Rate My Professor Simone Vitali

Dr. Simone Vitali serves as Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Murdoch University in the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences. She earned her BSc and BVMS (Hons) in Veterinary Science from Murdoch University, graduating in 1990 after commencing studies in 1986. Vitali returned to Murdoch University to complete a PhD in Anatomy and Metabolic Physiology from 1993 to 1996, with her doctoral thesis titled 'The functional morphology of the lungs of small Australian passerines having different diurnal activity patterns,' supervised by Ken Richardson and Philip Withers. She holds membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Zoo Medicine (MANZCVS Zoo Animal Med.). Following graduation, Vitali worked in mixed veterinary practice before embarking on a distinguished career in wildlife and conservation medicine. From November 1998 to December 2019, she was a veterinarian in the Veterinary Department at Perth Zoo. Subsequently, she served as Senior Project Officer for Wildlife Health in the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions from December 2019 to December 2021, and as Project Manager at the University of Sydney from June 2021 to July 2023. Since July 2022, she has been Program Manager for Emergencies at Wildlife Health Australia.

Vitali's research specializations include conservation biology, wildlife ecology, infectious animal diseases, and the integration of climate change science into wildlife health studies. Her work has significantly contributed to disease risk analyses for Australian wildlife, including the National Koala Disease Risk Analysis Report (2023) and assessments of H5N1 avian influenza incursion risks via migratory birds. Key publications encompass 'Hindlimb Paralysis Syndrome in Wild Carnaby's Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris): A New Threat for an Endangered Species' (2020), 'A Retrospective Study of Macropod Progressive Periodontal Disease (Lumpy Jaw) in Captive Macropods across Australia and Europe' (2020), 'Finding a Path through Complexity: Embedding the Science of Climate Change in the Study of Infectious Animal Diseases' (2022), 'Streamlining Disease Risk Analysis for Wildlife Using the Shark Bay Bandicoot as a Model' (2021), and 'Presentation and Prognostic Indicators for Free-Living Black Cockatoos' (2015). With 78 publications and 938 citations documented on ResearchGate, her contributions have advanced conservation medicine, particularly in emergency wildlife health management and responses to emerging threats like climate-driven disease dynamics. Vitali has delivered presentations on wildlife health and climate change, including at TEDxPerth in 2018.