Ravi Kulkarni

Bio

Dr. Ravi Kulkarni joined the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University in January 2019 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology. Dr. Kulkarni obtained his BVSc (eqv. DVM) from Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, India, and Masters in Parasitology and Immunology from Indian Veterinary Research Institute. Subsequent to working in the pharmaceutical industry (Drug Discovery, Torrent Research Center) for a few years in India, he joined University of Guelph, Ontario Veterinary College, Canada, to pursue his PhD in the area of immunology and microbiology. Following his PhD, he did his post-doctoral training in avian immunology for two years with a fellowship supported by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Canada. Subsequently, to gather further training in vaccine immunology and microbiology, he worked at the Emory University Vaccine Center, Atlanta, Georgia, for three years. He once again joined University of Guelph, Department of Pathobiology, as an Adjunct professor and Associate graduate faculty to research in the areas of avian health, disease and vaccines. He also served for three years as the Research Coordinator for 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 to the avian field was recently recognized with The 2024 Bayer-Snoeyenbos New Investigator Award by the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP).

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 Asst/ Lab manager: Pok Man Chan

Research assistant/Tech: Feba John

Graduate students:

Carissa Gaghan (PhD) – Major Advisor

Valeria Criollo (MS) – Major Advisor

Matthew Browning (PhD) – Major advisor

Nagwa Khaled (PhD)- Co-advisor

Aaliyah Gore (MS)- Committee member

Yun Mao (PhD)- Committee member

Kshitiz Paudel (PhD)- Committee member

Tunde Ogundare (PhD @ NC A&T)- Committee member

DVM interns:
Becky Tran

Matthew Browning

Undergraduate (UG) research interns:
Former graduate students:
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 UG interns:
Srisa Bhatta

Katie Conrad

Savannah Howard
Lauren Craig
Anusha Joshi

Varches Gotaparthy

COURSES TAUGHT

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

• 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)
• In ovo feeding of probiotic lactobacilli differentially alters expression of genes involved in the development and immunological maturation of bursa of Fabricius in pre-hatched chicks , POULTRY SCIENCE (2024)
• Modulation of functional activity of heat-stressed chicken macrophages by poultry-derived probiotic lactobacilli , CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE (2024)
• Screening and selection of eubiotic compounds possessing immunomodulatory and anti-Clostridium perfringens properties , Poultry Science (2024)
• Temporal Changes in Splenic Immune Cell Populations following Infection with a Very Virulent plus MDV in Commercial Meat-Type Chickens , Viruses (2024)
• Cellular Immune Responses in Lymphoid Tissues of Broiler Chickens Experimentally Infected with Necrotic Enteritis–Producing Clostridium perfringens Strains , Avian Diseases (2023)
• Effect of CpG-Oligonucleotide in Enhancing Recombinant Herpes Virus of Turkey-Laryngotracheitis Vaccine-Induced Immune Responses in One-Day-Old Broiler Chickens , VACCINES (2023)
• Effects of in ovo inoculation of multi-strain lactobacilli on cytokine gene expression and antibody-mediated immune responses in chickens (vol 10, 1252518, 2023) , FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE (2023)

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