Dr. James Hassell’s research combines ecology and epidemiology to study the connections between environmental change, wildlife and human health. As Skorton Scholar to the Global Health Program, he leads and advances the program's work in Kenya, which looks to combine capacity building with cutting-edge research to mitigate risk at the interface between wildlife, livestock and human health. Through his work with GHP, Dr. Hassell aims to promote the conservation of species and their ecosystems, while protecting human and wildlife health.

Topics he is currently working on include:

Disease ecology

• Emerging infectious disease risks posed by bushmeat in Kenya and Nigeria
• The impacts of environmental and demographic changes on emerging vector-borne diseases in Northern Kenya
• The role of wildlife in the emergence of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in urban settings

• Population heath and diseases of eastern black rhinoceros
• Toxicology training to mitigate poisoning of African carnivores and vultures
• Building surveillance platforms for wildlife disease in East Africa
• Wildlife health training programs in East Africa

Dr. Hassell received his Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Medicine from the Royal Veterinary College, before pursuing a master's degree in wild animal health. He completed his doctorate in epidemiology with the University of Liverpool and International Livestock Research Institute, investigating the role of urbanization on the ecology and epidemiology of disease transmission between wildlife, livestock and humans in Nairobi.

Dr. Hassell is an appointed assistant professor adjunct of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, visiting scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute, and has completed a zoological medicine residency with a focus on wildlife population health through the University of Liverpool School of Veterinary Science.

