Talk 3: Wildlife Patients and One Health

Arlene McDowell

Otago University, The New Zealand National School of Pharmacy, Dunedin, New Zealand, arlene.mcdowell@otag.ac.nz

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has acutely tuned our attention to the fact that wildlife health has critical ramifications for human health globally. Pharmacists are frontline healthcare providers in the community and have played key roles in the COVID-19 response. Pharmacists are experts in medicines and their optimal use in human patients, however animal health is also within the scope of practice for pharmacists. There are considerable challenges to be overcome for the successful treatment of wildlife including the need for species-specific pharmacokinetic studies and tailored drug delivery for these specialist animal populations.

Input from pharmacy into One Health has not reached its potential and lack of relevant knowledge is a contributing barrier.  Education of undergraduate pharmacy students is a key strategy to engage and build capacity in a large number of highly accessible healthcare workers.

SHORT BIO

Associate Professor School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, New Zealand and an Honorary Professor at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.

Research interests are polymeric nanomedicines for oral delivery of proteins and peptides and understanding interactions at the nano-bio interface.  Arlene also works at the emerging intersection of pharmaceutical science and wildlife therapeutics.

She has held leadership positions in the Controlled Release Society including Chair of the Veterinary Committee, President of the New Zealand Chapter of CRS and Editor-in-Chief of the CRS Newsletter and recently served on the Board of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society and is an Editor for the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics.

McDowell is a strong advocate for education and has won prizes for both excellence and innovation in undergraduate teaching and is Director of the new Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree launched at the University of Otago in 2022.