Samuel Akpan DVM, MVPH

One Health, disease ecology, veterinary epidemiology, & sustainable food systems

Netherlands

About

I am a veterinary epidemiologist and disease ecologist with core expertise in One Health. I combine hands-on skills in sociology, ecology, epidemiology and genomics to gain a better understanding of how diseases emerge, persist and spread among human and animal populations, and their environments. I also have a track record of turning raw data into actionable insights. My most recent work addressed the trade-offs of wild/bush meat, bringing a delicate balance between food safety/public health, conservation, culture, and sustainable livelihoods. My skill-sets and experience span program management, teaching & research, disease surveillance & outbreak investigation, molecular techniques, risk analysis, stakeholder engagement, & technical writing. As a testament of my work, I am a recipient of the FAO Global One Health Special Prize (WFF-TRC), among other awards, fellowships and research grants, notably: the GIZ fellowship, ILRI fellowship, IGH fellowship, the USAID/AfWASA grant, and the ERRAZE@WUR research support. Pro bono, I serve as a Global Assessor for the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (RSTMH).

Experience

  • Doctoral Fellow- One Health at Institute of Genomics and Global Health (formerly ACEGID)
    Apr 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 4 mos

  • International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (4 yrs 2 mos)
    • PhD Graduate Fellow
      Jan 2025 - Jun 2026 · 1 yr 6 mos

    • Collaborator
      May 2022 - Dec 2024 · 2 yrs 8 mos

  • Lecturer 2 - Veterinary Public Health at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi
    Apr 2022 - Mar 2026 · 4 yrs

  • Data Analyst at Ajisefini Consulting
    Oct 2024 - Mar 2025 · 6 mos

  • Surveillance Officer at Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement (World Bank/NCDC/FMARD)
    Mar 2021 - Aug 2023 · 2 yrs 6 mos