Dr. (Lt. Col.) Harish Tiwari has a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine from Murdoch University, Australia. A veterinary graduate from Assam Agricultural University, Dr. Tiwari is a veterinary epidemiologist who started his career as a Field Veterinarian with a dairy cooperative before being commissioned to Indian Army where he served in various positions in peace and field locations for 16 years before taking voluntary retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.). 

Dr. Harish is a passionate veterinary epidemiologist dedicated to providing evidence-based solutions to control/eradicate animal diseases. A keen observer of the veterinary (and rural) issues of developing world and realise the immense potential the farm sector harbours to improve not only economic but also social standing of farmers and their families. Improving farmers lives through improved farm practices would enable to contribute towards Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG) as envisaged by the UN.

A recipient of ICAR Junior Research Fellowship for his Masters from PAU, Ludhiana, Col. Tiwari won the International Postgraduate Research Fellowship to pursue his doctorate during which he developed novel approaches to dog enumeration in India and authored the thesis titled ‘Free-roaming dog population, community perception and control of dog-related rabies: the Indian story’. Harish served as a consultant with AUSVET Pvt. Ltd. where he mostly supported the Mycoplasma bovis education programme in New Zealand, besides working on FAO project. 

Currently, he is a Research Fellow with Asia Pacific Consortium of Veterinary Epidemiology (APCOVE) project that is led by University of Sydney to strengthen the veterinary workforce in Asia-Pacific for Infectious Disease Detection and Response (vet-APIDDaR). He also provides freelance consultancy for OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) and CHAI (Clinton Health Access Initiative) for various projects. Recently, Dr. Tiwari has won the prestigious Wellcome Trust/DBT India Clinical & Public Health Intermediate fellowship to implement One Health approach for rabies control in India.

His areas of interest are One Health, large animals’ disease investigation, welfare, with a keen interest in production diseases. He understands the integrated approach through operational or implementation epidemiology and its scope to make positive change in the lives of people in general and lives of farmers and rural population in developing countries. At RICPHI, Dr. Harish serves as an Adjunct Faculty and collaborates with RICPHI’s team in designing innovative One Health solutions relevant for India and Low- & Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).