Spring 2022 Virtual CIHR-III New Investigators Forum
March 29 - March 31, 2022

Welcome to the 8^th New Investigator Forum (NIF) 2022

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III) is committed to supporting the next generation of infection and immunity researchers in Canada to achieve the highest possible level of scientific excellence. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by early career researchers, CIHR-III is pleased to host the 8^th CIHR-III New Investigator Forum (NIF), an event dedicated to supporting and promoting the professional development of early career researchers and late-stage post-doctoral researchers or research associates whose research is relevant to CIHR-III’s mandate.

Welcome Message from Scientific Director, Dr. Charu Kaushic

Dear Participants,

On behalf of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity (III), I am very pleased to welcome you to the 8^th New Investigator Forum (NIF) 2022.

After unfortunate delays due to COVID-19, we are thrilled to bring back this popular forum where we offer senior trainees and new investigators working in the infection and immunity field, a unique opportunity to network with peers and connect with renowned senior scientists through informal interactions and scientific collaboration.

As part of our new Strategic Plan, CIHR-III is committed to supporting the next generation of infection and immunity researchers in Canada to achieve the highest possible level of scientific success. We have a thriving infection and immunity research community whose tireless efforts have led Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we must continue to build on our successes and foster a more connected, equitable, inclusive, and diverse next generation of leaders, well-equipped to solve the complex global issues and the emerging health challenges of the 21st century.

In collaboration with an outstanding NIF Planning Committee, which brought together senior III leaders and new investigators, we have designed a program that offers you an essential guide to skills you will need for success as you start your independent career. We hope you will take full advantage of the program through your participation and interactions to get the most benefit from this forum.

A heartfelt thanks to the planning committee and speakers who maintained their commitment through the last 2 years of COVID-19 related delays and came back last Fall to re-dedicate their energy to complete the meeting program. A big thanks to other III leaders and colleagues who agreed with short notice, to generously give their time to run the peer review panels, provide insightful talks and moderate discussions. And of course, none of this would be possible without my institute team, who made this workshop come to life, despite the overload of COVID-19 work they continue to carry. Finally, we are very grateful to our CIHR colleagues in Ottawa who provided us steady support through the whole process.

I look forward to a successful meeting and getting to meet each one of you. I hope you will enjoy the workshop, gain useful insights, and make some lifelong connections!

Sincerely,

Charu Kaushic, PhD
Scientific Director
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Institute of Infection and Immunity (III)
Welcome from the Co-Chairs Drs. Keith Fowke and Shelly Bolotin

Dear colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the 8^th New Investigator Forum of the CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity.

The Forum's success will be from fostering an environment that is open, collaborative, and respectful, be it by your participation in the different events or by your feedback that serves to improve these activities.

The pandemic has been a source of anxiety for many, including the global scientific community, particularly for new investigators. The organizing committee has consequently developed a program that will cover many topics including the various funding opportunities offered by CIHR; grantsmanship; the grant review process; equity, diversity and inclusivity; knowledge mobilization and some discussion on navigating the beginning of your career.

We encourage you to take advantage of this event to network with new investigator peers and to take the opportunity to discuss with the Forum's different speakers. They were selected for their expertise and are all eager to lend you a hand. Starting a career as an independent researcher can bring a lot of stress and often a sense of isolation, particularly during a pandemic. This Forum will allow you to interact with others, and hopefully establish connections that will serve you throughout your career.

We are confident this Forum will benefit you, just as it has for participants from past editions (at least that’s what the evaluations report back). Remember, the more you take an active part, the more you will benefit from this opportunity.

We look forward to meeting all of you.

Sincerely,

Keith Fowke, PhD
Head, Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
Professor, Departments of Medical Microbiology and Community Health Sciences,
University of Manitoba

And

Shelly Bolotin, PhD
Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases
University of Toronto

To promote the visibility and success of Canadian new investigators in the disciplines of infection and immunity by:

facilitating interaction, learning, collaboration, and networking among new investigators and between investigators and other participants; and
fostering mentoring, training, and knowledge sharing between investigators, senior academics, CIHR staff and other infection and immunity stakeholders within an interdisciplinary environment.

To foster the development of a range of skills required to establish and maintain a successful research career by:

discussing opportunities and strategies for addressing research career challenges;
familiarizing the new investigators with the Canadian funding landscape, including CIHR programs, peer-review, and alternative funding sources; and
optimizing the new investigators' ability to communicate and leverage the results of their work with various stakeholders including the media and the public.

All times in ET

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

12:00 – 12:10 pm	Welcome, Objectives and Goals of the Forum Dr. Charu Kaushic, McMaster University, Scientific Director, CIHR-III Dr. Keith Fowke, University of Manitoba, Co-Chair, NIF Dr. Shelly Bolotin, University of Toronto, Co-Chair, NIF Dr. Christian Baron, Vice-President Research – Programs, CIHR
12:10 – 1:40 pm	CIHR 101 Part 1: CIHR and III Overview Dr. Charu Kaushic, McMaster University, Scientific Director, CIHR-III Part 2: CIHR's Grant Programs Chaidwick Leneis, Manager, Program Design and Delivery (PDD), CIHR Part 3: CIHR Sex and Gender Based Analysis Requirements in Health Research Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan, Mount Saint Vincent University
1:40 – 2:50 pm	Breakout Group Session 1: The Elevator Pitch 8 groups of 7-8 participants
2:50 – 3:00 pm	*Stretch Break*
3:00 – 4:00 pm	Grantsmanship Dr. Rodney Russel, Memorial University (Pillars Biomedical & Clinical) Dr. Jennifer McGrath, Concordia University (Pillars health systems services and population health)

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

12:00 – 12:30 pm	Mock Peer Review Opening Remarks, Overview, and Introduction of Chairs Moderator: Dr. Shelly Bolotin, University of Toronto, Co-Chair, NIF John-Paul Michalski, College of Reviewers, CIHR Chaidwick Leneis, Program Design and Delivery, CIHR
12:30 – 3:30 pm	Mock Peer Review Panels: Breakout Groups Each Participant has been assigned to one of the panels below according to their preference: Virology and Viral Pathogenesis Panel (VVP): Chair, Dr. David Evans, University of Alberta Immunology and Transplantation Panel (IT): Chair, Dr. Tania Watts, University of Toronto Microbiology and Infectious Disease Panel (MID): Chair, Dr. Brian Coombes, McMaster University Health System (HS) and Population Health (PH) Research Panel: Chair, Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan, Mount Saint Vincent University
3:30 – 3:45 pm	*Stretch Break*
3:45 – 4:30 pm	Debrief and Panel Discussion Moderator: Dr. Keith Fowke, University of Manitoba, Co-Chair, NIF Dr. David Evans, University of Alberta Dr. Tania Watts, University of Toronto Dr. Brian Coombes, McMaster University Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan, Mount Saint Vincent University John-Paul Michalski, College of Reviewers, CIHR Chaidwick Leneis, Program Design and Delivery, CIHR
4:30 – 4:45 pm	*Stretch Break*
4:45 - 5:30 pm	Networking Event: Come join the Scientific Director of III, NIF co-chairs, organizing committee, speakers, and peers for an opportunity to network (optional)

Thursday, March 31, 2022

12:00 – 12:55 pm	Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Matters Dr. Ninan Abraham, University of British Columbia Dr. Charu Kaushic, McMaster University, Scientific Director, CIHR-III
12:55 – 1:10 pm	*Stretch Break*
1:10 – 2:05 pm	Career Development Dr. Rodney Russell, Memorial University Dr. Shelly Bolotin, University of Toronto, Co-Chair NIF
2:05 – 3:00 pm	Research Program Management Dr. Tania Watts, University of Toronto Dr. Darrell Tan, University of Toronto
3:00 – 3:15 pm	*Stretch Break*
3:15 – 3:45 pm	Knowledge Mobilization Dr. Sharon Straus, St. Michael's Hospital
3:45 – 4:30 pm	Breakout Group Session 2: Career Development Each participant has pre-selected their area of interest. All breakout groups will also include discussion on Work-Life Balance considerations. Navigating the Beginning of Your Career as a Principal Investigator The Clinician Scientist Experience Patient and Community Engagement
4:30 – 4:45 pm	So long, NIF 2022 Dr. Charu Kaushic, McMaster University, Scientific Director, CIHR-III Dr. Keith Fowke, University of Manitoba, Co-Chair, NIF

Dates

Tuesday March 29, 2022: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Wednesday March 30, 2022: 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET
- Networking Event: 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm ET
Thursday March 31, 2022: 12:00 pm – 4:45 pm ET

Location

Virtually through Zoom

How do I access the Forum?

The Institute of Infection and Immunity (III-IMII@cihr-irsc.gc.ca) sent an e-mail and calendar invite on Friday March 25th containing the Zoom link and passcode for each day of the Forum. Note that the access to this event will be restricted to registered participants only. We ask that you do not circulate the links. Only registered participants will be allowed into the meeting rooms.

We ask all participants to login 10 minutes before the Forum each day.

Zoom Account

Prior to the Forum it is recommended you update your Zoom desktop client and mobile app to the latest version available in order to receive the best video and audio experience. If you do not have a zoom account, please sign up for a Free/Basic account.

Support

For technical assistance, please email the Forum organizers. The Forum organizers contact can be found in the section below.

Social media links

NIF 2022 Twitter Community: #OurFutureOurIIINIF
Charu Kaushic Twitter: @CKaushic
Charu Kaushic LinkedIn
CIHR Webpage
CIHR Twitter: @CIHR_IRSC
CIHR LinkedIn

Forum Organizers

CIHR-III Email: III-IMII@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod: tiffany.pattison-macleod@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Eric Hewitson: eric.hewitson@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Suzete Dos Santos: Suzete.dossantos@hc-sc.gc.ca

Profile:
Name: Ninan Abraham Job Title: Professor, Assoc. Dean, Equity and Diversity Research Keywords: Cytokine receptors, airway immunity, T cells, lung cancer, Influenza/A Academic Institution: University of British Columbia Location of Institution: xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Traditional Territory, Vancouver, BC Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Our Team — The Abraham Lab at UBC Twitter: @ninan_abraham1 LinkedIn: Ninan Abraham Bio: Dr. Ninan Abraham is Associate Dean, Equity and Diversity in the UBC Faculty of Science and a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Zoology. His research focuses on the regulatory points in immune cell control with a specific interest in airway immunity to pathogens and lung cancer. The lab examines how two key cytokines, IL-7 and TSLP, shape T cell and innate lymphoid cell development and function in response to Influenza/A. We collaborate with lung cancer researchers using unbiased, multiparameter immunophenotyping to ascertain novel regulators in lung cancer patients. As Associate Dean, he has responsibility for equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, including training faculty search committees, faculty data analysis, reporting on EDI progress for the Faculty of Science, and liaising with the UBC EDI leaders. Dr. Abraham is also the Director of EDI and Indigeneity on the national network for COVID variant response, CoVaRR-Net. He has been interviewed by the Globe and Mail and advised CIHR, NSERC, and NRC policymakers on best practices.
Name: Brian Coombes Job Title: Professor & Chair Research Keywords: Host-pathogen interactions; infectious diseases; Crohn's disease; innate immunity Academic Institution: McMaster University, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Coombes, Brian Twitter: @BrianKCoombes LinkedIn: Brian Coombes Bio: Brian Coombes is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University. His lab works at the interface of microbiology and mucosal immunology to understand host-pathogen dynamics in the gut. He is the recipient of the Scientific Merit Award from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Fisher Scientific Award for Career Achievement, and the Boehringer Ingelheim Investigator Award in Biological Sciences. In 2010 he was inducted into Canada's Top 40 Under 40 and in 2016 he was named University Scholar, a title held by less than 2% of faculty at McMaster University. His research has been funded by industry, charitable foundations, and the public sector totaling over $46M from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Crohn's and Colitis Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada, and others. Dr. Coombes has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and conference papers and given 80 invited talks worldwide on his research related to IBD and host-pathogen interactions. The Coombes lab has trained 27 graduate students, 10 postdoctoral fellows, and over 50 undergraduate students.
Name: Charu Kaushic Job title: Scientific Director, CIHR-Institute of Infection and Immunity Research keywords: Mucosal Immunology, Female Genital Tract, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Sex Hormones, HIV, Vaccines Academic Institution: McMaster University Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Website: Institute of Infection and Immunity - CIHR Twitter: @CKaushic LinkedIn: Charu Kaushic Bio: Charu Kaushic, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III), serving in this role since July 1, 2018. Dr. Kaushic is also a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Medicine in McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. In her role as the Scientific Director for CIHR-III, Dr. Kaushic is responsible for making decisions for CIHR strategic investments in the area of infection and immunity, nationally and internationally. She also represents CIHR and Government of Canada at various national and international forums related to infectious diseases. In this capacity she serves as a Chair of GloPID-R, a global consortium of funders in pandemic preparedness and emergency response research. She also represents Canada on the JPIAMR Steering Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been closely involved in shaping CIHR's research response to the pandemic and is serving on Canada's COVID-19 National Immunity Task Force and Health Canada's Variants of Concern Leadership Group. Dr. Kaushic has a PhD in Immunology and did her postdoctoral training in mucosal immunology. Since her faculty appointment in McMaster in 2002, she has done extensive teaching and training in immunology and built an interdisciplinary research program in women's reproductive health, specifically basic, clinical and translational research examining susceptibility and immune responses to sexually transmitted viruses, HIV-1 and HSV-2. Prior to joining CIHR, Dr. Kaushic's research program was funded by CIHR, CFI, CANFAR and OHTN. She has received numerous national and international awards including being recently inducted into the Government of Canada's Women of Impact Online Gallery. Dr. Kaushic has special interest in public education, especially on women's reproductive health issues and has long term collaborations with women's community research organizations. In her current leadership role, her personal passion is to work with young women to encourage them to make careers in STEM fields and to increase the number of women and members from under-represented communities in leadership roles.
Name: David Evans Job Title: Professor Research Keywords: Poxviruses, genetic recombination, oncolytic viruses, poxvirus vectors Academic Institution: University of Alberta Location of Institution: Edmonton, AB Institution Website: University of Alberta Bio: Dr. David Evans is a virologist with diverse interests in poxvirus biology and a former research administrator. His work is supported by a network of collaborations and commercial contracts, and his academic studies have been funded by MRC/CIHR since 1990. Dr. Evans is considered an international leader in the study of poxviruses with expertise in virus recombination, antiviral drugs, and replication. Dr. Evans has also demonstrated a longstanding commitment to research translation. His recombineering technology is licensed as InFusion® kits. More recently, his research has focussed on developing oncolytic viruses for treating bladder cancer and methods for assembling synthetic poxviruses. Some of these technologies have been applied in a project to develop poxvirus-based COVID-19 vaccines. He has applied for, or holds, international patents relating to these and other technologies.
Name: Keith R. Fowke Job Title: Professor and Head, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research key words: HIV, immunology, immune quiescence, immune modulation, immune regulation Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB Institute Webpage: Keith Fowke \| Max Rady College of Medicine \| University of Manitoba Bio: Dr. Fowke received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1995) from the University of Manitoba (UM) and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland (1995–1999). In 1999 he was recruited to the UM's Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and is currently a full professor and the Head of the Department. He is also cross appointed with the Dept of Community Health Science (UM) and the University of Nairobi's Department of Medical Microbiology. Current studies include novel approaches to HIV prevention such as reducing inflammation at the genital tract, understanding how to block the negative effects of elevated immune checkpoints in HIV infection to restore the immune response to full capabilities, and determining the effect of solvent use on the immune system and implications on HIV susceptibility. Studies also include antibody responses to respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines against HIV and HPV.
Name: Jaqueline Gahagan Job Title: Associate Vice President, Research Research Keywords: Sex & gender-based analysis, HIV, testing Academic Institution: Mount Saint Vincent University Location of Institution: Halifax, NS Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Research at the Mount \| MSVU \| Halifax, NS Twitter: @jacquie_g LinkedIn: Jaqueline Gahagan Bio: I am a medical sociologist who is extremely passionate about addressing health inequities. As such, my health promotion research program focuses on improving pathways to health among marginalized populations. I am specifically interested in access to health services and health promotion interventions, including sexual health promotion interventions, LGBTQ health policy and programming access issues (gender and sex-based analyses of cancer prevention, detection, care, and treatment), HIV/Hep C/STI prevention (primary and secondary prevention among diverse populations), and access to STBBI testing interventions among vulnerable populations (at-risk youth, injection drug-using populations).
Name: Melanie Kotsopoulos Job Title: Lead Research Keywords: HIV; malaria; project management; capacity building; international development Academic Institution: Canadian Institutes of Health Research Location of Institution: Ottawa, ON LinkedIn: Melanie Kotsopoulos Bio: In her fifteen-plus years of professional experience, Melanie has managed projects and teams for various international organizations, including the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and the United Nations Development Program. She has led and managed public health programs in lower and middle-income countries from design to implementation to monitoring and evaluation. For example, she has designed, planned, directed, and coordinated activities of multiple and concurrent grants up to a total portfolio of US$204 million and secured US$355 million in new funding for malaria, TB, and HIV to the Malawi Ministry of Health. In addition to implementing HIV, TB, malaria, and sustainable health programs, her professional experience includes planning, designing, and delivering health research funding competitions and peer review processes for the strategic initiatives under CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity. Melanie's grant management experience includes organizational capacity, change management, design of performance-based financing programs, and strategic planning.
Name: Jennifer McGrath Job Title: Associate Professor, Psychology Research Keywords: Cardiovascular reactivity, metabolic functioning, cardiac structural changes Academic Institution: Concordia University Location of Institution: Montreal, QC Profile on Institution Website: Faculty Twitter: @DataScientifiq LinkedIn: Jennifer McGrath Bio: My predominant research interest focuses on pediatric cardiovascular behavioral medicine. I am particularly interested in the progression of cardiovascular disease risk factors along the developmental spectrum and community preventions efforts utilizing public-health perspectives. As part of my line of research, I am examining the pathogenesis of subclinical disease markers (cardiovascular reactivity, metabolic functioning, cardiac structural changes) across childhood and adolescence as mediated by potential behavioral (diet, exercise, lifestyle factors), environmental (stress exposure, social support, contextual effects), and psychological (coping style, cognitions, mood) mechanisms that influence these markers and possible confer susceptibility to developing cardiovascular disease.
Name: Arthur Mortha Job Title: Assistant-Professor Research Keywords: Host-Microbiota Interactions, Mucosal Immunology, Macrophages, B cells, Innate Lymphoid Cells Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Arthur Mortha \| Immunology Twitter: @theonlylabever LinkedIn: Arthur Mortha Bio: Our research program aims at understanding the fundamental mechanisms of host-microbiota interactions at mucosal surfaces of the gut and the lung. We are investigating the impact of commensal microbes on the biology and function of tissue-resident innate immune cells called innate lymphoid cells and macrophages that actively shape tissue and immune homeostasis of mucosal organs. Identifying microbiota-derived factors that tune the activity of these tissue-resident innate immune cells will be helpful to reinstate balance into diseased organs. Other translational projects investigate how the microbiota contributes to patient heterogeneity and disease severity during chronic inflammatory disease. Lastly, more recent research projects target the use of the microbiome in shaping and training the mucosal antibody response, which will impact the development of mucosal vaccines.
Name: Rodney Russell Job Title: Professor Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; community-based research; mixed methods; health services access; implementation research Academic Institution: Memorial University Location of Institution: St. John's, NL Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University Twitter: @RodRussell99 LinkedIn: Rodney Russell Bio: Dr. Rod Russell is a Professor of Molecular Virology and Viral Immunology within the Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador (MUNL). He holds cross-appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the School of Pharmacy. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Biochemistry and a master's degree in Medicine studying HIV under the supervision of Dr. Michael Grant at MUNL, and then did a PhD at McGill University with Drs. Mark Wainberg and Chen Liang in the field of HIV research. Dr. Russell carried out Postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (USA) where he switched his research focus to the hepatitis C virus under the supervision of Drs. Suzanne Emerson and Robert Purcell. In 2008, he returned to MUNL to initiate a research program that now covers fundamental virology, viral immunology and viral pathogenesis, as well as antiviral drug discovery and development. His team is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to study virus-induced cell death and inflammasome activation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to develop novel virus imaging techniques, and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force to study immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines. He is the Vice President of the Canadian Society for Virology and a member of the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C. Dr. Russell sits on Editorial Boards for Pathogens & Immunity, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, and Viruses, and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Viral Immunology.
Name: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze Job Title: Associate Professor Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, QC Research Keywords: Epidemiology, Transplantation, Translational Research, Precision Medicine, Immune-Mediated Injury Twitter: @sapir_ruth LinkedIn: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze Bio: Dr. Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, McGill University, and a Clinician Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She obtained her Bachelor of Science and MD from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. After completing a medical specialization in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Kidney Transplantation, she graduated from the Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program, receiving a Ph.D. in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on studying the determinants of kidney transplant outcomes. She is particularly interested in identifying strategies to prevent immune-mediated injuries following kidney transplantation. Methodologically, she has experience in observational studies using large registries and single-center databases, health services research, systematic reviews, decision analyses, epidemiologic methods for evaluating diagnostic test accuracy in the presence or absence of a gold standard, as well as for analytic methods capable of dealing with time-varying variables and competing risks.
Name: Sharon Straus Job Title: Physician-in-Chief, Department of Medicine and Director, Knowledge Translation Program Research Keywords: Systematic review, epidemiology, meta-analysis Academic Institution: St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Sharon Straus \| Knowledge Translation Program Bio: Sharon E. Straus is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist trained at the University of Toronto and Oxford. She is the Director of the Knowledge Translation Program and Physician-in-Chief, St. Michael's Hospital, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Translation and Quality of Care. She has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and 3 textbooks in evidence-based medicine, knowledge translation, and mentorship. Since 2015, she has consistently been in the top 1% of highly cited clinical researchers per Clavirate and has an H-index of 106. She holds more than $60 million in peer-reviewed research grants as a principal investigator. She has received national awards for mentorship, research, and education. She was inducted as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada in November 2021.
Name: Darrell Tan Job Title: Clinician-Scientist Research Keywords: HIV prevention, antiretroviral therapy, sexually transmitted infections, clinical trials, implementation science Academic Institution: St. Michael's Hospital Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Darrell Tan \| Research at St. Michael's Hospital Bio: Darrell H. S. Tan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is an infectious diseases physician and Clinician-Scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, where he leads the Options Collaboratory in HIV/STI Treatment and Prevention Science. His research focuses on clinical trials and implementation science in HIV prevention and treatment, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and COVID-19. Dr. Tan holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in HIV Prevention, and STIs is Co-Lead of the HIV Prevention Core of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network and is a member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society.
Name: Tania Watts Job Title: Professor of Immunology Research Keywords: T cells, TNFR superfamily, influenza, T cell memory, chronic viral infection Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Tania Watts \| Immunology Twitter: @Tania_WattsUofT Bio: Dr. Tania Watts received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, followed by postdoctoral studies in Chemistry at Stanford University, where she developed an interest in Immunology. Dr. Watts joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in Immunology in 1986 and rose through the ranks to Full professor in 1997. Dr. Watts has had a long-term interest in immunity to viruses, focusing on how T lymphocytes respond and are regulated during acute and chronic infections, including responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. For many years, Dr. Watts’ research focus has been on the regulation of T cell responses by TNFR superfamily members such as 4-1BB and GITR. We study TNFR signaling in T cells and cancers of the immune system. Dr. Watts is a former President of the Canadian Society for Immunology, Director of the Faculty of Medicine Flow Cytometry facility at the University of Toronto and was recently named a Distinguished fellow of the American Association of Immunologists, class of 2022. Her graduate mentorship was recognized by the 2019 JJ Berry-Smith award at the University of Toronto. Dr. Watts’ research is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the COVID Immunity Task Force and the Canadian Cancer Society.
Name: Catherine Worthington Job Title: Professor Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; community-based research; mixed methods; health services access; implementation research Academic Institution: University of Victoria School of Public Health and Social Policy Location of Institution: Victoria, BC Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Catherine Worthington - University of Victoria Twitter: @Uvic_PHSP LinkedIn: Catherine Worthington Bio: Catherine (Cathy) Worthington is Professor and Director in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria. She has conducted community-based research (CBR) in partnership with communities impacted by the HIV epidemic for over 20 years. Her current work in HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) focuses on STBBI services development with and for First Nation and Métis communities; social inclusion (housing, employment, stigma reduction, comorbidities/disability) for people living with HIV; and training, mentoring and innovations in HIV CBR. She is Nominated Principal Investigator and academic lead for the DRUM & SASH HIV/STBBI Implementation Science team grant, and is on the leadership teams for the GetCheckedOnline Implementation Science team grant, the CIHR Canadian Clinical HIV Trials Network (CTN), and is Co-Director of the CIHR CBR Collaborative, and BC co-lead for the CIHR REACH Centre. She is also on the Governing Council for the FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research
Name: John-Paul Michalski Job Title: Lead, Learning and Mentoring Academic Institution: Canadian Institutes of Health Research Location of Institution: Ottawa, ON Institution Website: Welcome to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - CIHR Bio: John-Paul is the Lead for the Learning and Mentoring team with CIHR’s College of Reviewers. Our team develops and maintains learning materials and modules for peer reviewers, as well as oversees the Reviewer Pathway, a suite of learning and capacity development programs aimed at supporting the development of peer review skills across career stages, expertise, and background. For example, I lead the delivery of the Reviewer in Training program, which provides Early Career Researchers with the opportunity to directly participate in the Project Grant competition review process with the support of a Mentor.
Name: Shelly Bolotin Job Title: Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases Research Keywords: Vaccines, serology, serosurveys, immunity, vaccine-preventable diseases Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Bolotin, Shelly - Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Dr. Shelly Bolotin \| Public Health Ontario Bio: Dr. Shelly Bolotin is an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and the Director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, at the University of Toronto. She is also a scientist at Public health Ontario. Shelly's research program utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate whether our population is adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Applying a public health lens, Shelly's studies combine epidemiological and microbiological methods to answer questions related to population immunity and vaccine effectiveness and determine our future risk for outbreaks or epidemics. Shelly received a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, an MSc and PhD in microbiology at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Profile:

