Professor David Hayman

Professor Hayman holds a PhD in Veterinary Science from the University of Cambridge, UK, with degrees from University of Edinburgh (BVM&S) and University of Kent (MSc), and postdoctoral training in infectious disease biology from Colorado State University, USA. Author of over 90 publications, he is Professor of Infectious Disease Ecology at Massey University, New Zealand, where he co-directs a large research team, the Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory (mEpiLab), and directs a larger network of researchers across the university as the Director of the Infectious Disease Research Centre (IDREC).

The mEpiLab is part of a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Collaborating Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health and has PC2/3 laboratory facilities. Professor Hayman’s work focuses on emerging and endemic infectious diseases that primarily cause human illness or cause serious ecological problems. He has received notable award for his research, including Wellcome Trust, David H Smith and Royal Society Te Apārangi research fellowships.

Professor Hayman has worked in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, held several visiting positions at universities and research institutes, and supports equity in science and society. Professor Hayman is on a number of committees, including an ad hoc committee for the US National Academy of Sciences for Pakistan One Health Fellowships, and has led or co-authored key reports for national governments and intergovernmental organisations.

Most recently, in response to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, he has contributed to the ‘Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Pandemics’ of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the WHO-convened global study of origins of SARS-CoV-2: China Part report. Professor Hayman’s work focuses on the ecological and evolutionary processes that lead to infectious disease emergence and the impact of human activities on disease emergence events among people and wildlife.