Dr. Andrew Leisewitz delivered the Coppoc One-Health Lecture at Kansas State University on Oct. 27, 2026.
Coppoc One Health Lecture features renowned infectious disease researcher
The Department of Anatomy and Physiology hosted a special lecture series Oct. 27 at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Andrew Leisewitz, professor and lecturer of small animal internal medicine at the Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital at the Auburn University gave this year’s Coppoc One Health Lecture, titled “What dogs can teach us about global health: Infection, Immunity, and One Health.”
Dr. LeIsewitz’s special interests are the effects of hemolysis on the host, host response to infection, immune response, and comparative genomics within the babesia genus. His main projects include the establishment of continuous in-vitro culture systems for canine babesia parasites. He also worked on comparisons of babesia genomes causing asymptomatic, mild, moderate and severe disease.
Dr Leisewitz received his veterinary degree (BVSc) from the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort), South Africa, graduating in 1987. He went on to obtain and honors degree in small animal internal medicine and then completed a residency in small animal medicine there. He obtained his MMedVet(Med) degree in 1995 with a study that evaluated the blood gas and acid base pathology of canine babesiosis, was board certified in internal medicine with the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Companion Animals) in 2003 and completed his PhD at The Open University (Oxford) in 2006 describing the immune response in the murine spleen to blood stage malaria infection.
About the Coppoc One Health Lecture Series
The objective of the Coppoc lecture series is to bring internationally acclaimed scientists to K-State to discuss their research interests with students and faculty throughout the university, focusing specifically on One Health, which are issues that emphasize the connections between animal and human health.
The Coppoc One Health Lecture was established through the generosity of Dr. Gordon and Harriet Coppoc. Dr. Coppoc received his bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1961 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1963, both from Kansas State University. He was awarded his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Harvard University in 1968, served as a captain at the School of Aerospace Medicine, and was a research fellow at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty of Purdue University in 1971.
In 1979, he was appointed as department head of physiology and pharmacology at Purdue and was later head of the department of basic medical science formed from the merger of his former department and the department of anatomy until stepping down from that position in 2008. He taught pharmacology to both veterinary and medical students until he retired.
In 1998, he was appointed assistant dean of the IU School of Medicine and director of the Lafayette Center for Medical Education at Purdue and retired from that position as an associate dean. In 2004, the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine presented an alumni recognition award to Dr. Coppoc. He retired in 2014.
