“We must adopt a One Health approach to manage the risk posed by antimicrobial resistance – collaboration is key to create better outcomes than what can be achieved by acting in silos.”

Dr Mary Carr is the Head of Collaboration (Research and Impact) at SAAFE CRC, an experienced veterinarian, and an accomplished veterinary officer. Her commitment to tackling the growing threat of AMR is underpinned by her fundamental belief in collaboration at the heart of a One Health approach.

After working as a private veterinarian for 13 years, Mary joined the biosecurity division of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) in 2008. She was a veterinary officer for 10 years before being appointed Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) in December 2018.

Having held several senior leadership positions, Mary uniquely understands the importance of listening and collaboratively creating solutions, and is an advocate for having a clear strategy in which everyone can see themselves, work towards and communicate to others.

Mary first met our Research Director Erica Donner while undertaking One Health activities as CVO. Today, as our Head of Collaboration (Research and Impact), she works hand in glove with Erica to provide opportunities for cross-sectoral activities. She enjoys working with very diverse sectors at the national level to support industry and counts the positive enthusiasm from our program partners as one of her favourite aspects of the job.

Mary knows AMR’s incredibly complex nature can make it seem as an unsolvable problem, leading to inaction, but along with our team, she’s working hard to ensure we maintain momentum to tackle its growing threat.