Rising to the Challenge

Message from the Executive Director

When I took over leadership of the UC Davis One Health Institute (OHI) in 2020, the world was standing at the crossroads of crisis and possibility. Stepping into this role at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the end of our very successful PREDICT program, meant learning to lead a team already stretched by uncertainty and the shifting landscape of a “new normal.” Over the past five years, and especially throughout 2025, the OHI has navigated pressures that would have tested any organization. At every turn, we adapted. We pivoted. And we never lost sight of why we do this work.

What I found in the OHI team was a community defined not by the challenges we faced, but by the resilience, innovation, and purpose with which we met them.

I could not be prouder of the talented and deeply passionate team that makes the OHI what it is. Our collective commitment to One Health by all and for all has strengthened global collaborations, advanced research and training, and delivered lifesaving impact to human and animal communities near and far. Serving as the Executive Director has been one of the greatest honors of my career.

As I prepare to pass the torch, I do so with immense gratitude and with profound confidence in what comes next. The work we do matters more than ever, and the world is better because we are doing it.

With that, I’m pleased to share highlights from this year that reflect not only what we’ve achieved together, but what the future of One Health can and will be.

Addressing Societal Needs Through Rapid Response & Access to Health

Latin America Program field teams joined the first Antarctic expedition to investigate emerging highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases, documenting a major expansion of the virus affecting both wild birds and marine mammals across the Northern Weddell Sea and Western Antarctic Peninsula. Read More!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

• When more than 150 Western Grebes were oiled in Ventura County, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) immediately supported our member organizations – International Bird Rescue and Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network – with field, care, and operational support to give these birds a second chance at life.
  
• The Accessible Veterinary Care program sent team members to support partnering programs including Sacramento Street Dog Coalition, HOAP (Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Prevention Program at Front Street Animal Shelter), and the PAWS program at the Bradshaw Animal Shelter, in addition to continuing to support Knights Landing One Health Clinic and Covelo Clinic.
  
• During January’s historic Los Angeles wildfires, the California Veterinary Emergency Team (CVET) supported local animal response leaders with real-time veterinary guidance and remained on standby for deployment, strengthening care for evacuated pets and animals left behind.

Protecting Wildlife Through a One Health Approach

SeaDoc Society's science team spent all of September on the water collecting fecal samples and cutting-edge drone footage of endangered killer whales, data that will bolster individual health records and help ensure their future. Read More!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

• As HPAI creates unprecedented risks to animal and human health, food systems, and oiled wildlife response operations, the OWCN Management Team is leading the way to adapt response protocols, safeguarding the Network’s 1,600 responders while ensuring oiled wildlife can still be rescued and receive life-saving care.
  
• The Latin America Program is participating in the 10th season of the Tracking Whales project, deploying 30 new, welfare-focused satellite tags that provide essential data on whale migration, habitat use, and the effects of climate change and human pressures.
  
• Through 345 health checks and 79 clinical interventions (including eight lifesaving snare rescues) Gorilla Doctors provided essential medical care that directly strengthens the survival of endangered and critically endangered eastern gorilla families.
  
• A collared female mountain lion (F390) was tragically killed along Ortega Highway, leaving behind two 14-15-month-old offspring (F436 and M437). The California Carnivores Program team quickly mobilized to track and safely capture the juveniles for GPS collaring, allowing us to monitor their movements, behavior, and health, and respond rapidly if intervention is ever needed.

Advancing Science to Protect Animals, Communities, & the Planet

Authors with the OHI and UCGHI Center for Planetary Health found that low-cost beaver dam analogues used in stream restoration can remove more than 80% of waterborne pathogens, improving water quality and year-round water availability for people and wildlife. Read More!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

• Rift Valley fever threatens both animals and the communities who rely on them. DDvax, our promising new vaccine candidate, has taken a major step forward and is now progressing toward its first clinical trials, bringing us closer to a powerful new tool for protecting herds and the families who depend on them.
  
• The California Raptor Center and UC Davis School of Engineering have completed construction for a new high-tech flight hall, enabling groundbreaking research on bird flight to inform next-generation aircraft design.
  
• Gorilla Doctors has joined a three-year, multi-million-dollar consortium funded by FAO, WHO, and UNICEF to strengthen Rwanda, Uganda, and DR Congo’s ability to detect, diagnose, and respond to emerging zoonotic disease threats.

Training & Building the Global One Health Workforce

Amid rising challenges such as climate change, emerging diseases, and biodiversity loss, the Rx One Health Field Institute continues to deliver transformative field training for the next generation of One Health professionals, with another successful cohort completing the program this year. Watch Video!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

• In collaboration with the Netherlands’ Animal Disaster Education Foundation, CVET developed a unified animal-triage protocol to help responders assess animals and determine needed care, which is now being turned into an online training game.
  
• Dr. Jane Riner completed her first year of the UCD/CDFW Free-ranging Wildlife Health Residency and began the UC Davis Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine program, building on hands-on experience with California’s native wildlife as she now studies feline leukemia virus in mountain lions for her thesis.
  
• The One Health Institute worked with partners across Africa and Asia to complete a USAID project that trained over 60,000 people on the One Health approach and global health security topics over 6 years.
  
• The Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center externships and fellowships equip students with hands-on wildlife research experience and prepare them for careers in wildlife health and conservation.
  
• Our Wildlife Health Youth Fellowship provides paid, hands-on opportunities in wildlife health for high school students from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in the field.

Our work is made possible by the generosity of our supporters, the strength of our partnerships, and the shared belief that advancing the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment is both urgent and essential.

We are grateful to walk this path with you and we look ahead to the coming year with optimism and determination for what we can achieve together.