Nikki is a Professor in the School of Biosciences. Her research focuses on infectious disease and has two main strands; The detection and monitoring of infectious diseases, especially parasitic infections. The work encompasses the monitoring of farm animals for parasitic infections and how this correlates to farm management practices and vector ecology. One area of focus encompasses analysis of changes in the distribution and prevalence of parasitic diseases in farm animals over time and correlating this to treatment regimens / anthelmintic resistance, farm practices and climate change, as well as screening and monitoring the prevalence of key disease vectors and associated pathogens, including ticks and tick-borne diseases. Other key aspects of these studies include monitoring local bee populations for infections and horizon scanning for new and emerging diseases. The second strand involves using new advances in sensor technologies to develop detailed understanding of animal behaviour and to exploit these tools and data to determine infection status to inform disease management and control. Email: N.Marks@qub.ac.uk