Name: Ninan Abraham
Job Title: Professor, Assoc. Dean, Equity and Diversity
Research Keywords: Cytokine receptors, airway immunity, T cells, lung cancer, Influenza/A
Academic Institution: University of British Columbia
Location of Institution: xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Traditional Territory, Vancouver, BC
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Our Team — The Abraham Lab at UBC
Twitter: @ninan_abraham1
LinkedIn: Ninan Abraham

Bio:
Dr. Ninan Abraham is Associate Dean, Equity and Diversity in the UBC Faculty of Science and a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Zoology. His research focuses on the regulatory points in immune cell control with a specific interest in airway immunity to pathogens and lung cancer. The lab examines how two key cytokines, IL-7 and TSLP, shape T cell and innate lymphoid cell development and function in response to Influenza/A. We collaborate with lung cancer researchers using unbiased, multiparameter immunophenotyping to ascertain novel regulators in lung cancer patients. As Associate Dean, he has responsibility for equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, including training faculty search committees, faculty data analysis, reporting on EDI progress for the Faculty of Science, and liaising with the UBC EDI leaders. Dr. Abraham is also the Director of EDI and Indigeneity on the national network for COVID variant response, CoVaRR-Net. He has been interviewed by the Globe and Mail and advised CIHR, NSERC, and NRC policymakers on best practices.

Name: Brian Coombes
Job Title: Professor & Chair
Research Keywords: Host-pathogen interactions; infectious diseases; Crohn's disease; innate immunity
Academic Institution: McMaster University, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences
Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Coombes, Brian
Twitter: @BrianKCoombes
LinkedIn: Brian Coombes

Bio:
Brian Coombes is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University. His lab works at the interface of microbiology and mucosal immunology to understand host-pathogen dynamics in the gut. He is the recipient of the Scientific Merit Award from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Fisher Scientific Award for Career Achievement, and the Boehringer Ingelheim Investigator Award in Biological Sciences. In 2010 he was inducted into Canada's Top 40 Under 40 and in 2016 he was named University Scholar, a title held by less than 2% of faculty at McMaster University. His research has been funded by industry, charitable foundations, and the public sector totaling over $46M from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Crohn's and Colitis Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada, and others. Dr. Coombes has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and conference papers and given 80 invited talks worldwide on his research related to IBD and host-pathogen interactions. The Coombes lab has trained 27 graduate students, 10 postdoctoral fellows, and over 50 undergraduate students.

Name: Charu Kaushic
Job title: Scientific Director, CIHR-Institute of Infection and Immunity
Research keywords: Mucosal Immunology, Female Genital Tract, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Sex Hormones, HIV, Vaccines
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON
Website: Institute of Infection and Immunity - CIHR
Twitter: @CKaushic
LinkedIn: Charu Kaushic

Bio:
Charu Kaushic, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III), serving in this role since July 1, 2018. Dr. Kaushic is also a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Medicine in McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. In her role as the Scientific Director for CIHR-III, Dr. Kaushic is responsible for making decisions for CIHR strategic investments in the area of infection and immunity, nationally and internationally. She also represents CIHR and Government of Canada at various national and international forums related to infectious diseases. In this capacity she serves as a Chair of GloPID-R, a global consortium of funders in pandemic preparedness and emergency response research. She also represents Canada on the JPIAMR Steering Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been closely involved in shaping CIHR's research response to the pandemic and is serving on Canada's COVID-19 National Immunity Task Force and Health Canada's Variants of Concern Leadership Group.

Dr. Kaushic has a PhD in Immunology and did her postdoctoral training in mucosal immunology. Since her faculty appointment in McMaster in 2002, she has done extensive teaching and training in immunology and built an interdisciplinary research program in women's reproductive health, specifically basic, clinical and translational research examining susceptibility and immune responses to sexually transmitted viruses, HIV-1 and HSV-2. Prior to joining CIHR, Dr. Kaushic's research program was funded by CIHR, CFI, CANFAR and OHTN. She has received numerous national and international awards including being recently inducted into the Government of Canada's Women of Impact Online Gallery.

Dr. Kaushic has special interest in public education, especially on women's reproductive health issues and has long term collaborations with women's community research organizations. In her current leadership role, her personal passion is to work with young women to encourage them to make careers in STEM fields and to increase the number of women and members from under-represented communities in leadership roles.

Name: David Evans
Job Title: Professor
Research Keywords: Poxviruses, genetic recombination, oncolytic viruses, poxvirus vectors
Academic Institution: University of Alberta
Location of Institution: Edmonton, AB
Institution Website: University of Alberta

Bio:
Dr. David Evans is a virologist with diverse interests in poxvirus biology and a former research administrator. His work is supported by a network of collaborations and commercial contracts, and his academic studies have been funded by MRC/CIHR since 1990. Dr. Evans is considered an international leader in the study of poxviruses with expertise in virus recombination, antiviral drugs, and replication. Dr. Evans has also demonstrated a longstanding commitment to research translation. His recombineering technology is licensed as InFusion® kits. More recently, his research has focussed on developing oncolytic viruses for treating bladder cancer and methods for assembling synthetic poxviruses. Some of these technologies have been applied in a project to develop poxvirus-based COVID-19 vaccines. He has applied for, or holds, international patents relating to these and other technologies.

Name: Keith R. Fowke
Job Title: Professor and Head, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Research key words: HIV, immunology, immune quiescence, immune modulation, immune regulation
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB
Institute Webpage: Keith Fowke | Max Rady College of Medicine | University of Manitoba

Bio:
Dr. Fowke received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1995) from the University of Manitoba (UM) and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland (1995–1999). In 1999 he was recruited to the UM's Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and is currently a full professor and the Head of the Department. He is also cross appointed with the Dept of Community Health Science (UM) and the University of Nairobi's Department of Medical Microbiology. Current studies include novel approaches to HIV prevention such as reducing inflammation at the genital tract, understanding how to block the negative effects of elevated immune checkpoints in HIV infection to restore the immune response to full capabilities, and determining the effect of solvent use on the immune system and implications on HIV susceptibility. Studies also include antibody responses to respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines against HIV and HPV.

Name: Jaqueline Gahagan
Job Title: Associate Vice President, Research
Research Keywords: Sex & gender-based analysis, HIV, testing
Academic Institution: Mount Saint Vincent University
Location of Institution: Halifax, NS
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Research at the Mount | MSVU | Halifax, NS
Twitter: @jacquie_g
LinkedIn: Jaqueline Gahagan

Bio:
I am a medical sociologist who is extremely passionate about addressing health inequities. As such, my health promotion research program focuses on improving pathways to health among marginalized populations. I am specifically interested in access to health services and health promotion interventions, including sexual health promotion interventions, LGBTQ health policy and programming access issues (gender and sex-based analyses of cancer prevention, detection, care, and treatment), HIV/Hep C/STI prevention (primary and secondary prevention among diverse populations), and access to STBBI testing interventions among vulnerable populations (at-risk youth, injection drug-using populations).

Name: Melanie Kotsopoulos
Job Title: Lead
Research Keywords: HIV; malaria; project management; capacity building; international development
Academic Institution: Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Location of Institution: Ottawa, ON
LinkedIn: Melanie Kotsopoulos

Bio:
In her fifteen-plus years of professional experience, Melanie has managed projects and teams for various international organizations, including the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and the United Nations Development Program. She has led and managed public health programs in lower and middle-income countries from design to implementation to monitoring and evaluation. For example, she has designed, planned, directed, and coordinated activities of multiple and concurrent grants up to a total portfolio of US$204 million and secured US$355 million in new funding for malaria, TB, and HIV to the Malawi Ministry of Health. In addition to implementing HIV, TB, malaria, and sustainable health programs, her professional experience includes planning, designing, and delivering health research funding competitions and peer review processes for the strategic initiatives under CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity. Melanie's grant management experience includes organizational capacity, change management, design of performance-based financing programs, and strategic planning.

Name: Jennifer McGrath
Job Title: Associate Professor, Psychology
Research Keywords: Cardiovascular reactivity, metabolic functioning, cardiac structural changes
Academic Institution: Concordia University
Location of Institution: Montreal, QC
Profile on Institution Website: Faculty
Twitter: @DataScientifiq
LinkedIn: Jennifer McGrath

Bio:
My predominant research interest focuses on pediatric cardiovascular behavioral medicine. I am particularly interested in the progression of cardiovascular disease risk factors along the developmental spectrum and community preventions efforts utilizing public-health perspectives. As part of my line of research, I am examining the pathogenesis of subclinical disease markers (cardiovascular reactivity, metabolic functioning, cardiac structural changes) across childhood and adolescence as mediated by potential behavioral (diet, exercise, lifestyle factors), environmental (stress exposure, social support, contextual effects), and psychological (coping style, cognitions, mood) mechanisms that influence these markers and possible confer susceptibility to developing cardiovascular disease.

Name: Arthur Mortha
Job Title: Assistant-Professor
Research Keywords: Host-Microbiota Interactions, Mucosal Immunology, Macrophages, B cells, Innate Lymphoid Cells
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Arthur Mortha | Immunology
Twitter: @theonlylabever
LinkedIn: Arthur Mortha

Bio:
Our research program aims at understanding the fundamental mechanisms of host-microbiota interactions at mucosal surfaces of the gut and the lung. We are investigating the impact of commensal microbes on the biology and function of tissue-resident innate immune cells called innate lymphoid cells and macrophages that actively shape tissue and immune homeostasis of mucosal organs. Identifying microbiota-derived factors that tune the activity of these tissue-resident innate immune cells will be helpful to reinstate balance into diseased organs. Other translational projects investigate how the microbiota contributes to patient heterogeneity and disease severity during chronic inflammatory disease. Lastly, more recent research projects target the use of the microbiome in shaping and training the mucosal antibody response, which will impact the development of mucosal vaccines.

