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McGill University Department of Microbiology and Immunology
2015 Annual Report
Submitted by
J. Madrenas, MD, PhD, FCAHS
Canada Research Chair in Human Immunology
Professor and Chairman
On behalf of
Primary members of the
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Section I
Introduction
A. Executive Summary
2015 was an exciting year in the life of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill.
During 2015, we had an External Cyclical Review of the Department, the first review of its kind for (at least) the last 22 years. This process identified key strengths and challenges for our unit, and coalesced different strategic initiatives in consultation with the leadership in the Faculty of Medicine and the Provost office.
In 2015, the department welcomed Dr. Corinne Maurice arriving from Harvard University. Corinne started as a tenure track assistant professor on January 1. Her arrival was the fourth recruitment in the context of departmental faculty renewal in the last three years. In addition, we completed the selection process to recruit a Virologist to the Department: the selected candidate was Dr. Jacques Archambault, who will be joining on August 1, 2016 as a Full Professor with tenure. We successfully completed the promotion to Full Professors of Drs. Ciriacco Piccirillo and Donald Sheppard and the 3 yr. reappointment process for Dr. Selena Sagan, and initiated the promotion to Associate Professor with tenure for Dr. Jorg Fritz (a process successfully completed in May 2016).
In Research, our members were very successful in attracting high calibre awards. Dr. Mark Wainberg was a 2016 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame inductee. Dr. Maurice was awarded a Tier II CRC. Dr. Sagan obtained a CIHR New Investigatorship and submitted her application for a Tier II CRC (which was successful in April 2016). Drs. Maurice and Richer received substantial CFI grants for the establishment of their laboratories. Research output from our members was illustrated in 83 publications, attracting over $7M in peer-reviewed finding and contributing to close to $15M in collaborative funding. Relocation of three members of the department to the Glen Campus was completed in 2015.
The Microbiome and Disease Tolerance Centre (MDTC) at McGill, a multi-disciplinary and trans-departmental Centre that includes a significant number of our researchers, organized the International Symposium on Human Immunity and the Microbiome in partnership with Cell Press-Elsevier and the Canadian CIHR Human Immunology Network (CHIN). This meeting gathered over 325 delegates in Montreal on September 27-29 and was unanimously evaluated as a very successful meeting by partners and attendees.
Thanks to fundraising efforts, the Department continued to offer internal grants to fund innovative collaborative projects both to Departmental members and MDTC members. These grants for this year totalled $30,000. In addition, we were fortunate to receive a donation of a flow cytometer from a corporate partner (Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.).
In terms of Education, the department excelled at the creation and delivery of novel undergraduate and graduate programs. We celebrated the announcement that Dr. Samantha Gruenheid received the 2015 SALTISE Best Practices & Pedagogical Innovators Award –4 University level, an award that recognizes educators who stand out as leaders in the promotion of academic excellence, use of innovative pedagogies, and support of their academic communities. To solidify our commitment to the educational mission, we secured the recruitment of Dr. Claire Trottier as a Teaching Specialist in the Contract Academic Staff category, starting on August 1, 2015. With Dr. Trottier’s leadership, the department continued the process of undergraduate and graduate program redevelopment. The first class of the new BSc-MSc track Integrated Program was welcome into the department. The departmental success in fundraising allowed us to offer two Steinman Summer Undergraduate Research Awards, and one Wares
Family Post-doctoral Fellowship award to support under-graduate and post-doctoral training in our department.
Finally, in terms of Service and Administration, the department embarked in a Beautification Program for the Duff Medical Building to make the physical environment more appealing and functional. We produced a Handbook of Policies and Procedures for the Department, accessible through our departmental webpage, and continued to optimize the administrative operation of the department with the Administrative Excellence Centre #2. Community outreach was also very active with engagement of local schools as well as international universities and corporate partners including the Universite d’Evry Val d’Essone, Tabuk University, and King Saud University.
I would like to thank Drs. Sylvie Fournier and Ciriacco Piccirillo, Chairs of the Departmental Graduate and Undergraduate Education Committees, Ms. Maria Babiak, Associate Director of AEC32, and Ms. Lana Kobeici, Executive Assistant, for their help in the elaboration of this report. It is a true privilege and honor for me to submit the 2015 report documenting the excellence of the members of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill.
Yours in service,
J. Madrenas, MD, PhD, FCAHS
B. Faculty Listing
1. List of Faculty members with primary appointments in the Department
Professors Dr. Joaquin Madrenas (Chairman, 2011-present)
Dr. Albert Berghuis (jointly appointed with Biochemistry) Dr. Greg Matlashewski Dr. Robert Murgita Dr. Martin Olivier (jointly appointed with Medicine) Dr. Mary Stevenson (jointly appointed with Medicine) Dr. Mark Wainberg (jointly appointed with Medicine) Dr. Ciriaco Piccirillo Dr. Donald Sheppard (jointly appointed with Medicine) Associate Professors Dr. Dalius Briedis (jointly appointed with Medicine) Dr. Benoit Cousineau Dr. Sylvie Fournier Dr. Samantha Gruenheid Dr. Herve Le Moual (jointly appointed with Dentistry) Dr. Greg Marczynski Assistant Professors Dr. Jörg Fritz Dr. Irah King Dr. Connie Krawczyk (jointly appointed with Physiology) Dr. Corinne Maurice Dr. Martin Richer Dr. Selena Sagan Academic Associate Dr Claire Trottier 2. List of Faculty with secondary appointments Associate Members Dr. Jack Antel (Department of Neurology, Montreal Neurological Institute) Dr. Amit Bar-Or (Department of Neurology, Montreal Neurological Institute) Dr. Marcel Behr (Division of Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology, MUHC) Dr. Miguel Burnier (Department of Ophthalmology, McGill University) Dr. Nicolas Cermakian (Department of Psychiatry, McGill University) Dr. Ines Colmegna (Department of Medicine, Royal Victoria Hospital) Dr. Andre Dascal (Senior Physician, Jewish General Hospital) Dr. Maziar Divangahi (Meakins-Christie Laboratories, McGill University) Dr Anne Gatignol Dr. Philippe Gros (Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre) Dr. Sabah Hussain (Critical Care Division, Royal Victoria Hospital) Dr. Armando Jardim (Institute of Parasitology, MacDonald Campus)
Dr. Antonis Koromilas (Department of Oncology, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research) Dr. Arnold Kristof (Critical Care Division, Royal Victoria Hospital) Dr. Chen Liang (Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research) Dr. Rongtuan Lin (Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research) Dr. Vivian Loo (Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, MUHC) Dr Judith Mandl (Department of Physiology) Dr. Andrew Mouland (HIV-1 RNA Trafficking Laboratory, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research) Dr. Momar Ndao (Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease) Dr. Dao Nguyen (Department of Medicine, Montreal General Hospital Research Institute) Dr. Kostas Pantopoulos (Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital) Dr. Joyce Rauch (Department of Rheumatology, Montreal General Hospital) Dr. Michael Reed (Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Montreal General Hospital) Dr. Petra Rohrbach (Institute of Parasitology, MacDonald Campus) Dr. Maya Saleh (Department of Medicine, McGill Life Science Complex) Dr. Jose Teodoro (Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre) Dr. Michel Tremblay (Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre) Dr. Christos Tsoukas (Immune Deficiency Treatment Centre – IDTC, Montreal General Hospital) Dr. Bernard Turcotte (Hormones & Cancer Research Unit, Department of Medicine) Dr Silvia Vidal (Department of Human Genetics) Dr Donald Vinh (Department of Medicine ) Dr. Brian Ward (Montreal General Hospital) Dr Jianguo Xia (Institute of Parasitology) Dr. Ji Zhang (Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry) Adjunct Professors Dr Petronela Ancuta Dr. Jacques Archambault Dr. Cheolho Cheong Dr. Albert Descoteaux Dr. Andres Finzi Dr Matthias Gotte Dr George Kukolj Dr. Peter C. K. Lau Dr. Sylvie Lesage Dr. Shan-Lu Liu Dr Woong-Kyung Suh
Affiliated Members Dr. Catherine Paradis-Bleau Dr. Naglaa Shoukry Mohamed 3. Departmental Non-Academic Staff Jennifer Di Massimo, Student Affairs Administrator Monica Toribio/ Bobbie Carin, Student Affairs Coordinator Patrick Ritchie, Senior Administrative Coordinator Elisa Torres, Administrative Coordinator (Accounting & Finance) Aghdas Zhamani, Course Coordinator (Teaching Laboratories) Shan Hong Zhang, Laboratory Technician (Media Laboratory) Richard Arthur, Course Technician (Teaching Laboratories)
Tom Ringer, Technical Assistant
4. Staff of Departmental-Associated Administrative Excellence Centre Maria Babiak, Associate Director, Administration Amy Arnott, Human Resources Advisor Inna Roo, Human Resources Administrator Suzanna Kafadar de Rodriguez, Financial Officer Jackie Krebs, Senior Accounts Administrator
Section II
Research
A. Honours, Awards & Prizes
FRITZ, Jörg
New Investigator Award (A), Salary Support (MSH-122823), “Functions of Nod1 and Nod2 in host resistance.” Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), 2012-2017 – ($300,000)
Programme de bourses de chercheur-boursier “Junior 1” Volet “Fondamental” Award, “Functions of Nod1 and Nod2 in host resistance.” Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS), 2013-2017 – ($37,526)
GRUENHEID, Samantha
Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Bacterial Pathogenesis, Tier II , 2005-2015 SALTISE Best Practices and Pedagogical Innovators Award
MADRENAS, Joaquin
Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Human Immunology, Tier I, 2012-Present
MATLASHEWSKI, Greg
Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS). Rejandra Memorial Day Award, India: For efforts in eliminating visceral leishmaniasis.
MAURICE, Corinne
CIHR Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Gut Microbial Physiology, Tier 2. “The active human gut microbiota and its phage regulators in health and disease.”
OLIVIER, Martin
R.A. Wardle Medal Award (CSZ 2016). Award from the Canadian Society for Zoolozy in recognition to a Canadian-based research for its outstanding contributions in Immunology and Parasitology during his career. * Announced in Fall 2015. To be received in a ceremony after presenting the Wardle Award. Lecture in May 2016.
PICCIRILLO, Ciriaco
Anna Maria Solinas Laroche Career Award in Immunology
SAGAN, Selena, M.
New Investigator Salary Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), 2015-2020 - ($60,000/year)
SHEPPARD, Don
FRSQ Chercheur Boursier Senior, 2012-2016
WAINBERG, Mark
CSM Murray Award for Career Achievement, Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) Member, Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
B. Publications, Conferences and Patents
COUSINEAU, Benoit
Monat, C., Quiroga, C., Laroche-Johnston, F. and Cousineau, B. (2015). The Ll.LtrB intron from Lactococcus lactis excises as circles in vivo: insights into the group II intron circularization pathway. RNA; 21(7):1286-1293. doi: 10.1261/rna.046367.114.
Peres, A.G., Stegen, C., Li, J., Xu, A.Q., Levast, B., Surette, M.G., Cousineau, B., Desrosiers, M. and Madrenas, J. (2015). Uncoupling of pro- and anti-inflammatory properties of Staphylococcus aureus. Infection and Immunity; 83(4):1587-1597. doi: 10.1128/iai.02832-14.
FOURNIER, Sylvie
Van Den Ham, K.M., Shio, M.T., Rainone, A., Fournier, S., Krawczyk, C.M. and Olivier, M. (2015). Iron prevents the development of experimental cerebral malaria by attenuating CXCR3-mediated T cell chemotaxis. PLoS One; 10(3):e0118451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118451.
Yang, M., Peyret, C., Shi, X.Q., Siron, N., Jang, J.H., Wu, S., Fournier, S.* and Zhang, J.* (2015). Evidence from Human and Animal Studies: Pathological Roles of CD8(+) T Cells in Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathies. Frontiers in Immunology; 6:532. * Co-corresponding authors. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00532.
