Jessica Witt is a veterinary epidemiologist with experience in quantitative analysis, as well as spatial and temporal modelling of animal disease data. In 2006, she graduated cum laude from Colorado State University, USA with a BS in Animal Sciences. Following this, Jessica travelled to Scotland to study veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow, which she completed with commendation in 2011. Upon graduation, she earned a 2-year position as a Clinical Training Scholar at the Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety based at the University of Glasgow. During this period, Jessica took the opportunity to expand her training in epidemiology and decided to pursue a career outside of clinical practice.
From 2014 to 2016, Jessica worked on a research project at the University of Warwick to design and test a program of lameness control measures for sheep farmers in the UK, the results of which were published in Preventative Veterinary Medicine in 2018. She led a successful bid for funding to expand an app and website lameness treatment recording system designed as part of this project. Furthermore, Jessica designed and wrote the successful proposal for her funded PhD project. Beginning in 2016, her PhD work focused on analysing the spatial and temporal variations in ovine footrot, as well as the impact of environmental conditions, climate, and farm management practices on these variations. Jessica submitted her thesis to the University of Warwick for review in March 2021 and has joined HORN as a Postdoctoral Research Associate working with the team based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.