Published October 29, 2026
The One Health Hub combines expertise within and outside of MSU to address the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.
Hub co-leads Wade Syers, an MSU Extension Food Safety Specialist, and Professor Hui Li aim to strengthen campus and Water Alliance connections to raise awareness of One Health research across the university.
How have you established a new foundation for the One Health Hub, and how are you using your expertise to guide its development?
A lot of what I’ve worked on this summer has been speaking about the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and environmental health during conferences and trying to build those relationships, and a foundation for the hub, in that way.
MSU has an incredible wealth of expertise around solving problems, but sometimes complex problems require people to be able to see where their work intersects with others. As the One Health hub further develops, I want to help create those connections and identify opportunities where collaboration can lead to a greater impact than any one of these groups can achieve on their own.
Are there any major projects on the horizon for the hub?
There are efforts right now with the One Health hub to advance interest areas in emergency preparedness and risk frameworks. They're still in the very beginning stages, but with recent seed funding being offered by the Water Alliance, there’s a lot of interest in working together.
Are there examples of collaborations across disciplines or sectors with the hub, or collaborations you’d like to explore?
I’d hate to narrow it down to exclude some people, but there are a lot of people who it would be beneficial to work with. One of those things that people might not realize is how much broader One Health is than traditionally thought of. Sometimes people hear the term and assume that it’s related to infectious diseases or maybe even veterinary medicine. But that concept really applies to a wide range of issues and disciplines. If your work touches water, people, animals, food systems, natural resources, communities, environments, it’s all likely part of that One Health conversation.
We’re talking about, not just cross-organizational disciplinary boundaries, but researchers, Extension educators, health professionals, and all of the government agencies. All of these people have pieces to the same puzzle, so it’s bringing those perspectives together. I’d really like to see us facilitating those conversations and helping people discover their shared interests, gaps, and build partnerships around these issues.
What would you like faculty, specialists, and students to know about the hub? Specifically, how can they connect with the hub, and what would they get out of participating?
One of the biggest benefits of being involved with any hub is having that network of folks who are perhaps from across disciplines, but they have the same interest—the same drive. That’s one of the benefits of being in the One Health hub, so I’m really hoping that the future of the hub is moving into that collaborative space where we can join together people who don’t normally work together.
What do you see the One Health hub accomplishing during the remainder of 2026?
I want to shamelessly plug a lunch and learn I’m hosting as part of the Water Alliance in November. We definitely want people to join and learn about One Health and water, and maybe how they can participate with the hub.
Right now my biggest hope is that we continue building awareness and connections across the university and even outside of the university. There’s so much outstanding One Health work happening at MSU and I think there’s an opportunity for the hub to help people find one another and create a stronger community around this work.
Hopefully, by the end of the year, we have more people engaged, we’re having more conversations across disciplines, and we have a clearer sense of where we can create an impact. I would consider that a successful end to the year.
Interview by Aja Witt