FRITZ, Jörg
Fritz, J.H. and Kufer, T.A. (2015). Editorial: NLR-protein Functions in Immunity. Frontiers in Immunology; 6:306. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00306.
Memari, B., Bouttier, M., Dimitrov, V., Ouellette, M., Behr, M.A., Baglole, C.J., Fritz, J.H., and White, J.H. (2015). Engagement of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in M. tuberculosis-infected macrophages has pleiotropic effects on innate immune signaling. Journal of Immunology; 195(9):4479-4491. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1501141.
Pannu, J., Belle, J.I., Forster, M., Duerr, C.U., Shen, S., Kane, L., Harcourt, K., Fritz, J.H., Clare, S. and Nijnik, A. (2015). Ubiquitin Specific Protease 21 Is Dispensable for Normal Development, Hematopoiesis and Lymphocyte Differentiation. PLOS One; 10(2):e0117304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117304.
Shourian, M., Flaczyk, A., Mindt, B.C., Fritz J.H. and Qureshi, S.T. (2015). The Cnes2 locus on mouse chromosome 17 regulates host defense against cryptococcal infection through pleiotropic effects on host immunity. Infection and Immunity; 83(12):4541-4554. doi: 10.1128/iai.00697-15.
GRUENHEID, Samantha
Brannon, J.R., Burk, D.L., Thomassin, J.L., Portt, A., Berghuis, A., Gruenheid, S.* and Le Moual, H.* (2015). Inhibition of outer membrane proteases of the omptin family by aprotinin. Infection and Immunity; 83(6):2300-2311. * Equally contributing senior author. doi: 10.1128/iai.00136-15.
Brannon, J.R., Thomassin, J.L., Gruenheid, S. and Le Moual, H. (2015). Antimicrobial Peptide Conformation as a Structural Determinant of Omptin Protease Specificity. Journal of Bacteriology; 197(22):3583-3591. doi: 10.1128/jb.00469-15.
Cloutier, M., Gauthier, C., Fortin, J.S., Genève, L., Kim, K., Gruenheid, S., Kim, J. and Thibodeau, J. (2015). ER egress of invariant chain isoform p35 requires direct binding to MHCII molecules and is inhibited by the NleA virulence factor of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Human Immunology; 76(4):292-296. doi: 10.1016/j.humimm.2015.02.002.
Thomassin, J.L., Giannakopoulou, N., Zhu, L., Gross, J., Salmon, K., Leclerc, J.M., Daigle, F., Le Moual, H.* and Gruenheid, S.* (2015). The CpxRA two-component system is essential for Citrobacter rodentium virulence. Infection and Immunity; 83(5):1919-1928. *Equally contributing senior author. doi: 10.1128/iai.00194-15.
Presentations
June 2015 “Molecular Dissection of Host, Pathogen, and Environment interactions in the C. rodentium mouse model of intestinal infection.” INSERM/Centre de Physiopathologie Toulouse Purpan. Toulouse, France. (Invited Speaker).
KING, Irah
Divangahi, M., King, I.L. and Pernet, E. (2015). Alveolar macrophages and type I IFN in airway homeostasis and immunity. Trends in Immunology; 36(5):307-314. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2015.03.005.
Meli, A.P. and King, I.L. (2015). Identification of mouse T follicular helper cells by flow cytometry. Methods in Molecular Biology; 1291:3-11. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2498-1_1.
Tzelepis, F., Verway, M., Daoud, J., Gillard, J., Hassani-Ardakani, K., Dunn, J., Downey, J., Gentile, M.E., Jaworska, J., Sanchez, A.M., Nédélec, Y., Vali, H., Tabrizian, M., Kristof, A.S., King, I.L., Barreiro, L.B. and Divangahi, M. (2015). Annexin1 regulates DC efferocytosis and cross-presentation during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Journal of Clinical Investigation; 125(2):752-768. doi: 10.1172/jci77014.
Urb, M., Snarr, B.D., Wojewodka, G., Lehoux, M., Lee, M.J., Ralph, B., Divangahi, M., King, I.L., McGovern, T.K., Martin, J.G., Fraser, R., Radzioch, D. and Sheppard, D.C. (2015). Evolution of the Immune Response to Chronic Airway Colonization with Aspergillus fumigatus Hyphae. Infection and Immunity; 83(9):3590-3600. doi: 10.1128/iai.00359-15.
Presentations
2015 “The role of integrins in T follicular helper cell initiation and maintenance in Infection and Immunity.” 2015 American Association of Immunology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. (Invited Speaker, Symposium Co-chair).
2015 “Traveling Research Road: Let data and curiosity be your guide.” 2015 Ontario-Québec Undergraduate Immunology Conference, Toronto, Ontario. (Keynote Speaker).
KRAWCZYK, Connie
Blagih, J., Coulombe, F., Vincent, E.E., Dupuy, F., Galicia-Vázquez, G., Yurchenko, E., Raissi, T.C., van der Windt, G.J., Viollet, B., Pearce, E.L., Pelletier, J., Piccirillo, C.A., Krawczyk, C.M., Divangahi, M. and Jones, R.G. (2015). The energy sensor AMPK regulates T cell metabolic adaptation and effector responses in vivo. Immunity; 42(1):41-54. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2014.12.030.
Van Den Ham, K.M., Shio, M.T., Rainone, A., Fournier, S., Krawczyk, C.M. and Olivier, M. (2015). Iron Prevents the Development of Experimental Cerebral Malaria by Attenuating CXCR3-Mediated T Cell Chemotaxis. PLoS One; 10(3):e0118451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118451.
Presentations
2015 “Determining the innate stimulatory potential of plant-made influenza VLPs on
dendritic cells from young and aged mice.” 2015 Influenza Vaccines for the World,
IVW, Albufeira, Portugal. (Invited Talk).
LE MOUAL, Hervé
Brannon, J.R., Burk, D.L., Leclerc, J-M., Thomassin, J-L., Portt, A., Berghuis, A.M., Gruenheid, S.* and Le Moual, H.* (2015). Inhibition of Outer Membrane Proteases of the Omptin Family by Aprotinin. Infection and Immunity; 83(6):2300-2311. *Co-corresponding authors. doi: 10.1128/iai.00136-15.
Brannon, J.R., Thomassin, J.-L., Gruenheid, S. and Le Moual, H. (2015). Antimicrobial Peptide Conformation as a Structural Determinant of Omptin Protease Specificity. Journal of Bacteriology; 197(22):3583-3591. doi: 10.1128/jb.00469-15.
Thomassin, J-L., Giannakopoulou, N., Zhu, L., Gross, J., Salmon, K., Leclerc, J-M., Daigle, F., Le Moual, H.* and Gruenheid, S.* (2015). The CpxRA Two-component System is Essential for Citrobacter rodentium Virulence. Infection and Immunity; 83(5):1919-1928. *Co-corresponding authors. doi: 10.1128/iai.00194-15.
MADRENAS, Joaquin
Gagnon, A., Acosta, J.E., Madrenas, J. and Miller, M.S. (2015). Is Antigenic Sin always “original?”: Re-examining the evidence regarding circulation of a human H1 influenza virus immediately prior to the 1918 Spanish Flu. PLoS Pathogens; 11(3):e1004615.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004615.
Levast, B., Li, Z. and Madrenas, J. (2015). The Role of IL-10 in Microbiome-Associated Immune Modulation and Disease Tolerance. Cytokine; 75(2):291-301. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2014.11.027.
Li, Z., Peres, A.G., Damian, A.C. and Madrenas, J. (2015). Immunomodulation and Disease Tolerance to Staphylococcus aureus. Pathogens 2015; 4(4):793-815. doi: 10.3390/pathogens4040793.
Miller, M.S., Rialdi, A., Ho, J.S.Y., Tilove, M., Martinez-Gil, L., Moshkina, N.P., Peralta, Z., Noel, J., Melegari, C., Maestre, A., Mitsopoulos, P., Heinz, S., Benner, C., Young, J., Feagins, A.R., Madrenas, J., Basler, C., Fernandez-Sesma, A., Becherel, O.J., Lavin, M.F., van Bakel, H. and Marazzi, I. (2015). Human senataxin suppresses the antiviral transcriptional response and controls viral biogenesis. Nature Immunology; 16(5):485-494. doi: 10.1038/ni.3132.
Mitsopoulos, P., Chang, Y.H., Wai, T., König, T., Dunn, S.D., Langer, T. and Madrenas, J. (2015). Stomatin-like Protein-2 is Required for In vivo Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Supercomplex Formation and Optimal Cell Function. Mol Cell Biol; 35(10):1838-1847. doi: 10.1128/mcb.00047-15.
Peres, A.G., Stegen, C., Li, J., Xu, A.Q., Levast, B., Surette, M.G., Cousineau, B., Desrosiers, M. and Madrenas, J. (2015). Uncoupling of pro- and anti-inflammatory properties of Staphylococcus aureus. Infect Immun; 83(4):1587-1597. doi: 10.1128/iai.02832-14.
Presentations
May 2015 “Musica Infecciosa.” XXXVIIth Annual Meeting of the Spanish Society of pediatric Pneumology. Barcelona, Spain. (Keynote address).
June 2015 “Mechanisms of Microbiome-Induced Disease Tolerance: the S. aureus story.” Clinical Genomics Analysis Workshop. IBM - Haifa University. Haifa, Israel. (Keynote address).
MARCZYNSKI, Gregory T.
Marczynski, G.T., Rolain, T. and Taylor, J.A. (2015). Redefining bacterial origins of replication as centralized information processors. Frontiers in Microbiology; 6:610. (Review Article). doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00610.
Wargachuk, R. and Marczynski, G.T. (2015). The Caulobacter crescentus Homolog of DnaA (HdaA) Also Regulates the Proteolysis of the Replication Initiator Protein DnaA. Journal of Bacteriology; 197(22):3521-32. doi: 10.1128/jb.00460-15.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
MATLASHEWSKI, Greg
Engwerda, C. and Matlashewski, G. (2015). Development of Leishmania vaccines in the era of visceral leishmaniasis elimination. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; 109(7):423-424. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trv039.
McCall, L.-I., Zhang, W.W., Dejgaard, K., Diniz Atayde, V., Mazur, A., Ranasinghe, S., Liu, J., Olivier, M., Nilsson, T. and Matlashewski, G. (2015). Adaptation of Leishmania donovani to cutaneous and visceral environments: in vivo selection and proteomic analysis. Journal of Proteome Research; 14(2):1033-1059. doi: 10.1021/pr5010604.
Zhang, W.W. and Matlashewski, G. (2015). CRISPER-Cas9-mediated genome editing in Leishmania donovani. mBio 6(4):e00861-15. doi: 10.1128/mbio.00861-15.
Zhang, W.W. and Matlashewski, G. (2015). Screening Leishmania donovani complex-specific genes required for visceral disease. Methods in Molecular Biology; 1201:339-361. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-1438-8_20.
Presentations
May 2015 “Changing Research Priorities.” CIHR new investigator Forum. Lecture was to provide career advice to new Canadian investigators performing research in infection and immunity. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. (Keynote Speaker).
Sept 2015 “Development of Leishmania vaccines in the era of visceral leishmaniasis elimination.” NIAID/NIH meeting on Visceral Leishmaniasis control and elimination; role for vaccines. Washington DC, U.S.A. (Invited Speaker and Chairman of Meeting Summary and Recommendations Session).
Oct 2015 “Identification of virulence factors required for visceral leishmaniasis.” Immunocon, Indian Annual Immunol Meeting. Patna, India. (Invited Speaker).
Nov 2015 “The need for better diagnostics for Leishmania donovani.” WHO meeting on elimination of visceral leishmaniasis. Freiburg, Germany. (Invited Speaker and Meeting Chairman).
Dec 2015 “Elimination of visceral leishmaniasis through basic and implementation research.” Recipient of the Rejandra Founders Day Award. Patna, India. (Invited Keynote Speaker).
