About Us

Dr. Simone L. Sandiford is a Lecturer in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at The University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica and the Principal Investigator of the YAAD TICKS project.  Dr Sandiford’s research encompasses the fields of pharmacology, entomology, molecular biology and virology and is focused on understanding and controlling vectors of public health significance in Jamaica.  Her multidisciplinary team is at the forefront of vector biology research involving mosquitoes and ticks in Jamaica.  Current projects include pathogen surveillance in mosquitoes and ticks, understanding the transmission dynamics of Dirofilaria immitis in mosquitoes, assessment of acaracide resistance in ticks and molecular characterisation of endemic essential oils for vector control.

Dr John Lindo is Professor of Parasite Epidemiology and Director of the Mona Office for Research and Innovation at the University of the West Indies, (UWI) in Jamaica.  Professor Lindo is heavily involved in research on emerging infectious diseases, Neglected Tropical Diseases and zoonoses.  He is an MPI on the UB/Upstate/UWI Global Infectious Diseases Research Training Program funded by the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health. Currently, his team is working on molecular epidemiology and drug resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis, the emergence of Angiostrongylus cantonenis as a cause of eosinophilic meningitis in Jamaica, epidemiology of Dirofilaria immitis and pathogen surveillance and discovery in tick vectors.  

Professor Lindo is also the Co-chair of the SUNY-UWI Health Research Consortium which is involved in research capacity building across the UWI system in several areas including infectious diseases, autism spectrum disease, chronic non-communicable disease and the human microbiome, the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition and the Global Virus Network. The Consortium is also involved in research capacity building in liver and metabolic diseases, prostate cancer, neurology and the oral microbiome. 

Professor Lindo serves on the Scientific Leadership Committee of the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.  He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Moneague College in St Ann, Jamaica.  

Dr. Saravanan Thangamani, PhD, is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He also serves as the Director of the SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases and the Vector Biocontainment Laboratories. A global leader in vector-borne disease research, Dr. Thangamani’s work integrates vector biology, virology, and immunology to understand how arboviruses are transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes, with a focus on emerging tick-borne pathogens like Powassan virus and Chikungunya virus.

Dr. Thangamani is also the founder of the Upstate Tick Testing Laboratory (www.nyticks.org), which conducts a public health initiative that combines community-engaged tick surveillance with pathogen detection to track the spread of tick-borne diseases across New York State. This program informs local and state public health responses and supports the development of educational tools and outreach efforts.

Dr. Paul Cadogan is veterinarian working in private clinical practice in the parish of Clarendon, in south central Jamaica with over 35 years’ experience covering multiple species. He is a Local Veterinary Inspector for the Veterinary Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mining & Fisheries. He is an advocate for the practice of One Health and trained as a One Health Leader in the One Health One Caribbean One Love Project from 2014 to 2017. He has been co-chair of the Organizing Committee for the annual JVMA/CCFPJ One Health Conference since

2018, is an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Community Health & Psychiatry in the UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences, Mona lecturing in One Health. He has assisted with UWI, Mona Medical Sciences research projects on several zoonotic parasitic diseases in Jamaica. He has chaired the Board of Examiners of the Jamaica Veterinary Board since 2011, administering its bi-annual registration examinations. He is among the founding members of the Caribbean

Sepsis and AMR Alliance, formed in February 2024, the first such alliance to involve veterinarians from its inception. He is also a member of the Executive of the Animal Welfare Advocacy Group.

Dr. Cameil Wilson-Clarke is a Lecturer/Clinical Pharmacist in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, and the Director of the Entry Level Doctor of Pharmacy Programme at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She has over ten (10) years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as an employee of Roche and has been lecturing in clinical pharmacy for more than fourteen (14) years. She is currently a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacist (ACCP), International Pharmaceutical Federation of (FIP). Her areas interest is Pharmacovigilance, Sickle Cell Disease, Diabetes, Oncology, Antimicrobial Resistance and  recently has evolved into Vector borne diseases (Ticks). She is a Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) Grant Awardee (2024) focusing on knowledge, attitudes and practices of Jamaican farmers to tick and tickborne diseases.