David Needle, DVM, DACVP

Dr. Needle was born in northern New Jersey in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains where he spent his free time wandering in the woods. He received a BA in history at Tufts University and then moved to Colorado to see about a girl. Dr. Needle then began work as a veterinary technician and completed a post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Columbia University. He attended Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, earning a DVM in 2011. Immediately following veterinary school he entered a 3-year pathology residency at Michigan State University’s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (now the MSU VDL). A one year post-doctoral fellowship in microbial pathogenesis at MSU preceded David’s current post at the UNH VDL, where he has been able to build his career in teaching, diagnostic service, and research. Dr. Needle resides in the same town as UNH, with his partner, two sons, two dogs, one cat, 6 tetras, one catfish, and two dwarf frogs. Dr. Needle’s UNH role consists of 36 weeks of diagnostic pathology, 16 weeks of research, and two semesters of teaching a total of two courses.

Dr. Needle’s research group identifies and characterizes disease incidents and trends, and then places these findings into the context of One Health and the relationships between anthropogenic change, environmental health, host health, host microbiome, pathogen carriage / emergence. His team’s work currently includes: (1) comparative microbial ecology focusing on the emergence of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance on farms – with plans to expand this focus; (2) emerging infectious disease discovery; and (3) wildlife disease ecology.