MAURICE, Corinne
Maurice, C.F.+, Knowles, S.+, Ladau, J., Pollard, K.S., Fenton, A., Pedersen, A.B. and Turnbaugh, P.J. (2015). Marked seasonal variation in the wild mouse gut microbiota. The ISME Journal; 9(11):2423-2434. +Authors contributed equally. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2015.53.
Presentations
Sept 2015 “An ecological perspective on the human gut microbiota.” Cell Symposia, Human Immunity and the Microbiome in health and disease. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. September 27-29, 2015. (Invited Speaker).
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
MURGITA, Robert
Aumentado-Armstrong, T.T., Istrate, B. and Murgita, R.A. (2015). Algorithmic Approaches to Protein-Protein Interaction Site Prediction. BMC Algorithms for Molecular Biology; 10(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s13015-015-0033-9.
OLIVIER, Martin
Atayde, V.D., Suau, H.A., Townshend, S., Hassani, K., Kamhawi, S. and Olivier, M. (2015). Exosome Secretion by the Parasitic Protozoan Leishmania within the Sand Fly Midgut. Cell Reports; 13(5):957-967. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.09.058.
Isnard, A., Christian, J., Kodiha, M., Stochaj, U., McMaster, W.R. and Olivier, M. (2015). Impact of Leishmania infection on host macrophage nuclear physiology and nucleopore complex integrity. PLoS Pathogens; 11(3):e1004776 (2015). doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004776.
McCall, L.-I., Zhang, W.-W., Dejgaard, K., Diniz Atayde, V., Mazur, A., Ranasinghe, S., Liu, J., Olivier, M., Nilsson, T. and Matlashewski, G. (2015). Adaptation of Leishmania donovani to cutaneous and visceral environments: In vivo selection and proteomic analysis. Journal of Proteome Research; 14(2):1033-1059. doi: 10.1021/pr5010604.
Shio, M.T., Christian, J., Yong Jung, J., Chang, K.P. and Olivier, M. (2015). PKC/ROS-Mediated NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation is Attenuated by Leishmania Infection. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases; 9(6):e0003868. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003868.
Van Den Ham, K., Rainone, A., Founier, S., Krawczyk, C. and Olivier, M. (2015). Iron Prevents the Development of Experimental Cerebral Malaria by Attenuating CXCR3-mediated T Cell Chemotaxis. PLoS ONE; 10(3):e0118451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118451.
Patents
"Controlled release formulation based on hematin anhydride crystals for the induction of an innate immune reaction." Martin Olivier and Marie-Josée Bellemare. (Patent in Canada, USA and International). Priority: US provisional patent application US 61/327,255; Bundling IP US 12/305672 Claiming a priority date February 12th, 2010. Patent Granted in January 2015.
Presentations
Oct 2015 “Leishmania’s Exosomes and Friends: Impact on Host Immune Response.”
Symposium: Immunology of Leishmaniasis. 11th Congress of the Latin American
Association Immunology, Medellin, Colombia. (Invited Speaker).
Nov 2015 “Leishmania’s exosomes: A new virulence factor to consider.” XXXI Annual Meeting
of SBPZ and XVII Meeting on Basic Research in Chagas Disease, Caxambu, Brazil.
(Keynote Speaker).
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
PICCIRILLO, Ciriaco
Bin Dhuban, K. and Piccirillo, C.A. (2015). The immunological and genetic basis of immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked syndrome. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology; 15(6):525-532. doi: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000214.
Bin Dhuban, K., d'Hennezel, E., Nashi, E., Bar-Or, A., Rieder, S., Shevach, E.M., Nagata, S. and Piccirillo, C.A.* (2015). Co-expression of TIGIT and FCRL3 identifies memory Helios+ human Treg cells. Journal of Immunology; 194(8):3687-3696. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1401803.
Blagih, J., Galicia-Vázquez, G., Dupuy, F., Yurchenko, E., van der Windt, G., Viollet, B., Pearce, E., Pelletier, J., Piccirillo, C.A., Krawczyk, C., Davingahi, M. and Jones, R. (2015). The energy sensor AMPK regulates T cell metabolic adaptation and effector responses in vivo. Immunity; 42(1):41-54. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2014.12.030.
Kaufman, G.N., Massoud, A.H., Dembele, M., Yona, M., Piccirillo, C.A. and Mazer, B.D. (2015). Induction of Regulatory T Cells by Intravenous Immunoglobulin: A Bridge between Adaptive and Innate Immunity. Frontiers in Immunology; 6:469. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00469.
Kornete, M., Mason, E., Girard, J. and Piccirillo, C.A. (2015). Th1-like ICOS+ Foxp3+ Treg cells preferentially express CXCR3 and home to β-islet during pre-diabetes in NOD mice. PLoS One; 10(5):e0126311. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126311.
Presentations
2015 FOCIS Symposium on Regulation of Adaptive Immunity in Humans. (Chair).
2015 CIHR Human Immunology Workshop. (Invited Speaker).
2015 Canadian Human Immunophenotyping Symposium. (Chair).
2015 FOCIS Centres of Excellence Meeting. (Invited Speaker).
RICHER, Martin
Kim, M.T., Richer, M.J., Gross, B.P., Norian, L.A., Badovinac, V.P. and Harty, J.T. (2015). Enhancing dendritic cell-based immunotherapy with IL-2/mAb complexes for control of established tumors. Journal of Immunology; 195(9):4537-4544. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1501071.
Richer, M.J.*, Pewe, L.L., Hancox, L.S., Hartwig, S.M., Varga, S.M. and Harty, J.T.* (2015). Inflammatory IL-15 is required for optimal memory T cell responses. Journal of Clinical Investigation; 125(9):3477-3490. * Co-corresponding author. doi: 10.1172/jci81261.
Presentations
May 2015 “Regulation of memory CD8 T cell function by inflammatory cues.” 4th Annual conference on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, Cancer and Obesity (CIACCO 2015). Eastman, Quebec. (Invited Speaker).
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
SAGAN, Selena M.
Flynn, R.A., Martin, L., Spitale, R.C., Do, B., Sagan, S.M., Zarnegar, B., Qu, K., Khavari, P.A., Quake, S.R., Sarnow, P. and Chang, H.Y. (2015). Dissecting non-coding and pathogen RNA-protein interactomes. RNA; 21(1): 135-143. doi: 10.1261/rna.047803.114.
Sagan, S.M., Chahal, J. and Sarnow, P. (2015). cis-Acting RNA elements in the Hepatitis C virus RNA genome. Virus Research; 206:90-98. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2014.12.029.
Presentations
June 2015 “Dissecting Pathogen RNA-protein Interactomes using FAST-iCLIP.” Functional RNAs: from Natural to synthetic Symposium. Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) Conference 2015, Ottawa, Ontario. (Invited Speaker).
SHEPPARD, Don
Bamford, N.C., Snarr, B.D., Gravelat, F.N., Little, D.J., Lee, M.J., Zacharias, C.A., Chabot, J.C., Geller, A.M., Baptista, S.D., Baker, P., Robinson, H., Howell, P.L., Sheppard, D.C.* (2015). A New Glycoside Hydrolase Family Found in a Common Human Pathogenic Fungus: Sph3 is a glycoside hydrolase required for the biosynthesis of galactosaminogalactan in Aspergillus fumigatus. Journal of Biological Chemistry; 290:27438-50. doi: 10.1074/jbc.p115.679050.
Lee, M.J., Liu, H., Barker, B.M., Bamford, N.C., Snarr, B.D., Gravelat, F.N., Al Abdallah, Q., Gavino, C., Baistrocchi, S.R., Ostapska, H., Xiao, T., Ralph, B., Solis, N.V., Lehoux, M., Baptista, S.D., Thammahong, A., Cerone, R.P., Kaminskyj, S.G.W., Guiot, M.-C., Latge, J.P., Fontaine, T., Vinh, D.C., Filler, S.G. and Sheppard, D.C.* (2015). The Fungal Exopolysaccharide Galactosaminogalactan Mediates Virulence by Enhancing Resistance to Neutrophil Extracellular Traps. PLOS Pathogens; 11(10):e1005187. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005187.
Pongpom, M., Liu, H., Xu, W., Snarr, B.D., Sheppard, D.C., Mitchell, A.P. and Filler, S.G. (2015). Divergent Targets of Aspergillus fumigatus AcuK and AcuM transcription factors during growth in vitro versus invasive disease. Infection and Immunity; 83(3):923-33. doi: 10.1128/iai.02685-14.
Popiel, K.Y., Wong, P., Lee, M.J., Langelier, M., Sheppard, D.C. and Vinh, D.C. (2015). Invasive Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a liver transplant patient: case report and review of infection in transplant recipients. Transplant Infectious Disease; 17(3):435-441. doi: 10.1111/tid.12384.
Robbins, N., Spitzer, M., Yu, T., Cerone, R.P., Averette, A.K., Bahn, Y.-S., Heitman, J., Sheppard, D.C., Tyers, M. and Wright, G.D. (2015). The antifungal combination matrix identifies adjuvant molecules with activity against fungal pathogens. Cell Reports; 13(7):1481-92. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.10.018.
Urb, M., Snarr, B.D., Wojewodka, G., Lehoux, M., Lee, M.J., Ralph, B., Divangahi, M., King, I.L., McGovern, T.K., Martin, J.G., Radzioch, D., Sheppard, D.C.* (2015). The evolution of the immune response to chronic airway colonization with Aspergillus fumigatus hyphae. Infection and Immunity; 83(9):3590-3600. doi: 10.1128/iai.00359-15.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Verweij, P.E., Ananda-Rajah, M., Andes, D., Arendrup, M.C., Brüggemann, R.J., Chowdhary, A., Cornely, O.A., Denning, D.W., Groll, A.H., Izumikawa, K., Kullberg, B.J., Lagrou, K., Maertens, J., Meis, J.F., Newton, P., Page, I., Seyedmousavi, S., Sheppard, D.C., Viscoli, C., Warris, A. and Donnelly, J.P. (2015). International Expert Opinion on the Management of Infection Caused by Azole-Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus. Drug Resistance Updates; 21-22:30-40. doi: 10.1016/j.drup.2015.08.001.
Presentations
Feb 2015 “Aspergillus fumigatus adherence and biofilm formation – a new drug target?” 3rd Program for Nurturing Global Leaders in Emerging Diseases. Nagasaki University. Sakamoto, Japan. (Invited Speaker).
April 2015 “Tissue pharmacokinetics as a guide to improving antifungal efficacy.” 11th Serious Infections Study Forum, Shanghai, China. (Keynote Speaker).
May 2015 “New uses for old antifungal drugs.” 19th Congress of the International Society of Human and Animal Mycology. Melbourne, Australia. (Invited Speaker).
May 2015 “Galectin-3 a non-canonical pattern recognition receptor of A. fumigatus galactosaminogalactan.” 19th Congress of the International Society of Human and Animal Mycology. Melbourne, Australia. (Invited Speaker).
May 2015 “The role of fungal exopolysaccharide in virulence.” 6th Lecture Course on Human Fungal Pathogens, Nice, France. (Invited Speaker).
June 2015 “Development of antibiofilm therapeutics.” MSD Pharmaceuticals Global Advisory Board, Lisbon, Portugal. (Invited Speaker).
Sept 2015 “Integrating novel diagnostics into the management of fungal infections in hematology patients.” Moncton Health Complex, Moncton, New Brunswick. (Invited Speaker).
Oct 2015 “New antifungal agents targeting biofilms.” 7th Trends in Medical Mycology, Lisbon, Portugal. (Invited Lecture).
Oct 2015 “Integrating new pharmacokinetic concepts to antifungal prophylaxis.” Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (Invited Speaker).
STEVENSON, Mary
Presentations
Oct 2015 “Excretory-secretory products derived from a model gastrointestinal nematode: A strategy for identifying immunomodulatory molecules.” Symposium on Molecular Approaches to Understanding the Hygiene Hypothesis. 64th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical, Medicine and Hygiene, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Invited Speaker).