Name: Rodney Russell
Job Title: Professor
Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; community-based research; mixed methods; health services access; implementation research
Academic Institution: Memorial University
Location of Institution: St. John's, NL
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University
Twitter: @RodRussell99
LinkedIn: Rodney Russell

Bio:
Dr. Rod Russell is a Professor of Molecular Virology and Viral Immunology within the Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador (MUNL). He holds cross-appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the School of Pharmacy. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Biochemistry and a master's degree in Medicine studying HIV under the supervision of Dr. Michael Grant at MUNL, and then did a PhD at McGill University with Drs. Mark Wainberg and Chen Liang in the field of HIV research. Dr. Russell carried out Postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (USA) where he switched his research focus to the hepatitis C virus under the supervision of Drs. Suzanne Emerson and Robert Purcell. In 2008, he returned to MUNL to initiate a research program that now covers fundamental virology, viral immunology and viral pathogenesis, as well as antiviral drug discovery and development. His team is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to study virus-induced cell death and inflammasome activation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to develop novel virus imaging techniques, and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force to study immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines. He is the Vice President of the Canadian Society for Virology and a member of the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C. Dr. Russell sits on Editorial Boards for Pathogens & Immunity, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, and Viruses, and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Viral Immunology.

Name: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze
Job Title: Associate Professor
Academic Institution: McGill University
Location of Institution: Montreal, QC
Research Keywords: Epidemiology, Transplantation, Translational Research, Precision Medicine, Immune-Mediated Injury
Twitter: @sapir_ruth
LinkedIn: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze

Bio:
Dr. Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, McGill University, and a Clinician Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She obtained her Bachelor of Science and MD from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. After completing a medical specialization in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Kidney Transplantation, she graduated from the Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program, receiving a Ph.D. in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on studying the determinants of kidney transplant outcomes. She is particularly interested in identifying strategies to prevent immune-mediated injuries following kidney transplantation. Methodologically, she has experience in observational studies using large registries and single-center databases, health services research, systematic reviews, decision analyses, epidemiologic methods for evaluating diagnostic test accuracy in the presence or absence of a gold standard, as well as for analytic methods capable of dealing with time-varying variables and competing risks.

Name: Sharon Straus
Job Title: Physician-in-Chief, Department of Medicine and Director, Knowledge Translation Program
Research Keywords: Systematic review, epidemiology, meta-analysis
Academic Institution: St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Sharon Straus | Knowledge Translation Program

Bio:
Sharon E. Straus is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist trained at the University of Toronto and Oxford. She is the Director of the Knowledge Translation Program and Physician-in-Chief, St. Michael's Hospital, and Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Translation and Quality of Care. She has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and 3 textbooks in evidence-based medicine, knowledge translation, and mentorship. Since 2015, she has consistently been in the top 1% of highly cited clinical researchers per Clavirate and has an H-index of 106. She holds more than $60 million in peer-reviewed research grants as a principal investigator. She has received national awards for mentorship, research, and education. She was inducted as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada in November 2021.

Name: Darrell Tan
Job Title: Clinician-Scientist
Research Keywords: HIV prevention, antiretroviral therapy, sexually transmitted infections, clinical trials, implementation science
Academic Institution: St. Michael's Hospital
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Darrell Tan | Research at St. Michael's Hospital

Bio:
Darrell H. S. Tan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is an infectious diseases physician and Clinician-Scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, where he leads the Options Collaboratory in HIV/STI Treatment and Prevention Science. His research focuses on clinical trials and implementation science in HIV prevention and treatment, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and COVID-19. Dr. Tan holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in HIV Prevention, and STIs is Co-Lead of the HIV Prevention Core of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network and is a member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society.

Name: Tania Watts
Job Title: Professor of Immunology
Research Keywords: T cells, TNFR superfamily, influenza, T cell memory, chronic viral infection
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Tania Watts | Immunology
Twitter: @Tania_WattsUofT

Bio:
Dr. Tania Watts received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, followed by postdoctoral studies in Chemistry at Stanford University, where she developed an interest in Immunology. Dr. Watts joined the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in Immunology in 1986 and rose through the ranks to Full professor in 1997. Dr. Watts has had a long-term interest in immunity to viruses, focusing on how T lymphocytes respond and are regulated during acute and chronic infections, including responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. For many years, Dr. Watts’ research focus has been on the regulation of T cell responses by TNFR superfamily members such as 4-1BB and GITR. We study TNFR signaling in T cells and cancers of the immune system. Dr. Watts is a former President of the Canadian Society for Immunology, Director of the Faculty of Medicine Flow Cytometry facility at the University of Toronto and was recently named a Distinguished fellow of the American Association of Immunologists, class of 2022. Her graduate mentorship was recognized by the 2019 JJ Berry-Smith award at the University of Toronto. Dr. Watts’ research is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the COVID Immunity Task Force and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Name: Catherine Worthington
Job Title: Professor
Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; community-based research; mixed methods; health services access; implementation research
Academic Institution: University of Victoria School of Public Health and Social Policy
Location of Institution: Victoria, BC
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Catherine Worthington - University of Victoria
Twitter: @Uvic_PHSP
LinkedIn: Catherine Worthington

Bio:
Catherine (Cathy) Worthington is Professor and Director in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria. She has conducted community-based research (CBR) in partnership with communities impacted by the HIV epidemic for over 20 years. Her current work in HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) focuses on STBBI services development with and for First Nation and Métis communities; social inclusion (housing, employment, stigma reduction, comorbidities/disability) for people living with HIV; and training, mentoring and innovations in HIV CBR. She is Nominated Principal Investigator and academic lead for the DRUM & SASH HIV/STBBI Implementation Science team grant, and is on the leadership teams for the GetCheckedOnline Implementation Science team grant, the CIHR Canadian Clinical HIV Trials Network (CTN), and is Co-Director of the CIHR CBR Collaborative, and BC co-lead for the CIHR REACH Centre. She is also on the Governing Council for the FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research

Name: John-Paul Michalski
Job Title: Lead, Learning and Mentoring
Academic Institution: Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Location of Institution: Ottawa, ON
Institution Website: Welcome to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - CIHR

Bio:
John-Paul is the Lead for the Learning and Mentoring team with CIHR’s College of Reviewers. Our team develops and maintains learning materials and modules for peer reviewers, as well as oversees the Reviewer Pathway, a suite of learning and capacity development programs aimed at supporting the development of peer review skills across career stages, expertise, and background. For example, I lead the delivery of the Reviewer in Training program, which provides Early Career Researchers with the opportunity to directly participate in the Project Grant competition review process with the support of a Mentor.

Name: Shelly Bolotin
Job Title: Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Research Keywords: Vaccines, serology, serosurveys, immunity, vaccine-preventable diseases
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Bolotin, Shelly - Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Dr. Shelly Bolotin | Public Health Ontario

Shelly's research program utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate whether our population is adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Applying a public health lens, Shelly's studies combine epidemiological and microbiological methods to answer questions related to population immunity and vaccine effectiveness and determine our future risk for outbreaks or epidemics.

