CECILE AENISHAENSLIN
DIRECTOR
Cécile Aenishaenslin is a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal and a researcher at the Public Health Research Center and the Groupe de recherche en épidémiologie des zoonoses et santé publique (GREZOSP).
A veterinarian and epidemiologist, Dr. Aenishaenslin is also trained in public health and international studies. A research scholar of the Fond de la recherche du Québec en Santé (FRQS), she conducts transdisciplinary research aimed at better understanding the effects of global changes on animal and zoonotic diseases and at developing interventions, programs and policies consistent with a "One Health" approach.
JEAN-PHILIPPE ROCHELEAU
CO-DIRECTOR
With a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Montreal, Jean-Philippe Rocheleau began his career as a clinician in companion animal medicine and surgery, then as a professor and coordinator of the Department of Animal Health at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe. He is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine since 2019.
His work today focuses on the application of "One Health" principles to various issues at the human-animal-environment interface. He focuses on the application of epidemiological methods, spatial analysis and qualitative research to the integrated analysis of data from different species, including humans.
CO-RESEARCHER
Catherine Bouchard is a veterinary epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada and an associate professor at the University of Montreal. Her primary areas of research focus are on improving risk models and spatiotemporal modeling/forecasting of tick-borne diseases, optimizing surveillance, developing/assessing the effectiveness of interventions, and advancing public health practice in Canada regarding tick-borne diseases.
Patrick A. Leigton
CO-RESEARCHER
Patrick Leighton is a professor in epidemiology and public health at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal. His research interests include the impact of ecological change on the epidemiology of zoonotic infectious diseases. He is currently Director of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (CLyDRN).
PHD'S STUDENTS
Sarah Mediouni
PhD Candidate
Natasha Bowser
PhD Candidate
Lea Delesalle
PhD Candidate
Manon Boiteux
PhD Candidate
Nikky Millar
PhD candidate
Vìtoria Régia Lima Campêlo
PhD Candidate
Olivier Kambere Kavulikirwa
PhD Candidate
MASTER'S STUDENTS
Raphaëlle Audet-Legault
MSc Student
Jessica Hainault
MSc Student
Benjamin Jacobek
MSc Student
RESEARCH TEAM
Elizabeth Dyer
Research assistant
Juliette Di Francesco
Postdoctoral fellow
Héléna Ladreyt
Postdoctoral fellow
BIOGRAPHY OF THE TEAM MEMBERS
Natasha Bowser
DOCTORATE STUDENT | 2019
Natasha graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2010. She then worked for eight years in equine and companion animal clinical practice in the UK and Canada.
After becoming interested in zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance, she undertook a part-time master's degree in “One Health”, which she completed in 2018. The subject of her thesis was the use of dogs as sentinels for human infectious diseases.
Natasha joined the PhD program in Veterinary Sciences (epidemiology option) at the University of Montreal in 2020, under the supervision of Cécile Aenishaenslin and Catherine Bouchard. Her current research includes evaluating the adaptation of the Canadian population to Lyme disease using mixed methods. Her research interests include health behavior change and disease prevention within the framework of “One Health”.
Lea Delesalle
DOCTORATE STUDENT | 2019
Prioritization of risk control interventions related to dog populations in Nunavik.
Léa is a veterinarian and currently a PhD student in epidemiology. Her thesis aims to identify sustainable interventions to respond to “One Health” issues related to dogs in northern communities in Quebec, notably through a participatory approach. Her interest in health issues at the human-animal-environment interface took shape at the end of her training in veterinary medicine, leading to a thesis on the use of antibiotics in poultry farming.
She then completed a master's degree in Integrated Tropical Animal Disease Management provided by ENVT and CIRAD (France) and produced a risk map of the transmission of pathogens from wild boar to domestic pigs. In addition, she is also passionate about the popularization of science and co-produces the “Science Infuse” podcast for GREZOSP.
Sarah Mediouni
DOCTORATE STUDENT | 2019
Sarah graduated from the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Tunisia in 2017. Having obtained an excellence scholarship for a research master's and PhD abroad, she completed the master's program in public health at the University of Montreal. In this time, she worked on human exposure to rabies (in particular through dog bites) in the Inuit communities of Nunavik (Quebec-Canada).
Sarah is currently a PhD student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal, under the supervision of Cécile Aenishaenslin and the co-supervision of Hélène Carabin. Her project consists of evaluating the economic and health impacts of the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS).
