Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was awarded in recognition of her and CTPH’s conservation efforts and the projects CTPH carries out in Bwindi Impenetrable National park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. She was presented the award by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Britain at a gala ceremony at The Royal Conservation Society hosted by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN)- The UK-based charity that administers the international awards programme.

In recognition WFN founder and judges panel chairman, Edward Whitley said,
“The DNA of people and gorillas is so similar that it is possible for diseases to cross between them. With her work, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is not only reducing the risk of gorillas falling prey to human ailments but also improving the lives of local people, by offering them better healthcare, greater knowledge of their gorilla neighbours and more opportunities to benefit from gorilla tourism without harm to the apes.”

Awards were also given to conservationists in Kenya, Thailand, Bulgaria, India and Sri Lanka.

http://www.whitleyaward.org/documents/GladysKalemaZikusokaUganda_000.pdf”>

BBC TV vet Wins Award from Attenborough-backed Nature Charity

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/5320435/BBC-TV-vet-wins-award-from-Attenborough-backed-nature-charity.html

TV Vet’s Scheme to Protect Gorillas in Uganda Wins Top Conservation Award
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/13/gorilla-protection-whitely-conservation-award

http://www.whitleyaward.org/documents/90425WA09ShortlistAnnouncedlettheadFINAL_000.pdf

• Uganda and many countries in Africa are among the 22 worst affected countries with Tuberculosis, contributing to 80% of the global TB burden

• People bordering protected areas often don’t boil their milk and are at risk of bovine TB from cattle that graze with buffalo.

• Scabies skin disease is one of the first recorded fatal diseases to spread from people to mountain gorillas.

• Revenue from gorilla ecotourism is transforming villages into flourishing trading centres enabling a sustainable livelihood for some of the poorest people in Africa.

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka became an Ashoka fellow for leading social entrepreneurs in September 2006 based on her vision of linking Uganda’s wildlife management and rural public health programs to create common
resources that benefit both people and animals. CTPH is the first NGO in Africa set up to focus on this issue.

Gladys was among 8 women given an award for outstanding contribution towards Tourism Development and Women Empowerment in 2007. In May 2008 she received the San Diego Zoo Conservation Medal Award, category of Conservation in Action and in June 2008 she received the British Council Outstanding Young Alumni Award in Uganda.

In 2003, she completed a zoological medicine residency and master in specialized veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Zoological Park. During the three year residency, she
carried out research on TB in the human/wildlife/livestock interface in Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks in Uganda. This was funded by an African Wildlife Foundation Charlotte Fellowship Conservation
Award.  She also obtained a certificate in non-profit management from Duke University.

Gladys obtained a Bachelor in Veterinary Medicine degree from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1995. She went on to work for four and half years as a Veterinary Officer for Uganda Wildlife Authorityfrom 1996 to 2000. This involved setting up a  veterinary unit in UWA and veterinary programs for mountain gorillas and other wildlife in Uganda; pioneering the first wildlife translocations in Uganda since the 1970s, and developing the first  community education campaigns on risks of human and gorillas disease transmission  among others.

When working as UWA Veterinary Officer, Gladys’s work was featured in documentaries including BBC 1, National Geographic, Animal Planet, MNet and Uganda Television.

Gladys hopes that CTPH will be at the forefront of reducing transmission of disease from people to animals and vice versa.