One Health Rally

One Health recognizes that the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment are connected; when one sector experiences a health crisis, the others are impacted as well. At the UT One Health Initiative, we tackle complex issues like food insecurity, mental health, biodiversity loss, climate change, and antimicrobial resistance—issues that Tennesseans face every day. We engage academics, government agencies, NGOs, and community partners to work together to address these issues and find solutions with global implications.

We’re celebrating the important One Health work underway at UT with a One Health Rally on April 17-21! This week-long event will feature research talks, expert panels, and creative presentations, as well as games, door prizes, a free yoga class, and an evening social at Albright Grove Brewery. Boxed lunches will be provided to attendees on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (limited quantities available).

Questions? Contact Alyssa Merka, amerka@utk.edu.

Monday, April 17


International House, Great Room (1623 Melrose Avenue)

11:30am-12:00pmDeb Miller: Welcome and Introduction to the UT One Health Initiative

12:00-1:00pm – Panel Discussion: How Nature Benefits Mental Health

1:00-1:30pmPaul Dalhaimer: Obesity and the New Wave of Nanoparticle Delivery Vehicles: Obstacles and Opportunities

1:30-2:00pm – Address by UT System President Randy Boyd

2:00-3:00pmHeather Sedges: Just Below the Surface: Sowing Seeds of Wellness

UT Gardens, Holly Room (2518 Jacob Drive)

4:00-5:00pm – Yoga in the UT Gardens! This is event is free, but registration is encouraged


Tuesday, April 18


Plant Biotechnology Building, Room 156/157 (2505 E J. Chapman Drive)

10:00-11:00amJay Ramos: Chronic Wasting Disease: Designing an Assay to Meet the Needs of Live Animal Surveillance

11:00-11:30amMichael McKinney: Effectiveness of a “Living Shoreline” on Environmental and Human Health on the Tennessee River

11:30am-12:00pmJeronimo Silva: Freshwater Mussels and One Health Trivia

12:00-1:00pmAmy Webb: A One Health Approach to Investigating Coral Reef Health

1:00-1:30pmJessie Richards: A One Health Perspective on Honeybee Health

1:30-2:00pm – One Health Giant Jenga, led by Deb Miller

2:00-3:00pm – Science Board Game Power Hour


Wednesday, April 19


Student Union Plaza (1502 Cumberland Avenue)

11:00am-3:00pmEarth Day Festival, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability

Temple Hall, First Floor (1818 Andy Holt Avenue)

3:00-5:00pmSpecimens and Scones, UT Herbarium Open House

Albright Grove Brewing Company (2924 Sutherland Avenue)

Join us for Science on Tap, a mid-week social event featuring mini-presentations, trivia and prizes, and live music!

6:00-7:00pm – Trivia and Presentations

  • Andrea Ludwig: Tennessee Smart Yards
  • Matt Kolp: What’s the Scoop on Poop? Environmental Health of Dog Parks
  • Lauren Wisnieski: Scooby-Doo and the Case of Lost Sleep

7:00-8:30pm – Live music by Watson & Meade


Thursday, April 20


Philander P. Claxton Education Building, Room 206 (1122 Volunteer Boulevard)

10:00-11:00amNina Fefferman: One Health Multidisciplinarity: Improving our Ability to Understand, Predict, and Prevent Future Pandemics

11:00am-12:00pm – Panel Discussion: UT One Health Librarians Panel

12:00-12:30pmMadhu Dhar: Multiscale, Poly-topographic Platforms for Complex, Multifunctional Tissue Regeneration Using Precision Engineering: A Prelude to Organogenesis

12:30-1:00pmDeb Miller: Preview of the 2023 One Health Call for Seed Proposals

1:00-2:00pmJian Huang: Atlas of the Smokies – Visualizing Biodiversity


Friday, April 21


Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, Toyota Auditorium (1640 Cumberland Avenue)

10:00-11:00amJenny Retherford: One Health Panama and Insights to Applying the UT One Health Initiative Abroad

11:00am-12:00pm – Panel Discussion: Tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals with a One Health Approach

  • Tom Gill, Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture
  • Louis Gross, Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics; National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis; Institute for Environmental Modeling
  • Michael McKinney, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  • Charles Sims, Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy; Department of Economics

12:00-1:00pmJun Lin: A One Health Approach to Control Escherichia albertii, the Emerging Human Pathogen

1:00-2:00pmOzlem Kilic: College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies: Overview and How to Engage

2:00-3:00pmChunlei Su: Workflow of Real-time Genomic Investigation of Infectious Diseases