One Health and GDB: Animal Health Spotlight

by Kelly Tobin
May 30, 2025

This post spotlights two influential people in animal health: Dr. Kirsten Gilardi, who works right here at UC Davis directing the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and Dr. Emmanuelle Soubeyran, the Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health. Both work closely with One Health issues, such as zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance, and climate change to ensure a healthier future for animals, people, and the environment.

Dr. Kirsten Gilardi

Dr. Kisten Gilardi's Photograph and Job Titles

Bio:

Dr. Kirsten Gilardi is the Director of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (WHC), which is the largest center within the UC Davis One Health Institute. The WHC has projects and programs focusing on the health of wild animals, they aim to restore ecosystem health and address issues like zoonotic diseases. Dr. Gilardi is also a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine & Epidemiology and was formerly a President of the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians. She started the WHC’s SeaDoc Society in 2000. The SeaDoc Society aims to find science-based solutions for marine wildlife in the Salish Sea. She also started the California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project in 2006, which encourages ocean users to report lost gear and hires scuba divers to remove gear and debris from water in a safe, environmentally sensitive manner to reduce the impact on marine species [1].

Dr. Gilardi is a co-director of Gorilla Doctors, which is a partnership between the WHC and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary project. Gorilla Doctors is an international veterinary team that provides medical care to gorillas living in the national parks of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr. Gilardi is also the Principle Investigator of the project “Moving mountain gorilla health forward” by the Arcus Foundation [1].

Education:

Dr. Gilardi earned her Bachelor’s Degree at UC Santa Cruz, DVM at UC Davis, completed a 3-year residency at the California National Primate Research Center, and joined the WHC in 1998. She was board certified in Wildlife Medicine by the American College of Zoological Medicine in 2001 [2].

Awards:

1994 Wildlife Disease Association Student Research Award

2004 Presidential Service Award, American College of Zoological Medicine

2015 American Association of Zoo Veterinarians Emil P. Dolensek Award

Dr. Emmanuelle Soubeyran

Bio:

In May of 2024 Dr. Emmanuelle Soubeyran was elected as Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health to serve from 2024-2029. Dr. Soubeyran is a veterinarian who specializes in veterinary public health and epidemiology. She was formerly the Deputy Director for Food within the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and the Head of French Veterinary Services. Dr. Soubeyran has led development of emergency response plans and preventative measures against zoonoses including avian influenza, bluetongue disease, and African swine fever. She is an advocate for a One Health focus in addressing antimicrobial resistance and zoonoses [3]. Dr. Soubeyran headed VetAgroSup from 2016 to 2021, which is a higher education and research establishment consisting of the National Veterinary School in Lyon, the School of Agronomics in Clermont-Ferrand, and the National School of Veterinary Services. During this time she helped to create a master’s degree in One Health and a One Health Institute at the University of Lyon [4].