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
WAINBERG, Mark
Anstett, K., Fusco, R., Cutillas, V., Mesplède, T. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Dolutegravir-selected HIV-1 containing the N155H/R263K resistance substitutions does not acquire additional compensatory mutations under drug pressure that lead to higher level resistance and increased replicative capacity. Journal of Virology; 89(20):10482-10488. doi: 10.1128/jvi.01725-15.
Anstett, K., Mesplède, T., Oliveira, M., Cutillas, V. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The Dolutegravir-Resistance Mutation R263K Cannot Co-Exist in Combination with Many Classical Integrase Inhibitor Resistance Substitutions. Journal of Virology; 89(8)4681-4684. doi: 10.1128/jvi.03485-14.
Campos, N., Myburgh, R., Garcel, A., Vautrin, A., Lapasset, L., Nadal, E.S., Mahuteau, F., Naijman, R., Fornarelli, P., Tantale, K., Basyuk, E., Séveno, M., Venables, J.P., Pau, B., Bertrand, E., Wainberg, M.A., Speck, R., Scherrer, D. and Tazi, J. (2015). Long lasting control of viral rebound with a new drug ABX464 targeting Rev–mediated viral RNA biogenesis. Retrovirology; 12:30. doi: 10.1186/s12977-015-0159-3.
Cutillas, V., Mesplède, T., Anstett, K., Hassounah, S. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The R262K substitution combined with H51Y in HIV-1 subtype B integrase confers low-level resistance against Dolutegravir. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; 59(1):310-316. doi: 10.1128/aac.04274-14.
Depatureaux, A., LeBlanc, R., Moisi, D., Brenner, B. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The first report of HIV-1 group O infection in Canada. Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy; 3(1):203. doi: 10.4172/2332-0877.1000203.
Depatureaux, A., Mesplède, T., Quashie, P., Oliveira, M., Moisi, D., Plantier, J.C., Brenner, B., Wainberg, M.A. (2015). HIV-1 group O resistance against integrase inhibitors. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes; 70(1):9-15. doi: 10.1097/qai.0000000000000698.
Han, Y.-S., Xiao, W.-L., Xu, H.T., Kramer, V.G., Quan, Y., Mesplède, T., Oliveira, M., Colby-Germinario, S.P., Sun, H.D. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Identification of a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan as a HIV-1 non nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy; 24(1)28-38. doi: 10.1177/2040206614566580.
Hardy, I., Brenner, B., Quashie, P., Thomas, R., Petropoulos, C., Huang, W., Moisi, D., Wainberg, M.A. and Roger, M. (2015). Evolution of a novel pathway leading to dolutegravir resistance in a patient harboring N155H and multiclass drug resistance. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy; 70(2):405-411. doi: 10.1093/jac/dku387.
Isitman, G., Lisovsky, I., Tremblay-McLean, A., Parsons, M.S., Shoukry, N.H., Wainberg, M.A., Bruneau, J. and Bernard, N.F. (2015). NK cell education does not affect the magnitude of granzyme B delivery to target cells by antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity. AIDS; 29(12):1433-1443. doi: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000729.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Kramer, V., Hassounah, S., Colby-Germinario, S., Oliveira, M., Lefebvre, E., Mesplède, T. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The dual CCR5 and CCR2 inhibitor Cenicriviroc does not redistribute HIV into extracellular space: implicaitons for plasma viral load and intracellular DNA decline. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy; 70(3):750-756. doi: 10.1093/jac/dku451.
Mesplède, T. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Resistance against Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors and Relevance to HIV Persistence. Viruses; 7(7):3703–3718. doi: 10.3390/v7072790.
Mesplède, T., Moisi, D., Oliveira, M., Ibanescu, I., Ohnona, F., Brenner, B. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Dolutegravir inhibits HIV-1 Env evolution in primary human cells. AIDS; 29(6):659-665. doi: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000606.
Mesplède, T., Quashie, P.K., Hassounah, S., Osman, N., Han, Y., Liang, J., Singhroy, D.N. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The R263K substitution in HIV-1 subtype C is more deleterious for integrase enzymatic function and viral replication than in subtype B. AIDS; 29(12):1459-1466. doi: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000752.
Oliveira, M., Mesplède, T., Moisi, D., Ibanescu, I.R., Brenner, B.G. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). The dolutegravir R263K resistance mutation in HIV-1 integrase is incompatible with the emergence of resistance against raltegravir. AIDS; 29(17):2255-2260. doi: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000866.
Osman, N., Mesplède, T., Quashie, P., Oliveira, M., Zanichelli, V. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Dolutegravir maintains a durable effect against HIV replication in tissue culture even after drug washout. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy; 70(10):2810-2815. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkv176.
Quashie, P.K., Han, Y.S., Hassounah, S., Mesplède, T. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Structural studies of the HIV-1 integrase protein: Compound screening and characterization of a DNA-binding inhibitor. PLOS ONE; 10(6):e0128310. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128310.
Quashie, P.K., Oliviera, M., Veres, T., Osman, N., Han, Y.S., Hassounah, S., Lie, Y., Huang, W., Mesplède, T. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Differential effects of the G118R, H51Y and E138K resistance substitutions in different subtypes of HIV integrase. Journal of Virology; 89(6):3163-3175. doi: 10.1128/jvi.03353-14.
Singhroy, D.N., Wainberg, M.A. and Mesplède, T. (2015). The combination of the R263K and M184I/V resistance mutations against dolutegravir and lamivudine decreases HIV viral fitness. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; 59(5):2882-2885. doi: 10.1128/aac.05181-14.
Wares, M., Hassounah, S., Mesplède, T., Sandstrom, P.A. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Simian-tropic HIV as a model to study drug resistance against integrase inhibitors. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; 59(4):1942-1949. doi: 10.1128/aac.04829-14.
Xu, H.T., Colby-Germinario, S.P., Quashie, P.K., Bethell, R. and Wainberg, M.A. (2015). Subtype-specific analysis of the K65R substitution in HIV-1 that confers hypersusceptibility to a novel
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
nucleotide-competing reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; 59(6):3189-3196. doi: 10.1128/aac.00315-15.
Yu, J.H., Wang, G.C., Han, Y., Wu, Y., Wainberg, M.A. and Yue, J.M. (2015). Limonoids with Anti-HIV Activity from Cipadessa cinerascens. Journal of Natural Products; 78(6):1243-1252. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00025.
Zhang, H., Han, Y., Wainberg, M.A. and Yue, J.M. (2015). Anti-HIV Securinega alkaloid oligomers from Flueggea virosa. Tetrahedron; 71(22):3671-3679. doi: 10.1016/j.tet.2014.10.064.
Zhu, W., Lei, R., Le Duff, Y., Li, J., Guo, F., Wainberg, M.A. and Liang C. (2015). The CRISPR/Cas9 system inactivates latent HIV-1 proviral DNA. Retrovirology; 12(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s12977-015-0150-z.
Presentations
April 2015 “Should All New HIV Patients Now be Started on Integrase Inhibitors?” Aventura, Florida, U.S.A.
May 2015 “Are All HIV Integrase Inhibitors the Same or Are Some Impervious to the problem of Drug Resistance?” Health Canada Public Health Agency. Ottawa, Ontario.
June 2015 “Are We Close to the End of the HIV Epidemic?” Canadian Society for Microbiology Award Lecture. Regina, Saskatchewan.
Aug 2015 “Should Dolutegravir Be Used to Treat All Newly Diagnosed patients in 2015?” Ichilov Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Feb 2015 “The Use of Dolutegravir Will Lead to Auto-Vaccination against HIV Disease.” Global Health Research Initiative. HIV Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
C. Grants
Faculty Member Role Project Title Granting
Agency Annual Total
Funding Period
COUSINEAU, Benoit
PI Immune modulatory bacteria for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis
MSD $100,000 2014-2016
PI Bacterial group II introns: splicing, function and evolution
NSERC $50,000 2013-2018
FOURNIER, Sylvie
Applicant Support for the Microbiology and Immunology Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility
CFI-IOF Reserve Fund
$50,000 2015-2017
Applicant Intestinal Microbiota Influences Susceptibility To CD8 T Cell-Mediated Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
Radcliff Bequeath
Research Fund $20,000 2015-2016
FRITZ, Jörg
PI Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating immunoglobulin A production
NSERC $30,000 2012-2017
PI Functions of Nod1 and Nod2 in host resistance CIHR $132,308 2011-2016
Co-PI GET-FACTS: Genetics, Environment and Therapies: Food Allergy Clinical Tolerance Studies
CIHR $392,121 2013-2018
GRUENHEID, Samantha
PI Rspo2: Tipping the balance between intestinal homeostasis versus dysfunction
CIHR $135,000 2014-2019
PI Bacterial effector proteins as tools to study cell biology
NSERC $41,000 2014-2019
PI Canada Research Chair in Bacterial Pathogenesis CRC Salary Award
$100,000 75% Salary
25% Operating 2010-2015
Co-I A Syst-OMICS approach to ensuring food safety and reducing the economic burden of salmonellosis
Genome Canada Genome Quebec
$2,450,000 2015-2019
Co-I
Les systèmes de régulation à deux composantes comme cibles thérapeutiques pour le traitement des infections causées par les Escherichia coli entéropathogènes
FQRNT $60,000 2012-2015
KING, Irah
PI Novel pathways in T lymphocyte differentiation and function
NSERC Discovery Award
$29,000 2015-2020
PI The effect of anti-mycobacterial antibiotics on the microbiota and host immunity to tuberculosis
MDTC New Initiatives Award $15,000 2015-2016
PI Tier II CRC in Humoral Immunity CIHR Salary
$100,000 2013-2018
PI T follicular helper cell differentiation and function in immunity and infection
CIHR Operating Grant $150,000 2013-2018
KRAWCZYK, Connie
PI Dendritic cells and the tumour microenvironment: therapeutic targets for cancer therapy
Merck Sharpe & Dohme Corp.
$42,000 2014-2015
PI Molecular Regulation of Dendritic Cell Function CIHR $158,178 2013-2018
PI miRNA regulation of Dendritic Cell Function NSERC $26,000 2012-2017
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Faculty Member Role Project Title Granting Agency
Annual Total
Funding Period
KRAWCZYK, Connie
PI Molecular Regulation on Dendritic Cell Function CFI $83,333 2012-2015
Co-PI Exploiting plant-made vaccine to protect the elderly against respiratory viruses
FPQIS $48,000 2014-2018
LE MOUAL, Hervé
PI Emerging roles for phosphoethanolamine modification of bacterial lipopolysaccharide
NSERC Discovery Grant
$35,000 2014-2019
PI
Les systèmes de régulation à deux composantes comme cibles thérapeutiques pour le traitement des infections causées par les Escherichia coli entéropathogènes.
FQRNT $60,000 2012-2015
MADRENAS, Joaquin
PI System Immunobiology of S. aureus Pathobiosis: Role of the AhR Gene Program
CIHR Operating
$150,060 2015-2020
PI Regulation of T cell Activation by Stomatin-Like Protein 2
CIHR Operating
$148,373 2013-2018
PI Tier I Canada Research Chair in Human Immunology CRC Salary
$200,000 2012- .
PI Systems Immunology of S. aureus infection CIHR Operating
$166,672 2010-2015
Co-PI Immune modulatory bacteria for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis
MSD/McGill Faculty of Medicine
Translational Research
$100,000 2015-2016
Co-PI Canadian National Transplant Research Program CIHR
Strategic Research Initiative
$2,400,000 2013-2018
Co-PI Mortality risks in later life from exposure to pandemic influenza in early life: the 1890 and 1918 influenza in Canada.
CIHR Operating
$90,856 2013-2016
MARCZYNSKI, Gregory T. PI Bacterial chromosome replication control by novel proteins.
CIHR $137,712 2013-2018
MATLASHEWSKI, Greg
PI Control of Leishmania Pathogenesis. CIHR $149,600 2013-2018
Co-applicant
Development of a safe and effective live attenuated vaccine for Leishmaniasis
Global Health Innovation
Technology Fund
$900,000 USD
2015-2017
Co-applicant
Point of care diagnosis of Visceral leishmaniasis in India.