Shelly received a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, an MSc and PhD in microbiology at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Profile:
Name: Nicole Alberts Job Title: Associate Professor Research Keywords: Pediatric cancer, Behavioural health intervention, Digital health, Chronic pain Academic Institution: Concordia University Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Faculty - Nicole M. Alberts Twitter: @NAlbertsPhD LinkedIn: Nicole Alberts About You and Your Research: Dr. Nicole Alberts completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Regina followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington. In 2016, she joined St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, U.S.) as an Assistant Member and Attending Psychologist. She joined the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in Montreal in August 2020 and is an Associate Professor in Psychology. She also holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Behavioural Health Intervention. The overarching goal of her research program is to improve behavioural health and psychological outcomes among individuals across the lifespan – with a focus on those diagnosed with childhood cancer. She also uses digital health approaches to develop and test interventions targeting pain and psychological outcomes. As a clinical health psychologist, Dr. Alberts has broad clinical experience spanning clinical health psychology and rehabilitation psychology in pediatric and adult populations.
Name: Arinjay Banerjee Job title: Research Scientist and Principal Investigator Research keywords: Coronavirus, Emerging viruses, Bats, Humans, Immunity Academic Institution: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Website: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization Twitter: @sci_questions LinkedIn: Arinjay Banerjee About You and Your Research: Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD) completed his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in 2018. His doctoral thesis was awarded the University's Best Life Sciences thesis award and the Governor General's Gold medal. Dr. Banerjee completed his postdoctoral training as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) fellow at McMaster University (2018-2021), during which he was also appointed as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Toronto to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. His research group at VIDO investigates emerging bat-borne zoonotic viruses, such as coronaviruses, along with deciphering the immunological consequences of infection in reservoir species (e.g., bats) and spill over mammalian species (humans and agricultural animals). Research Interests: Virus-host interactions in reservoir and spill over species Mechanisms of virus persistence Discovering and harnessing novel antiviral responses Next generation pan-viral vaccines
Name: Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault Job title: Researcher Research keywords: Oncolytic virus, Cancer vaccine, Breast cancer Academic Institution: CHUM Research Centre and University of Montreal Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec About You and Your Research: I am an early career investigator at the CRCHUM in Montreal since 2018. Our lab investigates various aspects of oncolytic virotherapy and develop cancer vaccines using these viruses at platforms.
Name: Sarah Buchan Job title: Scientist Research keywords: Epidemiology, Immunization, Infectious disease Academic Institution: Public Health Ontario; University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Website: Welcome \| Public Health Ontario About You and Your Research: Sarah Buchan is a Scientist at Public Health Ontario (PHO) in Health Protection where she conducts applied public health research related to the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable and other infectious diseases. Her interests include studying the burden of vaccine preventable diseases, assessing vaccine effectiveness, and estimating vaccine coverage. Sarah holds a PhD in Epidemiology and is an Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, as well as an Adjunct Scientist at ICES. Prior to the pandemic, Sarah was focussing on estimating the burden of RSV in high-risk populations using linked laboratory and health administrative data. Since supporting PHO's COVID-19 Incident Management System from early 2020, she has contributed to analyses related to COVID-19 burden, transmission, variants of concern, and immunization.
Name: Che Colpitts Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Virus-host interactions, RNA viruses, Antivirals, Cellular antiviral defence Academic Institution: Queen's University Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario Website: Colpitts \| Biomedical and Molecular Sciences \| School of Medicine Twitter: @colpittsc LinkedIn: Che Colpitts About You and Your Research: Dr. Colpitts completed a PhD at the University of Alberta, followed by postdoctoral training at the Université de Strasbourg (France) and University College London (UK), focusing on hepatitis C virus. Since starting at Queen's University in August 2019, the Colpitts lab studies virus-host interactions of positive-sense RNA viruses (hepatitis C virus, dengue virus and coronaviruses). One research theme focuses on the roles of glycans in coronavirus entry and pathogenesis. Another research theme aims to determine the roles of cellular cyclophilins in the replication of positive-sense RNA viruses, focusing on the roles of cyclophilins in viral evasion and antagonism of cellular antiviral responses. Finally, we are characterizing how cells sense and respond to virus-induced rearrangement of intracellular membranes during positive-sense RNA virus replication. Overall, we aim to identify antiviral strategies that are broadly active against emerging and currently untreatable positive-sense RNA viruses.
Name: Jean-Phillippe Côté Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Gram-negative bacteria, Bacterial physiology, Outer membrane, Antibiotic resistance, Antibiotic drug discovery Academic Institution: Université de Sherbrooke Location of Institution: Sherbrooke, Quebec Website: Jean-Philippe Côté - Département de biologie - Université de Sherbrooke [in French only] Twitter: @jpcotelab About You and Your Research: My training started at the Université de Sherbrooke studying biochemistry. I then began my graduate studies in molecular microbiology at the Université de Montréal under the supervision of Dr. Michael Mourez. After my PhD, I joined the group of Dr Eric Brown at McMaster University as a postdoctoral fellow to learn about systems biology and antibiotic drug discovery. I am now back at Université de Sherbrooke since Fall 2019 as an Assistant Professor. The overall objective of my research program is to define novel targets for the development of new antibiotics in conditions mimicking the environment encountered by pathogens within a host. Among other things, bacterial pathogens encounter and interact with several other microbes within a host. My group uses state-of-the-art global and systematic approaches to define and characterize pathways that are important during interbacterial interactions.
Name: Locke Davenport Huyer Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Biomaterials, Implant fibrosis, Chronic inflammation Academic Institution: Dalhousie University Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia Website: Locke Davenport Huyer - School of Biomedical Engineering - Dalhousie University Twitter: @lockedavhuy LinkedIn: Locke Davenport Huyer About You and Your Research: Dr. Locke Davenport Huyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Oral Sciences, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and the School of Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie University. He obtained a B.Eng. from Queen's University in 2014, and a PhD in from the University of Toronto in 2019, both in Chemical Engineering. He completed postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine focused on characterization of implant associated inflammation. His research focuses on the interface of biomaterials with host immunity, with focus on understanding the drivers to dysregulated inflammation that cause implant fibrosis. This research holds a translation focus on harnessing the tools of inherent immunoregulatory mechanisms to design new materials that are instructive of inflammation.
Name: Georgia Dewart Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Maternal heath, STBBIs, Nursing, Community, Equity Academic Institution: Athabasca University Location of Institution: Athabasca, Alberta About You and Your Research: Dr. Georgia Dewart is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University. As a registered nurse, she has clinical experience working in labour and delivery and STBBI clinic services within Alberta. As a registered nurse, she witnessed the challenges many patients, especially those within marginalized communities, have navigating the health care system. This realization prompted her to return to graduate studies and her doctoral research centred on the experiences of mothers who disclosed substance use during pregnancy and early postpartum. More recently, her research has focused on health equity, nursing practice, nursing education and women's health.
Name: Francesca Di Cara Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Innate immunity, Immunometabolism, Lipids, Peroxisomes, NF-kB Academic Institution: Dalhousie University Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia Website: Dalhousie University - Nova Scotia, Canada Twitter: @DicaraLab LinkedIn: Francesca Di Cara About You and Your Research: My research is focused on immune metabolism. We aim to define mechanisms by which lipids and redox metabolism control the innate immune response. Specifically, we are interested in defining the role of peroxisomes, pivotal metabolic organelles present virtually in every eukaryotic cell, in modulating immune responses to microbial challenge, and how microbial pathogens manipulate these organelles for their own nefarious purposes. Our interest in metabolic pathways in immune responses and host-pathogen interactions has its foundation on growing evidence that a large number of human immune deficiency and inflammatory diseases have at their source defects in metabolic signaling. In the past five years, I provided the first demonstration of peroxisome (ubiquitous metabolic organelles essential for organism health) direct involvement in immune defense, host-pathogen interaction and tissue homeostasis. Our research relies on the use of Drosophila melanogaster, a genetically amenable model system with few genetic redundancies and a vast arsenal of genetic tools that facilitate the elucidation of a previously unexplored functional role of peroxisomes in cellular and systemic immune responses. Peroxisome functions are highly conserved between fly and mammals and Drosophila is a long-established model system to study the innate immune system as many of the innate immune pathways were first identified and characterized in Drosophila and then found to function analogously in humans. My team validate the results gathered from the Drosophila system in mouse and humans with the intention to understand the importance of peroxisomes in the development of immune disorders. We master genetics, cutting-edge cell biology approaches, metabolomics and live imaging techniques to define peroxisome-dependent immune metabolic signaling. In our last work we identified distinct lipids necessary to mount immune response in macrophages that exclusively rely on peroxisomes. Using lipidomics and lipid reporter tracking in live-imaging approaches, we dissected how some of the identified lipids control macrophages response to infection in fly and mouse models and identified in peroxisome-lipid milieu markers of inflammations in immune disorders.
Name: Landon Edgar Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Glycobiology, Chemical Biology, Synthetic Chemistry, Immunology, Flow Cytometry Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Website: Edgar Lab \| University of Toronto Twitter: @LandonJEdgar LinkedIn: Landon Edgar About You and Your Research: Landon is a chemical immunologist with expertise in high-dimensionality single cell analysis technologies. As a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, Landon joined an interdisciplinary team that developed a series of chemical probes that enabled visualization of how cancer cells 'breathe' within a solid tumour. Following graduate school, Landon engaged in postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute in California. Here, he used technologies from a range of disciplines to probe the mechanisms through which immune cells communicate via complex surface-tethered carbohydrates (glycans). Now as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto, Landon is leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers to better understand the fundamental roles of immune cell glycans in health and disease. Ultimately, the research group aims to develop glycan engineering technologies for programming synthetic immune responses as a next generation strategy for immunotherapeutic discovery and design.
Name: Omar El-Halfawy Job title: Assistant Professor in Biochemistry Research keywords: Microbiology, Antibiotic resistance, Microbial virulence, Antibiotic discovery, Interbacterial interactions Academic Institution: University of Regina Location of Institution: Regina, Saskatchewan Website: El-Halfawy Lab Twitter: @OmarHalfawy LinkedIn: Omar El-Halfawy About You and Your Research: Omar El-Halfawy is a Canada Research Chair in Chemogenomics and Antimicrobial Research and Assistant Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Regina. His research group is actively working towards solutions for the current antibiotic crisis; his team employs an interdisciplinary approach encompassing microbiology, biochemistry, molecular and chemical biology, and chemogenomics to uncover novel antibiotic resistance and microbial virulence mechanisms and discover new antimicrobial strategies. El-Halfawy received his B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Microbiology from Alexandria University, Egypt. He completed his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Dr. Miguel Valvano's lab at the University of Western Ontario, focusing on mechanisms of intrinsic antibiotic resistance mediated by metabolites and other bacterial small molecules. El-Halfawy completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Dr. Eric Brown's lab at Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University, where he explored novel solutions to target multi-drug resistant bacteria.
Name: Amit Gaba Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow Research keywords: HIV, Virus-host interaction, Viral pathogenesis, Viral Vectors, Vaccines Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Twitter: @optimist1023 LinkedIn: Amit Gaba About You and Your Research: I am currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. I received my DVM degree from Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU), in India. I then completed my M.Sc. in veterinary microbiology at Anand Agricultural University, India. Afterwards, I worked for 5 years at Hester Biosciences Limited, a vaccine manufacturing company in India. In 2011 I joined the Ph.D. program at Department of Veterinary Microbiology at University of Saskatchewan where I studied Adenovirus. After my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at VIDO-Intervac and studied Influenza A virus for 2 years. During this period, I also worked in CL3 facility at VIDO-Intervac. Currently I am working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Chelico lab and study the role APOBEC3 enzymes in restriction of HIV-1. My research interests and expertise include studying Virus-host interactions, viral pathogenesis, viral vector development and vaccine development.
Name: Jennifer Geddes-McAlister Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Quantitative proteomics, Systems biology, Fungal pathogens, Host-pathogen interactions Academic Institution: University of Guelph Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario Website: Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister \| Molecular and Cellular Biology Twitter: @jgmproteomics LinkedIn: Jennifer Geddes-McAlister About You and Your Research: Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister is Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph since July 2018. She is an expert in mass spectrometry-based proteomics and her research program defines the relationship between a host and pathogen to uncover new strategies for preventing infection and overcoming resistance in both medically- and agriculturally relevant diseases. Since beginning her independent position, she has published over 40 papers, raised over $5 M in funding through grants, awards, and industry partnerships, and currently, manages a group of over 30 trainees. Dr. Geddes-McAlister is the elected Vice President, Communications, and elected Board member for the Canadian National Proteomics Network (CNPN), co-Founder of the Canadian Proteomics and Artificial Intelligence Research and Training Consortium, and the elected Western Hemisphere Diversity Candidate for the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO). She recently founded 'Moms in Proteomics', developed the CNPN Unity initiative, and is co-creator of Humans of HUPO. She was recently awarded a Banting Foundation Research Award for her novel approach to combatting fungal pathogens.
Name: Simon Grandjean Lapierre Job title: Clinician Scientist Research keywords: Molecular epidemiology, Acoustic epidemiology, Innovation and technologies, Tuberculosis Academic Institution: Université de Montréal Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Grandjean Lapierre, Simon Twitter: @SimonGLapierre LinkedIn: Simon Grandjean Lapierre About You and Your Research: I'm an infectious disease specialist and clinical scientist. I lead a translational research program focused on Tuberculosis control in Canada and abroad, notably in Madagascar. My research activities principally focus the impact assessment of new innovative technologies and molecular diagnostic tools on Tuberculosis control. This includes Molecular diagnostics (Molecular epidemiology and transmission, Molecular diagnostics from primary clinical samples) and Innovative technologies (Digital cough monitoring and artificial intelligence for screening and clinical management of respiratory diseases).
Name: Ingrid Handlovsky Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Health equity, Discrimination, Critical theory, Grounded theory, Gender Academic Institution: University of Victoria Location of Institution: Victoria, British Columbia Website: Nursing - University of Victoria LinkedIn: Ingrid Handlovsky About You and Your Research: My research focus, broadly speaking, is health equity and examination of how our social environments (inclusive to interpersonal, historical, and political dynamics) influence health practices, experiences, and ultimately, outcomes. My research is informed by social justice and critical perspectives to draw attention to the structural conditions that subject individuals, groups, and populations to disadvantage and subsequently, poor health outcomes. My dissertation focused specifically on enhancing equity with gender and sexual identity and my most recent project is an examination of how the sociohistorical context of HIV has influenced older, self-identifying gay men's constructions of quality of life (QOL) and health perspectives.
Name: Genelle Healey Job title: Postdoctoral fellow Research keywords: Diet, Fibre, Microbiome, Inflammatory bowel disease, Mucin Academic Institution: University of British Columbia Location of Institution: Vancouver, British Columbia Twitter: @genellehealey LinkedIn: Genelle Healey About You and Your Research: Dr Genelle Healey undertook her PhD in Nutritional Science at Massey University in New Zealand where she determined what influence habitual dietary fibre intake has on gut microbiota response to a prebiotic (fibre) intervention. Prior to commencing her PhD, Genelle worked as a Dietitian caring for patients with various gastrointestinal diseases. In 2017, Genelle moved to Vancouver to start a postdoctoral fellowship with Drs Bruce Vallance and Kevan Jacobson at the University of British Columbia. The focus of her research is to better understand the impact nutrition, particularly fibre, has on the gut microbiome and disease outcomes for patients with IBD. Genelle's future research aspirations include investigating the effect diet has in modulating the mycobiome (fungi) and virome (viruses), as most research only focuses on bacterial changes. She also plans to undertake future research to better understand the factors involved in inter-individual responses to dietary interventions and immunotherapy.
Name: Sabrina Hoa Job title: Rheumatologist Research keywords: Systemic sclerosis, Interstitial lung disease, Observational studies, Treatment, Prevention Academic Institution: University of Montreal Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Hoa, Sabrina About You and Your Research: I am a rheumatologist and clinical researcher at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal. As part of my training, I completed a Masters in Epidemiology at McGill University and a post-doctoral fellowship in systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and interstitial lung disease. The ultimate goal of my research program is to develop better risk stratification and treatment strategies early in the disease process in order to decrease the morbidity and mortality burden of pulmonary fibrosis and other internal organ complications for patients with scleroderma. I am a member of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group, which is a network of scleroderma experts who are contributing to a nationwide observational cohort of scleroderma patients.
Name: Carolyn Jack Job title: Assistant Professor, Lead in Quality and Innovation, Divisions of Dermatology, Medicine, McGill University Hospital Center; Junior Scientist, Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, RI-MUHC Research keywords: Auto-Immune Diseases, Bacteria, Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases, Immune Mediators: Cytokines and Chemokines, Skin Disorders Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Dr. Carolyn Jack \| Division of Experimental Medicine - McGill LinkedIn: Carolyn Jack About You and Your Research: I'm a dermatologist and PhD-trained Immunologist with expertise in molecular biology, cellular immunology, immunophenotyping of primary human cells and tissues, in vitro human pre-clinical modeling of disease, and skin biospecimen-enabled clinical trials. My clinical work and research are focused on adult atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common and most burdensome skin disorder worldwide, affecting 5-10% of adults in developed countries. My research goal is to identify disease-modifying interventions in chronic AD. I established and operate the first Canadian disease-specific human skin and blood immunophenotyping lab (RI-MUHC), with a research program and immunophenotyping platform for investigating in situ and ex vivo mechanisms of chronic inflammation with adult AD patient skin, swabs, and blood. Patients are recruited from my specialized clinic, the MUHC Center of Excellence for Atopic Dermatitis, the first tertiary care centre in Canada dedicated to adult AD. Clinical research with biospecimens is performed on-site and processed in my lab.
Name: Raynell Lang Job title: Clinical Lecturer and Post-doctoral fellow Research keywords: HIV, Epidemiology, Infectious disease, COVID-19 Academic Institution: University of Calgary Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta Twitter: @raynelllang26 About You and Your Research: I am an Infectious Disease physician that recently finished my residency training in 2020 and have been completing a post-doctoral fellowship in HIV epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University over the past 2 years. It is my goal to become an Infectious Disease clinician-scientist, conducting infectious disease epidemiologic research with a specialized focus in HIV research and care. My research interest is evaluating risk factors and outcomes associated with coinfections and comorbidities in persons with infectious diseases including people with HIV. I aim to integrate laboratory-based, patient-orientated, and population-based research to facilitate a greater understanding of infectious disease processes, leading to improvements in the care and outcomes of patients.
Name: Amy Lee Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Neonatal sepsis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Antimicrobial resistance, Multi-omics integration, Comparative genomics Academic Institution: Simon Fraser University Location of Institution: Burnaby, British Columbia Website: Lee Lab - Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry - Simon Fraser University Twitter: @minisciencegirl LinkedIn: Amy Lee About You and Your Research: Human newborns are highly vulnerable to infections with ~7,000 newborn deaths occurring every day, and this death toll is further compounded by the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One particularly important AMR pathogen that causes neonatal sepsis in low and middle-income countries is Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is found ubiquitously in the environment, including in water, soil, plants, insects, aquatic and agricultural animals, and humans. The overarching goal of my research program is to identify the mechanisms by which the AMR pathogen K. pneumoniae cause disease in neonates and the resulting neonatal host immune responses upon infection. We use comparative bacterial genomics, transcriptomics, phenomics (e.g. growth in different conditions) and microbial genome-wide association analyses to provide mechanistic insights into interactions between AMR pathogens and the host by: (1) determining how AMR pathogens maintain and disseminate AMR genes in diverse environments and conditions, (2) characterizing molecular dynamics of host-AMR pathogen interactions, and (3) defining host immune responses during infection, focusing on the critical area of neonatal sepsis. Our integrated bioinformatic and experimental approaches have successfully identified a number of previously uncharacterized genes and showed that they are involved in either virulence or AMR in pathogens.
Name: Ashish Marwaha Job title: Physician, Assistant Professor Research keywords: Immunology, Rare disease, Genetics, Autoimmunity, Autoinflammation Academic Institution: University of Calgary Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta Website: Ashish Marwaha \| Cumming School of Medicine \| University of Calgary Twitter: @drashm2 LinkedIn: Ashish Marwaha About You and Your Research: Ashish Marwaha is a clinician scientist focusing on complex immune dysregulation disorders. He's used a collaborative approach to build a care pathway that will combine the aims of diagnosing, discovering, and treating patients with rare complex immune dysregulation disorders. His research focus includes the topical areas of whole genome sequencing, polygenic risk, functional assay development using CyTOF mass spectrometry platforms and machine learning integration of multi-omic data sets. He ultimately wants to implement precision therapy for this patient population.
Name: Vanessa Meier-Stephenson Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis D virus, G-quadruplexes, Host-virus interactions Academic Institution: University of Alberta Location of Institution: Edmonton, Alberta Website: Profile \| Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Twitter: @MeierStephenson LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vanessa-meier-stephenson-85771599 About You and Your Research: I'm an Infectious Diseases physician (MD PhD) with an interest in chronic viral hepatitis (largely HBV) and the study of viral-host pathogenesis for this and other viruses. I use a combination of computational, biophysical, and molecular virology methods to explore various viral DNA/RNA and host protein interactions to gain further understanding in viral pathogenesis and evaluate unique approaches to developing therapeutics.
Name: Daniel Mulder Job title: Clinician-Scientist, Pediatric Gastroenterologist Research keywords: Immunophenotyping, Inflammatory bowel disease, Machine learning, Mass cytometry, Systems immunology Academic Institution: Queen's University Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario Website: Mulder \| Pediatrics \| Queen's University Twitter: @DanJMulder1 LinkedIn: Daniel Mulder About You and Your Research: Dr. Mulder is a pediatric gastroenterologist who studies the role of systems immunology in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is believed to be caused by dysregulation of the immune system through a variety of disrupted processes. These processes and their connection to disease characteristics are complex and poorly understood. Dr. Mulder's research program aims to use laboratory-based immunophenotyping techniques to create molecular "fingerprints" of individual IBD patients. This "fingerprint" will allow for a personalized approach to treatment, directly targeting the aberrant pathways. Ultimately, through redefining IBD classification by the underlying molecular processes, Dr. Mulder hopes to improve IBD treatment success rates and improve patient outcomes.
Name: Henry Nguyen Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: NAFLD, Gut-liver axis, Microbiome, Immunology, Hepatology Academic Institution: University of Calgary Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta Website: Henry Nguyen \| Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases \| University of Calgary About You and Your Research: My laboratory is interested in understanding the role of the intestinal microbiome in mediating liver disease outcomes via the gut-liver axis. Specifically, medical therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and autoimmune liver disease is currently an area of unmet need. By studying the effects of the microbiome in both the liver and intestinal microenvironment, this may highlight new therapeutic avenues that can be further studied and ultimately utilized in the patient care setting.
Name: Maryam Piram Job title: MD, MPH, PhD, Associate professor at the Department of Pediatrics of CHU Sainte Justine Research keywords: Vasculitis, Autoinflammatory diseases, Children, Epidemiology, Outcome measures Academic Institution: University of Montreal Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec About You and Your Research: I am pediatrician with a particular interest in diseases interfacing between dermatology and rheumatology. After a MD degree, I completed 2 fellowships, one in pediatric rheumatology in France (CHU Bicêtre, University of Paris-Sud,2006-2009) and another in pediatric dermatology in Canada (CHU Sainte Justine, University of Montreal,2010-2011). I worked >10 years in the French national reference center for auto-inflammatory diseases. After a Masters degree (University Paris XII), I completed a Ph.D. in Public Health (University Paris-Saclay) in 2017 with a program devoted to the epidemiology of IgA vasculitis. I moved in Montreal at the end of 2018. I am currently head of the Pediatric Dermatology unit in CHU Sainte Justine and holder of a FRQS Clinical Research Scholar J1 Career Award (2020-2023). My two main areas of research are childhood vasculitis and auto-inflammatory diseases, and my research program focuses on development and validation of tools to evaluate outcome in these rare diseases.
Name: Barbara Porto Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Respiratory viruses, Innate immunity, Cell death, Neutrophil, Macrophage Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba Website: The Porto lab Twitter: @BarbaraPorto16 LinkedIn: Barbara Porto About You and Your Research: Dr. Porto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. She is an early career researcher and joined the University of Manitoba in September 2021. The Porto lab's research program aims to understand the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis associated with respiratory viral infections and to discover new therapeutic targets to reduce the respiratory morbidity caused by different respiratory viruses (respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus). One of the goals of our research program is to uncover how respiratory viruses trigger the death of neutrophils and macrophages, specialized innate immune cells and the role of innate cell death on disease pathogenesis. We use both in vitro and in vivo (mouse models) experiments to understand the mechanisms underlying disease pathophysiology of pulmonary viral infections.
Name: Jérémy Postat Job title: HFSP postdoctoral fellow Research keywords: T cell, Mechanosensing, Piezo1, Tissue-resident memory T cells, Cell migration Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: About - Jérémy Postat LinkedIn: Jérémy Postat About You and Your Research: I'm a French postdoc fellow in my 4th year in Judith Mandl's lab. I'm interested in immune cell dynamics and currently working on an exciting project investigating the role of mechanosensing on T cell behavior and tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cell development. I'm delighted to be part of this meeting and can't wait to talk about science and professional development.
Name: Gerd Prehna Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Structural biology, Biochemistry, T6SS, Salmonella, Streptococcus Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba Website: Home \| Prehna Lab @ The University of Manitoba Twitter: @prehnalab About You and Your Research: We study how bacteria communicate with their hosts, how they communicate with each other, and how they communicate with other micro-organisms using a combination of structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Currently we are studying the versatility of the type six secretion system using Salmonella and Pseudomonas as model systems. We are also studying the role of phage proteins in the biology of Streptococcus pyogenes.
Name: Priyanka Pundir Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Host-Microbe Interaction, Innate Immunity, Mast Cells, GPCRs, Genetic Models Academic Institution: University of Guelph Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario Twitter: @PundirPriyanka_ About You and Your Research: Dr. Priyanka Pundir completed her Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Marianna Kulka at the National Research Council Canada, focusing on the non-IgE-dependent pathways of mast cell activation. She elucidated the function of orphan G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the recruitment of mast cells to sites of inflammation. For her postdoctoral work, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Xinzhong Dong – the discoverer of the Mas-related-GPCRs and world-renowned leader in the field of somatosensation – at Johns Hopkins University as a CIHR Fellow. Here, Dr. Pundir discovered a mast cell-specific receptor crucial for drug hypersensitivities and further identified its role in antibacterial defense. In March 2022, Dr. Pundir will start her lab at the University of Guelph, where she will combine mouse and microbial genetics, receptor pharmacology, sequencing, immunophenotyping, and infection models to elucidate how GPCRs act as sensors of the communication between the host and the microbes to regulate homeostasis and disease.
Name: Aaron Reinke Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Microsporidia, C. elegans, Parasites, Evolution, Genomics Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Website: Reinke lab @ Utoronto Twitter: @Reinke_Science About You and Your Research: Dr. Aaron W. Reinke is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Reinke did his graduate training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Prof. Amy Keating, using biochemical approaches to determine how proteins correctly choose their interaction partners. As a Life Science Research postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego in the laboratory of Prof. Emily Troemel, Dr. Reinke studied parasite infections, using a unique and powerful system of a tractable host, C. elegans, and a coevolved intracellular eukaryotic parasite, N. parisii. Dr. Reinke started his laboratory in the fall of 2017 where he has received several young investigator awards including a 2019 Sloan Research Fellowship in Computational & Evolutionary Molecular Biology. Dr. Reinke's lab uses C. elegans and various microsporidia species to discover mechanisms of parasite evolution and the influence of parasites on hosts.
Name: Dominic Roy Job title: Principal Scientist, Professeur-chercheur adjoint Research keywords: Oncolytic virus, Metabolism, Immunometabolism Academic Institution: Centre de recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Centre de recherche du CHUM [in French only] Twitter: @DominicGuyRoy LinkedIn: Dominic Roy About You and Your Research: I have a PhD in Biochemistry with Specialization in Human and Molecular Genetics from the University of Ottawa where I studied oncolytic viruses as cancer therapeutics in Dr. John Bell's lab. I then completed my postdoc at McGill University in the laboratory of Dr. Russell Jones where I investigated the role of metabolism in supporting T cell function. In January 2022, I started my own lab in the cancer axis at the CRCHUM in Montreal. My lab studies oncolytic viruses, and our research aims to understand how metabolism regulates oncolytic virus replication and to manipulate tumor cell metabolism to improve oncolytic virotherapy. Since one of the mechanisms by which oncolytic viruses work is the induction of anti-tumor immunity, we are also studying the impact of metabolism on T cell function in the context of cancer immunotherapy.
Name: Deanna Santer Job title: Assistant Professor and GSK Research Chair in Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research keywords: Immunology, Interferons, Antiviral, Inflammation Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba Website: profile - Deanna Santer \| Max Rady College of Medicine \| University of Manitoba Twitter: @drdeannasanter About You and Your Research: During my graduate degree up until now, my research projects have focused on understanding how our immune responses are regulated during viral infections, after vaccination or during periods of chronic inflammation. I completed my PhD in Immunology at the University of Washington and then moved back to Canada for my postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta to study virus-host interactions including developing a research program studying the newest family of interferons called interferon-lambdas. I joined the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba on November 1, 2020, as an Assistant Professor and GSK Research Chair in Immunology of Infectious Diseases. After some delays establishing a lab during a pandemic and pivoting to study interferon-lambda treatment of mild COVID-19, I am excited to expand my team this year, attend conferences in-person (hopefully) and establish new collaborations.
Name: Rebecca Shapiro Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Fungal genetics, Functional genomics, Antifungal drug resistance, Fungal pathogenesis Academic Institution: University of Guelph Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario Website: The Shapiro Lab Twitter: @ShapiroRebecca About You and Your Research: Our lab studies fungal pathogens and uses genome editing and functional genomic tools to dissect the genetic mechanisms underpinning fungal virulence and antifungal drug resistance.
Name: Shayna Skakoon-Sparling Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow Research keywords: HIV Prevention, STBBIs, MSM Academic Institution: Ryerson University Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Twitter: @Shaynagram About You and Your Research: Shayna Sparling has a PhD in Applied Social Psychology. She is currently a CIHR-funded postdoctoral research fellow with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University and is the National Team Manager for the Engage Study. Shayna also holds an Affiliate Faculty position with The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Shayna's research has primarily focused on motivated reasoning and how intra- and interpersonal factors influence sexual health decision-making and sexual negotiation - related to the prevention of STBBI transmission. In particular, her work examines the need to belong, with a focus on the roles of loneliness and social support in the health and well-being of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
Name: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Human immunology and inflammation, Autoimmunity, Cancer, Immunotherapies Academic Institution: Dalhousie University Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia Website: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa - Department of Microbiology & Immunology LinkedIn: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa About You and Your Research: My aspiration to become an immunologist started during my veterinary medicine degree. After completing my Master's in Veterinary Pathology and Immunology at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India, I moved to the University of Saskatchewan to pursue my Ph.D. in the field of Cancer immunology. Then, I pursued my postdoc and subsequently as Research Associate at the University of Calgary under Dr. Santamaria. After a long journey in my research training, I joined Dalhousie University as an Assistant Professor. Currently, my research program studies immunoregulation in chronic diseases, mainly autoimmunity and cancer. We employ cutting-edge systems and methods, including genetically modified murine systems, "omics" and synthetic biology approaches, high-parameter flow cytometry, and imaging, to understand the origins of the diseases and develop immunotherapies. We involve a leading-edge interdisciplinary team of established scientists, clinicians, and trainees to translate research findings into effective therapies.
Name: Matthew Sorbara Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Microbiota, Metabolomics, Colonization resistance, Genomics, Microbiology Academic Institution: University of Guelph Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario Website: Dr. Matthew Sorbara \| Molecular and Cellular Biology About You and Your Research: I completed my PhD with Dr. Dana Philpott and Dr. Stephen Girardin at the University of Toronto. Here, I studied the roles of autophagy proteins and Nod-like receptors in epithelial cell responses to infection with invasive enteric pathogens, and how dysregulation of these responses could contribute to inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's Disease. As a postdoc, I worked with Dr. Eric Pamer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Chicago. I studied the mechanisms of the microbiota's colonization resistance against highly antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and helped establish and characterize a biobank of commensal microbes in order to optimize live biotherapeutic design. I am excited to have joined the University of Guelph (September 2021). My laboratory will study the complex interactions between members of the microbiota, microbial crosstalk with the host, and the impact the intra-species diversity on the function of small microbial consortia.
Name: Giorgia Sulis Job title: Postdoctoral Researcher Research keywords: Epidemiology, Global Health, Tuberculosis, Vaccines, Antibiotics Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health - McGill Twitter: @giorgiasulis LinkedIn: Giorgia Sulis About You and Your Research: Dr. Sulis is an infectious disease epidemiologist with clinical background and a strong interest in global health research. She received her medical degree (2011) and specialized in infectious and tropical diseases (2017) in Italy; during this time, she conducted clinical and epidemiological research primarily focused on tuberculosis and its coinfection with HIV, in collaboration with several international partners including the WHO. She subsequently expanded her research interests towards antimicrobial resistance, focusing on the use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries, and received her PhD in epidemiology from McGill University in 2021. In her current position of postdoctoral researcher at McGill, Dr. Sulis works in the area of vaccine epidemiology, while also cultivating her research interests in tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.
Name: Véronique Taylor Job title: Postdoctoral Researcher Research keywords: Bacteriophage, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Quorum sensing, Motility, Anti-phage defense Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Website: the maxwell lab Twitter: @vee_coli About You and Your Research: I am interested in the evolutionary battle between bacteria and their phage predators. Bacteria are the most vulnerable to a phage outbreak when they form a community and so they use quorum sensing to drive the expression of anti-phage defense systems. I identified that Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages encode proteins which disrupt the quorum sensing cascade, effectively cutting phage defense at the source. We continue to study this process through infection assays, genetic manipulation of both P. aeruginosa and phages and detailed characterization of protein interactions. Before joining the lab of Dr. Karen Maxwell as a postdoctoral fellow, I obtained my PhD in the lab of Dr. Joe Lam at the University of Guelph where I studied lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in P. aeruginosa. I also enjoy games in board, tabletop, or video form and camping in the summer.
Name: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Infection, Neutrophils, Injury, Microscopy Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec Website: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar - Assistant Professor \| Pharmacology & Therapeutics Twitter: @AjithaT4 LinkedIn: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar About You and Your Research: My lab is focused on understanding the interplay between innate immune cells particularly neutrophil interactions with bacteria. Using a combination of intricate in vivo models including intravital microscopy, my lab seeks to understand how changes in tissue environment caused by injury can mitigate changes to neutrophil antimicrobial function. Particularly, neutrophil chemotaxis and ability to clear bacterial infections is significantly modified when the cells are exposed to the cytokine TGF- ß. My lab has three main research focuses: Determine the impact of TGF-ß on neutrophil heterogeneity and function. Investigate the role of neutrophil extracellular traps in the aiding the development of bacterial biofilms. Understand the impact of severe injury on neutrophil production or egress from the bone marrow
Name: Jenny-Lee Thomassin Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Bacteria, Type II secretion, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pathogenic Escherichia coli Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Website: Jenny-Lee Thomassin - College of Medicine - Medicine Twitter: @JennyThomassin LinkedIn: Jenny-Lee Thomassin About You and Your Research: I recently joined the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Saskatchewan as an assistant professor (May 2020). My research interests are focused on how bacteria interact with and shape their local environment. I am specifically interested in the molecular mechanisms involved in protein secretion, the targets of secreted proteins and the underlying mechanisms that promote bacterial survival within their infectious niche. Current work in my lab is focused on studying the bacterial type II secretion system (T2SS) in Klebsiella pneumoniae and pathogenic Escherichia coli.
Name: Christina Thornton Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow Research keywords: Microbiome, Cystic Fibrosis, Bronchiectasis Academic Institution: University of Michigan and University of Calgary Location of Institution: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA and Calgary, Alberta, Canada Twitter: @Cthornton32 LinkedIn: Christina Thornton About You and Your Research: I completed the MD/PhD program at the University of Calgary with my doctoral thesis on the role of the lower respiratory tract microbiome in cystic fibrosis (CF). I then recently went on to train in internal medicine residency and adult respirology fellowship at the University of Calgary. Currently I am at the University of Michigan doing postdoctoral training evaluating the role of the microbiome in CF disease. My career goals are to pursue the role of clinician scientist with a dedicated research program evaluating the microbiome in CF and other suppurative lung disease.
Name: Maria Tokuyama Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Viral Immunology, Endogenous Retroviruses, Viral infection, Autoimmunity Academic Institution: The University of British Columbia Location of Institution: Vancouver, British Columbia Twitter: @maria_tokuyama About You and Your Research: I'm an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at UBC. I obtained my PhD from UC Berkeley where I studied the regulation of NKG2D ligands during cytomegalovirus infection. I completed my postdoc training at Yale University in immunobiology where I investigated the impacts of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in systemic lupus erythematosus and in genital herpes simplex virus 2 infection. My research program builds on these studies to further elucidate the physiological role of ERVs in autoimmune diseases and in viral infections. We use a combination of virology, immunology, and bioinformatics techniques to probe cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic functions of ERVs in mouse and human cells. We also rely on patient data to inform us of clinical relevance. Ultimately, our goal is to identify key processes that can be targeted to reduce detrimental inflammation in autoimmune diseases, while boosting beneficial responses to combat viral infections.
Name: Sue Tsai Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: T cell biology, B cell biology, autoimmunity, diabetes, metabolism Academic Institution: University of Alberta Location of Institution: Edmonton, Alberta Website: Profile \| Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Twitter: @SueYTsai1 About You and Your Research: Sue is an assistant professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology in the University of Alberta. Her lab studies the immune-metabolic crosstalks in metabolic diseases such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. After getting an honors degree in molecular biology and biochemistry, she went to the University of Calgary and worked on developing antigen-specific immunotherapies for type 1 diabetes, under the supervision of Dr. Pere Santamaria. She then moved further east and did her postdoc with Dr. Daniel Winer at the University Health Network, which led to her current research path. The present foci of Tsai Lab's research are: i) studying how insulin receptor signalling regulates anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity ii) dissecting the role of maternal vs infant IgA in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis.
Name: Anil Kumar Job title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Website: Anil Kumar - College of Medicine - Medicine
Name: Jim Sun Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Tuberculosis, Macrophages, Host-directed therapy, Drug discovery, Autophagy, Cell death Academic Institution: University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine Location of Institution: Ottawa, Ontario Website: Jim Sun Lab \| Cellular Microbiology of Tuberculosis \| Ottawa Twitter: @SunLabTB LinkedIn: Jim Sun About You and Your Research: I obtained my PhD from UBC and completed my postdoctoral training at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. During my training, I made significant contributions to the field of phagosome biogenesis and host-pathogen interactions between the macrophage and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I started my independent faculty position at the University of Ottawa in July 2017 and my research program is focused on understanding host immunity to tuberculosis. We use multidisciplinary approaches (cellular microbiology, immunology, medicinal chemistry, multi-omics) to improve our understanding of macrophage biology, cell signaling pathways, and host-pathogen interactions in the context of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacterial pathogens. Our goal is to use this knowledge to develop and advance host-directed therapy for bacterial infections.
Name: Christina Guzzo Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario Website: Christina Guzzo \| Department of Biological Sciences Twitter: @GuzzoLabUTSC About You and Your Research: Dr. Christina Guzzo is an Assistant Professor of Virology at the University of Toronto Scarborough in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her lab studies the surface of the HIV virus, in order to better understand HIV infection and identify novel antiviral targets. Her research is also developing new tools to characterize proteins present on the surface of a broad range of virions, with an emphasis of detecting human proteins that viruses can hijack for their benefit. Dr. Guzzo trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD under the mentorship of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Her post-doctoral studies included the identification of a novel anti-HIV chemokine secreted by host immune cells, and a discovery that HIV can incorporate human integrins into its viral envelope to alter virus trafficking.
Name: Amy Gillgrass Job Title: Assistant Professor Research Keywords: Immunology, infectious disease, HIV, TB, humanized mice Academic Institution: McMaster University Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Amy Gillgrass - McMaster Experts About You and Your Research: I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). I am a member of the McMaster Immunology Research Center (MIRC) and the Institute of Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Before joining McMaster in 2019, I worked in the industry as a Scientist at Turnstone Biologics doing translational cancer therapeutic development. My current research focuses on establishing next-generation humanized mouse models to investigate infectious diseases and cancer. Using these mice, I have developed HIV, TB, and HIV/TB co-infection models to explore pathogenesis, therapeutics, and vaccination. The lab is also exploring the use of these mice to test cancer immunotherapeutics. Due to my expertise in the Level 3 facility, the lab has also developed a novel vaccine for COVID-19.
Name: Alexander Hynes Job title: Assistant Professor Research keywords: Bacteriophage, Microbiome, Lysogeny Academic Institution: McMaster University Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Website: Farncombe Phage Twitter: @APHage_ About You and Your Research: Dr. Hynes joined McMaster as an Assistant Professor in Sept 2017. He's been working on phages since 2008 and intends to continue doing so until he understands them. Working in the Farncombe Family Institute for Digestive Health Research has allowed him to pair his expertise on phages with world-class research programs centered on the human gut microbiome.
Name: Lorena Braid Job Title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: Simon Fraser University Location of Institution: Burnaby, BC Website: Lorena Braid - Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Twitter: @LorenaBraid LinkedIn: Lorena Braid
Name: Kyle Burrows Job Title: Postdoctoral Fellow Academic Institution: Department of Immunology; University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Name: Richa Pandey Job Title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: University of Calgary Location of Institution: Calgary, AB Twitter: @WeBiTLabUCal LinkedIn: Richa Pandey
Name: Anil Kumar Job Title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Website: Anil Kumar - College of Medicine - Medicine \| University of Saskatchewan
Name: Wael Elhenawy Job Title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: University of Alberta Location of Institution: Alberta Website: Elhenawy lab at the University of Alberta Twitter: @Wael_Elhenawy84 LinkedIn: Wael Elhenawy
Name: Christopher Lohans Job Title: Assistant Professor Academic Institution: Queen’s University Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario Website: Lohans Lab - Queen's University, Canada Twitter: @ctlohans
Name: Zulma Rueda Job Title: Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection - Resistance and Control, and Associate Professor Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB Website: Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Twitter: @zulma_rueda & @lab_rueda LinkedIn: Zulma Rueda

