Jonna Ann Keener Mazet (born December 18, 1967) is an American epidemiologist and Executive Director of the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
One Health Institute
The One Health Institute works at the interface of animals, people, plants, and the environment to solve complex problems that impact health and conservation around the world. The institute is part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine an ...
. Recognized for her innovative and holistic approach to emerging environmental and global health threats, she is an elected member of the
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...
and a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
. Mazet is a professor of
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
and Disease Ecology at the
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine The University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest veterinary school in the United States. Established in 1948, the school is the primary health resource for California's various animal populations. In 2020, the school ...
, where she focuses on global health problem solving, especially for emerging infectious disease and conservation challenges.
Mazet is a leader in the field of
One Health
One Health is an approach calling for "the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally, to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment", as defined by the One Health Initiative Task For ...
and is active in international research programs, most notably in relation to disease transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people and the ecological drivers of disease emergence. One Health is the collaborative effort across multiple disciplines (veterinary, human medical, environmental, etc.) to attain optimal health for animals, people, and the environment. As a member of the National Academy of Medicine, Mazet also chairs the National Academies’ One Health Action Collaborative and serves on the Forum for Microbial Threats.
She is the Global Director of the
PREDICT Project, a more than $200 million viral emergence early-warning project that has been developed with the
United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats Program.
Mazet was born and raised in
Marin County, California
Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...
and currently lives both there and in
Davis, California
Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Da ...
, USA with her husband. She has two daughters.
Education and early career
Mazet earned her Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Medicine from the University of California, Davis in 1990 and her Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Wildlife and Infectious Disease and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1992. In 1996, she completed a PhD in epidemiology, expanding her training across human and animal species divides.
Mazet worked as a wildlife veterinarian for the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...
where she was instrumental in the development of California’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN). While working as an oil spill responder, she advanced the collaborative Network, making it a model for wildlife emergency management systems worldwide, and remains a consulting expert on animal emergency preparedness and response.
She joined the faculty of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1998 and became Co-director of the fledgling Wildlife Health Center and moved the headquarters of the OWCN to the university.
In 2009, she became Executive Director of the newly formed UC Davis One Health Institute, which is home to programs and projects that do work around the world, including the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, PREDICT Project, Gorilla Doctors, SeaDoc Society, EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics and the California Raptor Center.
Viral discovery and pandemic preparedness
Mazet is currently the Principal Investigator and Global Director of USAID’s PREDICT Project, which works in more than 30 countries to build capacity to develop surveillance systems and complete the necessary research to halt the next pandemic, like influenza, SARS, Ebola, and HIV. With these projects and others as a research foundation, she has served as the mentor for over 70 graduate student and postdoctoral trainees. She also serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine Forum on Microbial Threats. She also co-authored the following recent publications
The discovery of Bombali virus adds further support for bats as hosts of ebolaviruses ''(Nature Microbiology)''an
The Global Virome Project ''(Science)''.
Honors and awards
2017 - Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2017 - Honorable Mention, Remarkable Women of UC, University of California
2017 - Inaugural Hall-Sewankambo Mid-Career Global Health Award, Consortium of Universities for Global Health
2017 - Alumni Achievement Award, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
2016 - Leiter Lecturer, National Library of Medicine (NIH) and National Medical Library Association
2016 - Schofield Metal, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph
2016 - Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence
2015 - George C. Poppensiek Visiting Professor in Global Animal Health, Cornell University
2015 - American Veterinary Epidemiology Society Honorary Diplomate
2014 - R.G. Thomson Lecturer, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island (Canada)
2013 - Elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine)
2012 - Oscar W. Schalm Lecturer, University of California, Davis
2012 - Outstanding Alumna Award, University of California, Davis
2011 - International Wildlife Disease Association and American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians Joint Tom Thorne and Beth Williams Memorial Award – Most significant contribution to the field of wildlife health
2004 - Appointed to Governor of California’s Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee
References
External links
UC Davis One Health Institute
US Agency for International DevelopmentPREDICT ProjectKaren C. Drayer Wildlife Health CenterOiled Wildlife Care Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazet, Jonna
1967 births
Living people
University of California, Davis alumni
American women epidemiologists
American epidemiologists
21st-century American women
Members of the National Academy of Medicine