Emma-Jane Murray
Research OfficerResearch Interests
Emma-Jane’s interdisciplinary background spans from livestock science to public health, with an academic career in veterinary epidemiology, served as a governor on university boards, and contributed to public health surveillance in Ireland during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her interests include:
- Veterinary epidemiology
- Animal health economics
- Diseases
- Surveillance
- One health
- Governance
Current Projects
BoviTB Physiological stress can lead to immune suppression in animals, and it is hypothesised that this may impact bTB test performance. In cattle, calving and early lactation are stressful events, which may increase susceptibility to disease during this period and reduce the response to diagnostic tests. The objectives of the BoviTB project are:
- To determine whether there is an association between the stage of lactation and an animals’ bTB test result
- To determine if there is an association between an animals’ health and metabolic status and bTB test outcome
- To longitudinally compare the bTB test profiles of animals that eventually become reactors and animals that never become reactors.
Career
- Sept 2025 to date: Research Officer (Contract), Teagasc
- Sept 2025: Associate Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, Writtle Campus, UK
- Mar 2024-Nov 24: Governor, Writtle College Limited, Anglia Ruskin University
- 2021-2022: Surveillance Assistant at the HSE Department of Public Health Mid-West, Strategic Planning and Transformation
- 2019-2024: Independent Governor, Writtle University College
- 2018-2019: Students’ Union President and Student Governor, Writtle University College, UK
Education
- 2021-2025: PhD majoring in Veterinary Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, titled, ‘Estimating the Burden of Cattle Disease in Ireland to Inform Private and Public Sector Animal Health Investment Policy Considerations: A Project Contributing to the Global Burden of Animal Disease Programme’
- 2019-2021: MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- 2016-2019: BSc (Hons) Animal Science (Livestock) from Writtle University College
Professional Membership
- Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
- Agricultural Economics Society of Ireland