Her research interests are zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance and the application of integrated “One Health” approaches in epidemiological surveillance.
Sarah has been a member of the Groupe de recherche sur l’épidémiologie des zoonoses et la santé publique (GREZOSP) since 2018 and is also affiliated with the Centre de recherche en santé publique (CreSP).
Nikky Millar
DOCTORAL STUDENT | 2019
Impacts and acceptability of restricting the use of Category 1 antimicrobials in dairy production
After completing her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at the Université de Montréal in May 2019, Nikky began a master’s degree in Veterinary Sciences, Epidemiology option at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Université de Montréal. She is particularly interested in antibiotic resistance and the different surveillance systems for antibiotic use at the human-animal-environment interface.
Her master's degree aims to 1) determine the impacts of the implementation of a new regulation aimed at restricting the use of Category I antimicrobials in dairy production on the sale of veterinary drugs in Quebec 2) study the factors associated with the reduction of Category I antimicrobials and 3) explore the main obstacles and facilitators to the implementation of this new regulation. A mixed methods approach is used to explore these elements.
Victoria Campêlo Lima
DOCTORAL STUDENT | 2020
Vitória completed her degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Brasília at the end of 2019. During her studies, she had the opportunity to do internships in infectious disease control organizatio as the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA). She thus developed an interest in the control and diagnosis of infectious diseases.After graduation, she worked as a veterinarian, involved in the diagnosis of glanders and equine infectious anemia in a veterinary laboratory in Brazil.
In September 2020, she started a PhD in epidemiology at the University of Montreal under the direction of Simon Dufour and the co-direction of Cécile Aenishaenslin and Manon Racicot. Using a mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative), her research project aims to describe the biosecurity status of dairy farms in Canada and to understand the difficulties that dairy producers may face and that prevent them from implementing biosecurity measures on their farms.
Manon Boiteux
DOCTORAL STUDENT | 2024
After completing a Master's degree in environmental sciences, Manon has been working for several years in academic research as a research advisor and coordinator of the project Construire l’avenir durablement of the Innovation Laboratory of the vice-rectorate for research, discovery, creation and innovation at the University of Montreal. She helped build the University of Montreal's “One Health” Initiative.
Manon joined the interdisciplinary PhD program in “One Health” at the University of Montreal in 2024. Her project focuses on the evaluation of participatory science as a tool for monitoring and improving knowledge and behaviour in relation to the risks of tick-borne diseases and the conservation of peri-urban park ecosystems in Quebec.
Olivier Kavulikirwa Kambere
DOCTORAL STUDENT | 2023
Olivier Kambere Kavulikirwa is a doctoral student in Global Health at the University of Montreal School of Public Health (ESPUM) in Canada, affiliated with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Liège in Belgium. As part of the DESIGN project, under the supervision of Cécile Aenishaenslin, Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux and Hélène Carabin, he is exploring the impacts of antibiotic governance policies and programs using the “One Health” approach.
Olivier is a “One Health” specialist with a Master's degree in Integrated Health Risk Management from the University of Liège, the University of Namur and the “Université Libre de Bruxelles” in Belgium. He also completed a State Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the Catholic University of Graben in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a professional certificate in Innovation Management for Sustainable Health from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
Kavulikirwa has extensive experience in health emergency management and humanitarian response, most notably during the complex Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2018 and 2020. His interests include global health issues such as antimicrobial resistance, zoonoses, food security and pandemic preparedness, as well as implementation science. Since 2015, Olivier has been working at the Catholic University of Graben in Butembo (UCG) as a teaching and research assistant.
Raphaëlle Audet-Legault
MASTER STUDENT | 2022
Raphaëlle earned her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Montreal in May 2018. Afterward, she completed both a general internship and a specialized internship in neurology at Centre Vétérinaire Rive-Sud. Subsequently, she started her professional journey in companion animal medicine, gaining three years of experience in various fields including emergency care, neurology, and general practice within private veterinary clinics.
Currently, she is pursuing a Master's degree in Veterinary Sciences with a focus on epidemiology at the University of Montreal. Her research involves investigating the eco-epidemiology of anaplasmosis in Quebec, examining the relationships between the bacterium, ticks, and reservoir hosts.
Jessica Hainault
MASTER STUDENT | 2024
Jessica is a bachelor's student in bioecology (class of 2024) and has been working with the Groupe de recherche en épidémiologie des zoonoses et santé publique (GREZOSP) since 2022. She coordinates several field research projects, including the PARCS en santé project. Curious by nature and with a particular interest in the interactions between living organisms, she greatly enjoys working outdoors.
