The next PREZODE “Science talks and lectures session will take place on June 18th, from 12 to 1 pm UTC.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions that protect, restore, or sustainably manage ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges while benefiting both human well-being and biodiversity. In the context of zoonotic disease emergence, they can help reduce the risk of pathogen spillover by maintaining healthy ecosystems, limiting habitat degradation and fragmentation, and promoting more sustainable interactions between humans, animals, and the environment.
As the increasing frequency of zoonotic outbreaks highlights the urgent need for integrated and preventive approaches, these solutions are gaining recognition as an important component of One Health strategies. They offer opportunities not only to reduce zoonotic disease risks, but also to strengthen ecosystem resilience, support climate adaptation, and contribute to sustainable livelihoods.
This webinar will explore how nature-based solutions can contribute to preventing the emergence of zoonotic diseases.
Dr. Paula Ribeiro Prist, Senior Programme Coordinator for the Forest and Grasslands Unit at IUCN and Co-lead author of IPBES Nexus report, Dr. Serge Morand, ecologist and evolutionary biologist at CNRS and Kasetsart University, Thailand, and principal investigator in South East Asia for ASAMCO (PREACTS Program), and Dr. Neil Vora, physician, epidemiologist, and conservationist, Executive Director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source coalition, will draw on their respective expertise to deliver a lecture and discuss the topic.
Speakers’ biography
Dr. Paula Ribeiro Prist is a Senior Programme Coordinator for Forest and Grasslands Unit at IUCN.
A biologist by training, Dr. Prist holds a master’s, doctorate and post-doctorate in landscape epidemiology from the University of São Paulo. Her line of research focuses on trying to understand how to create healthy landscapes for people, with a focus on multifunctional landscapes that can mitigate climate change, provide ecosystem services and also provide positive health outcomes. She was the Principal Scientist for Conservation and Health at EcoHealth Alliance for four years and was a Co-Lead Author of the next IPBES Nexus. Currently, she leads the IUCN thematic group of human health (300 – 1000 members), and is a member of the Future Earth Health Kan, of the STAR-IDAZ & GloPID-R – One Health Working Group, and of the Scientific Panel of the Amazon.
Dr. Serge Morand is a health ecologist with a background in zoology and evolutionary biology. He leads projects on the links between biodiversity, health, and societies in Southeast Asia, including ASAMCO Thailand and Laos, a PREZODE PREACTS project, implemented by IRD, funded by AFD. This project aims to prevent zoonoses at the ecosystem level and at the livestock-wildlife interface. He is the Director of the International Research Laboratory HealthDEEP (Health, Disease Ecology, Environment and Policy), joining Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), , and Mahidol University in Bangkok (Thailand).
Serge is a member of the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) in support of the One Health Quadripartite (WHO, WOAH, FAO, UNEP) and a member of the Technical Advisory Group of Nature4Health (UNEP).
Dr. Neil Vora, MD, is a physician, epidemiologist and conservationist who serves as the Executive Director for the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition (PPATS) and Orchestrator-in-Residence at Integral. He served for nearly a decade with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through which he deployed to Liberia in 2014 and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019 to assist in the responses to the two largest Ebola outbreaks ever. He also led the investigation of a newly discovered smallpox-like virus in the country of Georgia in 2013. In 2020, Neil was asked by New York City (NYC) Mayor Bill de Blasio to develop and lead NYC’s COVID-19 contact tracing program, through which he oversaw a team of over 3,000 staff that traced more than 700,000 affected New Yorkers. He still sees patients in a public tuberculosis clinic in New York City. From 2021-2025, he served as a technical fellow and Senior Advisor for One Health at Conservation International. He has published more than 100 articles in leading outlets such as the New York Times, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet. In 2023, he delivered a TED talk on how stopping deforestation is a critical intervention for preventing pandemics and mitigating climate change. In 2025, he was named to the TIME100 Next list of “World’s Most Influential Rising Stars”. Outside of work, Neil loves to train in Brazilian jiu jitsu.