Abstract
Humans, animals, and the environment are fundamentally linked, yet the strategies to address their health typically remain separate. One Health is an interdisciplinary approach to solving challenging medical issues and to advancing the health of people, animals, and the environment. One Health includes study of zoonotic diseases, the environmental challenges, human-animal interactions, and natural animal models of human disease. The many natural animal models of human disease provide a powerful and multidisciplinary approach to solving medical issues shared by humans and animals. These natural animal models hold particular promise because their study can benefit both human and veterinary patients by taking advantage of diseases that both can develop. Common naturally-occurring diseases that are shared by humans and companion animals include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and neurologic disorders. By studying these diseases that occur in multiple species, significant medical and nutritional advances can be made more quickly. This can then benefit not only humans, but also the pets themselves. Nowhere is thismore true than in nutrition,where humans and animals have much in common. The many diseases shared by humans and animals, as well as similarities in treatments for diverse species, provide many untapped opportunities for better understanding human disease and for developing novel nutritional and medical treatments that can help both humans and animals.
Bio
Dr. Freeman completed her DVM degree at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and received a PhD in Nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.She is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition and has been on faculty at the Cummings School since 1996, with a secondary appointment at the Friedman School. She also is director of the Tufts Clinical and Translational ScienceInstitute’s One Health Program and the Cummings School's Residents' Enhanced Veterinary Education and Academic Learning (REVEAL) Program, a program to attract veterinarians to research and academic careers.She has been active in numerous national and international veterinary organizations, including roles as president of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, co-chair of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's Global Nutrition Committee, and her current position as president of the Pet Nutrition Alliance. Dr. Freeman is active in teaching, clinics, and research.Her research focus is the role of nutrition in the development and progression of heart disease, as well as cachexia and sarcopenia.