In this episode of Food, Farms, and Forests Podcast, we talk to Dr. Emily McDermott, assistant professor of medical and veterinary entomology, and Dr. Cameron Osborne, a postdoctoral fellow, to discuss the REDI-NET project and how their research is contributing to building the database for the Department of Defense. 

REDI-NET, which stands for Remote Emerging Disease Intelligence Network, is a collaborative initiative involving the University of Arkansas, the University of Notre Dame, and the Department of Defense. Its main goal is to “detect, predict, and contain” potential infectious diseases that could emerge in animals and be passed on to humans.   

Dr. McDermott and Dr. Osborne explain how their work is helping develop standardized pathogen surveillance protocols to enhance the Department of Defense's readiness against emerging diseases. They discuss the project's objectives, the metagenomic approach used for disease detection, and the challenges and successes they’ve encountered along the way. 

Tune in to learn how their research is shaping the future of global pathogen surveillance and protection.

Learn more about REDI-NET.

This work is supported by the US Army Medical Research and Development Command under Contract No.W81XWH-21-C-0001, W81XWH-22-C-0093 and HT9425-23-C-0059. The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army or Navy position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation.

Related links:

Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural Food Life Science

Entomology and Plant Pathology Department

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

U of A System Division of Agriculture

Mpala Research Centre

Protocols.io