Rate My Professor Rory O'Brien

Dr. Rory O'Brien serves as a Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology within the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago. He holds a BSc and PhD from the University of Dublin. His research specializations encompass mycobacterial diseases in New Zealand farmed deer, heritable susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases in ruminants, mycobacterial bacterial and viral genetics, molecular diagnostics, quantitative real-time PCR and gene expression analysis, and mycobacterial strain-typing. These interests have driven his contributions to understanding and managing infectious diseases in livestock, particularly Johne's disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis.

In his role as research manager at Disease Research Limited (DRL), which evolved from the Deer Research Laboratory and is based at the Invermay Agricultural Centre alongside AgResearch, Dr. O'Brien oversees research and practical fieldwork, including animal sampling. This position has enabled the development and refinement of diagnostic tests for Johne's disease and bovine viral diarrhoea, such as enhanced faecal tests that also detect parasitic diseases, funded by grants from AGMARDT and the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association. He has expanded DRL's expertise into the dairy sector, addressing disease challenges through innovative, custom-designed tests leveraging his university training. Key publications include 'Uncoupling molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2 from international supply chains' (Frontiers in Public Health, 2021), 'Estimation of the sensitivity and specificity of four serum ELISA and one fecal PCR for diagnosis of paratuberculosis in adult dairy cattle in New Zealand using Bayesian latent class analysis' (Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2020), 'Control of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection on a New Zealand pastoral dairy farm' (BMC Veterinary Research, 2019), 'The effect of sub-clinical infection with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis on milk production in a New Zealand dairy herd' (BMC Veterinary Research, 2018), 'Prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli marker genes in diarrhoeic stools in a New Zealand catchment area' (Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2017), and 'Composite testing for ante-mortem diagnosis of Johne's disease in farmed deer' (2013). Dr. O'Brien has supervised PhD theses, including those by Brooke J. Dobson (2012) on immunological parameters of resistance to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in red deer and Liam P. Brennan (2015) on immune biomarkers for resilient and susceptible genotypes in deer. His work supports practical disease control in New Zealand's deer and dairy industries.