Grand Challenge Canada in conj. with
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
$197,400 2011-2016
MAURICE, Corinne
PI The active human gut microbiota and its phage regulators in health and disease.
CIHR CRC, Tier 2
$15,000 2015-2020
PI The active human gut microbiota and its phage regulators in health and disease.
CFI John R. Evan’s Leader’s Fund
$50,000 2015-2020
PI Control of gut health by phage infection -- Role of phages in the gut and implications for stunting in children.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation + Grand
Challenges Global Health Programs
$100,000 2015-2017
Co-PI Bacterial dysbiosis and the onset on periodontitis. MIMM
Radcliff Bequeath $20,000 2016-2017
MURGITA, Robert PI Use of Artificial Intelligence to design new drug candidates
Martinex R&D Inc unrestricted indefinite
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Faculty Member Role Project Title Granting Agency
Annual Total
Funding Period
OLIVIER, Martin
PI Hemozoin and Malaria Biomarkers: Role in the modulation of inflammatory responses and development of Malaria-related Pathologies
CIHR Operating Grant
$150,000 2012-2017
PI Role of Iron in the Regulation of PTPs: Impact on Cell Signaling and Functions
NSERC Discovery Grant
$48,000 2012-2017
PI Subversion of Macrophage Signaling by the Protozoan Parasite Leishmania
CIHR Operating Grant
$168,000 2011-2016
Co-PI Deciphering the signaling mechanisms underlying Ebola virus-mediated inflammatory response upon interaction/entry with human macrophages
CIHR $59,785 2015-2017
PICCIRILLO, Ciriaco
PI Translational control of gene expression in Foxp3+
regulatory T cells CIHR
Operating Grant $165,000 2012-2017
Co-PI Exploiting plant-made vaccines to protect the elderly against respiratory viruses
FPQIS $12,003,838 2014-2019
Co-PI Molecular alterations in type I diabetes CIHR Operating Grant
$369,478 2014-2017
Co-PI GET-FACTS: Genetics, Environment and Therapies: Food Allergy Clinical Tolerance Studies
CIHR Operating Grant
$392,000 2011-2016
Co-PI Integrated Training Program in Basic and Clinical Aspects of Neuroinflammation
CIHR Training Grant on
Neuroinflammation $1,500,000 2010-2015
Co-PI Functional biology of OGR1 NIH $425,000 2010-2015
RICHER, Martin
PI Laboratory to study the regulation of CD8 T cell function in health and disease
CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund $250,000
PI Untitled McGill
Bridge Funding $25,000 2015-2016
Co-PI Inflammatory cytokines regulate the antigen sensitivity of CD8 T cells by modulating the expression of microRNAs
MIMM
Radcliffe Bequeath $20,000 2015-2016
Co-applicant
Intestinal Microbiota Influences Susceptibility To CD8 T Cell-Mediated Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy
MDTC $20,000 2015-2016
SAGAN, Selena M.
PI Interrogating Dengue Virus (DENV) RNA Structure in Human and Mosquito Cells
FRQNT $20,000 +$15, 696 equip.
2015-2017
PI 5th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus: “We’re not done yet: remaining challenges in HCV”
CIHR Planning & Dissemination $10,000 2015-2016
PI Mechanisms governing Hepatitis C virus genome stability and viral RNA accumulation
CIHR Operating Grant
$136,738 2014-2019
PI Laboratory for studying host-virus interactions in Hepatitis C virus infections
CFI $40,000 2014-2019
PI Using live cell SHAPE to investigate the dynamic structure of HCV RNA during the viral life cycle
NSERC Discovery Grant
$35,000 2014-2019
Co-PI Inflammatory cytokines regulate the antigen sensitivity of CD8 T cells by modulating the expression of microRNAs
MIMM Radcliffe Bequeath
$20,000 2015-2016
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Faculty Member Role Project Title Granting Agency
Annual Total
Funding Period
SAGAN, Selena M.
Co-Applicant National Hepatitis C Collaborative Network (NHCCN) CIHR
Team Grant $900,000 2015-2020
Co-Applicant 4th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus CIHR
Meeting & Dissemination $10,000 2014-2015
SHEPPARD, Don
PI Recombinant hydrolases as anti-biofilm therapies for Aspergillus infections
CIHR Proof of Principle
$151,459 2015-2016
PI Mechanisms of Aspergillus fumigatus induced progression of chronic airway disease in cystic fibrosis
Cystic Fibrosis Canada
$77,150 2015-2018
PI Carbohydrate Acetylation in Pathogenesis GlycoNET $133,119 2015-2018
PI
Understanding and exploiting the activity of galectin-3 as a non-canonical pattern recognition receptor for fungal cell wall glycans in order to improve outcomes during fungal infections
GlycoNET $133,119 2015-2018
PI Molecular Mechanisms of Invasive Aspergillosis CIHR Operating Grant
$133,933 2014-2019
PI Mechanisms of Aspergillus induced chronic airway disease
CIHR Operating Grant
$87,107 2012-2017
PI
Galactosaminogalactane : un nouveau facteur de virulence pour les moisissures de type Aspergillus, et une cible pour le développement d’outils diagnostiques et thérapeutiques en réponse aux aspergilloses invasives
PSR-MIEIE $35,000 2013-2017
PI Molecular and cellular pharmacology of posaconazole: implications for antifungal therapy
Merck Investigator Study Proposals
$64,744 2014-2015
Co-PI Transcriptional regulation of A. fumigatus virulence NIH $90,053 USD
2012-2016
Co-PI Candidate Countermeasures against Fungal Infections
NIH $80,000 USD
2011-2016
STEVENSON, Mary PI Iron homeostasis and the pathogenesis of malarial anemia
CIHR $113,101 2013-2018
WAINBERG, Mark
PI Novel approaches aimed at HIV vaccine development CIHR Vaccine Team Grant
$149,500 2012-2016
PI Drug resistance in HIV CIHR $135,000 2012-2017
PI Can we cure HIV? CIHR $122,000 2014-2017
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Section III
Teaching and Learning
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Initiatives and Innovations related to Teaching Programs
A. Graduate Programs:
Fifteen new students, who received a total of $73,500 in Graduate Excellence Fellowships, were
accepted in the graduate program in 2015. Departmental fellowships, including Graduate Excellence
fellowships, were also awarded to 26 of our returning graduate students for a total of $91,500. Travel
awards were also granted to 6 trainees to support presentation of their work at national or international
conferences.
The 2015 Wilfred Yaphe awards for the best MSc and PhD final seminars were attributed respectively to Isabelle Desloges (Dr. Le Moual lab) and Alessandra Ricciardi (Dr. Ndao lab). The Departmental Gala award for outstanding achievement in the MSc program was attributed to Phoebe Zhong (Dr. Saleh lab). The Wares Family postdoctoral fellowship was granted to Dr. Mitra Yousefi from Dr. Gruenheid laboratory. François Coulombe (Dr. Divanggahi lab) received the Departmental Gala award for his outstanding achievement in the PhD program. Most remarkably, François Coulombe also received at the 2015 June convocation the Governor General’s Gold Medal, conferred upon the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a Doctoral degree in 2014-2015 in any discipline and the Gordon A. Maclachlan Prize, conferred to the most outstanding graduate receiving a Ph.D. degree during the academic year in any discipline of the Biological Sciences or Health Sciences.
An additional course (MIMM 606) was added to the graduate program in 2015. Immunopathogenesis of
Human Diseases, which is coordinated by Dr. Divangahi, addresses the critical role of immune-regulatory
mechanisms (cellular/molecular) for maintaining the balance between immune-protective and immune-
driven pathology as well as its potential consequences on systemic pathology.
Dr. John Brumell from the University of Toronto delivered the keynote lecture of the 4th Annual
Graduate Research Day that was held on May 22nd 2014. At this event, 7 prizes totalizing $1550 were
given for best oral and poster presentations.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
B. Undergraduate Programs:
In 2015, our Department continued the redevelopment of our undergraduate program. Highlights include: 1) Redeveloped MIMM323: This required U2 microbiology course was fully redeveloped over the
summer by Dr. Greg Marczynski once he became the sole lecturer. Dr. Marczynski revised the learning outcomes, adopted active learning strategies in his class, created online quizzes to prepare students for lectures, and developed an innovative written assignment that included a peer review element. This assignment allowed students to develop their writing skills, acquire knowledge about recent research findings, and gain experience in peer review. A similar redevelopment is currently being prepared in other courses, particularly in the virology stream.
2) SALTISE award for Dr. Samantha Gruenheid: Dr. Gruenheid won the 2015 SALTISE “Best Practices
and Pedagogical Innovators Award for University Instructors.” This award was given in large part due to the implementation of the Small World Initiative in MIMM212 and Dr. Gruenheid’s involvement in coordinating this multi-institutional initiative. This project tackles the worldwide problem of antibiotic resistance by crowdsourcing the discovery of novel antibiotics by screening soil bacteria, and has generated a lot of excitement in our students.
3) Increased enrollment in MIMM: We are experiencing an increased enrollment in our undergraduate
program, with 280 students enrolled in Fall 2015 (compared to 251 in 2014 and 280 in 2013). We believe this increase is a reflection of renewed interest in our program as a result of our redevelopment efforts, although other factors are likely at play as well. Our changes have been well received by our students, and MIMM212 in particular has received substantial coverage in the McGill press. Our presence at various McGill venues (Open House) and local CEGEPs also represent important opportunities to showcase our Program and its benefits to student education and career development.
We are grateful that our Program is generating this level of excitement. However, this increased enrollment is presenting us with a series of challenges, particularly in our lab courses. Our teaching labs can’t physically accommodate more than 124 students, we have no budget for reagents, and a decreasing TA budget. We have been advocating for renovations to our teaching labs and dedicated funds for teaching, and unless we can secure these resources our Department will be forced to implement a cap on our Program beginning in Fall 2017.
4) Pilot testing TopHat in MIMM211: We tested the use of this in class response system in this large U1 introductory course. TopHat is a program that enables students to answer questions posed by the instructor during class using a lap top, smart phone or tablet. Dr. Benoit Cousineau and Dr. Selena Sagan used this system in their lectures to test student’s knowledge, and provide immediate feedback based on their answers. Students appreciated the use of this technology, which allows them to actively engage with the material during class time.
5) Program outcomes finalized: Our Department finalized the Program Outcomes, a process that was started at a teaching retreat in March 2013. These have been formally endorsed by the Department, and are currently being used in a curriculum mapping project that will help determine next steps for changes to our undergraduate program.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
C. Success Stories of Faculty and Students
January
Implemented by Dr. Samantha Gruenheid, the Small World Initiative has been a resounding success. Congrats to Dr. Gruenheid for taking on this leadership role, as well as Simon Hernandez and all the students that contributed to this success.
Dr. Mary Stevenson joins the department as a Tenured Full Professor (jointly appointed with the Department of Medicine).
Congrats to the Radcliffe awardees: Drs. Martin Richer and Selena Sagan. The MDTC awardees are Drs. Sylvie Fournier and Ji Zhang, and Drs. Irah King, Maz Divangahi and Dick Menzies.
February
Dr. Corinne Maurice joins the department as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor.
March
Dr. James Coulton retires, succeeding to Professor Emeritus status.
Dr. Martin Olivier as well as Caroline Martel, a research assistant in his lab, discuss their approach to treating leishmania using tattoo needles in the lead story of a recent episode of Le code Chastenay.
April
Olivia Ganescu (U1) receives the Institut Genetique Biologie Moleculaire Cellulaire (IGBMC) Undergraduate Summer Internship, in Strasbourg France.
Tyler Cannon (U2) receives a NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award for Summer 2015 to undertake research in the Gruenheid lab.
Dr. Samantha Gruenheid is named the Canadian Representative of the Small World Initiative program. In this role, she will be the leader for expanding the program within Canada.
Dr. Marcel A. Behr publishes an article in the Montreal Gazette: Opinion: “It is the global community's responsibility to help eradicate tuberculosis.”