Article

• Lilak, Abigail A., Pecor, David B., Matulis, Graham, Potter, Alexander M., Wofford, Rachel N., Kearney, Mary F., Mitchell, Stephanie, Jaradat, Fatima, Kano, Arisa, Zimmerman, Dawn M., Hassell, James M., Kumsa, Bersissa, Kamau, Maureen, Linton, Yvonne-Marie, and von Fricken, Michael E. 2024. "Data release: targeted systematic literature search for tick and tick-borne pathogen distributions in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1901 to 2020." Parasites & Vectors, 17, (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06086-4. 2024
• Angwenyi, Shaleen Kemunto Sarange, Hassell, James, Miller, Michele Ann, Mutinda, Mathew, Vitali, Francesca, and Murray, Suzan. 2023. "A review of clostridial diseases in rhinoceroses." Conservation Science and Practice, 5, (3). https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12906. 2023
• Hassell, James M., Muloi, Dishon M., VanderWaal, Kimberly L., Ward, Melissa J., Bettridge, Judy, Gitahi, Nduhiu, Ouko, Tom, Imboma, Titus, Akoko, James, Karani, Maurice, Muinde, Patrick, Nakamura, Yukiko, Alumasa, Lorren, Furmaga, Erin, Kaitho, Titus, Amanya, Fredrick, Ogendo, Allan, Fava, Francesco, Wee, Bryan A., Phan, Hang, Kiiru, John, Kang’ethe, Erastus, Kariuki, Sam, Robinson, Timothy, Begon, Michael et al. 2023. "Epidemiological connectivity between humans and animals across an urban landscape." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120, (29). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218860120. 2023
• Suire, Alexandre, Kunita, Itsuki, Harel, Roi, Crofoot, Margaret, Mutinda, Mathew, Kamau, Maureen, Hassel, James M., Murray, Suzan, Kawamura, Shoji, and Matsumoto-Oda, Akiko. 2023. "Estimating individual exposure to predation risk in group-living baboons, Papio anubis." PLOS ONE, 18, (11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287357. 2023
• Kamau, Maureen W., Brown, Janine L., Boisseau, Nicole, Gaymer, Jamie, Hassell, James, Martins, Dino J., and Murray, Suzan. 2023. "Non-invasive assessment of ovarian activity in free-ranging eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) in Kenya." Conservation Physiology, 11, (1). https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coad010. 2023
• Kamau, Joseph, Ergunay, Koray, Webala, Paul W., Justi, Silvia A., Bourke, Brian P., Kamau, Maureen W., Hassell, James, Chege, Mary N., Mwaura, David K., Simiyu, Cynthia, Kibiwot, Sospeter, Onyuok, Samson, Caicedo-Quiroga, Laura, Li, Tao, Zimmerman, Dawn M., and Linton, Yvonne-Marie. 2022. "A Novel Coronavirus and a Broad Range of Viruses in Kenyan Cave Bats." Viruses, 14, (12) 2820. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14122820. 2022
• Waage, Jeff, Grace, Delia, Fèvre, Eric,M., McDermott, John, Lines, Jo, Wieland, Barbara, Naylor, Nichola R., Hassell, James M., and Chan, Kallista. 2022. "Changing food systems and infectious disease risks in low-income and middle-income countries." The Lancet Planetary Health, 6, (9) e760–e768. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00116-4. 2022
• Zimmerman, Dawn M., Mitchell, Stephanie L., Wolf, Tiffany M., Deere, Jessica R., Noheri, Jean Bosco, Takahashi, Emi, Cranfield, Michael R., Travis, Dominic A., and Hassell, James M. 2022. "Great ape health watch: Enhancing surveillance for emerging infectious diseases in great apes." American Journal of Primatology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23379. 2022
• Worsley-Tonks, Katherine E. L., Bender, Jeff B., Deem, Sharon L., Ferguson, Adam W., Fèvre, Eric M., Martins, Dino J., Muloi, Dishon M., Murray, Suzan, Mutinda, Mathew, Ogada, Darcy, Omondi, George P., Prasad, Shailendra, Wild, Hannah, Zimmerman, Dawn M., and Hassell, James M. 2022. "Strengthening global health security by improving disease surveillance in remote rural areas of low-income and middle-income countries." Lancet Global Health, 10, (4) E579–E584. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00031-6. 2022
• Ottinger, Mary Ann, Botha, André, Buij, Ralph, Coverdale, Brent, Gore, Meredith L., Harrell, Reginal M., Hassell, James, Krüger, Sonja, McClure, Christopher J. W., Mullinax, Jennifer M., Shaffer, L. Jen, Smit-Robinson, Hanneline, Thompson, Lindy J., van den Heever, Linda, and Bowerman, William W. 2021. "A Strategy For Conserving Old World Vulture Populations In the Framework of One Health." Journal of Raptor Research, 55, (3) 374–387. https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-20-98. 2021
• Kamau, Maureen W., Hassell, James M., Milnes, Ellie L., Hayek, Lee-Ann C., Mutinda, Mathew M., Harel, Roi, Matsumoto-Oda, Akiko, Yu, Jennifer H., Zimmerman, Dawn, Crofoot, Margaret, and Murray, Suzan. 2021. "Point of Care Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analysis in Anesthetized Olive Baboons (Papio anubis) in a Field Setting." International Journal of Primatology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00241-3. 2021
• Hassell, James M., Bettridge, Judy M., Ward, Melissa J., Ogendo, Allan, Imboma, Titus, Muloi, Dishon, Fava, Francesco, Robinson, Timothy P., Begon, Michael, and Fèvre, Eric M. 2021. "Socio‐ecological drivers of vertebrate biodiversity and human‐animal interfaces across an urban landscape." Global Change Biology, 27, (4) 781–792. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15412. 2021
• Comizzoli, Pierre, Pagenkopp Lohan, Katrina M., Muletz-Wolz, Carly, Hassell, James, and Coyle, Brian J. 2021. "The Interconnected Health Initiative: A Smithsonian Framework to Extend One Health Research and Education." Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.629410. 2021
• Hassell, James M., Newbold, Tim, Dobson, Andrew P., Linton, Yvonne-Marie, Franklinos, Lydia H. V., Zimmerman, Dawn, and Pagenkopp Lohan, Katrina M. 2021. "Towards an ecosystem model of infectious disease." Nature Ecology & Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01454-8. 2021
• Hassell, James M., Zimmerman, Dawn, Fèvre, Eric M., Zinsstag, Jakob, Bukachi, Salome, Barry, Michele, Muturi, Mathew, Bett, Bernard, Jensen, Nathaniel, Ali, Seid, Maples, Stace, Rushton, Jonathan, Tschopp, Rea, Madaine, Yahya O., Abtidon, Rahma A., and Wild, Hannah. 2020. "Africa's Nomadic Pastoralists and Their Animals Are an Invisible Frontier in Pandemic Surveillance." The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103, (5) 1777–1779. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1004. 2020
• Hassell, James M., Ward, Melissa J., Muloi, Dishon, Bettridge, Judy M., Robinson, Timothy P., Kariuki, Sam, Ogendo, Allan, Kiiru, John, Imboma, Titus, Kang'ethe, Erastus K., Öghren, Elin M., Williams, Nicola J., Begon, Michael, Woolhouse, Mark E. J., and Fèvre, Eric M. 2019. "Clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance at the wildlife–livestock–human interface in Nairobi: an epidemiological study." The Lancet Planetary Health, 3, (6) e259–e269. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30083-X. 2019
• Hassell, James M., Zimmerman, Dawn, Cranfield, Michael R., Gilardi, Kirsten, Mudakikwa, Antoine, Ramer, Jan, Nyirakaragire, Elisabeth, and Lowenstine, Linda J. 2017. "Morbidity and mortality in infant mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei): A 46-year retrospective review." American Journal of Primatology, 79, (10) e22686. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22686. 2017

Report

• Hassell, James M., Bukachi, Salome A., Muloi, Dishon M., Takahashi, Emi, and Franklinos, Lydia. 2021. The Natural Environment & Health in Africa. Washington, DC: WWF and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. https://doi.org/10.5479/10088/111281. 2021