Dalia Freedman

Dalia is a current Master of Wildlife Biology candidate at the University of Guelph and is completing her research in Dr. Samira Mubareka’s lab at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. She earned her BSc in Microbiology at the University of Guelph and has developed experience in wildlife rehabilitation and education through a range of extracurricular roles. Dalia is passionate about integrating her fields of study through One Health approaches to explore the intersections of infectious disease, pathology, and conservation, particularly in relation to how zoonotic pathogens affect wildlife and ecosystem health. Her Master’s research focuses on the environmental and ecological drivers of low-pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) diversity at the wildlife-poultry-human interface. Findings from this research will be used to track and monitor the LPAIV strains that are regularly circulating in Southern Ontario, informing potential mutation or recombination events that could result in a novel, highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza virus (HPAIV).