Royal accolade for physicist and infectious diseases expert
CBE in King’s Birthday honours marks career spent in research and government service.
A physicist who is an expert in infectious diseases in animals is being recognised in the King’s birthday honours.
Rowland Kao, Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Data Science at the Roslin Institute within the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, and Personal Chair at the School of Physics and Astronomy, is being made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to science and technology, specifically his work in mathematics and infectious disease dynamics.
Professor Kao completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in physics, and has a career in infectious disease research which spans three decades. He commented:
Physicists use mathematics but they also learn to respect the messiness of real world data – and that combination is ideal for helping us to understand the fundamental processes that drive how diseases spread and how to control them.
His focus is on understanding the movement and spread of infectious diseases among and between populations of wildlife, livestock and people. He has applied this to the understanding of key diseases including tuberculosis and Covid-19.
Professor Kao has worked at the Roslin Institute since 2017 and the School of Physics and Astronomy since 2022. He also serves as Chair of the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Science Advisory Council (SAC), and took up this role in 2025 having served as a member of the SAC from 2018 to 2024.
Previously, Professor Kao has held appointments at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, and what was formerly the Institute for Animal Health, now the Pirbright Institute.
Professor Kao said:
I am honoured to be chosen for this award, and am especially pleased to see this recognition for animal science research. This underscores the importance of research in infectious animal diseases, and recognises its contribution to public health, through the wider efforts of many researchers and collaborators. I am continually thankful for the hard work, skills, and creativity that colleagues and collaborators bring to everything I do, and am indebted to them for making it a pleasure.