Peter Irwin

Peter graduated in veterinary science from the Royal Veterinary College, London University in 1982 and has a PhD from James Cook University (1991) for studies into canine babesiosis in Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and is a registered specialist in canine medicine. Peter was Principal of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University between 2014-2019 and Chair of Veterinary Schools of Australia and New Zealand (the council of veterinary deans) 2016-2017. Peter is currently appointed Emeritus Professor at Murdoch University.

Peter has worked in academia in Australia and overseas for more than 25 years as a teacher of companion animal medicine and as a researcher in the fields of veterinary parasitology and medical microbiology. He is an internationally recognised expert in vector-borne diseases and is a director of the Vector- and Water Borne Pathogens Research Group (the Cryptick Laboratory) at Murdoch University. His recent research focus, funded by the ACAHF, FHRF, CRF, ARC and NHMRC, has been into tick-borne infections of companion animals, wildlife and humans in Australia, using a variety of techniques including metagenomics for tick microbiome analysis. The research team studies potentially zoonotic protozoal, viral, and bacterial pathogens in ticks, with the overarching aim of providing evidence-based data to inform the vexed debate into Debilitating Symptom Complexes attributed to Ticks (DSCATT, or the so-called Lyme disease-like illness) in people in Australia.