David is Dean of the University of Otago, Christchurch.  His main research has been into infectious diseases and in this interview we discuss that research, his time spent living in remote Nepal for two years as well as the role of antibiotics and breakthroughs he is searching for.

Link: https://www.otago.ac.nz/christchurch/index.html

He is the co-leader of The Infection Group, the co-director of One Health Aotearoa, a Senior Associate in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and a clinical microbiologist at Canterbury Health Laboratories.

David’s main research interests are the epidemiology, diagnosis and prevention of respiratory tract infections, pneumococcal disease, legionellosis, bloodstream infections, and the role of vitamin D in infectious diseases.

He has a particular interest in the microbial aetiology of pneumonia, and is the Laboratory Director of the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) project which is focused on determining the causes of severe pneumonia in young children from developing countries. David has ongoing projects based in nine countries in Africa and Asia.

Lecture by David: https://www.otago.ac.nz/cs/groups/public/@otagopodcast/documents/audio_video/otago068292.mp4