Dr. Barkema completed his DVM degree at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 1988. He spent 2½ years as manager of a large dairy and beef herd in Costa Rica, then taught bovine herd health at Utrecht University and worked as an epidemiologist for the Dutch Animal Health Service while completing his PhD. In 2001, Dr. Barkema moved to the University of Prince Edward Island. He subsequently moved to the University of Calgary, where he founded the Department of Production Animal Health of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He currently is Professor in Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at UCVM, with a joint appointment in the Department of Community Health Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine. He is also a Guest Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Fertility and Herd Health, Ghent University (Belgium). Dr. Barkema’s research program focuses on prevention and control of diseases in cattle herds, with a special interest in mastitis and Johne’s disease. He has published more than 180 scientific manuscripts and book chapters, and has lectured all over the world. He leads the Alberta Inflammatory Bowel Disease Consortium, the Environment research theme in the Canadian Bovine Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Network, the Technical Committee of the Canadian Voluntary Johne’s Disease Program, and the Alberta Johne’s Disease Initiative.  

The over-all goal of my research program is to ensure a safe and economical food supply with a reduced risk to transmission of zoonotic diseases to farm families and the general population.  I have two main research interests. My first interest is research to prevent and control infectious diseases on dairy farms, such as mastitis and Johne’s disease, with animal and public health perspectives. New prevention and control programs in Canada, The Netherlands, and other countries have been introduced or changed based on results of my research. My second main research interest is the interaction between host, microbes and the environment in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  I lead the Alberta Inflammatory Bowel Disease Consortium, a strategic research initiative funded by Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions. All my research projects are carried out by graduate students, often with assistance of summer students. Because I value a multidisciplinary education of these graduate students, all my graduate students are co-supervised by a faculty member with a complimentary expertise, most often a basis scientist. Knowledge transfer and exchange is a logical and important extension of my research program.   Epidemiology Immunology and Infectious Disease Production Animal Health