Dr Sara Healy

Lecturer in Veterinary Parasitology

Department: Pathobiology & Population Sciences

Campus: Camden

Research Groups: Pathogen Flow in Ecosystems, Sustainable Food Systems, Food Safety

Lecturer in Veterinary Parasitology

Sara graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the RVC in 2008 becoming a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS) and subsequently spent 9-years working as a vet in small animal clinical practice. She completed an MSc in Veterinary Microbiology at the University of Surrey in 2018, receiving a Distinction and the Best Student Prize.

Sara spent three years working as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine and completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). In 2020, she started a full-time PhD in Veterinary Parasitology, funded by the BBSRC FoodBioSystems Doctoral Training Programme. Her PhD was titled:  ‘Assessing the food-borne risks of Toxocara infection in support of public health and food quality assurance’. Sara won the 3-minute thesis competition for the University of Surrey in 2022, receiving both the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice awards.

She started her position as Lecturer in Veterinary Parasitology at the RVC in 2024 and continues to pursue her research interests in zoonotic helminths, their routes of transmission and impacts on public health. She is currently a Member of The European Scientific Counsel for Companion Animal Parasites (ESCCAP) UK and Ireland, and co-secretary for The British Association for Veterinary Parasitology (BAVP).

Sara has a keen interest in zoonotic helminths, their routes of transmission and impacts on public health. Much of her research has focused on the companion animal roundworm Toxocara spp. and its transmission to humans

Healy S, Morgan E, Betson M and Prada JM (2025). Modelling the risk of food-borne transmission of Toxocara spp. to humans. Epidemiology and Infection, 153, e69, 1–7 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268825000330

Kozel, K., Healy, S., Hassan, M.M. (2025). Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP): A Simple Method for the Detection of Foodborne Pathogens. In: Garrido-Maestu, A., Lamas, A. (eds) Foodborne Pathogens. Methods and Protocols in Food Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-4526-0_1

Healy SR, Morgan ER, Prada JM, Karadjian G, Chevillot A, Betson M. First use of tissue exudate serology to identify Toxocara spp. infection in food animals. Int J Parasitol. 2024 May;54(6):303-310. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2024.02.003. Epub 2024 Mar 6. PMID: 38458482.

Healy, S.R., Morgan, E.R., Prada, J.M. and Betson, M., 2023. From fox to fork? Toxocara contamination of spinach grown in the south of England, UK. Parasites & vectors, 16(1), p.49.

Healy, S.R., Morgan, E.R., Prada, J.M. and Betson, M., 2022. First report demonstrating the presence of Toxocara spp. eggs on vegetables grown in community gardens in Europe. Food and waterborne parasitology, 27, p.e00158.

Healy, S.R., Morgan, E.R., Prada, J.M. and Betson, M., 2022. Brain food: rethinking food-borne toxocariasis. Parasitology, 149(1), pp.1-9.

Lecturer for the BVetMed, BSc and MSc Bio Sciences courses

Parasitology Unit Lead for the Graduate Accelerated Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme

Involved in various widening participation events for the RVC as well as providing talks for charities

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