Dr. Claire Trottier receives the 2015-2016 Biology Scholars Program Research Residency, offered by the American Society for Microbiology.
May
The Department welcomes its first class of the newly minted BSc/MSc program. This new program is a way to fast track into graduate studies by providing (paid!) research opportunities during the summer after U2 and continuing into U3 and a full year of MSc
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
research. This first year, six students have been accepted in this program in our Department.
Todd Douglas (PhD student) receives Keystone Symposia Scholarship: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Scholarship. Todd was invited to deliver an oral presentation at the Keystone Symposia on Mechanisms of Pro-Inflammatory Diseases, April 19 - April 24, 2015, Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley, California.
Both Drs. Ciriaco Piccirillo and Andrew Mouland receive promotion to Full Professor.
Lucila Baldassarre (U1) receives the Ralph Steinman SURA award. Lucila will join Dr. Hervé Le Moual’s research team working on a project concerning the formation of outer-membrane vesicles in Gram-negative bacteria.
Dr. Greg Matlashewski receives Grant to support his project on visceral leishmaniasis elimination in India, a collaboration between India and Canada to save children’s lives.
June
Dr. Mark Wainberg’s candidature for the Canadian Society for Microbiologists Murray Award has been selected unanimously by the members of the evaluation committee.
Erica Ma (U3) receives a CIHR Summer Studentship Award to work in Dr. King’s lab this summer. The title of her project is “Identification of novel cytokine-producing leukocytes using multidimensional flow cytometric analysis.”
Alexandre Meli (PhD candidate) receives a 3-year FRQS Doctoral Award to complete his PhD in Dr. King’s lab. The title of his project is “Integrin mediated induction and maintenance of T follicular helper cells.”
Isabelle Desloges (co-supervised by Drs. Le Moual and Gruenheid) wins the Wilfred Yaphe Award for best M.Sc. Graduate student seminar for 2014/2015.
Alessandra Ricciardi (supervised by Dr. Ndao) wins the Wilfred Yaphe Award for best Ph.D. Graduate student seminar for 2014/2015.
Deeva Uthayakumar wins the Ralph Steinman SURA. She will be working on a project assessing the biological role of bacterial group II introns in Dr. Cousineau’s lab.
Dr. Samantha Gruenheid receives the 2015 SALTISE Best Practices & Pedagogical Innovators Award – University level. The SALTISE Best Practices & Pedagogical Innovators Award recognizes educators who stand out as leaders in the promotion of academic excellence, use of innovative pedagogies, and support of their academic communities.
September
Aditya Mohan receives the Schulich Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships in Canada. He comes from Ottawa and has already done research into HIV (for which he won a 2014 Manning Young Canadian Innovator Award and the 2015 Sanofi BioGenius National Challenge), algal biofuels and oncology, exploring oncolytic viruses. Aditya was recently
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
named a Top 20 Under 20 recipient by Plan Canada. We are proud to have recruited him to our program.
Dr. Selena Sagan has been awarded a CIHR New Investigator Award, a very competitive and prestigious salary award.
Dr. Don Sheppard receives promotion to Full Professor.
Dorival Martins (PDF in Dr. Dao Nguyen lab) receives Travel Award for the ASM Pseudomonas 2015 conference.
Dr. Martin Richer receives funding for his proposal for the February CFI 2015 John R. Evans Leaders Fund competition.
Kelsey Adams, for her participation in the following article: Effective Inhibition of HIV-1 Production by Short Hairpin RNAs and Small Interfering RNAs Targeting a Highly Conserved Site in HIV-1 Gag RNA Is Optimized by Evaluating Alternative Length Formats.
Dr. Joaquín (Quim) Madrenas has been awarded a $750,300 CIHR Operating Grant on his project 'System Immunobiology of S. aureus pathobiosis: Role of the AhR Gene Program'
Following a Call for Nominations sent July 16, 2015 for representatives of the full-time academic staff at-large of McGill University, including ranked contract academic staff, holding the rank of full professor, associate professor, assistant professor and faculty lecturer, for a term of three years commencing September 1, 2015, two nominations were received. Congratulations to Samantha Gruenheid, Faculty of Medicine, and Margaret Levey, School of Continuing Studies have thus been elected by acclamation.
MIMM loans a microscope to the McGill Robotics Mars Rover Team, contributing to their success! Their goal was to design and manufacture a Rover for the Mars Society University Rover Challenge, taking place in the Mars Desert Rover Station (MDRS) in Utah, USA.
October
Dr. Samantha Gruenheid receives funding by Genome Canada/Genome Quebec, as part of a large (9.8M) collaborative group grant. Title: A Syst-OMICS approach to ensuring food safety and reducing the economic burden of salmonellosis.
November
Pubmed just listed 20 publications from MDTC (our Microbiome and Disease Tolerance Centre).
Dr. Mark Wainberg has been selected for induction to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame! This induction recognizes outstanding contributions to health have made Canada, and the world, a better place. The induction ceremony will be held in association with McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences on April 14, 2016 at The Hamilton Convention Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Dr. Brian Ward: It has been a great month, as he is part of the recipients of the following grants: CIHR, US Dept. of Defense and CIHR/Canadian Immunization Research Network, Also, he has been asked to represent Canada on the Scientific Advisory Board of GloPID-R (Global Preparedness for Infectious Diseases Research). This is a new international organization initially supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Merieux Foundation that brings together most of the major international funding agencies interested in emerging infections.
Nirmin Alsahafi (PhD student in Dr. Finzi’s lab) receives the pre-Doctoral Student Award at the 10th Anniversary of the Duke CHAVI-ID Retreat Meeting.
Erica Ma (UG student in Dr. King’s lab) receives 2nd prize in the Medical Sciences Category at this year Undergraduate Research Conference at McGill. "Systemic coordination of eosinophilia following immune challenge" (Supervisor: Prof. Irah King).
December
Nirmin Alsahafi (PhD student in Dr. Finzi’s lab) receives prize for her poster presentation at FRQS conference on Friday October 31, 2015!
Dr. Corinne Maurice receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The proposal was selected in the Grand Challenges competition and focused on the role of bacteriophages in stunting in children.
Dr. Selena Sagan receives three year reappointment.
Dr. Greg Matlashewski receives Rajandra Memorial Foundation Day Award for his work on elimination of Leishmaniasis.
Erica Ma takes 2nd Place at the Undergrad Research Conference at McGill in Medical Sciences Category
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
D. MIMM Students who received M.Sc. Degrees in 2015
Student Thesis Title Supervisor
BARBE, Francois The role of necroptosis in inflammatory bowel disease Dr. Maya Saleh
CUTILLAS, Vincent The R262K substitution combined with H51Y in HIV-1 subtype B integrase confers low-level resistance against Dolutegravir
Dr. Mark Wainberg
DESLOGES, Isabelle The outer-membrane protease family of omptins in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli
Dr. Herve LeMoual / Dr. Samantha Gruenheid
LI, Junbin Isolation and preliminary characterization of anti-inflammatory molecules from the Staphylococcal cell wall
Dr. Joaquin Madrenas
SAMPATHKUM, Gowthami
Understanding the regulation of super-oxide dismutases by the stringent response and their contribution to anti-biotic tolerance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Dr. Dao Nguyen
SHAH, Kathleen A role for intestinal microbiota in the homeostatic regulation of type II immunity Dr. Irah King
SHARON, David
Inhibition of the anaphase promoting complex/cyclo-some mediates G2/mitotic arrest and host translational repression during chicken anemia virus infection
Dr. Jose Guerreiro Teodoro
E. MIMM Students who received Ph.D. Degrees in 2015
Student Thesis Title Supervisor
BRANNON, John Outer-membrane proteases at the forefront of the host-pathogen evolutionary arms race Dr. Herve Le-Moual
KULKARNI, Anupriya Mechanisms of action and resistance to novel inhibitors of the hepatitis-C virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
Dr. Matthias Gotte / Dr. Selena Sagan
LAFAYETTE, Shantelle The impact of pseudomonas aeruginosa genetic adaptation to the cystic fibrosis airway on inflammation and bacterial persistence.
Dr. Dao Nguyen
LEUNG, Joanne Regulation of anti-tumor T cell immunity by the B7 family member B7-H4 Dr. Woong-Kyung Suh
SCARBOROUGH, Robert
Targeting HIV-1 RNA with ribozymes and small interfering RNAs for therapeutic applications. Dr. Anne Gatignol
SCHAFHAUSER, James The regulation of 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinoline biosynthesis by (p)ppGpp signaling and membrane stress in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Dr. Dao Nguyen
SVERZHINSKY, Aleksandr
Stoichiometry and structures of ExcB-ExbD and ExbB-ExbD-TonB membrane protein complexes Dr. James Coulton
VIAU, Charles PmrAB-regulated LPS phosphoethanola- mine modificaitons have multiple roles in Citrobacter rodentium
Dr. Herve Le-Moual
VINCENT, Caroline Medication exposures, intestinal microbiota alterations and Clostridium difficile colonization and infection in hospitalized patients.
Dr. Amee Manges / Dr. Ken Dewar
WANG, Joyce The role of horizontal gene transfer in mycobacterial pathogenesis. Dr. Marcel Behr
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
F. Data on Departmental Activities See Appendixes: Tables 1 to 4
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
G. Guest Speakers in the Infection and Immunity Seminar Series (January to December 2015)
Date Speaker Title
January 15 Dr. Andrea Cerutti “Regulation of antibody production by the innate immune system”
January 22 Dr. Aditya Pai “Watson, cognitive computing for healthcare”
January 29 Dr. Adeeb Rahman “Considerations in Establishing a Mass Cytometry Program”
February 5 Dr. James Coulton “Membrane Protein Complexes: Abschiedsvorlesung”
February 12 Dr. John McCormick “Bacterial Superantigens and Niche Adaptation by Streptococcus pyogenes”
February 19 Dr. Bastien Castagner “The Clostridium difficile A and B toxins”
February 26 Dr. Etienne Gagnon “New players in the regulation of T cell activation: from lipids to ions”
March 12 Mr. Mark Mimee “Sequence-specific antimicrobials using efficiently delivered RNA-guided nucleases”
March 19 Dr. François Bachand “Nuclear surveillance of coding and noncoding transcriptomes”
March 26 Dr. Jianguo (Jeff) Xia “An integrated approach to understanding host, parasite and gut microbiota interactions”
March 30 Dr. Lukas Jeker “microRNAs and Immune Regulation”
April 9 Dr. Philippe Tessier “S100A8/A9: a common denominator of infections, inflammation and leukemia”
April 16 Dr. Judith N. Mandl “T cell population heterogeneity & the architecture of a T cell receptor repertoire”
April 23 Dr. David Heinrichs “Nutrient deprivation and virulence in MRSA”
April 30 Dr. Alexei Tumanov “Lymphotoxin pathway in mucosal homeostasis”
September 17 Dr. Rekha Patel “Regulation of cell survival and apoptosis by interferon-induced, double-stranded RNA activated protein kinase R”
September 24 Dr. Kelly-Anne Pike “Targeting Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases to Modulate JAK-STAT Signaling and Immune Cell Activity”
October 8 Dr. Craig McCormick “Control freak: how influenza virus undermines host antiviral responses”
October 15 Dr. Jason Kindrachuk “Science Under Negative Pressure: From Host-Pathogen Interactions to Therapeutic Targets for Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens”
October 22 Dr. Dennis L. Kasper “Immunomodulatory Molecules from the Microbiome”
October 29 Dr. Joseph C. Sun “Immunological Memory in Natural Killer Cells”
November 5 Dr. Rodrigo Reyes “Single-molecule studies of DNA replication in live cells”
November 12 Dr. Ben Willing “How the microbiome shapes responses to medical intervention and disease challenges”
November 19 Dr. Carolina Ilkow “Dynamic interplay between the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells regulates Oncolytic virus activity”
November 26 Dr. Emma Allen-Vercoe “Medicine from the gut – from molecules to microbial ecosystem therapeutics”
December 3 Dr. James Archambault “Human papillomavirus genome replication: host factors and candidate antiviral targets”
December 10 Dr. Lawrence A. David “Perturbing human microbiota”
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Section IV
Academic & Community Service
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Educational Outreach Initiative Once again, the department was active in outreach activities with local schools. This initiative (in its 3rd year) however was expanded to encompass a more interactive, 2-day workshop formula involving 3 faculty members and 12 graduate students. 75 students from a local elementary school participated in a 'Microbe Hunters’ activity which had them swabbing surfaces, growing cultures and then plating them in the teaching laboratory under the supervision of our graduate student volunteers. The workshop was a huge success, thanks to the efforts of Drs. Gruenheid, Satan and Krawczyk. Community Talks Two community talks were presented by Dr. Joaquin Madrenas: 1) La musique infectieuse. Réunion du Cercle Goulet-Léveillé de la Societé d’Études et de
Conférences de Montréal. St. Jean sur Richelieu, QC, September 9, 2015. This talk was given to a group of 40-50 senior people in St. Jean sur Richelieu, as part of their monthly meeting. The group is aimed at promoting education and discussion in social and cultural issues of the times. In this talk, we explored the impact that infectious diseases has had on western culture, using music as an example.