Profile:

Name: Nicole Alberts
Job Title: Associate Professor
Research Keywords: Pediatric cancer, Behavioural health intervention, Digital health, Chronic pain
Academic Institution: Concordia University
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Faculty - Nicole M. Alberts
Twitter: @NAlbertsPhD
LinkedIn: Nicole Alberts

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Nicole Alberts completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Regina followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington. In 2016, she joined St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, U.S.) as an Assistant Member and Attending Psychologist. She joined the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in Montreal in August 2020 and is an Associate Professor in Psychology. She also holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Behavioural Health Intervention. The overarching goal of her research program is to improve behavioural health and psychological outcomes among individuals across the lifespan – with a focus on those diagnosed with childhood cancer. She also uses digital health approaches to develop and test interventions targeting pain and psychological outcomes. As a clinical health psychologist, Dr. Alberts has broad clinical experience spanning clinical health psychology and rehabilitation psychology in pediatric and adult populations.

Name: Arinjay Banerjee
Job title: Research Scientist and Principal Investigator
Research keywords: Coronavirus, Emerging viruses, Bats, Humans, Immunity
Academic Institution: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan
Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Website: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
Twitter: @sci_questions
LinkedIn: Arinjay Banerjee

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD) completed his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in 2018. His doctoral thesis was awarded the University's Best Life Sciences thesis award and the Governor General's Gold medal. Dr. Banerjee completed his postdoctoral training as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) fellow at McMaster University (2018-2021), during which he was also appointed as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Toronto to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. His research group at VIDO investigates emerging bat-borne zoonotic viruses, such as coronaviruses, along with deciphering the immunological consequences of infection in reservoir species (e.g., bats) and spill over mammalian species (humans and agricultural animals).

Research Interests:

Virus-host interactions in reservoir and spill over species
Mechanisms of virus persistence
Discovering and harnessing novel antiviral responses
Next generation pan-viral vaccines

Name: Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault
Job title: Researcher
Research keywords: Oncolytic virus, Cancer vaccine, Breast cancer
Academic Institution: CHUM Research Centre and University of Montreal
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec

About You and Your Research:

I am an early career investigator at the CRCHUM in Montreal since 2018. Our lab investigates various aspects of oncolytic virotherapy and develop cancer vaccines using these viruses at platforms.

Name: Sarah Buchan
Job title: Scientist
Research keywords: Epidemiology, Immunization, Infectious disease
Academic Institution: Public Health Ontario; University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Website: Welcome | Public Health Ontario

About You and Your Research:

Sarah Buchan is a Scientist at Public Health Ontario (PHO) in Health Protection where she conducts applied public health research related to the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable and other infectious diseases. Her interests include studying the burden of vaccine preventable diseases, assessing vaccine effectiveness, and estimating vaccine coverage. Sarah holds a PhD in Epidemiology and is an Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, as well as an Adjunct Scientist at ICES. Prior to the pandemic, Sarah was focussing on estimating the burden of RSV in high-risk populations using linked laboratory and health administrative data. Since supporting PHO's COVID-19 Incident Management System from early 2020, she has contributed to analyses related to COVID-19 burden, transmission, variants of concern, and immunization.

Name: Che Colpitts
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Virus-host interactions, RNA viruses, Antivirals, Cellular antiviral defence
Academic Institution: Queen's University
Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario
Website: Colpitts | Biomedical and Molecular Sciences | School of Medicine
Twitter: @colpittsc
LinkedIn: Che Colpitts

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Colpitts completed a PhD at the University of Alberta, followed by postdoctoral training at the Université de Strasbourg (France) and University College London (UK), focusing on hepatitis C virus. Since starting at Queen's University in August 2019, the Colpitts lab studies virus-host interactions of positive-sense RNA viruses (hepatitis C virus, dengue virus and coronaviruses). One research theme focuses on the roles of glycans in coronavirus entry and pathogenesis. Another research theme aims to determine the roles of cellular cyclophilins in the replication of positive-sense RNA viruses, focusing on the roles of cyclophilins in viral evasion and antagonism of cellular antiviral responses. Finally, we are characterizing how cells sense and respond to virus-induced rearrangement of intracellular membranes during positive-sense RNA virus replication. Overall, we aim to identify antiviral strategies that are broadly active against emerging and currently untreatable positive-sense RNA viruses.

