Karin Orsel
Affiliations
Professor (Teaching & Research) - Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fulltime
Convenor One Health Initiative
Vice President Research Office
Co-lead Water and Health
Contact information
Web presence
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 210-6127
Location
Office: HSC2516
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy Vet Medicine Spec, Utrecht University, 2007
D.V.M. Vet Medicine & Vet Science, Utrecht University, 1996
M.S. Vet Medicine Spec, Utrecht University, 2004
Board certified specialist Bovine Health Management, ECBHM, 2009
Biography
Dr. Orsel completed her DVM at the Utrecht University in 1996 and she started to work as a veterinarian in several veterinary practices in The Netherlands. In February 1997 she started her job at the ambulatory clinic of the Department of Farm Animal Health in Utrecht. After being actively involved in an epidemiologic study during the epidemic of foot and mouth disease in 2001, she started her PhD on this topic from February 2002-February 2007. She obtained a MSc degree in veterinary epidemiology and economics in 2004. She joined UCVM in February 2008, with a main focus on Epidemiology and Health Management of Cattle. In her capacity as epidemiologist, she is often a member of a multi-disciplinary team to tackle global and ecosystem health challenges. Through this interest she is now Convenor of One Health at the UofC.
Research
Areas of Research
As a veterinary epidemiologist, Dr. Orsel's main interest is in studying disease transmission and identifying risk factors for multi-factorial diseases. Her research focuses on both beef and dairy cattle, especially, infectious diseases, lameness, and painful procedures. She also applied her epidemiological skills to work in other fields like wildlife in the North. One of the key findings in dairy cattle is that lameness is a prevalent disorder in Canadian dairy farms, and the complex interaction between animal and environmental factors impacts the prevalence. In beef cattle, besides lameness, her research also focuses on the potential of behavior as indicators for early disease detection and health.
In addition to research, Dr. Orsel is chair of the Cattle Health Research Group and member of the UCVM Research Committee. She is involved organizing the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar. Besides her scientific presentations, Dr. Orsel also regularly presents for producer groups. To support her profession she is vice-president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
Awards
- My supervisorSKills, GREAT supervisor Award, Faculty of Graduate studies. 2015
- UofC Team Teaching Award, 2014
- UCVM Associate Dean's award, 2013
- Board certification of European College of Bovine Health Management, 2011
- UCVM supervisor of the Year 2024, 2024
- Zoetis Award for Research Excellence, UCVM. 2017
- CVMA Merck Veterinary Award, CVMA. 2019
- Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award, 2020
- Graduate supervisor of the year, UCVM. 2024
Publications
More Information
Graduate Teaching:
Dr. Orsel has been actively involved in the delivery of graduate courses on epidemiology, both in the Veterinary Sciences as well as in the community health science program.
Undergraduate teaching:
Course coordination: VETM 525 Advanced Health Management
Core instructor: VETM 344: Fundamentals of Epidemiology, VETM 420 Health Management,
Participation: VETM 461 Outbreak investigations, VETM 462 Foreign Animal Disease, and VETM 531 Small Ruminants
Rotations: practice liaison for Veterinary Agri-Health Services and Feedlot Health Management Services in delivery of the herd health rotations in cattle health.
Primary supervisor
- Jambay Dorji. Lameness in pasture-based beef cattle. MSc, Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2025 – present
- Awais Akbar. Technology for early lameness detection. PhD, Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2025 – present
- Mohammod Misbah Uddin. Sensitivity analysis of hunter-based surveillance in the Canadian North. PhD. Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sept 2022.
Most recent past students at the UCVM under Karin's Supervision:
- Mohammed Jehangir Ashgar. Co-morbidities in wood bison. MSc, Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, May 2023 – May 2026
- Susan Pyakurel. Foot rot in beef cattle. MSc. Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2021 – Dec 2024
- Sanjaya Mijar. Preconditioning and weaning beef cattle: Impacts on health and behaviour of beef calves and cows and the stakeholders’ perspectives. PhD. Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Jul 2021 – Dec 2024
- Nathan Lutevele. Producers attitudes towards low stress cattle handling. MSc, co-supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2022 – Oct 2024
- Ana Hernandez. Johne’s disease in bison. MSc. Supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2021 – Dec 2023
- Larissa Martins. Towards a Johne’s disease eradication program using early diagnostics. MSc, co supervisor, Vet Med Sc, UCVM, Sep 2020 – Jul 2023
- Arne Vanhoudt. Epidemiology of digital dermatitis in dairy cattle in the Netherlands. PhD. Co-supervisor, University of Utrecht faculty of veterinary medicine. Sep 2017 – June 2023
- Abigail Hodder. Long-term evaluation of preconditioning beef calves. MSc, supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2019 – Jan 2022.
- Marlena Knauss. Economics of lameness control in dairy herds. MSc, supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, Sep 2018 – Feb 2021.
- Kajal Devani. Development of Genetic Selection Tools for Female Longevity and Sustainability. PhD, supervisor, Vet Med Sci, UCVM, May 2016 – Feb 2021. AFC-Growing Forward2 funded.
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