Raina Plowright is the Rudolf J. and Katherine Steffen Professor at Cornell University and a Cornell Atkinson Scholar at the Atkinson Center for Sustainability. A veterinarian with an M.S. in epidemiology and a Ph.D. in ecology from UC Davis, her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of zoonotic spillover to inform strategies for pandemic prevention. Plowright leads transdisciplinary collaborations on emerging infectious disease, particularly WHO-priority pathogens originating in bats. Her work spans sub-cellular to landscape-scales, revealing how land-use change and climate variation drive pathogen emergence—and identifying practical strategies for prevention. She co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover and serves on advisory boards, including the NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education. Plowright is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (2023) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022).