Zulma Rueda, MD, PhD, CRC

Research summary

Dr. Zulma Rueda is a Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection – Resistance and Control and leads the Exposome Lab at the University of Manitoba. She is also a clinician-epidemiologist and has adapted statistical tools to answer complex questions in the fields of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV research. She has developed and tested new statistical approaches to handle complex biological data, optimized data pretreatment prior to multivariate analysis, and applied new statistical methods to understand the exposome in TB and HIV.

Her research focuses on identifying biomarkers for latent tuberculosis diagnosis, understanding the interaction between HIV and TB, and identifying the factors that contribute to the spread of tuberculosis in prison populations. Dr. Rueda's research group has already identified HLA alleles associated with disease progression of HIV and immune markers predicting poor immune response to antiretroviral therapy. She has also identified the risk factors associated with TB acquisition in prisons and the paths of transmission to the community.

Dr. Rueda has published 49 papers and six book chapters, with 42 peer-reviewed research contributions, including eight first authorships and seven senior authorships where her students appear as first authors. She participates as a scientific reviewer for 10 scientific journals and has received several project grants as a principal investigator and co-investigator, totaling approximately $4.2 million CAD.

Dr. Rueda has contributed to international and public health research by serving as a senior mentor for a global partnership by the Special Programme for Operational Research Training in HIV and TB (TDR) at the World Health Organization.

Keywords

Biomarkers

Disease acquisition and progression

Epidemiology

Exposome

HIV/Aids

Latent tuberculosis infection

Sexually transmitted and blood borne infections

Tuberculosis

Research groups

Exposome Lab, University of Manitoba

Public Health Research Group, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Colombia)

Dr. Zulma Rueda is an associate professor in medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Rueda is also a Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection – Resistance and Control, and leads the Exposome Lab at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Rueda obtained her medical degree from the Universidad de Antioquia in Colombia in 2006, and went on to complete a PhD in epidemiology at the same institution in 2014, earning the highest distinction for her thesis. Her doctoral work focused on identifying the factors that contribute to the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in prison populations, and she was recognized with a Distinguished Service Special Category award by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute for her contributions to the health of prisoners in Antioquia, Colombia.

Dr. Rueda has since become a clinician-epidemiologist and innovator, and has adapted statistical tools to answer complex questions in the fields of TB and HIV research. She has developed and tested new statistical approaches to handle complex biological data, optimized data pretreatment prior to multivariate analysis, and applied new statistical methods to understand the exposome (i.e., the genetic and non-genetic exposure data) in TB and HIV. Her research focuses on identifying biomarkers for latent TB diagnosis, and understanding the interaction between HIV and TB.

Dr. Rueda's research group has already identified HLA alleles associated with disease progression of HIV and immune markers predicting poor immune response to antiretroviral therapy. She has also identified the risk factors associated with TB acquisition in prisons and the paths of transmission to the community. Dr. Rueda has published 49 papers and six book chapters, with 42 peer-reviewed research contributions, including eight first authorships and seven senior authorships where her students appear as first authors.

Dr. Rueda has contributed to international and public health research by serving as a senior mentor for a global partnership by the Special Programme for Operational Research Training in HIV and TB (TDR) at the World Health Organization. She has been invited to teach and mentor employees of TB and/or HIV care programs in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Iraq, and China. Dr. Rueda was also elected as a member of the Colombian Public Entity (INVIMA), which is the equivalent of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In recognition of her contributions to the field of infectious diseases, Dr. Rueda has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Canada Research Chair Tier 2 award in 2020, and the Summa cum laude "with highest praise" for her PhD thesis, awarded to approximate to top 1% based on set of criteria, most importantly potential contribution to health. She was also named the Best Student of Medicine at the Universidad de Antioquia, Faculty of Medicine in Colombia in 2005.

Education

PhD in Epidemiology (highest distinction for a PhD thesis), Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia (2014)

Physician, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia (2006)

Awards

2020:

• Canada Research Chair Tier 2

2014:

• Distinguished Service Special Category awarded by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute for contributions to the health of prisoners in Antioquia, Colombia
• Summa cum laude “with highest praise” for her PhD thesis, awarded to approximate to top 1% based on set of criteria, most importantly potential contribution to health. Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia

2009:

• Scholarship. PhD trainee. The CIHR International Infectious Disease & Global Health Training Program, University of Manitoba
• Scholarship. PhD student. Colciencias (Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation)

2008:

• Winner Project “Centro Especializado de Diagnóstico en Infecciones Respiratorias (CEDIR)” [Award New Enterprises from research results]. Municipality of Medellín and Center of Science and Technology of Antioquia, Colombia

2005:

• Best student of medicine. Universidad de Antioquia, Faculty of Medicine, Colombia