Speakers: Manisha Kulkarni (uOttawa) and Alison Samuel (Ottawa Public Health)

Spring is in the air and Ottawa’s natural areas and other greenspaces are beckoning. Once the trails have thawed and dried out, residents are encouraged to get outdoors! Be on the lookout for spring wildflowers, migrating birds, and biting flies and ticks. While it’s a common joke that Canada has two seasons, winter and “bug season,” black-legged ticks may be active at any time of year, depending on the temperature. The City and Ottawa Public Health want to ensure that residents know how to protect themselves from ticks, which can carry illnesses such as Lyme disease. We invite you to join us for a presentation by local experts from the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health, to learn more about ticks, Lyme disease prevention, and ongoing research in our area.

Manisha Kulkarni (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa where she directs the Interdisciplinary Spatial Informatics for Global Health (INSIGHT) research lab. Dr. Kulkarni uses geospatial, epidemiological and molecular approaches to investigate the socio-ecological determinants of infectious disease emergence and risk in global settings with a focus on vector-borne diseases, including Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in Canada. Dr. Kulkarni is a Member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and a founding member of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network. In Ottawa, she works closely with communities, the National Capital Commission and Ottawa Public Health to generate knowledge on tick-borne disease risks and inform strategies for disease prevention and control.

Alison Samuel has worked as a public health professional for over 25 years, and has been with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) for 2 years. Before OPH, Ms. Samuel worked as a Public Health Inspector in several health units, as a Food Scientist with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and more recently with Public Health Ontario as a Senior Consultant. Ms. Samuel’s work has primarily focused on inspection, consultation, policy development and program delivery. She is currently the Program Lead for West Nile Virus, co-lead for the Rabies Program, and works closely with the Lyme disease program lead.