#National News

Gambian avian expert awarded highest alumni honor at Cornell's Vet College 

Aug 7, 2025, 10:12 AM

ITHACA, N.Y. – Dr. Jarra Jagne, a globally recognized leader in poultry health and One Health, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Daniel Elmer Salmon Award for Distinguished Alumni Service - the highest alumni honor bestowed by Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

The award recognises exceptional service to the veterinary profession, communities, or the college itself. Jagne’s decades-long career has advanced veterinary public health on both local and global stages - from New York to sub-Saharan Africa - and inspired the next generation of poultry veterinarians through her teaching and mentorship.

“Her knowledge of agricultural sustainability and poultry husbandry across cultures is astonishingly deep and diverse,” said Dr. Karyn Bischoff, former associate professor of practice emerita.

 “She is unequalled in her dedication to service.”

Inspired by Animals, Driven by Purpose

Jagne’s veterinary journey began in The Gambia, where she grew up spending summers in rural areas with her father and became fascinated by livestock. A pivotal childhood moment came during a school field trip, when she witnessed a cat undergoing surgery.

“From then on, all I could talk about was being a veterinary doctor,” she recalls.

Undeterred by social pressure to pursue human medicine, Jagne followed her dream and enrolled at Cornell - thanks in part to a government scholarship from The Gambia. Despite the challenges of being one of only a few minority students and coping with the loss of her mother, she credits Cornell’s academic rigor and mentorship for laying the foundation of her career.

During her third year of veterinary school, Jagne began research on Newcastle disease in The Gambia, publishing her findings in Avian Pathology and cementing her focus on poultry medicine.

She was mentored by world-renowned poultry researcher Dr. Karel “Ton” Schat, who remained a guiding influence throughout her career.

A Global Voice for Poultry and Public Health

After graduation, Jagne returned briefly to The Gambia, where she was the first woman veterinarian to return home to practice in the country and the second women to quality as a veterinarian. She worked closely with women livestock producers to improve livelihoods and food security. Seeking to deepen her poultry expertise, she later completed a poultry pathology residency at the University of Pennsylvania before launching a career that spanned academia, industry, and government.

Jagne went on to hold senior veterinary positions with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she led avian influenza preparedness programs across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Her work emphasised a One Health approach—bridging animal, human, and environmental health to prevent disease outbreaks and safeguard communities.

“I worked with numerous governments and communities devastated by avian influenza,” Jagne said. “It required not only veterinary knowledge but also diplomacy and communication—skills we don’t always learn in veterinary school.”

Mentorship, Teaching, and Future Vision

In 2010, Jagne returned to Cornell as a poultry specialist in the Animal Health Diagnostic Center. Today, she teaches in the D.V.M. program, oversees the avian health program, and provides extension services to poultry farmers across New York state. She also holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, reflecting her commitment to advancing food systems and global health.

She has mentored dozens of veterinary students - many of whom now work in the poultry field - and remains deeply committed to outreach.

“As a teacher of poultry medicine, I believe in bringing the farm to the classroom and the classroom to the farm,” she said.

Former student Hailey Quercia, D.V.M. ’19, recalls Jagne’s influence: “She always provided the same level of support, whether to someone with a single pet hen or thousands of birds. Her example is something I strive toward.”

While there is plenty keeping Jagne busy at Cornell, she also has dreams of returning to The Gambia to continue some work she had started with women’s and youth poultry groups to help improve livelihoods and encourage food self-sufficiency. She also hopes to expand her scholarship and mentorship efforts to help increase female literacy in the country, and to assist in advising the University of The Gambia as they matriculate their first cohort of BVSc students this September.

“This work is deeply personal,” Jagne said. “I’m proud to give back to the communities and profession that helped shape me.”