Name: Jean-Phillippe Côté
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Gram-negative bacteria, Bacterial physiology, Outer membrane, Antibiotic resistance, Antibiotic drug discovery
Academic Institution: Université de Sherbrooke
Location of Institution: Sherbrooke, Quebec
Website: Jean-Philippe Côté - Département de biologie - Université de Sherbrooke [in French only]
Twitter: @jpcotelab

About You and Your Research:

My training started at the Université de Sherbrooke studying biochemistry. I then began my graduate studies in molecular microbiology at the Université de Montréal under the supervision of Dr. Michael Mourez. After my PhD, I joined the group of Dr Eric Brown at McMaster University as a postdoctoral fellow to learn about systems biology and antibiotic drug discovery. I am now back at Université de Sherbrooke since Fall 2019 as an Assistant Professor.

The overall objective of my research program is to define novel targets for the development of new antibiotics in conditions mimicking the environment encountered by pathogens within a host. Among other things, bacterial pathogens encounter and interact with several other microbes within a host. My group uses state-of-the-art global and systematic approaches to define and characterize pathways that are important during interbacterial interactions.

Name: Locke Davenport Huyer
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Biomaterials, Implant fibrosis, Chronic inflammation
Academic Institution: Dalhousie University
Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Website: Locke Davenport Huyer - School of Biomedical Engineering - Dalhousie University
Twitter: @lockedavhuy
LinkedIn: Locke Davenport Huyer

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Locke Davenport Huyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Oral Sciences, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and the School of Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie University. He obtained a B.Eng. from Queen's University in 2014, and a PhD in from the University of Toronto in 2019, both in Chemical Engineering. He completed postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine focused on characterization of implant associated inflammation. His research focuses on the interface of biomaterials with host immunity, with focus on understanding the drivers to dysregulated inflammation that cause implant fibrosis. This research holds a translation focus on harnessing the tools of inherent immunoregulatory mechanisms to design new materials that are instructive of inflammation.

Name: Georgia Dewart
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Maternal heath, STBBIs, Nursing, Community, Equity
Academic Institution: Athabasca University
Location of Institution: Athabasca, Alberta

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Georgia Dewart is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University. As a registered nurse, she has clinical experience working in labour and delivery and STBBI clinic services within Alberta. As a registered nurse, she witnessed the challenges many patients, especially those within marginalized communities, have navigating the health care system. This realization prompted her to return to graduate studies and her doctoral research centred on the experiences of mothers who disclosed substance use during pregnancy and early postpartum. More recently, her research has focused on health equity, nursing practice, nursing education and women's health.

Name: Francesca Di Cara
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Innate immunity, Immunometabolism, Lipids, Peroxisomes, NF-kB
Academic Institution: Dalhousie University
Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Website: Dalhousie University - Nova Scotia, Canada
Twitter: @DicaraLab
LinkedIn: Francesca Di Cara

About You and Your Research:

My research is focused on immune metabolism. We aim to define mechanisms by which lipids and redox metabolism control the innate immune response. Specifically, we are interested in defining the role of peroxisomes, pivotal metabolic organelles present virtually in every eukaryotic cell, in modulating immune responses to microbial challenge, and how microbial pathogens manipulate these organelles for their own nefarious purposes. Our interest in metabolic pathways in immune responses and host-pathogen interactions has its foundation on growing evidence that a large number of human immune deficiency and inflammatory diseases have at their source defects in metabolic signaling. In the past five years, I provided the first demonstration of peroxisome (ubiquitous metabolic organelles essential for organism health) direct involvement in immune defense, host-pathogen interaction and tissue homeostasis. Our research relies on the use of Drosophila melanogaster, a genetically amenable model system with few genetic redundancies and a vast arsenal of genetic tools that facilitate the elucidation of a previously unexplored functional role of peroxisomes in cellular and systemic immune responses. Peroxisome functions are highly conserved between fly and mammals and Drosophila is a long-established model system to study the innate immune system as many of the innate immune pathways were first identified and characterized in Drosophila and then found to function analogously in humans. My team validate the results gathered from the Drosophila system in mouse and humans with the intention to understand the importance of peroxisomes in the development of immune disorders. We master genetics, cutting-edge cell biology approaches, metabolomics and live imaging techniques to define peroxisome-dependent immune metabolic signaling. In our last work we identified distinct lipids necessary to mount immune response in macrophages that exclusively rely on peroxisomes. Using lipidomics and lipid reporter tracking in live-imaging approaches, we dissected how some of the identified lipids control macrophages response to infection in fly and mouse models and identified in peroxisome-lipid milieu markers of inflammations in immune disorders.

Name: Landon Edgar
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Glycobiology, Chemical Biology, Synthetic Chemistry, Immunology, Flow Cytometry
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Website: Edgar Lab | University of Toronto
Twitter: @LandonJEdgar
LinkedIn: Landon Edgar

About You and Your Research:

Landon is a chemical immunologist with expertise in high-dimensionality single cell analysis technologies. As a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, Landon joined an interdisciplinary team that developed a series of chemical probes that enabled visualization of how cancer cells 'breathe' within a solid tumour. Following graduate school, Landon engaged in postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute in California. Here, he used technologies from a range of disciplines to probe the mechanisms through which immune cells communicate via complex surface-tethered carbohydrates (glycans). Now as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto, Landon is leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers to better understand the fundamental roles of immune cell glycans in health and disease. Ultimately, the research group aims to develop glycan engineering technologies for programming synthetic immune responses as a next generation strategy for immunotherapeutic discovery and design.

Name: Omar El-Halfawy
Job title: Assistant Professor in Biochemistry
Research keywords: Microbiology, Antibiotic resistance, Microbial virulence, Antibiotic discovery, Interbacterial interactions
Academic Institution: University of Regina
Location of Institution: Regina, Saskatchewan
Website: El-Halfawy Lab
Twitter: @OmarHalfawy
LinkedIn: Omar El-Halfawy

About You and Your Research:

Omar El-Halfawy is a Canada Research Chair in Chemogenomics and Antimicrobial Research and Assistant Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Regina. His research group is actively working towards solutions for the current antibiotic crisis; his team employs an interdisciplinary approach encompassing microbiology, biochemistry, molecular and chemical biology, and chemogenomics to uncover novel antibiotic resistance and microbial virulence mechanisms and discover new antimicrobial strategies. El-Halfawy received his B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Microbiology from Alexandria University, Egypt. He completed his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Dr. Miguel Valvano's lab at the University of Western Ontario, focusing on mechanisms of intrinsic antibiotic resistance mediated by metabolites and other bacterial small molecules. El-Halfawy completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Dr. Eric Brown's lab at Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University, where he explored novel solutions to target multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Name: Amit Gaba
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow
Research keywords: HIV, Virus-host interaction, Viral pathogenesis, Viral Vectors, Vaccines
Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan
Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Twitter: @optimist1023
LinkedIn: Amit Gaba

About You and Your Research:

I am currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. I received my DVM degree from Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU), in India. I then completed my M.Sc. in veterinary microbiology at Anand Agricultural University, India. Afterwards, I worked for 5 years at Hester Biosciences Limited, a vaccine manufacturing company in India. In 2011 I joined the Ph.D. program at Department of Veterinary Microbiology at University of Saskatchewan where I studied Adenovirus. After my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at VIDO-Intervac and studied Influenza A virus for 2 years. During this period, I also worked in CL3 facility at VIDO-Intervac. Currently I am working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Chelico lab and study the role APOBEC3 enzymes in restriction of HIV-1. My research interests and expertise include studying Virus-host interactions, viral pathogenesis, viral vector development and vaccine development.

Name: Jennifer Geddes-McAlister
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Quantitative proteomics, Systems biology, Fungal pathogens, Host-pathogen interactions
Academic Institution: University of Guelph
Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario
Website: Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister | Molecular and Cellular Biology
Twitter: @jgmproteomics
LinkedIn: Jennifer Geddes-McAlister

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister is Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph since July 2018. She is an expert in mass spectrometry-based proteomics and her research program defines the relationship between a host and pathogen to uncover new strategies for preventing infection and overcoming resistance in both medically- and agriculturally relevant diseases. Since beginning her independent position, she has published over 40 papers, raised over $5 M in funding through grants, awards, and industry partnerships, and currently, manages a group of over 30 trainees. Dr. Geddes-McAlister is the elected Vice President, Communications, and elected Board member for the Canadian National Proteomics Network (CNPN), co-Founder of the Canadian Proteomics and Artificial Intelligence Research and Training Consortium, and the elected Western Hemisphere Diversity Candidate for the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO). She recently founded 'Moms in Proteomics', developed the CNPN Unity initiative, and is co-creator of Humans of HUPO. She was recently awarded a Banting Foundation Research Award for her novel approach to combatting fungal pathogens.

Name: Simon Grandjean Lapierre
Job title: Clinician Scientist
Research keywords: Molecular epidemiology, Acoustic epidemiology, Innovation and technologies, Tuberculosis
Academic Institution: Université de Montréal
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Grandjean Lapierre, Simon
Twitter: @SimonGLapierre
LinkedIn: Simon Grandjean Lapierre

About You and Your Research:

I'm an infectious disease specialist and clinical scientist. I lead a translational research program focused on Tuberculosis control in Canada and abroad, notably in Madagascar. My research activities principally focus the impact assessment of new innovative technologies and molecular diagnostic tools on Tuberculosis control. This includes Molecular diagnostics (Molecular epidemiology and transmission, Molecular diagnostics from primary clinical samples) and Innovative technologies (Digital cough monitoring and artificial intelligence for screening and clinical management of respiratory diseases).

Name: Ingrid Handlovsky
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Health equity, Discrimination, Critical theory, Grounded theory, Gender
Academic Institution: University of Victoria
Location of Institution: Victoria, British Columbia
Website: Nursing - University of Victoria
LinkedIn: Ingrid Handlovsky

About You and Your Research:

My research focus, broadly speaking, is health equity and examination of how our social environments (inclusive to interpersonal, historical, and political dynamics) influence health practices, experiences, and ultimately, outcomes. My research is informed by social justice and critical perspectives to draw attention to the structural conditions that subject individuals, groups, and populations to disadvantage and subsequently, poor health outcomes. My dissertation focused specifically on enhancing equity with gender and sexual identity and my most recent project is an examination of how the sociohistorical context of HIV has influenced older, self-identifying gay men's constructions of quality of life (QOL) and health perspectives.

Name: Genelle Healey
Job title: Postdoctoral fellow
Research keywords: Diet, Fibre, Microbiome, Inflammatory bowel disease, Mucin
Academic Institution: University of British Columbia
Location of Institution: Vancouver, British Columbia
Twitter: @genellehealey
LinkedIn: Genelle Healey

About You and Your Research:

Dr Genelle Healey undertook her PhD in Nutritional Science at Massey University in New Zealand where she determined what influence habitual dietary fibre intake has on gut microbiota response to a prebiotic (fibre) intervention. Prior to commencing her PhD, Genelle worked as a Dietitian caring for patients with various gastrointestinal diseases. In 2017, Genelle moved to Vancouver to start a postdoctoral fellowship with Drs Bruce Vallance and Kevan Jacobson at the University of British Columbia. The focus of her research is to better understand the impact nutrition, particularly fibre, has on the gut microbiome and disease outcomes for patients with IBD. Genelle's future research aspirations include investigating the effect diet has in modulating the mycobiome (fungi) and virome (viruses), as most research only focuses on bacterial changes. She also plans to undertake future research to better understand the factors involved in inter-individual responses to dietary interventions and immunotherapy.

Name: Sabrina Hoa
Job title: Rheumatologist
Research keywords: Systemic sclerosis, Interstitial lung disease, Observational studies, Treatment, Prevention
Academic Institution: University of Montreal
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Hoa, Sabrina

About You and Your Research:

I am a rheumatologist and clinical researcher at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal. As part of my training, I completed a Masters in Epidemiology at McGill University and a post-doctoral fellowship in systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and interstitial lung disease. The ultimate goal of my research program is to develop better risk stratification and treatment strategies early in the disease process in order to decrease the morbidity and mortality burden of pulmonary fibrosis and other internal organ complications for patients with scleroderma. I am a member of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group, which is a network of scleroderma experts who are contributing to a nationwide observational cohort of scleroderma patients.

Name: Carolyn Jack
Job title: Assistant Professor, Lead in Quality and Innovation, Divisions of Dermatology, Medicine, McGill University Hospital Center; Junior Scientist, Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, RI-MUHC
Research keywords: Auto-Immune Diseases, Bacteria, Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases, Immune Mediators: Cytokines and Chemokines, Skin Disorders
Academic Institution: McGill University
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Dr. Carolyn Jack | Division of Experimental Medicine - McGill
LinkedIn: Carolyn Jack

About You and Your Research:

I'm a dermatologist and PhD-trained Immunologist with expertise in molecular biology, cellular immunology, immunophenotyping of primary human cells and tissues, in vitro human pre-clinical modeling of disease, and skin biospecimen-enabled clinical trials. My clinical work and research are focused on adult atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common and most burdensome skin disorder worldwide, affecting 5-10% of adults in developed countries. My research goal is to identify disease-modifying interventions in chronic AD. I established and operate the first Canadian disease-specific human skin and blood immunophenotyping lab (RI-MUHC), with a research program and immunophenotyping platform for investigating in situ and ex vivo mechanisms of chronic inflammation with adult AD patient skin, swabs, and blood. Patients are recruited from my specialized clinic, the MUHC Center of Excellence for Atopic Dermatitis, the first tertiary care centre in Canada dedicated to adult AD. Clinical research with biospecimens is performed on-site and processed in my lab.

Name: Raynell Lang
Job title: Clinical Lecturer and Post-doctoral fellow
Research keywords: HIV, Epidemiology, Infectious disease, COVID-19
Academic Institution: University of Calgary
Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta
Twitter: @raynelllang26

About You and Your Research:

I am an Infectious Disease physician that recently finished my residency training in 2020 and have been completing a post-doctoral fellowship in HIV epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University over the past 2 years. It is my goal to become an Infectious Disease clinician-scientist, conducting infectious disease epidemiologic research with a specialized focus in HIV research and care. My research interest is evaluating risk factors and outcomes associated with coinfections and comorbidities in persons with infectious diseases including people with HIV. I aim to integrate laboratory-based, patient-orientated, and population-based research to facilitate a greater understanding of infectious disease processes, leading to improvements in the care and outcomes of patients.

Name: Amy Lee
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Neonatal sepsis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Antimicrobial resistance, Multi-omics integration, Comparative genomics
Academic Institution: Simon Fraser University
Location of Institution: Burnaby, British Columbia
Website: Lee Lab - Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry - Simon Fraser University
Twitter: @minisciencegirl
LinkedIn: Amy Lee

About You and Your Research:

Human newborns are highly vulnerable to infections with ~7,000 newborn deaths occurring every day, and this death toll is further compounded by the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One particularly important AMR pathogen that causes neonatal sepsis in low and middle-income countries is Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is found ubiquitously in the environment, including in water, soil, plants, insects, aquatic and agricultural animals, and humans. The overarching goal of my research program is to identify the mechanisms by which the AMR pathogen K. pneumoniae cause disease in neonates and the resulting neonatal host immune responses upon infection. We use comparative bacterial genomics, transcriptomics, phenomics (e.g. growth in different conditions) and microbial genome-wide association analyses to provide mechanistic insights into interactions between AMR pathogens and the host by: (1) determining how AMR pathogens maintain and disseminate AMR genes in diverse environments and conditions, (2) characterizing molecular dynamics of host-AMR pathogen interactions, and (3) defining host immune responses during infection, focusing on the critical area of neonatal sepsis. Our integrated bioinformatic and experimental approaches have successfully identified a number of previously uncharacterized genes and showed that they are involved in either virulence or AMR in pathogens.

Name: Ashish Marwaha
Job title: Physician, Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Immunology, Rare disease, Genetics, Autoimmunity, Autoinflammation
Academic Institution: University of Calgary
Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta
Website: Ashish Marwaha | Cumming School of Medicine | University of Calgary
Twitter: @drashm2
LinkedIn: Ashish Marwaha

About You and Your Research:

Ashish Marwaha is a clinician scientist focusing on complex immune dysregulation disorders. He's used a collaborative approach to build a care pathway that will combine the aims of diagnosing, discovering, and treating patients with rare complex immune dysregulation disorders. His research focus includes the topical areas of whole genome sequencing, polygenic risk, functional assay development using CyTOF mass spectrometry platforms and machine learning integration of multi-omic data sets. He ultimately wants to implement precision therapy for this patient population.

Name: Vanessa Meier-Stephenson
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis D virus, G-quadruplexes, Host-virus interactions
Academic Institution: University of Alberta
Location of Institution: Edmonton, Alberta
Website: Profile | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Twitter: @MeierStephenson
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vanessa-meier-stephenson-85771599

About You and Your Research:

I'm an Infectious Diseases physician (MD PhD) with an interest in chronic viral hepatitis (largely HBV) and the study of viral-host pathogenesis for this and other viruses. I use a combination of computational, biophysical, and molecular virology methods to explore various viral DNA/RNA and host protein interactions to gain further understanding in viral pathogenesis and evaluate unique approaches to developing therapeutics.

Name: Daniel Mulder
Job title: Clinician-Scientist, Pediatric Gastroenterologist
Research keywords: Immunophenotyping, Inflammatory bowel disease, Machine learning, Mass cytometry, Systems immunology
Academic Institution: Queen's University
Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario
Website: Mulder | Pediatrics | Queen's University
Twitter: @DanJMulder1
LinkedIn: Daniel Mulder

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Mulder is a pediatric gastroenterologist who studies the role of systems immunology in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is believed to be caused by dysregulation of the immune system through a variety of disrupted processes. These processes and their connection to disease characteristics are complex and poorly understood. Dr. Mulder's research program aims to use laboratory-based immunophenotyping techniques to create molecular "fingerprints" of individual IBD patients. This "fingerprint" will allow for a personalized approach to treatment, directly targeting the aberrant pathways. Ultimately, through redefining IBD classification by the underlying molecular processes, Dr. Mulder hopes to improve IBD treatment success rates and improve patient outcomes.