In May 2024, she will begin her Master’s degree in Veterinary Sciences, with a specialization in epidemiology. Her project, under the supervision of Cécile Aenishaenslin and the co-direction of Patrick A. Leighton and Ariane Dumas, will evaluate the effect of relative deer abundance and other ecological variables on the environmental risk of tick-borne diseases in peri-urban nature parks.
Benjamin Jacobek
MASTER STUDENT | 2022
Benjamin is currently a veterinary resident in Wildlife Health Management (2021-2024) at the University of Montreal. He is also a master's student in epidemiology under the supervision of Jean-Philippe Rocheleau and co-direction of Patrick Leighton. His thesis aims optimize environmental interventions to reduce the risk of Lyme disease in Bromont, Quebec. When he's not out in the field capturing and immobilizing wildlife, Ben works on a variety of wildlife health-related research projects, including the land-sea transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary. He is particularly interested in issues related to the human-wildlife interface and the search for "One Health" solutions to these problems.
Benjamin received his veterinary degree (DVM) from Cornell University in 2020 and his Bachelor of Science (BSc.) from the University of British Columbia in 2015.
Elizabeth Dyer
RESEARCH ASSISTANT | 2022
Elizabeth started her professional journey as an animal health technician at a specialized hospital focused on the care of birds and exotic animals, where she dedicated over 20 years of service. Her exposure to a diverse array of animal species ignited her interest in zoonotic diseases, as she encountered a broad spectrum of pathogens transmissible to humans. Subsequently, she pursued a Bachelor's degree in Biology at Concordia University, followed by a Master's degree in Veterinary Sciences with a specialization in public health at the University of Montreal. Concurrently, she continued her career within a veterinary diagnostic laboratory team. As part of her Master's program, she undertook an internship with the Ministère des forêts, de la faune et des parcs, where she contributed to the development of reference tools aimed at providing enhanced guidelines for individuals involved in wildlife rehabilitation efforts.
The "One Health" approach resonates strongly with Elizabeth's beliefs regarding the interdependence of people, animals and the environment. Elizabeth collaborates on several research projects related to the epidemiology of zoonoses.
Juliette Di Francesco
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW | 2023
Juliette is a veterinarian who graduated from the École Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort in 2014. She then specialized in epidemiology by completing the Mastère Spécialisé de Santé Publique offered by the Institut Pasteur and Cnam in Paris, before pursuing a PhD at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her doctoral research focused on biomarkers of physiological stress in muskoxen, bridging traditional Inuit knowledge with Western science.
Following her initial postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Davis in the USA, Juliette started working at the University of Montreal in September 2023. There, she actively participates in the "Nunamit Takunnatut: Eyes on Wildlife/Community-led Wildlife Health Monitoring for a Resilient and Healthy Nunavik" project under the auspices of the Nunavik Research Center. The project's primary objective is to develop a wildlife health monitoring system for Nunavik in partnership with local communities.
In addition to her academic endeavors, Juliette serves as a reservist in the French army, working as a veterinary epidemiologist in the Service de veille et anticipation of the Centre d'épidémiologie et de santé publique des armées (CESPA).
Helena Ladreyt
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW | 2022
Héléna is a veterinary epidemiologist and veterinary public health inspector with a diverse academic background. She pursued her studies in Nantes and Lyon, and furthered her education with a master's degree in "Politiques publiques de l’alimentation et gestion des risques sanitaires" from Sciences-Po Lyon.
Driven by her interest in vector-borne zoonoses and their implications for human health, Héléna completed her Ph.D. in collaboration with the ANSES Laboratory for Animal Health (Paris), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD, Montpellier), and the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia (Phnom Penh). Her research focused on modeling Japanese encephalitis in Cambodia and Reunion Island. She conducted extensive fieldwork, collecting seroprevalence and vector abundance data to calibrate her models.She then explored qualitative approaches for her first postdoc at CIRAD, evaluating the co-construction process of the international PREZODE initiative - PREventing ZOonotic Diseases Emergence.
She is now supervised by Cécile Aenishaenslin as a postdoc to 1) assess the social acceptability of deer population control interventions, 2) carry out a multi-criteria analysis to compare and prioritize rodent control interventions for the prevention of tick-borne diseases, and 3) support field activities aimed at analyzing the relationship between deer abundance and acarological risk in parks.