Rate My Professor Pippa Scott

Dr. Pippa Scott serves as a Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. She holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Queensland, along with master's and PhD degrees. Scott began her career practicing as a veterinarian in Australia and the United Kingdom for five years. She then worked at the University of Bern in Switzerland on a multidisciplinary study investigating hydatid transmission from dogs to humans in Kyrgyzstan and the Chinese Tibetan Plateau, marking her first collaboration with medical, veterinary, and environmental researchers. During her PhD, she contributed to a major clinical trial of an aerosolized measles vaccine and prepared systematic reviews of vaccine effects for the World Health Organization.

Upon joining the University of Otago in 2014, Scott integrated into The Infection Group led by Professor David Murdoch and participates in One Health Aotearoa, an alliance addressing human, animal, and environmental health interconnections. Her research centers on zoonotic disease transmission, featuring a project on Staphylococcus aureus dynamics in primary school children via nasal sampling and proximity sensors, and a Health Research Council Emerging Researcher First Grant project funded with $149,982 in 2016 to identify control measures for Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus between cattle and people in New Zealand rural communities. Key publications include "Efficacy of pneumococcal vaccination in adults: a meta-analysis" (2009, Canadian Medical Association Journal), "Methods to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies: a systematic scoping review of recommendations" (2018, BMC Medical Research Methodology), "Prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium in different population groups: systematic review and meta-analysis" (2018, Sexually Transmitted Infections), "Risk Factors for Legionella longbeachae Legionnaires' Disease, New Zealand" (2017, Emerging Infectious Diseases), and recent contributions to zoonotic carriage studies and COVID-19 response insights.