CGIAR Research Program Directors

John McDermott joined the International Food Policy Research Institute in 2011 to lead the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health. From 2003 to 2011 he was deputy director general and director of research at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi. John has lived and worked in Africa for 25 years.
John’s research has focused on public health, animal health, and livestock research in developing countries, primarily Africa. He has led projects on zoonotic and emerging diseases in Asia and Africa. John has a strong background in quantitative methods.
He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Nairobi and a professor at the University of Guelph. He has also been an advisor to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and other international agencies. John has been a non-executive director of the Global Alliance for Livestock Vaccines and Medicine and a member of the advisory committee of Veterinarians without Borders.

John has a PhD in quantitative epidemiology from the University of Guelph, a master’s degree in preventive veterinary medicine from the University of California-Davis, and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Guelph. John has authored or co-authored 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and conference papers, and has advised over 30 postgraduate students, including 20 PhD graduates.