Dr Leonard graduated in veterinary medicine from University College Dublin in 1983 and after a few years in private practice returned to UCD and completed her PhD in veterinary microbiology in 1991. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority) in dairy and pig health and welfare in Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland before returning to UCD as a lecturer in veterinary microbiology in 1997. She teaches veterinary microbiology and infectious disease in the veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing programmes and has supervised many research Masters and PhD students. Her research interests include antimicrobial use and resistance in all animal species, particularly pigs and poultry, MRSA in animals, infectious disease and related welfare issues in pigs and Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in cows. She has co-authored 2 textbooks in veterinary microbiology and more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in the last 10 years and reviews manuscripts for several journals. She chairs the UCD Veterinary Hospital Infection Control Committee and the Diagnostic Laboratory Management Committee.