2) Mapping microbes – the future of infectious disease. Mini-Museum 2015: The Future of Life
– Now what? Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, QC, November 18, 2015. This talk was given as part of the Lecture Series of the McGill Redpath Museum open to the general public. Attendance around 50 people. Discussion on “Good” and "Bad” microbes and their influence on our human health.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Community Involvement
Briedis, Dalius J.
Department:
Member, Merit Committee
Member, Undergraduate Committee Faculty:
Member, New Curriculum Implementation Advisory Group Committee for McGill Medical School
Member, Basic Science Curriculum Committee on details of basic science syllabus of McGill Medical School
Member, Infectious Diseases Subcommittee, Continuing Health Professional Education Committee on Thursday Evening Learning Series & Wednesday E-Learning Series
University:
Biohazards Resource Officer, McGill University Laboratory Safety Committee
Cousineau, Benoit
Department:
Member of the Chair Advisory Council
Member of the Seminars Committee
Member of the Graduate Studies Committee (until Sept 2015)
Member of the Core Facility Committee (since Sept 2015)
Member of the 2015 MIMM Graduate Student Research Day organizing committee
Microbiology and Immunology Chief Academic Advisor
Microbiology and Immunology Study Away & Exchange Advisor
Wrote section IV (Diversity and Community Engagement) of the self-study document
Review and provided comments/suggestions on the whole self-study document
Represent MIMM at McGill Open House
Represent MIMM at freshman fair
Represent MIMM at orientation day for CEGEP students
Present at the MIMM Orientation session for U1 students
Fundraising for the 2015 MIMM Graduate Student Research Day
Host the visit of a seminar speaker (MIMM infection and immunity series): Dr. Etienne Gagnon University:
Member of the Travel Award Committee of the Centre for Host-parasite Interaction (CHPI)
Pro-Dean for the thesis of Alexander James Mcauley (Dr. Beck, History and Classical Studies, McGill)
Other / outside McGill:
FRQS Salary Award Committee Member (Chercheur-Boursier Junior 1: fondamental et clinicien)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Fournier, Sylvie
Department:
Graduate Program Committee Chair
Core Facilities Committee Member
Chair Advisory Committee Member Faculty
UACC Training Subcommittee Member
UACC Animal use protocol application review Subcommittee Member
Graduate Program Director Committee Member Other Departmental Groups/Services
Undergraduate Academic Advisor U2
Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility Director
Fritz, Jorg
Department:
Merit Committee
Undergraduate Committee
Faculty:
McGill University Postgraduate Awards Committee (PGAC) – review of 21 fellowship applications
Other:
Editorial Board for PLOS One
CIHR Committee – IT Committee, Invited Member (May 2015)
Complex Traits Group: Manager, Flow Cytometry Facility, 2011-2015 10 days/year maintenance of two flow cytometers (shared among 8 PIs and their trainees with the Comples Traits Group).
Life Sciences Complex: Director, Life Sciences Complex Flow Cytometry Facility, 2015-present. 20 days/year maintenance
o Applied for McGill University, Faculty of Medicine internal reserve IOF fund – awarded $150.000
o Renovations of rooms o Hiring of platform manager (Julien Leconte) o Restructuring of platform, update of processes and protocols
Gruenheid, Samantha
Department:
Member, Department of Microbiology and Immunology Undergraduate education committee. Attend monthly meetings, review and set policies and curriculum for undergraduate program.
Member, Department of Microbiology and Immunology Merit committee. Review dossiers for yearly merit exercise, set performance benchmarks.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology Undergraduate academic advisor, 2010-present. Assist undergraduate students in academic and career planning, course registration.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Member, New faculty mentorship committee. Mentorship committee of new faculty member Dr. Connie Krawczyk.
Member, New faculty mentorship committee. Mentorship committee of new faculty member Dr. Selena Sagan.
Member, New faculty mentorship committee. Mentorship committee of new faculty member Dr. Corinne Maurice.
University:
Member-at-large, McGill University Senate Attend monthly Senate meeting (~3 hours/month), review documents prior to meeting (~2 hours/month).
Member, McGill Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Awards Committee Review of internal studentship and fellowship applications. (~6 hours of document review and ranking/year) Other:
International Young Scientists Mentorship Program (IYSMP) http://iysmp.org/about/ Advisory board member, 2015-present.
Provide advice to a student-lead organization with a mandate to encourage youth involvement in STEM related activities, promote interdisciplinary thinking, expose students to new STEM fields and applications, show students the relevance of STEM research and innovations to their lives, with emphasis on targeting populations that are most often underrepresented in various STEM fields (e.g. females, aboriginals, ethnic minorities). In 2015, hosted 6 groups of ~20 high school and CEGEP students (total 114 students) for 20-25 minute visits to my lab during the IYSMP annual conference.
Small World Initiative International Teaching Collaborative Co-leader, Science committee, 2015-present. (http://www.smallworldinitiative.org/committee-leaders/)
Makes recommendations and reviews biosafety and bioethical work plan, culls best practices, develops menu of additional optional assays, develops storage and freezing protocols and advises on other protocols, offers practical advice in response to technical questions from college partners and captures this exchange in FAQs, advises on science output metrics to track and method to gather data, makes recommendations for publishing on science outputs. Takes turns leading or taking the minutes of monthly 1 hour video-conference among committee members and participates in monthly 1 hour SWI leaders conference call.
• Representative for Canada, 2015-present.
Mentor new Canadian partners (2 in 2015), panel participant via video conference at ASM-CUE meeting Austin, Texas, June 2015: session to discuss the future of SWI, participated in website redesign, judged lab manual cover artwork contest.
Canadian Society of Microbiologists McGill University Representative, 2013-present. http://www.csm-scm.org/english/about_exec_rep.asp Ensures McGill community is aware of CSM-related activities (eg annual conference, student awards, etc).
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
King, Irah
Department:
Graduate Student committee, member
Merit committee, member Other:
Canadian Association of Gastroenterology
Canadian Society for Immunology
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Immunologists
Union of Concerned Scientists
Krawczyk, Connie
Department:
GCRC and PHGY Research Days Committee Judge
GCRC Associate Members Committee Member
MIMM Undergraduate committee Member
MIMM Career Day Organizer Faculty:
FoM internal fellowships review committee Panel member/Reviewer
Internal reviewer of grants for faculty members Reviewer
LSC Flow Cytometry Committee Member University:
McGill IgM Organizer (Immunology Group Meeting that brings together 20 labs from 3 McGill departments and 2 labs from UdeM)
Other:
Ph.D. Thesis Defense Committees as PRO-DEAN
Year Department Student Thesis Title
2015 Integrated Studies
in Education
Mary Cullinan Echoes of late-entry women in academia
2015 Biomedical
Engineering
Hamid
Motallebzadeh
Finite-element models related to wideband
tympanometry in newborns
Microbe Hunters Outreach to F.A.C.E. Elementary School.
Invited Speaker at McGill Biochemistry Department Career Night May 28 2015
Invited Speaker at GCRC Women In Research Event March 11 2015
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Le Moual, Herve
Department:
Chair of the Seminar Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University.
Chair of the Core Facilities Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University.
Faculty:
Member of the Faculty of Dentistry Tenure Committee, 1 candidate, November 2015. University:
Member of the University Tenure Committee in the Faculty of Music.
Member of the University Tenure Committee for Recruitment, September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2017.
Other:
FRQS, Membre du comité d’évaluation des chercheurs boursiers Junior II, 2015 - 2016.
Member of the editorial board of the journal Oral Diseases, Wiley, Impact Factor: 2.427; Ranking 2014: 17/88 (Dentistry).
Madrenas, Joaquin
Department: 2011-present Chair, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University 2011-present Chair, Recruitment & Selection Committee, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University 2011-present Chair, Departmental Promotion & Tenure Committee, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University 2011-present Chair, Merit Evaluation Committee, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University Faculty: 2015 McGill Faculty of Medicine Committee for Annual Review of Research Centres 2015 McGill Search Committee for Chair of Biochemistry University: 2014-17 Vice-Chair, Staff Grievances and Disciplinary Committee 2015-present Provost Research Lab Infrastructure Working Group 2015-present Principal's Task Force on Developing an Academic Vision and Mission for the Potential Acquisition of the Royal Victoria Hospital Site
Marczynski, Greg
Department:
Graduate Program committee, departmental, member.
Core facilities committee, departmental, member
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Faculty:
Academic Committee, Faculty of Science, member Other:
Review Editor on the editorial board of Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology, a specialty of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Genetics and Microbiology.
Judge at the 15th Annual McGill Biomedical Graduate Conference (AMBGC), 19 March 2015.
Fund raising (letters and checks) for MIMM 501/502 Student Research Day, 22 May 2015.
NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship Fellowship committee member, screened McGill applicants,
December 2015.
Matlashewski, Greg
Department:
Department merit committee, Dept. Micro. Immunol. (Member)
Department tenure and promotions Committee, Dept. Micro. Immunol. (Member)
Department Graduate student committee, Dept. Micro. Immunol. (Member)
Chairs Advisory Committee, Dept. Micro. Immunol. (Member)
University:
Executive Committee Member, McGill Global Health Program. Other:
Advisory; Research priorities for the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis. World Health Organization.
Advisor (Panel Member and Session Chair); The need for a vaccine for leishmaniasis. NIH Washington.
Maurice, Corinne
Department:
Seminar Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Member.
MDTC Retreat Organization committee.
Other:
International Society for Viruses of Microorganisms, member
Pro-Dean: Zaid Al-Ghouleh « Development of Green concrete from industrial wastes and carbon dioxide », 9 November 2015, Departement of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University.
Murgita, Robert
Department:
Graduate and Post-Graduate Education Committee (member)
Core Facilities Committee (member)
Departmental Tenure and Promotions Committee (alternate member) o Reappointment committee for Dr. Selena Sagan (September 10, 2015)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
MIMM Undergraduate Advisor
Faculty:
Faculty of Medicine – Biomedical Curriculum Committee (member) University:
Medical Scientist – McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Department of Microbiology, 2007-present
Council of Physicians, Dentists, and Pharmacist (CPDP) Member – McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), 2011-present
Other:
Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Committee-CIHR (member)
Senate Committee on Libraries (member)
Member of the editorial board of the following journals: o Journal of Immunology and Clinical research o Journal of Microbiological Methods o Journal of Autoimmunity and Cell Responses o Journal of PLOS ONE
Olivier, Martin
Department:
Member of the RI-MUHC Studentship Competition Committee (2008-Present)
Seminar Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology (2009-2015)
Member of the Professor Recruitment Committee, 2010-2015)
Member of the Graduate Student Committee (2011-2015)
Member of the MIM Reappointment and Tenure Committee (2015-Present)
Member of the MIM Undergrad Student Committee (2015-Present)
Member of the Graduate Student Admission Committee (Experimental Medicine) (2015-Present)
Academic Advisor for Graduate students (Experimental Medicine) (2015-Present) University:
Member of the McGill University Laboratory Safety Committee (ULSC), Faculty of Medicine Representative. (2013-2015)
Other:
Centre for Host Parasite Interaction (CHPI) FQRNT Provincial Network: Member of the Bridging Fund Committee for grad and postdoc trainees.
