UK launches One Health Initiative, welcoming new members and partnerships
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 15, 2025) — At the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, an initiative dedicated to protecting the health and welfare of the state’s people, animals and environment is now open and welcoming new members.
The mission of the One Health Center Initiative is to increase awareness of One Health by conducting multidisciplinary research — recognizing the health of people, animals and the environment are intricately linked and interdependent. Through these vital connections, the initiative focuses on solving complex health challenges, ranging from zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance to environmental exposures.
“One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems,” S. Reddy Palli, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Entomology at Martin-Gatton CAFE, Bill Gatton Foundation Distinguished Professor and the state entomologist, said. “We want to be a leader in educating people about the significance of One Health and its impact on everyone’s daily life.”
The One Health Initiative aims to bring together faculty, staff and students from various UK colleges and departments — along with state agencies — to identify and provide solutions through education, research and extension.
In fall 2025, a graduate course “One Health in Action” will be offered in-person and online. Additionally, an introductory undergraduate course, as well as undergraduate and graduate certificates, in One Health are planned for 2026. All UK students are also welcome to join the new Student One Health Organization.
Collaborative research being conducted by members of the UK One Health Initiative team includes:
- Surveillance, speciation and diagnostics of disease vectors, including ticks and mosquitoes in Kentucky, which is a collaboration between Palli and Wayne Sanderson, Ph.D., from the UK Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention;
- Developing novel antibiotics and therapeutics to mitigate infectious pathogens in animals and humans by Yosra Helmy, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Science and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the Markey Cancer Center;
- Exploring several enveloped RNA viruses that cause significant diseases in humans and livestock, including influenza viruses, rotaviruses, flaviviruses (Zika and West Nile virus) and HIV, by Feng Li, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor in the UK Department of Veterinary Science; and
- Understanding the mechanisms by which pathogenic bacteria sense their environments and their response and identifying novel regulatory networks in Borrelia burgdorferi (the pathogen which causes Lyme disease) by Brian Stevenson, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Entomology and UK College of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics.
The One Health Initiative will work closely with the Cooperative Extension Service to educate agents with resources and research related to biosecurity, food safety and security, zoonosis, vector-borne diseases, along with farm health and safety, plant and tree health, soil health and wildlife. The initiative will also partner with UK Colleges of Public Health, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, state public health and other state agencies in educating farmers, county agents, veterinarians, physicians, rural populations and public health workers on the prevention of infectious diseases.
“We believe our college has one of the strongest extension programs in the nation and that the One Health Initiative at UK is uniquely positioned to grow,” Palli said. “We welcome everyone interested in One Health to join our collaborative effort and take advantage of all that we have to offer.”
After a successful debut last year, the 2025 One Health Symposium will be Oct. 20 — welcoming all One Health champions in human, animal and environmental health across extension, instruction, research, policy and more.
Learn more about the One Health Center/Initiative, events, resources and how to join at https://onehealth.ca.uky.edu.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.