Name: Henry Nguyen
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: NAFLD, Gut-liver axis, Microbiome, Immunology, Hepatology
Academic Institution: University of Calgary
Location of Institution: Calgary, Alberta
Website: Henry Nguyen | Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases | University of Calgary

About You and Your Research:

My laboratory is interested in understanding the role of the intestinal microbiome in mediating liver disease outcomes via the gut-liver axis. Specifically, medical therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and autoimmune liver disease is currently an area of unmet need. By studying the effects of the microbiome in both the liver and intestinal microenvironment, this may highlight new therapeutic avenues that can be further studied and ultimately utilized in the patient care setting.

Name: Maryam Piram
Job title: MD, MPH, PhD, Associate professor at the Department of Pediatrics of CHU Sainte Justine
Research keywords: Vasculitis, Autoinflammatory diseases, Children, Epidemiology, Outcome measures
Academic Institution: University of Montreal
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec

About You and Your Research:

I am pediatrician with a particular interest in diseases interfacing between dermatology and rheumatology. After a MD degree, I completed 2 fellowships, one in pediatric rheumatology in France (CHU Bicêtre, University of Paris-Sud,2006-2009) and another in pediatric dermatology in Canada (CHU Sainte Justine, University of Montreal,2010-2011). I worked >10 years in the French national reference center for auto-inflammatory diseases. After a Masters degree (University Paris XII), I completed a Ph.D. in Public Health (University Paris-Saclay) in 2017 with a program devoted to the epidemiology of IgA vasculitis. I moved in Montreal at the end of 2018. I am currently head of the Pediatric Dermatology unit in CHU Sainte Justine and holder of a FRQS Clinical Research Scholar J1 Career Award (2020-2023). My two main areas of research are childhood vasculitis and auto-inflammatory diseases, and my research program focuses on development and validation of tools to evaluate outcome in these rare diseases.

Name: Barbara Porto
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Respiratory viruses, Innate immunity, Cell death, Neutrophil, Macrophage
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Website: The Porto lab
Twitter: @BarbaraPorto16
LinkedIn: Barbara Porto

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Porto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. She is an early career researcher and joined the University of Manitoba in September 2021. The Porto lab's research program aims to understand the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis associated with respiratory viral infections and to discover new therapeutic targets to reduce the respiratory morbidity caused by different respiratory viruses (respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus). One of the goals of our research program is to uncover how respiratory viruses trigger the death of neutrophils and macrophages, specialized innate immune cells and the role of innate cell death on disease pathogenesis. We use both in vitro and in vivo (mouse models) experiments to understand the mechanisms underlying disease pathophysiology of pulmonary viral infections.

Name: Jérémy Postat
Job title: HFSP postdoctoral fellow
Research keywords: T cell, Mechanosensing, Piezo1, Tissue-resident memory T cells, Cell migration
Academic Institution: McGill University
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: About - Jérémy Postat
LinkedIn: Jérémy Postat

About You and Your Research:

I'm a French postdoc fellow in my 4th year in Judith Mandl's lab. I'm interested in immune cell dynamics and currently working on an exciting project investigating the role of mechanosensing on T cell behavior and tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cell development. I'm delighted to be part of this meeting and can't wait to talk about science and professional development.

Name: Gerd Prehna
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Structural biology, Biochemistry, T6SS, Salmonella, Streptococcus
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Website: Home | Prehna Lab @ The University of Manitoba
Twitter: @prehnalab

About You and Your Research:

We study how bacteria communicate with their hosts, how they communicate with each other, and how they communicate with other micro-organisms using a combination of structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Currently we are studying the versatility of the type six secretion system using Salmonella and Pseudomonas as model systems. We are also studying the role of phage proteins in the biology of Streptococcus pyogenes.

Name: Priyanka Pundir
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Host-Microbe Interaction, Innate Immunity, Mast Cells, GPCRs, Genetic Models
Academic Institution: University of Guelph
Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario
Twitter: @PundirPriyanka_

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Priyanka Pundir completed her Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Marianna Kulka at the National Research Council Canada, focusing on the non-IgE-dependent pathways of mast cell activation. She elucidated the function of orphan G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the recruitment of mast cells to sites of inflammation. For her postdoctoral work, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Xinzhong Dong – the discoverer of the Mas-related-GPCRs and world-renowned leader in the field of somatosensation – at Johns Hopkins University as a CIHR Fellow. Here, Dr. Pundir discovered a mast cell-specific receptor crucial for drug hypersensitivities and further identified its role in antibacterial defense. In March 2022, Dr. Pundir will start her lab at the University of Guelph, where she will combine mouse and microbial genetics, receptor pharmacology, sequencing, immunophenotyping, and infection models to elucidate how GPCRs act as sensors of the communication between the host and the microbes to regulate homeostasis and disease.

Name: Aaron Reinke
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Microsporidia, C. elegans, Parasites, Evolution, Genomics
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Website: Reinke lab @ Utoronto
Twitter: @Reinke_Science

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Aaron W. Reinke is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Reinke did his graduate training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Prof. Amy Keating, using biochemical approaches to determine how proteins correctly choose their interaction partners. As a Life Science Research postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego in the laboratory of Prof. Emily Troemel, Dr. Reinke studied parasite infections, using a unique and powerful system of a tractable host, C. elegans, and a coevolved intracellular eukaryotic parasite, N. parisii. Dr. Reinke started his laboratory in the fall of 2017 where he has received several young investigator awards including a 2019 Sloan Research Fellowship in Computational & Evolutionary Molecular Biology. Dr. Reinke's lab uses C. elegans and various microsporidia species to discover mechanisms of parasite evolution and the influence of parasites on hosts.

Name: Dominic Roy
Job title: Principal Scientist, Professeur-chercheur adjoint
Research keywords: Oncolytic virus, Metabolism, Immunometabolism
Academic Institution: Centre de recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Centre de recherche du CHUM [in French only]
Twitter: @DominicGuyRoy
LinkedIn: Dominic Roy

About You and Your Research:

I have a PhD in Biochemistry with Specialization in Human and Molecular Genetics from the University of Ottawa where I studied oncolytic viruses as cancer therapeutics in Dr. John Bell's lab. I then completed my postdoc at McGill University in the laboratory of Dr. Russell Jones where I investigated the role of metabolism in supporting T cell function. In January 2022, I started my own lab in the cancer axis at the CRCHUM in Montreal. My lab studies oncolytic viruses, and our research aims to understand how metabolism regulates oncolytic virus replication and to manipulate tumor cell metabolism to improve oncolytic virotherapy. Since one of the mechanisms by which oncolytic viruses work is the induction of anti-tumor immunity, we are also studying the impact of metabolism on T cell function in the context of cancer immunotherapy.

Name: Deanna Santer
Job title: Assistant Professor and GSK Research Chair in Immunology of Infectious Diseases
Research keywords: Immunology, Interferons, Antiviral, Inflammation
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Website: profile - Deanna Santer | Max Rady College of Medicine | University of Manitoba
Twitter: @drdeannasanter

About You and Your Research:

During my graduate degree up until now, my research projects have focused on understanding how our immune responses are regulated during viral infections, after vaccination or during periods of chronic inflammation. I completed my PhD in Immunology at the University of Washington and then moved back to Canada for my postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta to study virus-host interactions including developing a research program studying the newest family of interferons called interferon-lambdas. I joined the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba on November 1, 2020, as an Assistant Professor and GSK Research Chair in Immunology of Infectious Diseases. After some delays establishing a lab during a pandemic and pivoting to study interferon-lambda treatment of mild COVID-19, I am excited to expand my team this year, attend conferences in-person (hopefully) and establish new collaborations.

Name: Rebecca Shapiro
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Fungal genetics, Functional genomics, Antifungal drug resistance, Fungal pathogenesis
Academic Institution: University of Guelph
Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario
Website: The Shapiro Lab
Twitter: @ShapiroRebecca

About You and Your Research:

Our lab studies fungal pathogens and uses genome editing and functional genomic tools to dissect the genetic mechanisms underpinning fungal virulence and antifungal drug resistance.

Name: Shayna Skakoon-Sparling
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow
Research keywords: HIV Prevention, STBBIs, MSM
Academic Institution: Ryerson University
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Twitter: @Shaynagram

About You and Your Research:

Shayna Sparling has a PhD in Applied Social Psychology. She is currently a CIHR-funded postdoctoral research fellow with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University and is the National Team Manager for the Engage Study. Shayna also holds an Affiliate Faculty position with The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.

Shayna's research has primarily focused on motivated reasoning and how intra- and interpersonal factors influence sexual health decision-making and sexual negotiation - related to the prevention of STBBI transmission. In particular, her work examines the need to belong, with a focus on the roles of loneliness and social support in the health and well-being of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Name: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Human immunology and inflammation, Autoimmunity, Cancer, Immunotherapies
Academic Institution: Dalhousie University
Location of Institution: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Website: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa - Department of Microbiology & Immunology
LinkedIn: Channakeshava Sokke Umeshappa

About You and Your Research:

My aspiration to become an immunologist started during my veterinary medicine degree. After completing my Master's in Veterinary Pathology and Immunology at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India, I moved to the University of Saskatchewan to pursue my Ph.D. in the field of Cancer immunology. Then, I pursued my postdoc and subsequently as Research Associate at the University of Calgary under Dr. Santamaria. After a long journey in my research training, I joined Dalhousie University as an Assistant Professor. Currently, my research program studies immunoregulation in chronic diseases, mainly autoimmunity and cancer. We employ cutting-edge systems and methods, including genetically modified murine systems, "omics" and synthetic biology approaches, high-parameter flow cytometry, and imaging, to understand the origins of the diseases and develop immunotherapies. We involve a leading-edge interdisciplinary team of established scientists, clinicians, and trainees to translate research findings into effective therapies.

Name: Matthew Sorbara
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Microbiota, Metabolomics, Colonization resistance, Genomics, Microbiology
Academic Institution: University of Guelph
Location of Institution: Guelph, Ontario
Website: Dr. Matthew Sorbara | Molecular and Cellular Biology

About You and Your Research:

I completed my PhD with Dr. Dana Philpott and Dr. Stephen Girardin at the University of Toronto. Here, I studied the roles of autophagy proteins and Nod-like receptors in epithelial cell responses to infection with invasive enteric pathogens, and how dysregulation of these responses could contribute to inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's Disease.

As a postdoc, I worked with Dr. Eric Pamer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Chicago. I studied the mechanisms of the microbiota's colonization resistance against highly antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and helped establish and characterize a biobank of commensal microbes in order to optimize live biotherapeutic design.

I am excited to have joined the University of Guelph (September 2021). My laboratory will study the complex interactions between members of the microbiota, microbial crosstalk with the host, and the impact the intra-species diversity on the function of small microbial consortia.

Name: Giorgia Sulis
Job title: Postdoctoral Researcher
Research keywords: Epidemiology, Global Health, Tuberculosis, Vaccines, Antibiotics
Academic Institution: McGill University
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health - McGill
Twitter: @giorgiasulis
LinkedIn: Giorgia Sulis

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Sulis is an infectious disease epidemiologist with clinical background and a strong interest in global health research. She received her medical degree (2011) and specialized in infectious and tropical diseases (2017) in Italy; during this time, she conducted clinical and epidemiological research primarily focused on tuberculosis and its coinfection with HIV, in collaboration with several international partners including the WHO. She subsequently expanded her research interests towards antimicrobial resistance, focusing on the use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries, and received her PhD in epidemiology from McGill University in 2021. In her current position of postdoctoral researcher at McGill, Dr. Sulis works in the area of vaccine epidemiology, while also cultivating her research interests in tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.

Name: Véronique Taylor
Job title: Postdoctoral Researcher
Research keywords: Bacteriophage, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Quorum sensing, Motility, Anti-phage defense
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Website: the maxwell lab
Twitter: @vee_coli

About You and Your Research:

I am interested in the evolutionary battle between bacteria and their phage predators. Bacteria are the most vulnerable to a phage outbreak when they form a community and so they use quorum sensing to drive the expression of anti-phage defense systems. I identified that Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages encode proteins which disrupt the quorum sensing cascade, effectively cutting phage defense at the source. We continue to study this process through infection assays, genetic manipulation of both P. aeruginosa and phages and detailed characterization of protein interactions. Before joining the lab of Dr. Karen Maxwell as a postdoctoral fellow, I obtained my PhD in the lab of Dr. Joe Lam at the University of Guelph where I studied lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in P. aeruginosa. I also enjoy games in board, tabletop, or video form and camping in the summer.

Name: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Infection, Neutrophils, Injury, Microscopy
Academic Institution: McGill University
Location of Institution: Montreal, Quebec
Website: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar - Assistant Professor | Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Twitter: @AjithaT4
LinkedIn: Ajitha Thanabalasuriar

About You and Your Research:

My lab is focused on understanding the interplay between innate immune cells particularly neutrophil interactions with bacteria. Using a combination of intricate in vivo models including intravital microscopy, my lab seeks to understand how changes in tissue environment caused by injury can mitigate changes to neutrophil antimicrobial function. Particularly, neutrophil chemotaxis and ability to clear bacterial infections is significantly modified when the cells are exposed to the cytokine TGF- ß.

My lab has three main research focuses:

Determine the impact of TGF-ß on neutrophil heterogeneity and function.
Investigate the role of neutrophil extracellular traps in the aiding the development of bacterial biofilms.
Understand the impact of severe injury on neutrophil production or egress from the bone marrow

Name: Jenny-Lee Thomassin
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Bacteria, Type II secretion, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pathogenic Escherichia coli
Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan
Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Website: Jenny-Lee Thomassin - College of Medicine - Medicine
Twitter: @JennyThomassin
LinkedIn: Jenny-Lee Thomassin

About You and Your Research:

I recently joined the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Saskatchewan as an assistant professor (May 2020). My research interests are focused on how bacteria interact with and shape their local environment. I am specifically interested in the molecular mechanisms involved in protein secretion, the targets of secreted proteins and the underlying mechanisms that promote bacterial survival within their infectious niche. Current work in my lab is focused on studying the bacterial type II secretion system (T2SS) in Klebsiella pneumoniae and pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Name: Christina Thornton
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow
Research keywords: Microbiome, Cystic Fibrosis, Bronchiectasis
Academic Institution: University of Michigan and University of Calgary
Location of Institution: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA and Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Twitter: @Cthornton32
LinkedIn: Christina Thornton

About You and Your Research:

I completed the MD/PhD program at the University of Calgary with my doctoral thesis on the role of the lower respiratory tract microbiome in cystic fibrosis (CF). I then recently went on to train in internal medicine residency and adult respirology fellowship at the University of Calgary. Currently I am at the University of Michigan doing postdoctoral training evaluating the role of the microbiome in CF disease. My career goals are to pursue the role of clinician scientist with a dedicated research program evaluating the microbiome in CF and other suppurative lung disease.

Name: Maria Tokuyama
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Viral Immunology, Endogenous Retroviruses, Viral infection, Autoimmunity
Academic Institution: The University of British Columbia
Location of Institution: Vancouver, British Columbia
Twitter: @maria_tokuyama

About You and Your Research:

I'm an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at UBC. I obtained my PhD from UC Berkeley where I studied the regulation of NKG2D ligands during cytomegalovirus infection. I completed my postdoc training at Yale University in immunobiology where I investigated the impacts of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in systemic lupus erythematosus and in genital herpes simplex virus 2 infection. My research program builds on these studies to further elucidate the physiological role of ERVs in autoimmune diseases and in viral infections. We use a combination of virology, immunology, and bioinformatics techniques to probe cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic functions of ERVs in mouse and human cells. We also rely on patient data to inform us of clinical relevance. Ultimately, our goal is to identify key processes that can be targeted to reduce detrimental inflammation in autoimmune diseases, while boosting beneficial responses to combat viral infections.

Name: Sue Tsai
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: T cell biology, B cell biology, autoimmunity, diabetes, metabolism
Academic Institution: University of Alberta
Location of Institution: Edmonton, Alberta
Website: Profile | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Twitter: @SueYTsai1

About You and Your Research:

Sue is an assistant professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology in the University of Alberta. Her lab studies the immune-metabolic crosstalks in metabolic diseases such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. After getting an honors degree in molecular biology and biochemistry, she went to the University of Calgary and worked on developing antigen-specific immunotherapies for type 1 diabetes, under the supervision of Dr. Pere Santamaria. She then moved further east and did her postdoc with Dr. Daniel Winer at the University Health Network, which led to her current research path. The present foci of Tsai Lab's research are: i) studying how insulin receptor signalling regulates anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity ii) dissecting the role of maternal vs infant IgA in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis.

Name: Anil Kumar
Job title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan
Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Website: Anil Kumar - College of Medicine - Medicine

Name: Jim Sun
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Tuberculosis, Macrophages, Host-directed therapy, Drug discovery, Autophagy, Cell death
Academic Institution: University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine
Location of Institution: Ottawa, Ontario
Website: Jim Sun Lab | Cellular Microbiology of Tuberculosis | Ottawa
Twitter: @SunLabTB
LinkedIn: Jim Sun

About You and Your Research:

I obtained my PhD from UBC and completed my postdoctoral training at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. During my training, I made significant contributions to the field of phagosome biogenesis and host-pathogen interactions between the macrophage and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I started my independent faculty position at the University of Ottawa in July 2017 and my research program is focused on understanding host immunity to tuberculosis. We use multidisciplinary approaches (cellular microbiology, immunology, medicinal chemistry, multi-omics) to improve our understanding of macrophage biology, cell signaling pathways, and host-pathogen interactions in the context of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacterial pathogens. Our goal is to use this knowledge to develop and advance host-directed therapy for bacterial infections.

