Tony Goldberg

Tony Goldberg, DVM, Ph.D., is a professor of epidemiology with training in the biological, medical and social sciences.

His research and teaching focus on the ecology, epidemiology and evolution of infectious disease, combining field and laboratory studies to understand how pathogens in dynamic ecosystems are transmitted among hosts, across complex landscapes and over time. This involves numerous projects around the world that use evolutionary and epidemiological tools to track the movement of pathogens, from viruses to bacteria to protozoa and fungi. The overall goal of is to discover generalized mechanisms that govern pathogen transmission, evolution and emergence, and to improve the health and wellbeing of animals and humans while helping to conserve the rapidly changing ecosystems that we share.

Goldberg heads the Kibale EcoHealth Project that, for 15 years, has investigated the non-human primates, people and domestic animals of Kibale National Park, Uganda, as a case study of how people and animals around the world are interacting in new ways as environments change around them. Kibale is a protected tropical forest known for its exceptional diversity of primates. The project focuses on “interface” habitats in and near the national park, where human-wildlife conflict and contact occur in a region that is a “hot spot” for disease emergence. Goldberg studies how environmental changes alter patterns of cross-species disease transmission and how these alterations impact human and animal health. He trains international students and works with governmental organizations and NGOs to translate scientific results into effective‚ targeted policy.

Goldberg received his B.A. from Amherst College in biology and English and went on to earn a doctorate degree from Harvard University in biological anthropology. He earned his DVM and M.S. (epidemiology) from the University of Illinois.

In the news:

• Goldberg’s TedxUWMadison talk: Discovering pathogens and the pathways by which they emerge
• Goldberg discusses deadly respiratory disease in wild chimpanzees
• Goldberg interviewed by National Geographic about bloodsucking ticks
• Chimpanzee deaths in Uganda pinned on human cold virus
• Research by Goldberg reveals relationship between a virus, a parasite and an African bat
• Famed Milwaukee County Zoo orangutan’s death caused by strange infection
• Goldberg sniffs out possible new tick species
• What the U.S. is doing to prevent an Ebola outbreak
• EcoHealth, like GHI, calls for addressing climate change to benefit human, animal and ecosystem health
• Goldberg is developing an innovative take on flip-flops to help keep people healthier