Alice Uí Chearbhaill

Current Projects

The effects of milking management factors on udder health and antimicrobial use on Irish dairy farms

Alice is a 2021 UCD veterinary medicine graduate. With a keen interest in large animal medicine and herd health, her PhD is focused on the effects of milking management factors on bovine udder health and antibiotic resistance in Irish dairy herds. She will also be investigating milker training and behaviour and the effect that this can have on outcome variables.

There is an urgent need to reduce the use of antibiotics on dairy farms in order to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance to both human and animal health. As well as this, with herd expansion increasing year on year, new challenges to milk quality and udder health are presenting themselves. The aim of this PhD is to contribute to current efforts in reducing antibiotic use at dry off by promoting a reduction of bacterial spread during lactation, thereby minimising new and chronic infections in dairy herds which necessitate dry cow antibiotic treatment

Alice has past experience in research with investigating the influence of various factors on the efficiency of the gamma interferon blood test for bovine tuberculosis.

Supervisors: Dr. John Upton, Dr. Pablo Silva Bolona, Dr. Eoin Ryan and Dr. Catherine McAloon

Education

UCD Veterinary Medicine 2021 graduate