Name: Christina Guzzo
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords:
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario
Website: Christina Guzzo | Department of Biological Sciences
Twitter: @GuzzoLabUTSC

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Christina Guzzo is an Assistant Professor of Virology at the University of Toronto Scarborough in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her lab studies the surface of the HIV virus, in order to better understand HIV infection and identify novel antiviral targets. Her research is also developing new tools to characterize proteins present on the surface of a broad range of virions, with an emphasis of detecting human proteins that viruses can hijack for their benefit. Dr. Guzzo trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD under the mentorship of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Her post-doctoral studies included the identification of a novel anti-HIV chemokine secreted by host immune cells, and a discovery that HIV can incorporate human integrins into its viral envelope to alter virus trafficking.

Name: Amy Gillgrass
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Research Keywords: Immunology, infectious disease, HIV, TB, humanized mice
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Amy Gillgrass - McMaster Experts

About You and Your Research:
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). I am a member of the McMaster Immunology Research Center (MIRC) and the Institute of Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Before joining McMaster in 2019, I worked in the industry as a Scientist at Turnstone Biologics doing translational cancer therapeutic development. My current research focuses on establishing next-generation humanized mouse models to investigate infectious diseases and cancer. Using these mice, I have developed HIV, TB, and HIV/TB co-infection models to explore pathogenesis, therapeutics, and vaccination. The lab is also exploring the use of these mice to test cancer immunotherapeutics. Due to my expertise in the Level 3 facility, the lab has also developed a novel vaccine for COVID-19.

Name: Alexander Hynes
Job title: Assistant Professor
Research keywords: Bacteriophage, Microbiome, Lysogeny
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON
Website: Farncombe Phage
Twitter: @APHage_

About You and Your Research:

Dr. Hynes joined McMaster as an Assistant Professor in Sept 2017. He's been working on phages since 2008 and intends to continue doing so until he understands them. Working in the Farncombe Family Institute for Digestive Health Research has allowed him to pair his expertise on phages with world-class research programs centered on the human gut microbiome.

Name: Lorena Braid
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: Simon Fraser University
Location of Institution: Burnaby, BC
Website: Lorena Braid - Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Twitter: @LorenaBraid
LinkedIn: Lorena Braid

Name: Kyle Burrows
Job Title: Postdoctoral Fellow
Academic Institution: Department of Immunology; University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, Ontario

Name: Richa Pandey
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: University of Calgary
Location of Institution: Calgary, AB
Twitter: @WeBiTLabUCal
LinkedIn: Richa Pandey

Name: Anil Kumar
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: University of Saskatchewan
Location of Institution: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Website: Anil Kumar - College of Medicine - Medicine | University of Saskatchewan

Name: Wael Elhenawy
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: University of Alberta
Location of Institution: Alberta
Website: Elhenawy lab at the University of Alberta
Twitter: @Wael_Elhenawy84
LinkedIn: Wael Elhenawy

Name: Christopher Lohans
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Institution: Queen’s University
Location of Institution: Kingston, Ontario
Website: Lohans Lab - Queen's University, Canada
Twitter: @ctlohans

Name: Zulma Rueda
Job Title: Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection - Resistance and Control, and Associate Professor
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB
Website: Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Twitter: @zulma_rueda & @lab_rueda
LinkedIn: Zulma Rueda

Planning Committee

Profile:
Name: Shelly Bolotin Job Title: Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases Research Keywords: Vaccines, Serology, Serosurveys, Immunity, Vaccine-preventable diseases Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Bolotin, Shelly - Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Dr. Shelly Bolotin \| Public Health Ontario Bio: Dr. Shelly Bolotin is an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and the Director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, at the University of Toronto. She is also a scientist at Public health Ontario. Shelly's research program utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate whether our population is adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Applying a public health lens, Shelly's studies combine epidemiological and microbiological methods to answer questions related to population immunity and vaccine effectiveness, and determine our future risk for outbreaks or epidemics. Shelly received a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, an MSc and PhD in microbiology at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Name: Keith R. Fowke Job Title: Professor and Head, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Keywords: HIV, Immunology, Immune quiescence, Immune modulation, Immune regulation Academic Institution: University of Manitoba Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB Institute Webpage: Keith Fowke \| Max Rady College of Medicine \| University of Manitoba Bio: Dr. Fowke received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1995) from the University of Manitoba (UM) and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland (1995–1999). In 1999 he was recruited to the UM's Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and is currently a full professor and the Head of the Department. He is also cross appointed with the Dept of Community Health Science (UM) and the University of Nairobi's Department of Medical Microbiology. Current studies include novel approaches to HIV prevention such as reducing inflammation at the genital tract, understanding how to block the negative effects of elevated immune checkpoints in HIV infection to restore the immune response to full capabilities, and determining the effect of solvent use on the immune system and implications on HIV susceptibility. Studies also include antibody responses to respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines against HIV and HPV.
Name: Amy Gillgrass Job Title: Assistant Professor Research Keywords: Immunology, Infectious disease, HIV, TB, Humanized mice Academic Institution: McMaster University Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Amy Gillgrass - McMaster Experts Bio: I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). I am a member of the McMaster Immunology Research Center (MIRC) and the Institute of Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Before joining McMaster in 2019, I worked in the industry as a Scientist at Turnstone Biologics doing translational cancer therapeutic development. My current research focuses on establishing next-generation humanized mouse models to investigate infectious diseases and cancer. Using these mice, I have developed HIV, TB, and HIV/TB co-infection models to explore pathogenesis, therapeutics, and vaccination. The lab is also exploring the use of these mice to test cancer immunotherapeutics. Due to my expertise in the Level 3 facility, the lab has also developed a novel vaccine for COVID-19.
Name: Arthur Mortha Job Title: Assistant-Professor Research Keywords: Host-Microbiota Interactions, Mucosal Immunology, Macrophages, B cells, Innate Lymphoid Cells Academic Institution: University of Toronto Location of Institution: Toronto, ON Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Arthur Mortha \| Immunology Twitter: @theonlylabever LinkedIn: Arthur Mortha Bio: Our research program aims at understanding the fundamental mechanisms of host-microbiota interactions at mucosal surfaces of the gut and the lung. We are investigating the impact of commensal microbes on the biology and function of tissue-resident innate immune cells called innate lymphoid cells and macrophages that actively shape tissue and immune homeostasis of mucosal organs. Identifying microbiota-derived factors that tune the activity of these tissue-resident innate immune cells will be helpful to reinstate balance into diseased organs. Other translational projects investigate how the microbiota contributes to patient heterogeneity and disease severity during chronic inflammatory disease. Lastly, more recent research projects target the use of the microbiome in shaping and training the mucosal antibody response, which will impact the development of mucosal vaccines.
Name: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze Job Title: Associate Professor Academic Institution: McGill University Location of Institution: Montreal, QC Research Keywords: Epidemiology, Transplantation, Translational Research, Precision Medicine, Immune-Mediated Injury Twitter: @sapir_ruth LinkedIn: Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze Bio: Dr. Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, McGill University, and a Clinician Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She obtained her Bachelor of Science and MD from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. After completing a medical specialization in Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Kidney Transplantation, she graduated from the Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program, receiving a Ph.D. in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on studying the determinants of kidney transplant outcomes. She is particularly interested in identifying strategies to prevent immune-mediated injuries following kidney transplantation. Methodologically, she has experience in observational studies using large registries and single-center databases, health services research, systematic reviews, decision analyses, epidemiologic methods for evaluating diagnostic test accuracy in the presence or absence of a gold standard, as well as for analytic methods capable of dealing with time-varying variables and competing risks.
Name: Catherine Worthington Job Title: Professor Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; Community-based research; Mixed methods; Health services access; Implementation research Academic Institution: University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy Location of Institution: Victoria, BC Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Catherine Worthington - University of Victoria Twitter: @Uvic_PHSP LinkedIn: Catherine Worthington Bio: Catherine (Cathy) Worthington is Professor and Director in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria. She has conducted community-based research (CBR) in partnership with communities impacted by the HIV epidemic for over 20 years. Her current work in HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) focuses on STBBI services development with and for First Nation and Métis communities; social inclusion (housing, employment, stigma reduction, comorbidities/disability) for people living with HIV; and training, mentoring and innovations in HIV CBR. She is Nominated Principal Investigator and academic lead for the DRUM & SASH HIV/STBBI Implementation Science team grant (drumandsash.ca), and is on the leadership teams for the GetCheckedOnline Implementation Science team grant (https://getcheckedonline.com/), the CIHR Canadian Clinical HIV Trials Network (CTN, http://www.hivnet.ubc.ca/), and is Co-Director of the CIHR CBR Collaborative, and BC co-lead for the CIHR REACH Centre. She is also on the Governing Council for the FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research (https://feastcentre.mcmaster.ca/).
Name: Charu Kaushic Job title: Scientific Director, CIHR-Institute of Infection and Immunity Research keywords: Mucosal Immunology, Female Genital Tract, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Sex Hormones, HIV, Vaccines Academic Institution: McMaster University Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON Website: Institute of Infection and Immunity - CIHR Twitter: @CKaushic LinkedIn: Charu Kaushic Bio: Charu Kaushic, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III), serving in this role since July 1, 2018. Dr. Kaushic is also a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Medicine in McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. In her role as the Scientific Director for CIHR-III, Dr. Kaushic is responsible for making decisions for CIHR strategic investments in the area of infection and immunity, nationally and internationally. She also represents CIHR and Government of Canada at various national and international forums related to infectious diseases. In this capacity she serves as a Chair of GloPID-R, a global consortium of funders in pandemic preparedness and emergency response research. She also represents Canada on the JPIAMR Steering Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been closely involved in shaping CIHR's research response to the pandemic and is serving on Canada's COVID-19 National Immunity Task Force and Health Canada's Variants of Concern Leadership Group.

Profile:

Name: Shelly Bolotin
Job Title: Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Research Keywords: Vaccines, Serology, Serosurveys, Immunity, Vaccine-preventable diseases
Academic Institution: University of Toronto
Location of Institution: Toronto, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Bolotin, Shelly - Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Dr. Shelly Bolotin | Public Health Ontario

Bio:
Dr. Shelly Bolotin is an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and the Director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, at the University of Toronto. She is also a scientist at Public health Ontario.
Shelly's research program utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate whether our population is adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Applying a public health lens, Shelly's studies combine epidemiological and microbiological methods to answer questions related to population immunity and vaccine effectiveness, and determine our future risk for outbreaks or epidemics.
Shelly received a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, an MSc and PhD in microbiology at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Name: Keith R. Fowke
Job Title: Professor and Head, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Research Keywords: HIV, Immunology, Immune quiescence, Immune modulation, Immune regulation
Academic Institution: University of Manitoba
Location of Institution: Winnipeg, MB
Institute Webpage: Keith Fowke | Max Rady College of Medicine | University of Manitoba

Name: Amy Gillgrass
Job Title: Assistant Professor
Research Keywords: Immunology, Infectious disease, HIV, TB, Humanized mice
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location of Institution: Hamilton, ON
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Amy Gillgrass - McMaster Experts

Bio:
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). I am a member of the McMaster Immunology Research Center (MIRC) and the Institute of Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Before joining McMaster in 2019, I worked in the industry as a Scientist at Turnstone Biologics doing translational cancer therapeutic development. My current research focuses on establishing next-generation humanized mouse models to investigate infectious diseases and cancer. Using these mice, I have developed HIV, TB, and HIV/TB co-infection models to explore pathogenesis, therapeutics, and vaccination. The lab is also exploring the use of these mice to test cancer immunotherapeutics. Due to my expertise in the Level 3 facility, the lab has also developed a novel vaccine for COVID-19.

Name: Catherine Worthington
Job Title: Professor
Research Keywords: STBBI; HIV; Community-based research; Mixed methods; Health services access; Implementation research
Academic Institution: University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy
Location of Institution: Victoria, BC
Profile / Profile on Institution Website: Catherine Worthington - University of Victoria
Twitter: @Uvic_PHSP
LinkedIn: Catherine Worthington

Bio:
Catherine (Cathy) Worthington is Professor and Director in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria. She has conducted community-based research (CBR) in partnership with communities impacted by the HIV epidemic for over 20 years. Her current work in HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) focuses on STBBI services development with and for First Nation and Métis communities; social inclusion (housing, employment, stigma reduction, comorbidities/disability) for people living with HIV; and training, mentoring and innovations in HIV CBR. She is Nominated Principal Investigator and academic lead for the DRUM & SASH HIV/STBBI Implementation Science team grant (drumandsash.ca), and is on the leadership teams for the GetCheckedOnline Implementation Science team grant (https://getcheckedonline.com/), the CIHR Canadian Clinical HIV Trials Network (CTN, http://www.hivnet.ubc.ca/), and is Co-Director of the CIHR CBR Collaborative, and BC co-lead for the CIHR REACH Centre. She is also on the Governing Council for the FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research (https://feastcentre.mcmaster.ca/).

CIHR-III Working Group

Profile:
Name: Suzete Dos Santos Job Title: Senior Policy Analyst Institution: Health Canada Location: Ottawa, ON LinkedIn: Suzete Dos Santos Bio: Suzete Dos Santos has a degree in Sciences of Nursing and 20 years of working for the Government of Canada and other organizations at the provincial level (e.g., Health Canada [HC], the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR], the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and the University of Ottawa). She's currently a Senior Policy Analyst with the COVID-19 Task Force at HC and is also the liaison between the COVID-19 Task Force and the CIHR-Institute of Infection and Immunity. She is passionate of the work of the infection and immunity research community and has worked on various infection control related initiatives (SARS, Sexually Transmitted Blood Borne Infections, Ebola, Antimicrobial Resistance, Lyme, Zika and COVID-19) in her various positions within the Government of Canada.
Name: Eric Hewitson Job Title: Events and Communications Specialist Academic Institution: McMaster University Location: Hamilton, ON LinkedIn: Eric Hewitson Bio: Eric Hewitson is the Events and Communications Specialist for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity. He received his Honours, B.A. from the University of Toronto, where he studied English and Professional Writing and Communications. His work focuses on science, medicine, and public health writing that engages people to make the most informed decisions for themselves and their community.
Name: Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod Job Title: Administrative and Financial Manager Academic Institution: McMaster University Location: Hamilton, ON Website: Institute of Infection and Immunity Twitter: @MacleodPattison LinkedIn: Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod Bio: Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod is the Administrative and Financial Manager at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III) which is housed at McMaster University, serving in this role since August 2018. Prior to joining III, Tiffany worked in an infectious diseases research environment where she grew from Administrative Assistant to a Research Office Coordinator placing her at McMaster University in the infectious disease environment for nearly 18 years. In her role at the III, Tiffany is responsible overseeing the daily management of the III Scientific Directors calendar, office management, financial management as well as being highly involved in event planning within the Institute. In 2011 Tiffany received a President's Award for Outstanding Service while she served in her role as Research Office Coordinator in a clinical trial research environment.
Special Thanks Danielle Vitali Yasnee Beeharry Sharon Ralph

Profile:

Name: Suzete Dos Santos
Job Title: Senior Policy Analyst
Institution: Health Canada
Location: Ottawa, ON
LinkedIn: Suzete Dos Santos

Bio:
Suzete Dos Santos has a degree in Sciences of Nursing and 20 years of working for the Government of Canada and other organizations at the provincial level (e.g., Health Canada [HC], the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR], the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and the University of Ottawa). She's currently a Senior Policy Analyst with the COVID-19 Task Force at HC and is also the liaison between the COVID-19 Task Force and the CIHR-Institute of Infection and Immunity.

She is passionate of the work of the infection and immunity research community and has worked on various infection control related initiatives (SARS, Sexually Transmitted Blood Borne Infections, Ebola, Antimicrobial Resistance, Lyme, Zika and COVID-19) in her various positions within the Government of Canada.

Name: Eric Hewitson
Job Title: Events and Communications Specialist
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location: Hamilton, ON
LinkedIn: Eric Hewitson

Bio:
Eric Hewitson is the Events and Communications Specialist for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity. He received his Honours, B.A. from the University of Toronto, where he studied English and Professional Writing and Communications. His work focuses on science, medicine, and public health writing that engages people to make the most informed decisions for themselves and their community.

Name: Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod
Job Title: Administrative and Financial Manager
Academic Institution: McMaster University
Location: Hamilton, ON
Website: Institute of Infection and Immunity
Twitter: @MacleodPattison
LinkedIn: Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod

Bio:
Tiffany Pattison-MacLeod is the Administrative and Financial Manager at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III) which is housed at McMaster University, serving in this role since August 2018. Prior to joining III, Tiffany worked in an infectious diseases research environment where she grew from Administrative Assistant to a Research Office Coordinator placing her at McMaster University in the infectious disease environment for nearly 18 years. In her role at the III, Tiffany is responsible overseeing the daily management of the III Scientific Directors calendar, office management, financial management as well as being highly involved in event planning within the Institute. In 2011 Tiffany received a President's Award for Outstanding Service while she served in her role as Research Office Coordinator in a clinical trial research environment.

Special Thanks

Danielle Vitali

Yasnee Beeharry

Sharon Ralph

CIHR offers a number of learning modules to help you gain in-depth knowledge about our programs, processes and tools. These modules are intended to ensure that all participants in the peer review process have the same base knowledge of the processes and policies in order to conduct effective and fair peer review.

We have highlighted the following that would be helpful for you to review in advance of the New Investigator Forum.

Learning for participants in peer review

Modules

Excellence in peer review

Conducting Quality Reviews (7 min.)
Bias in Peer Review (30 min.)

Sex and gender considerations in peer review*

Complete one of the following modules based on your methodological expertise:

Peer Review Manual – Project

Contact

CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
MDCL 4025
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N 3Z5

Email: III-IMII@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Twitter: @CKaushic

Date modified:: 2022-04-04

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Spring 2022 Virtual CIHR-III New Investigators Forum
March 29 - March 31, 2022

Welcome to the 8^th New Investigator Forum (NIF) 2022

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Thursday, March 31, 2022

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CIHR-III Working Group

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Spring 2022 Virtual CIHR-III New Investigators Forum March 29 - March 31, 2022

Welcome to the 8th New Investigator Forum (NIF) 2022

Contact

Spring 2022 Virtual CIHR-III New Investigators Forum
March 29 - March 31, 2022

Welcome to the 8^th New Investigator Forum (NIF) 2022