World-leading researcher of dog-mediated rabies wins 2026 Plowright Prize

University of Glasgow Professor Katie Hampson has been awarded the Plowright Prize for her pioneering research that aims to end dog-mediated rabies.  

The biennial prize is awarded by veterinary charity RCVS Knowledge to an individual working in Europe or the Commonwealth who has made a significant contribution to the control, management or eradication of infectious diseases of animals.  

Throughout her career Katie has pioneered a contact-tracing study tracking rabies transmission in a population of 80,000 dogs, built a One Health community active in rabies surveillance and control, and trained students and early-career scientists across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her research contributed to the ‘Zero-by-30’ strategy to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 and informed Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s inclusion of rabies in their 2021-2025 investment strategy, which aims to prevent over half a million rabies deaths over the next decade. 

Rabies kills thousands of people annually in the Global South and for every human rabies death, between 50 to 500 dogs die. Ongoing spread of dog-mediated rabies poses a major welfare burden, huge economic impacts and a threat of emergence in wildlife. 

Katie, a Professor of Disease Ecology and Public Health at the University of Glasgow’s School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine, will use the £100,000 prize money to accelerate progress towards rabies elimination. She will work to leverage extensive research, build One Health capacity and empower leaders from rabies-endemic regions with mentorship, training and support.  

Prof. Katie Hampson, winner of the 2026 Plowright Prize, said: “I am truly delighted to be awarded the Plowright Prize. I am excited about being able to leverage the award to support communities directly affected by rabies and to mobilize action on dog vaccination. 

“I hope the prize will accelerate progress towards rabies elimination. The funding will support operationalisation of transboundary One Health plans to sustain and expand rabies-free zones through scaling best practices in East Africa and Southeast Asia.”

Katie Mantell, Chief Executive Officer at RCVS Knowledge, said: “This year we saw a large number of impressive nominations, but our judging panel unanimously agreed that Professor Katie Hampson’s nomination stood out for the extraordinary influence her work has had on rabies advocacy and inspiring future generations, with her former students and mentees now leading rabies control efforts across the world.” 

The Plowright Prize is awarded by RCVS Knowledge thanks to generous funding from the estate of Walter Plowright – the veterinary scientist whose development of a vaccine against rinderpest provided the key to eliminating the disease.  

The judging panel for the Plowright Prize comprises representatives from leading organisations and societies working in veterinary care and animal health, food and agriculture, and microbiology. 

Previous winners of the Plowright Prize include Professor Fiona Tomley, renowned for her work on Eimeria species that cause coccidiosis in chickens, Dr. Herman Barkema who was awarded for his research on Mastitis, Johne’s disease and antimicrobial resistance, and our first recipient of the Plowright Prize, Professor William Ivan Morrison, who put the prize fund towards his research into creating a cost-effective vaccine for East Coast Fever.