Pathogen evolution can result in changes to disease transmission, disease severity, responses to treatment, pathogen neutralization, vaccine efficacy, diagnostic sensitivity, etc. Research in these areas is critical for disease surveillance, disease transmission and severity patterns, development of diagnostic tools, and development of predictive modelling tools that can enhance pandemic preparedness. My interest is in characterization of foot and mouth disease virus (foot and mouth disease) and Ehrlichia ruminantium (heartwater) with a special focus on pathogen evolution and treatment response as well as immunological and diagnostic consequences of pathogen evolution.