Dr. Schat is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He received the DVM degree from the State University, Utrecht, The Netherlands in 1970, and his PhD from Cornell University in 1978 studying virology. Since 1978, he has held successive positions at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University. Throughout his career he has obtained continuous extramural funding to study avian virology and especially Marek's disease and recently chicken infectious anemia virus. Since 2006, he has been studying the pathogenesis of infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strains in a joint project between the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) of the CSIRO Livestock Industries, the CDC, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. This research is conducted in the high containment facilities of AAHL in Australia (details).

He received the Pfizer Award for Excellence in Poultry Research at the 136th Annual Convention of the AVMA in New Orleans, July, 1999, and the Merck Award for Achievement in Poultry Science at the 98th Annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association in Auburn, August, 2005.