Laboratory Director

Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service - USA

Dr. David E. Swayne is the Laboratory Director (1994-present) of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s in house high biocontainment laboratory for poultry health research. He received his DVM (1984) and MSc (1984) in Veterinary Pathology from the University of Missouri, and PhD in Veterinary Pathology (1987) from the University of Georgia.

He is board certified in Veterinary Pathology (1988) and as a Poultry Veterinarian (1992). He is a former faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University (1987-1994). For the past 27 years, his personal research has focused on pathobiology and control of avian influenza in poultry, including thermal inactivation of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus in meat and egg products. Dr. Swayne has served on OIE international committees to update the Avian Influenza chapters in Terrestrial Animal Health Code and Manual of Standards for Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines. He has participated in missions or conferences on avian influenza control and biosafety/biosecurity in 44 countries in the past 15 years.