Manisha Kulkarni

Dr. Manisha Kulkarni is a Professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, where she holds the University Research Chair in Climate Change and Emerging Diseases. She is also the Director of the INSIGHT (Interdisciplinary Spatial Informatics for Global Health) research lab and serves as Scientific Director of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (TickNet Canada). Her work spans global public health, with a focus on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases.

• PhD in Medical Entomology, McGill University (2006)
• BSc in Environmental Biology, McGill University (2001)

Dr. Kulkarni's research centers on the socio-ecological determinants of infectious disease emergence, particularly malaria, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus. She applies population surveys, entomological field sampling, molecular diagnostics, and GIS to study spatio-temporal patterns and the impacts of climate change and landscape transformation on disease transmission. Her work emphasizes One Health approaches and capacity building in low-resource settings.

Her recent research trends show a strong focus on geospatial modeling of vector-borne diseases, climate change adaptation, urban tick surveillance, and international collaborations in Tanzania, Benin, and Latin America. She leads interdisciplinary projects integrating drone mapping, citizen science (e.g., eTick.ca), and community participation to identify disease risk factors.

Scientific awards and recognitions include:

• University Research Chair in Climate Change and Emerging Diseases
• Ontario Early Researcher Award
• Faculty of Medicine Award for Leadership in Global Health (2023)
• Researcher of the Year, Faculty of Medicine (2019)
• Member, College of New Scholars, Royal Society of Canada
• NSERC Discovery Grant and CIHR funding

Dr. Kulkarni has successfully advised multiple PhD and Master’s students and leads major funded projects supported by CIHR, PHAC, CFI, IDRC, and NSERC. She has held leadership roles as Associate Dean of Global Health (2021–2024) and currently serves on the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity advisory board. Her lab, INSIGHT, fosters an interdisciplinary training environment combining field, lab, and analytical methods for global health research.

Key research teams and collaborations include:

• INSIGHT Lab, University of Ottawa
• Pan-African Malaria Vector Research Consortium (PAMVERC)
• Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (TickNet Canada)
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
• National Microbiology Lab, PHAC
• Centre de Recherche Entomologique de Cotonou (CREC), Benin