Professor Stuart D. Blacksell

Professor Stuart D. Blacksell is Professor of Tropical Microbiology at the University of Oxford. He has been based at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Thailand since 2001 and has been actively involved in research in Southeast Asia since 1989. He is a Visiting Professor at the Open University (UK) and Mahidol University, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, he worked at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (now the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness) from 1983 to 2001. 

At MORU, Stuart leads the Biorisk and Zoonosis Group. He directs research programs on One Health and high-consequence veterinary pathogens in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. He also leads a team focused on developing improved diagnostics for tropical pathogens, including rickettsial diseases, dengue, and leptospirosis. 

Stuart has been a Registered Biosafety Professional with the American Biological Safety Association since 2009. He served on the editorial committees for the 4th edition of the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM4) and the 2nd edition of the WHO Laboratory Biosecurity Guidance (LBiosec2). He was an original member of the WHO COVID-19 International Health Regulations (IHR) Expert Committee in 2020. He currently serves on the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Responsible Use of Life Sciences and Dual-Use Research (TAG-RUL-DUR). He is a current member and former Vice-Chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group for Biosafety and Biosecurity (TAG-B). He advises FAO One Health and biosafety programs across Southeast Asia and SAARC countries and has worked with WOAH and Chatham House on the Biosafety Research Roadmap to identify global evidence gaps. 

In addition to advancing biosafety and biosecurity in resource-diverse settings, Stuart and his team are responsible for implementing and overseeing the University of Oxford’s health, safety, and biosafety standards across the MORU network, including training and compliance for staff.