Samuel Thevasagayam

Samuel Thevasagayam leads the Livestock initiative within the Agriculture Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he oversees the implementation of foundation’s strategy in animal health, animal production and livestock systems. Sam joined the Gates Foundation in 2012.

Samuel started his career as a small animal clinician and lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He then went on to work in academic research, Pharmaceutical R&D (veterinary and human), Business Development and within the not-for profit sector, living and working in four continents before joining the Gates Foundation.

Samuel graduated from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Gained his PhD in veterinary virology from the University of Hertfordshire for his research on foot-and-mouth disease virus at The Pirbright Institute and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Charted Biologist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.