The eight cross-functional projects focus on four host species—mice, dogs, pigs, and poultry—and investigate a range of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens, including:

 

• Mice: Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Giardia muris, and Listeria monocytogenes
• Dogs: Staphylococcus pseudintermedius
• Poultry: Marek’s Disease Virus (MDV)
• Pigs: Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) (notably, pigs are reservoirs of human genotypes 3 and 4)

The projects involve interdisciplinary research on novel biomarkers and epigenetic changes across species, supported by AI-assisted video tracking and thermal imaging, contributing to the refinement and standardisation of animal models in alignment with the two main research areas (stress response and behaviour analysis).