David Barrett

Professor of Bovine Medicine, Production and Reproduction, University of Bristol
Professor Barrett worked on bovine respiratory vaccine use in the 1990s and has a long-term interest in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and responsible use of medicines in the livestock production sector. He has sat on several influential policy committees including the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Antibiotic Action, the Dairy UK antimicrobial group, the Veterinary Schools’ Council on AMR and is a former chair of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) medicines committee. He has also worked with other influential groups such as the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) as a member of their independent scientific group, the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH), the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the Cattle Health and Welfare Group (CHAWG) and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).

Professor Barrett is a member of an interdisciplinary research group focussed on antimicrobial resistance with an extensive portfolio of related research, ranging from detection of AMR organisms and genes on farm to documenting veterinarians’ and farmers’ opinions and practices in relation to veterinary medicines. This group has won the University of Bristol Vice Chancellor’s Impact Award for research and the prestigious ‘Agriculture and Food’ Antibiotic Guardian Award.
He is a former editor of the journal Cattle Practice and currently sits on the editorial boards of The Veterinary Journal and Veterinary Medicine and Science as well as being the consultant editor of the journal Livestock.

He took up the position of Professor of Bovine Medicine, Production and Reproduction at the University of Bristol in 2011, after 18 years at the University of Glasgow and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for Meritorious Contributions to Clinical Practice in 2017. In 2019 he was made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies (ARAgS) for a veterinary career spanning 30 years in support of UK livestock agriculture – clinical practice, education, research and professional leadership. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and became Bristol Veterinary School Education Director in 2020. In 2021 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).