Rate My Professor Andrea Reiss

Dr. Andrea Reiss is a distinguished veterinarian specializing in zoo and wildlife medicine, with extensive experience in clinical practice, research, and conservation. She earned her BVSc (Hons) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Veterinary Studies in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine from the University of Melbourne, completed during a residency at Melbourne Zoo. Reiss has accumulated over 17 years as a clinical veterinarian in Australia's premier zoos, including Perth Zoo, Taronga Zoo, and Melbourne Zoo. She is a certified member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in the specialty of Medicine of Australasian Wildlife. Her career includes roles as Research Fellow in the Conservation Medicine Program at Murdoch University's School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Regional Veterinary Officer for the Zoo and Aquarium Association, and currently Senior Project Officer at Wildlife Health Australia since January 2016.

Reiss's research centers on wildlife disease risk analysis, infectious diseases in native Australian fauna, and their impact on conservation. She led the collaborative project 'Investigation of potential diseases associated with Northern Territory mammal declines' (2015), examining viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens in small mammals. Key publications include 'The First Complete Papillomavirus Genome Characterized from a Marsupial' (Bennett et al., 2010), which identified a novel papillomavirus in woylies; 'Molecular evidence of Chlamydia pecorum and arthropod-associated Chlamydiae in an expanded range of marsupials' (Burnard et al., 2017); 'Streamlining Disease Risk Analysis for Wildlife Using the Shark Bay Bandicoot as a Model' (Vaughan-Higgins et al., 2021); and contributions to haemoprotozoan surveillance and herpesvirus studies in native mammals. She has led pathology reviews for the woylie conservation project and contributed to the National Zoo Biosecurity Manual (2011). Reiss has supported in situ conservation for endangered species such as the northern hairy-nosed wombat, brush-tailed bettong, eastern barred bandicoot, and African painted dogs, both in Australia and overseas. Her work has advanced understanding of disease threats to biodiversity, with over 369 citations across 23 publications.