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GOHA Hosts 2nd Annual Meeting of the North America One Health University Network

On September 4 and 5, the Global One Health Academy virtually hosted the 2025 North America One Health Health University Network (NAOHUN) Strategic Planning & Organization Meeting. There were over 170 individuals in attendance sharing and learning more about the amazing One Health programs across the continent.

September 11, 2025 Kristen Fontana 3-min. read

The North America One Health University Network

The North America One Health University Network aims to connect One Health programs across North America. The network was established last year with a first meeting hosted by Colorado State University and, since that time, has grown to include representatives from 87 universities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The mission and vision of the network are:

Mission: Synergize activities of One Health programs at North American universities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States to enhance collaborations, optimize communications, and amplify the impact of activities promoting the health of people, animals, plants, and the ecosystems they share.
Vision: Serve as the preeminent network to link together North America university programs across multiple sectors, disciplines, and communities to advance One Health.

At this year’s meeting, the need for and opportunities within the One Health network was discussed, with four established working groups as guiding themes: Research, Education, Service, and Policy, Advocacy, and Community Outreach.

GOHA-led Virtual Meeting

To effectively engage members across the continent and advance the development of NAOHUN, GOHA hosted the 2nd annual meeting virtually. This meeting took place over the course of two half days on September 4 and 5 and was focused on strategic planning for the network. Attendance was robust with over 170 individuals, consisting of 51 universities and 18 additional organizations across the continent.

GOHA Executive Director Sid Thakur kicked off the meeting with a virtual welcome to the network and NC State University. Welcome remarks were also provided by Provost Warwick Arden and Kathryn Meurs, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. Rob Dunn, Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs, then gave an engaging keynote talk on the complex relationships between species in the context of One Health, emphasizing the importance of understanding these relationships to better manage human and environmental health.

Following Dunn’s keynote talk was a comprehensive summary of the new Lancet One Health Commission report by Julianne Meisner, Associate Director of the Center One Health Research at the University of Washington. This report discusses how One Health is a crucial and viable approach to achieving equitable, sustainable, and healthy socioecological systems. It also discussed the history of the Commission along with a reflection on the origin of One Health, where it stands now, and components of a viable future.

Sharing One Health Success Stories Across the Continent

This event offered the opportunity to learn about the various One Health programs and efforts taking place across the continent. Selected individuals were given the opportunity to share information about their programs via a live lightning talk or a pre-made video. This promoted knowledge sharing, collaboration, and connection.

The following institutions/programs were selected to present about their One Health efforts:

Auburn University | Public and One Health B.S. Program
East Tennessee State University | One Health and Climate Studies Graduate Certificate
Georgia Southern University | Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics,
John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Ohio State University
Tufts University | Master of Science in Conservation Medicine, STOP Spillover
University of Arizona | One Health Participatory Surveillance
University of Calgary
University of California, Davis | One Health Institute
University of Florida
University of Guelph | B.S. in One Health
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Pennsylvania
University of Saskatchewan | PAWSitive Connections Lab
University of Tennessee | One Health Initiative
University of Washington | One Health Clinic

In addition to these individual video submissions and presentations, representatives from Canada (Cate Dewey, University of Guelph) and Mexico (Hugo Mendoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) shared updates on One Health efforts being pursued in their countries both within universities and at the national level.

Next Steps

Working group leads hosted individual breakout rooms to discuss future One Health efforts in the research, education, service, and outreach/policy/advocacy spaces. This session provided the leads with unique insights on advancing and supporting One Health efforts through each of these avenues.

With input from participants, efforts will move forward in officially setting up this network for continued collaboration and integration across North America with the ultimate goal of linking together universities across the continent to advance One Health!