Dr Oonagh Pretorius is a PhD Epidemiology candidate at the University of California, Davis's Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance. She is committed to the improvement of rural livelihoods in southern Africa through a One Health approach to disease control. In 2020, she completed her master’s degree in Tropical Animal Health through the University of Pretoria and the Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. She also holds bachelor’s degrees in veterinary biology and veterinary science from the University of Pretoria. Before pursuing her doctorate, Oonagh worked for several years as a State Veterinarian in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, where agronomic development is consistently constrained and threatened by listed animal diseases. Her research interests include infectious and wildlife disease epidemiology and modelling, currently focusing on surveillance and control of African Swine Fever in South Africa. In future, Dr Pretorius aims to contribute to the development of more Afrocentric disease control policies on the global stage and to further develop regional epidemiological capacity to tackle the unique challenges faced by animal health on the African continent.