Nick Ogden

Senior Research Scientist and Director of Public Health Risk Sciences Division

Research focusing on assessing risk and impacts of climate change on zoonoses and vector-borne diseases

Current research and/or projects

Dr. Ogden’s research focuses on assessing risk by study of the ecology, epidemiology and genetic diversity of vectors and zoonotic and vector-borne micro-organisms, assessing impacts of climate change on zoonoses and vector-borne diseases, and developing tools for public health adaptation.

As Director of the Public Health Risk Sciences Division, he directs programs on model-based assessment of risk from infectious diseases, advanced epidemiological analysis, public health geomatics, molecular epidemiology and knowledge synthesis. Focus areas include zoonoses, vector-borne diseases, food-borne diseases, and the effects of climate change.

Research and/or project statements

Directs a program on climate change and vector- and food-borne disease risks.
Genome Research Development Initiative (GRDI) project on Mosquito-borne disease surveillance by metabarcoding in Canada, and studying the ecology of mosquito-borne diseases via the Ecobiomics inter-departmental GRDI.
Genome Atlantic project to study the impacts of diversity of the agent of Lyme disease Borrelia burgdorferi
Co-lead of the Modelling and Mapping Working group of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network
The Environmental Change & One Health Observatory multi-departmental initiative to study the combined effects of climate change and land use change on risks to human and livestock health, and sustainable agriculture.

Professional activities / interests

Speaking and chairing meetings cross-Canada on emerging infectious disease, climate change, and Lyme disease

Education and awards

Education:

Post-doctoral fellow, mathematical modelling of infectious disease transmission, Université de Montréal, 2005

Ph.D. Zoology, Lyme disease ecology, University of Oxford, 1996

Certificate of nature conservation with distinction, University of Newcastle, 1993

BVSc. Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, 1983

Awards:

Dr Paul Gully Spokesperson Award, 2017

PHAC Policy and Program Merit Award: For development of the Lyme Disease Action Plan, 2014

Health Canada Above and Beyond Award for Scientific Achievement and Innovation, 2008

International experience and/or work

Scientific committee: International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis 2021, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Member of External Advisory Board for the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE), University of Washington, USA

Additional links

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7003408291

Key publications

Ogden NH, Gasmi S, Koffi JK, Barton M, Lindsay LR, Langley J. (2019) Lyme disease in children: Data from the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program. Ticks & Tick-Borne Diseases, in press

http://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5668

Sagurova I, Ludwig A, Ogden NH, Pelcat Y, Dueymes G, Gachon P. 2019. Predicted northward expansion of the geographic range of the tick vector Amblyomma americanum in North America under future climate conditions. Environmental Health Perspectives, 127(10):107014.

http://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5668

Ng V, Fazil A, Gachon P, Deuymes G, Radojević M, Mascarenhas M, Garasia S, Johansson MA, Ogden NH (2017) Assessment of the probability of autochthonous transmission of Chikungunya virus in Canada under recent and projected climate change. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(6):067001.doi: 10.1289/EHP669.Badawi A, Drebot M, Ogden NH. 2019 Convergence of chronic and infectious diseases: a new direction in public health policy. Can J Public Health. 110(4):523-524.

http://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-019-00228-x

Ogden NH, Gachon P. Climate change and infectious diseases: What can we expect? Can Commun Dis Rep 2019;45(4):76–80.

http://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v45i04a01

Ogden NH, Bouchard C, Badcock J, Drebot MA, Elias SP, Hatchette TF, Koffi JK, Leighton PA, Lindsay LR, Lubelczyk CB, Peregrine AS, Smith RP, Webster D. 2019 What is the real number of Lyme disease cases in Canada? BMC Public Health. 9(1):849

http://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7219-x

Ogden NH, Lindsay LR, Ludwig A, Morse AP, Zheng H, Zhu H. Weather-based forecasting of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in Canada. Can Commun Dis Rep 2019;45(5):127–32.

https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v45i05a03

Ogden NH, Wilson JRU, Richardson DM, Hui C, Davies SJ, Kumschick S, Le Roux JJ, Measey J, Saul W-C, Pulliam JRC. 2019. Emerging infectious diseases and biological invasions – a call for a One Health collaboration in science and management. Royal Society Open Science, 6, 181577

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181577

Tyler S, Tyson S, Dibernardo A, Drebot M, Feil EJ, Graham M, Knox NC, Lindsay LR, Margos G, Mechai S, Van Domselaar G, Thorpe HA, Ogden NH. 2018 Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of strains of the agent of Lyme disease Borrelia burgdorferi from Canadian emergence zones. Scientific Reports, 8(1):10552.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28908-7

Ebi KL, Ogden NH, Semenza JC, Woodward A. (2017) Detecting and attributing health burdens to climate change. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(8):085004.

https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1509