Dr Robert Barigye was recently promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Veterinary Pathology, at the Department of Veterinary Medicine (DoVM) within the College of Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine (CAVM), United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). He joined the UAEU in January 2016 and has since taught undergraduate courses including but not limited to Histology, Veterinary Pathology, and Clinical Pathology. Previously, he worked as a Senior Veterinary Pathologist at Berrimah Veterinary Laboratories in Australia and before that as Assistant Professor and Diagnostic Veterinary Pathologist at North Dakota State University in the USA.

Dr Barigye holds several academic qualifications namely: MANZCVS (Anatomic Veterinary Pathology) from the Australian & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists; a PhD from the National Autonomous University of Mexico; an MPhil from the School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Australia; and MSc with Distinction in Veterinary Pathology from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. Before that, he earned his BVM degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Uganda. 

Dr Barigye s current research interests are focused on the epidemiology of neglected infectious diseases of livestock in the UAE. He is particularly interested in understanding the epidemiology of enzootic bovine leucosis in dairy cattle, and assessing the animal and public health significance of and transmission dynamics of coxiellosis (Q-fever) at the animal-human interphase. In Australia, he conducted research on arboviruses of cattle with primary focus on the cytokine expression and tissue tropism of the bovine ephemeral fever virus in Brahman cattle. His research at North Dakota State University in the USA related to the role of efflux pumps and membrane porins in bacterial multidrug resistance. Over his scientific career spanning nearly three decades, Dr Barigye has authored 32 peer-reviewed publications, given over 30 major conference presentations and received several research grants. 

Currently, Dr Barigye is serving on the UAEU Peer Evaluation of Teaching Committee , and Departmental Curriculum Committee at the DoVM, and was previously, a member of the UAEU Animal Research Ethics Committee (2016 2020). He is the current Internship & Clinical Outreach Coordinator at the DoVM,

During his scientific career, Dr Barigye has received several honors including the award for the most inspiring teacher/professor at the DoVM, CAVM-UAEU (2019); the STAR Award by the Department of Primary Industry & Fisheries, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, Australia for developing an immunoperoxidase assay for the detection of bovine ephemeral fever virus antigens in bovine/cattle tissues (2014); the Gamma Sigma Delta Medal for distinguished scholarship and service, North Dakota State University Chapter (2006); and the Alfonso Caso Award & Silver Medal for the best PhD thesis at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (2003).