Director of Conservation Medicine and Science, Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Matthew Allender received his Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution prior to completing veterinary school at the University of Illinois in 2004. He was in small animal practice for two years while completing a Master of Science focusing on Conservation Medicine. He then went on to complete a three-year residency in Zoological Medicine at the University of Tennessee and Knoxville Zoo before finally returning to the University of Illinois to join the faculty in 2009. Concurrently, Dr. Allender completed a PhD in Wildlife Epidemiology investigating ranavirus in free-ranging chelonians in the U.S. Since that time, he has taught, provided clinical service, and performed research in the epidemiology of infectious and non-infectious diseases of free-ranging and managed wildlife. Currently, he is in a joint position as the Director of the Wildlife Epidemiology Lab at the University of Illinois and Director of Conservation Medicine and Science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Dr. Allender has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and 250 national presentations on wildlife and zoological medicine.

Using Clinical Medicine to Direct Conservation Medicine Research

This presentation will describe how clinical medicine can direct field research, list diagnostic approaches and limitations to non-domestic pathogen detection, explain epidemiological principles that help to monitor and  trace disease in wildlife, and describe the process and results of outbreak response in wildlife.