DrNicolle Kirkwood

Dr Nicolle Kirkwood leads a growing portfolio of applied clinical and education-focused research within the Companion Animal Veterinary Wellness Hub, a collaborative hub dedicated to improving animal welfare in the clinic and enhancing the capability and wellbeing of the veterinary workforce. Her research program spans primary-care infectious disease, preventative healthcare, fear-free practice, and veterinary education.

Current and recent projects include:
• Validation of temporal artery thermometry in dogs and cats as a low-stress alternative to rectal temperature measurement.
• Strongyloides stercoralis prevalence and diagnostics, supported by multiple grants and evolving into a broader parasitology research stream.
• Parvovirus immunity and vaccination protocols, including surveys of veterinary practice and critically appraised topics.
• Heat stress and multispecies environments, through an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Sydney Environment Institute.
• Veterinary education research, including a scoping review and implementation study of the mini-CEX and longitudinal workplace-based assessment in DVM clinical training.

Nicolle is an active supervisor of DVM3 Research & Enquiry projects, AVBS Honours students, and interdisciplinary collaborators. Her projects regularly generate outputs suitable for publication, and she mentors students through the full research cycle—from study design and ethics to manuscript development and conference presentation.

Her research program is positioned for sustained growth, translation into practice, and national impact in primary-care veterinary medicine and education.