiree LaBeaud
Dr. Desiree LaBeaud is a physician-scientist, epidemiologist, and professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. She studies the epidemiology and ecology of domestic and international arboviruses and emerging infections, with an interest in the vector, host, and environmental factors that affect transmission dynamics and spectrum of disease. Her research is community-engaged and seeks to define and then disrupt the underlying structural determinants of health. Dr. LaBeaud also recently launched a nonprofit, the Health and Environmental Research Institute- Kenya (www.heri-kenya.org) which is an initiative focused on Kenya to inspire community education, new research, policy change and grass roots activism in environmental health issues.
Felix Njeumi
Felix Njeumi currently serves as the Secretary of the joint FAO/WOAH Secretariat for the Peste des petits ruminants Global Eradication Programme. A native of Cameroon, Dr. Njeumi completed his DVM at U of Parma in Italy and a PhD from University of Bologna, Italy. Dr. Njeumi was heavily involved in the (successful) rinderpest eradication program, receiving numerous accolades for his work, from more than 24 countries. He holds Adjunct and Visiting Scientist positions at numerous universities around the world, is active in publishing, and is fluent in 8 different languages.