Alun Williams is a veterinary pathologist and appears in the crocodile, giraffe and elephant programmes. His role was to establish or confirm, where possible, the cause of death in those animals.
Alun Williams is a veterinary pathologist and appears in the crocodile, giraffe and elephant programmes. His role was to establish or confirm, where possible, the cause of death in those animals.
Alun is an experienced veterinary pathologist; a job that requires detailed knowledge of anatomy, causes of disease and the effects of those diseases on different animals and their tissues and organs. His job has taken him all over the UK, and he has also worked in collaboration with colleagues internationally.
Alun qualified as a vet from Glasgow University Veterinary School in 1985. After working in general practice for a short while, he did a PhD at the University of Cambridge, investigating how pathology develops in bacterial meningitis in pigs. Subsequently, he went to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to study whether meningitis in children develops in the same way. In 1990 he joined the Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh. Alun returned to Glasgow University in 1997, as a member of the Department of Veterinary Pathology. In 2003 he was appointed Professor of Pathology and Infectious Diseases at The Royal Veterinary College, London. He is currently Professor of Veterinary Diagnostic Pathology at the University of Cambridge.
Alun juggles his roles as an educator, diagnostic pathologist and researcher. His research focuses on diseases of the brain - meningitis, mad cow disease (and the human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD) and, increasingly, Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's. It seems that the way Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and CJD cause nerve cells to degenerate share many similarities - so despite being a vet, his research focuses on diseases that occur in people! As a diagnostic pathologist, he has performed post-mortem examinations on a whole variety of animals - from mice to elephants, all sorts of birds and reptiles, and the occasional marine creature too. Alun encourages his students to compare diseases in animals with those in humans, and to think about how they might be treated in the future.
Away from 'vetting', Alun enjoys music - he plays in orchestras and sings in a couple of choirs - and supporting his family in their various activities. To fight the tide of age, he has taken up two new sports, and he has just bought a house that needs completely renovating... so it will be a case of dissecting various structures inside the house and finding out what's wrong!
Interview
What does your job as a veterinary diagnostic pathologist involve?
Firstly, it is not all about dead animals. Most of my diagnostic work is on pieces of tissue that have been removed from animals while they are still alive - but under anaesthetic. For example, a dog may have a lump, the owner takes it to a vet who removes it and wishes to know for sure what that lump is, so that he can advise the owner appropriately. That's where I come in. Vets in practice send me those removed bits of tissue and I diagnose the problem.
I also carry out post-mortem examinations, where the purpose is to determine the cause of death or to investigate why an animal did not respond to treatment as expected. I spend my time between the post-mortem room and the microscope, where one can look inside the disease tissues to see what is really happening to the cells that make up various organs. When it comes to farm animals, what I find can often be important for how the other animals on that farm are looked after, especially if there is a risk that others on the farm could develop the disease.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The great variety, and its challenges and interests. When I am on diagnostic duty, I never quite know how a day is going to develop - it depends on what cases are presented to me. You never know, it just might be something that no one has ever recorded before. In research, there is always the possibility of a great discovery just around the corner! Teaching in a university and working with the students, is constantly stimulating and rewarding; and I am fortunate to work alongside a great set of colleagues here at Cambridge. But above all, I enjoy the challenges of solving mysteries, of how an animal may have died, or of how diseases develop.
How does understanding the anatomy help with diagnosing the cause of death?
Hugely. If you don't know what the normal anatomy looks like, then it can be difficult to recognise the abnormal when it's right there in front of you. And that can be at the whole organ level, or when you are looking at the internal organisation of cells down a microscope. It is also important to understand the arrangement of organs and tissues in the body because sometimes they get displaced, causing the animal to become sick.
How did you get involved with Inside Nature's Giants?
I was working at The Royal Veterinary College at the time, and was called to see if the College would accept a number of animals from different zoos for post-mortem examination to determine their cause of death. This was a great opportunity to show a wide audience how the internal workings of different animals have evolved and the College, being an educational establishment, was more than willing to host those dissections, provided the donating zoos were also willing; which they were. It was also a great opportunity for the College's students to experience and learn about the anatomy of animals that they might not otherwise get the chance to see. So I met with the production team, and it developed happily from there. It was an opportunity not to be missed!
What do you hope people will take away from the series?
An appreciation of the wonders that can be found in anatomy and an understanding that, in essence, our anatomy has many similarities to that of various animals. And some appreciation of what can happen when that anatomy fails to function properly, as that is the basis of some of the types of diseases that we all face. I think Inside Nature's Giants has highlighted how evolutionary pressures have led a basic anatomical design to develop and adapt about as far as it can go, resulting in extraordinary animals like giraffes. I hope the programmes stimulate a general fascination for biology, which may even encourage some people to pursue a career in biology, even pathology!
What advice would you give young people interested in a career in science?
There are many opportunities in science - there isn't just one career but lots of them; not everyone with the same qualifications does exactly the same job. I would try and get some work experience to check that it is the job for you, and then go for it! Never lose that excitement you have for your subject, and take the opportunities that come your way.
