Bio

Dr. Ravi Kulkarni joined the Population Health and Pathobiology department of College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University in 2019. Dr. Kulkarni obtained his Veterinary degree (BVSc, eqv DVM) from Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, India, and Masters in Immunology and Parasitology from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. Subsequent to working at the Torrent pharmaceuticals R&D center for four years in India, he joined University of Guelph Veterinary College, Canada, to pursue his PhD in immunology and microbiology. Following his PhD, he did his postdoc training in avian immunology at Guelph on a fellowship from the Canadian Ministry of Research and Innovation. Subsequently, to gather further training in vaccine immunology, he worked at the Emory University Vaccine Center, Atlanta, Georgia, for three years as a Research Associate. He once again joined University of Guelph, as an Adjunct professor and Associate graduate faculty to teach and research in avian health and disease control. He also served for three years as the Research Coordinator, the Poultry Health Research Network (PHRN) at Guelph. At CVM-NCSU, his research program focuses on immunology and microbiology with a primary focus in ‘Understanding immunity to infections and developing novel disease control strategies in poultry’. His meritorious research contributions have been recognized with The 2024 Bayer-Snoeyenbos New Investigator Award by the American Association of Avian Pathologists, and 2024-2025 NC State ‘Goodnight Early Career Innovator Award’.

AFFILIATIONS

American Society for Microbiology
American Association of Avian Pathologists
Poultry Science Association
Poultry Health Research Network
World Veterinary Poultry Association
Canadian Poultry Research Council
Livestock Research and Innovation Corporation of Canada

RESEARCH EMPHASIS

IMMUNOLOGY, INFECTIOUS DISEASES and DISEASE CONTROL

Kulkarni laboratory focuses on studying ‘host-microbe interaction’ with a focus in the areas of immunology, microbiology, Probiotics and vaccines that are crafted into on three major research programs:
1. Improving gut health and developing alternatives to antibiotics:
The traditional use of antibiotics as feed supplements to control enteric infections in poultry production has come under greater scrutiny in recent years. While this has pushed the industry to grow birds without antibiotics, it also has caused increased spikes in the incidences of enteric diseases. My laboratory focuses on studying three such diseases that have severe economic impacts on the poultry industry. These are Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens, Clostridial dermatitis (CD) caused by Clostridium septicum and Coccidiosis caused by Eimeria protozoa. The two specific research areas related to this topic are:
i. Understanding immune responses against Clostridial and Eimeria pathogens:
ii. Probiotics and Vaccines against NE and CD:

2. Viral immunology and boosting vaccine-induced immunity in poultry:
Understanding immunity to viral diseases and mechanisms to boost virus-induced immunity in poultry enables advanced research-based intervention strategies for effective disease control. Kulkarni laboratory studies virus/ vaccine-induced responses against Marek’s disease (MD) and Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT) in chickens. This work also includes identifying molecular adjuvants to boost MD and ILT vaccine-induced responses.

3. Precision Health technologies:
Precision Livestock Farming in poultry production is on the rise in recent years targeted at early detection of diseases using sensor-based tools. Through collaboration with Ag- engineering faculty at CALS-NCSU, Kulkarni laboratory works on developing sensor-based precision tech tools to detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) released in the air during early disease development of necrotic enteritis, coccidiosis and clostridial dermatitis in poultry.

LABORATORY TEAM

Principal Investigator: Ravi Kulkarni

Research Staff: Pok Man Chan, MS (Lab Manager), and Aakriti Tyagi, PhD

Graduate students:

Carissa Gaghan (PhD) – Major Advisor

Valeria Criollo (MS) – Major Advisor

Matthew Browning (PhD) – Major advisor

Abdelhamid Fares (PhD)- Co-advisor (Dr. Gimeno lab)

Aaliyah Gore (MS)- Committee member (Dr. Crespo lab)

Jiayi Ren (PhD)- Committee member (Dr. Suryawanshi lab)

Vet Scholars and DVM interns: Abbey Brake

Undergraduate (UG) research interns: Kayla Lewis

Former graduate students:

Tunde Ogundare (PhD @ NC A&T)- Committee member (Dr. Fasina lab)

Yun Mao (PhD)- Committee member

Nagwa Khaled (PhD)- Co-advisor

Kshitiz Paudel (PhD)- Committee member (Dr. Saini lab)

Daniel Adams (PhD) – Co-advisor

Allison Boone (PhD)- Co-advisor

Taylor Boyett (MS)- Co-advisor

Catherine Fudge (MS)- Committee member

Eliza Theis (MS)- Committee member

Mahi Azizi (U of Guelph)

Former Vet Scholars and DVM interns:

Kaitlin Gorrell, Matthew Browning, Becky Tran

Former undergraduate interns:
Srisa Bhatta, Katie Conrad, Savannah Howard, Lauren Craig, Anusha Joshi, Varches Gotaparthy

COURSES TAUGHT

2024-present   VET911- Immunology (DVM level: Instructor)

2022-present   VMP964 –Swine and Poultry medicine (DVM level; Instructor)

2021-present   CBS682- Poultry medicine (Graduate level: Coordinator)

2022-present   VMP982- Poultry health and diseases (DVM level: Instructor)

2022-present   VMP983- Poultry medicine externship (DVM level; Instructor)

2023-present   VMP920- Infection and Immunity (DVM level; Guest lecturer)

2023-present   CBS510- Specialty training in poultry medicine (Graduate level; Instructor)

2022-present   CBS 816- Advanced topics in immunology (Graduate level; Faculty facilitator)

2020-2021      VMP 401- Introduction to Poultry diseases (Undergraduate level; Co-coordinator), Prestage Department of Poultry Science, CALS, NCSU

Publications

• Clostridium septicum Alpha Toxin-Based Recombinant Subunit Vaccine Protects Broiler Chickens Against Clostridial Dermatitis , Avian Diseases (2026)
• Evaluating the Effect of Acetylsalicylic Acid in Turkey Poults Experimentally Infected with Coccidia , Avian Diseases (2026)
• Characterization of immunopathological changes in the feather pulp of CVI988-vaccinated pullets challenged with a very virulent plus Marek’s disease virus strain , Avian Pathology (2025)
• Effect of Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) Extract on Growth Performance, Intestinal Health, and Immune Response of Broiler Chickens During Subclinical Necrotic Enteritis , Pathogens (2025)
• Major Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens in Poultry: Implications for Human Health and the Poultry Industry and Probiotic Mitigation Strategies , Microorganisms (2025)
• Protection Conferred by Gallid Alphaherpesvirus 2 Vaccines Against Immunosuppression Induced by Very Virulent Plus (vv+) Marek’s Disease Virus Strains in Commercial Meat Type Chickens , Pathogens (2025)
• Recombinant Lactococcus lactis-based oral vaccine expressing non-toxic alpha toxin domains of Clostridium septicum can offer protection against Clostridial dermatitis in turkeys , Vaccine (2025)
• Characterization of immune responses and immunopathology in turkeys experimentally infected with clostridial dermatitis-producing strains of Clostridium septicum , Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology (2024)
• Evaluation of Adjuvant Effect of Cytosine-Guanosine-Oligodeoxynucleotide in Meat-Type Chickens Coadministered In Ovo with Herpesvirus of Turkey Vaccine , Viral Immunology (2024)
• Immunization of turkeys with Clostridium septicum alpha toxin-based recombinant subunit proteins can confer protection against experimental Clostridial dermatitis , PLoS ONE (2024)

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