Dr. Jean-François Cailhier, CHUM, Université de Montréal (2012-2016)
Dr. Martin Richer, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University (2014-Present)
Guest Associate Editor, PLoS Pathogens (2015)
Guest Associate Editor, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2015)
Granting agency committee member: CIHR Foundation Scheme Stage 2 Committee (2015-Present)
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY BOARD MEMBER: Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) Nominating Committee Members (2015)
CONGRESS ORGANIZATION: President/Chair, ICOPA XV (2022) (Presently in process to prepare bid book for WFP)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
EXTERNAL REVIEWER for ACADEMIC PROMOTION:
Dr. Alain Lamarre – Promotion to Full Professor, INRS/Institut Armand-Frappier, UQAM (2015)
Dr. Simona Stager – Promotion to Associate Professor, INRS/Institut Armand-Frappier, UQAM (2015)
Dr. Subrata Majumdar – Extension/Superannuating, Bose Institute, Kolkota, India (2015) • EXTERNAL SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBER for RECRUITMENT: INRS/IAF, Recruitment committee for 2 positions at level of assistant professor (May-August 2015)
OUTREACH ACTIVITES:
Le Code Chastenay, Télé-Québec, “Tatouer des Médicaments…” (February 2015)
Radio Canada (Toronto) “Un Après-Midi d’Été”; Interview in regard to the new GSK Malaria Vaccine... (July 2015)
Radio Canada International (Montréal); Interview by Lynn Desjardin in regard to our findings on Leishmania exosomes published in “Cell Reports”... (October 2015)
The Scientist Magazine; Infection Assistants: Parasite-derived exosomes boost Leishmania infection… Interview by Ruth Williams (Journalist) in regard to our findings on exosomes (October 2015)
“Les Années Lumière”, Radio-Canada, A scientific program on radio hosted by Yanick Villedieu.
The 12 minutes interview was in regard to our findings on exosomes (November 2015)
Piccirillo, Ciriaco
Department:
Departmental Undergraduate Committee (Chair 2014-2016)
Departmental Seminars Committee
MIMM-314 Redevelopment Committee
Departmental Gala Committee
Advisory Council to the Chair (MIMM)
MIMM Cyclical Review
MDTC Retreat organizing committee
Associate member: McGill Disease Tolerance Centre (MDTC)
Organizing of MIMM Kiosque at McGill Homing Coming (October 2015)
University:
B.Sc./M.Sc. degree exploratory Faculty committee (McGill)
Associate member: McGill International TB Centre
Full member: Montreal Diabetes Research Center (MDRC)
Director, McGill-MUHC FOCIS Centre of Excellence
CIHR Human Immunology Network (CHIN), Director of Montreal Node (McGill)
Pro-Dean, Department of Sociology: Mr. Amm QUAMRUZZAMAN (December 10, 2015)
Other:
Director, MUHC RI Immunophenotyping Platform.
Chair, Platform Advisory Committee for the Immunophenotyping Platform (RI-MUHC)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Technology platforms oversight committee for MUHC Research Institute
Steering committee: Program in Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health (IDIGH) (RI-
MUHC)
Steering committee: Program in Childhood health and Human Development (RI-MUHC)
Leader, division of Translational Immunology in the IDIGH Program, MUHC Research Institute
Academic Editor, PLoSONE
Editorial Board, World Journal of Diabetes
Editorial Board, Frontiers in Immunology
Editorial Board, International Trends in Immunology
Editorial Board, American Journal of Clinical and Experimental immunology
Member of CSI, AAI, IDS and FOCIS societies
Reviewer for Diabetes, Frontiers, The Journal of Immunology, Journal of Experimental Medicine,
Immunity, Blood, Nature Medicine and Nature Immunology
Elected Chair (2013-2016): Community of Practice for FOCIS
Chair, Membership committee for FOCIS (2014-2016)
Board of Directors (2014-2016) FOCIS
Appointed Chair of Abstracts group in Programme Committee for 2015 and 2016 FOCIS annual
meetings
Establishment of the Teaching Research Excellence to Girls (TREG) Program at Sacred Heart High
School, destined to raise awareness of high-achieving girls to the importance biomedical research
in society.
Keynote Speaker at 2015 Golf Tournament to fundraise for T1D Research.
Securing substantial donation from Montreal-based donor for T1D research and clinical trial at
MUHC Research Institute
Organization of a CHIN-FOCIS Human Immunophenotyping Symposium which will major stakeholders from local/national/international researchers committed to human immunology research (September 2015)
Richer, Martin
Department:
Graduate and Post-graduate Education Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Member
Recruitment Committee, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Member
University:
Pro-Dean: Zhen Cao (November 9th 2015, School of Computer Science, Verbrugge Lab, McGill)
Other:
MDTC board member
Editorial board membership: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Member of the Canadian Society for Immunology
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Sagan, Selena
Department:
Departmental Seminars Committee, Member, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Sep 2015 - Present.
Departmental Recruitment Committee, Member, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Jul 2015 – Present.
Departmental Gala Committee, Member, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Sep 2014 - Present
Core Facilities Committee, Member, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Sep 2014 – Aug 2015.
Faculty:
Faculty Council, Faculty of Medicine, Nov 2015 - Present
University:
Pro-Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Department of Biochemistry, Ph.D. Oral Defense: Irena Radovanovic (Dr. Phillippe Gros), Complement component 5 (C5)-dependent and –independent susceptibility to eukaryotic pathogens in mouse models, Mar 25th, 2015
Other:
Editorial Board Member, Virology (Elsevier), Nov 2015 - Present
National CIHR Hepatitis C Network – CanHepC, Member (Education Committee, Basic Science
Core Advisor)
American Society for Virology (ASV), Sep 2014 – Present
Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL), Mar 2014 - Present
Microbe Hunters, F.A.C.E. Elementary School Outreach Activity, May 14th and 21st, 2015
Sheppard, Don
Department, Faculty and University:
Division Director, Infectious Diseases
Microbiology/Infectious Diseases Resident Program Committee (4h)
Microbiology/Infectious Diseases Resident Research Committee (4h)
Department of Medicine Research Committee, (4h)
Department of Medicine Manpower Committee (2h) term ended in Feb 2014
Department of Medicine Ad Hoc Advisory Committee (4 hours) Hospital:
Division Director, Infectious Diseases
Theme leader, Infection and Immunity in Global Health Program, MUHC Research Institute: 4h External:
Chair, Awards Committee, Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of Canada (10h)
Scientific Committee, 6th Advances Against Aspergillosis Conference, (4h)
Scientific Committee Fungal Infections Study Forum, Berlin (1 day)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
ESCMID Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Invasive Aspergillosis Workgroup (1 days)
Stevenson, Mary
Department:
Member, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Departmental Tenure and Promotion Review Committee, 2015-present
Faculty:
Member, Departmental Representative, Social Accountability Committee, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 2015-present
University:
Pro-Dean for the PhD Thesis Defense of Ms. Anne-Marie Ritzema, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Faculty of Education, June 2015
Pro-Dean for the PhD Thesis Defense of Ms. Shabnam Hamidi, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, December 2015
Other:
Associate Editor, PLoS Pathogens
Travel Awards Committee, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Canadian Representative, International Board, Malaria Foundation International, Inc. Atlanta, GA
Trottier, Claire
Department:
Undergraduate Committee – member (MIMM) Graduate Committee – member (MIMM)
Faculty: Faculty Development Committee for Basic Scientists - member (Faculty of Medicine)
Wainberg, Mark
LDI executive committee.
Member of University Public Health Committee
NCI, NIH - Editor-in-Chief
Member of organizing committee of multiple conferences.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Section V
Consulting Activities
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Consulting Activities
Number of Days
Faculty Member Name of Organization Private Sector
Consulting
Public Sector
Consulting
Other, including off-site teaching (please explain)
Total
MADRENAS, Joaquin
Health Advances, LLC, Weston MA
PICCIRILLO, Ciro
Janssen Pharmaceutical 5 5
AIHS 2 2
JDRF 6 6
CIHR 7 7
NIH 8 8
Austrian Science Fund (ASF/FWF) 2 2
Broad Foundation 2 2
Agence Nationale de la Recherche- France 2 2
SHEPPARD, Donald Merck Global Advisory Board 3 3
Woods Hole Molecular Mycology Course 9 days teaching as faculty in residence (5 workdays) 5
TROTTIER, Claire
Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation (RVHF) 1 day/year (board member; attends few
mtgs/year, most are outside working hours)
McGill University Health Centre Foundation (MUHCF)
1 day/year (board member; attends few
mtgs/year, most are outside working hours)
Grants Committee, RVHF & MUHCF 1 day/year (board member; attends few
mtgs/year, most are outside working hours)
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
APPENDIXES
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
SECTION III:
A. DATA ON DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES
TABLE 1. Number of undergraduate students taught in Winter 2015/Fall 2015
Winter Fall Total
Undergraduate course enrolment 835 1055 1890
Faculty of Science
Microbiology and Immunology Students: 244 280
I.H.I.: Students 29 30
Number of non MIMM students taught in MIMM courses
B.Sc. 433 177 610
Other 16 15 31
No degree/exchange/special/Quebec IUT 4 27 31
Total 453 219 672
Full time equivalent (FTE) enrolment of undergraduate students in courses by the Dept. during the past five years
TABLE 2.
Winter 2011
Fall 2011
Winter 2012
Fall 2012
Winter 2013
Fall 2013
Winter 2014
Sum 2014
Fall Winter Fall 2014 2015 2015
64 77 87 86 96 77 87 0.433 75 86 78
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
TABLE 3. Enrolment in undergraduate programs in Microbiology & Immunology, Winter 2015, Fall 2015
Winter 2015 Fall 2015
U1 U2 U3 Total U1 U2 U3 Total
Majors 102 72 49 223 105 83 69 257
Honours 13 13 19 19
Core Sci. Comp (Liberal) 1 3 4 8 1 1 2 4
244 280
TABLE 4. Undergraduate students enrolled in Dept. during the past five years
Winter 2011 Fall
2011 Winter 2012
Fall 2012
Winter 2013 Fall 2013 Winter 214 Fall 2014
Winter 2015
Fall 2015
289 287 289 290 276 280 273* 279* 273* 310*
* includes IHI students
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
TABLE 5. Undergraduate enrolment and course FTE's - Winter 2015/Summer 2015/Fall 2015
Winter 2015 Course Title Credits Enrolment Credits times enrol. FTE
MIMM 214 Intro. Immunology 3 346 1038 35
MIMM 314 Immunology 3 108 324 11 MIMM 385 Micro. & Imm. Lab 3 73 219 7 MIMM 387 Business of Science 3 136 408 14 MIMM 396 Micro. Research Project 3 0 0 0 MIMM 397 Imm. Research Project 3 2 6 0 MIMM 413 Parasitology 3 74 222 7 MIMM 466 Viral Pathogenesis 3 62 186 8.7 MIMM 499 Library Research Project Micro. 1 1 2 0 MIMM 501D2 Honours Imm Res Project 6 11 36 1 MIMM 502D2 Honours Micro Res Project 6 8 48 1.6 MIMM 509 Inflammatory Processes 3 12 36 1 38 840 2591 86
Summer 2015 Course Title Credits Enrolment Credits times enrol. FTE MIMM 396 Micro. Research Project 3 3 9 0 3 3 9
Fall 2015 Course Title Credits Enrolment Credits times enrol. FTE MIMM 211 Intro. Microbiology 3 230 690 23 MIMM 212 Microbiology Lab 3 124 372 12 MIMM 323 Microbial Physiology 3 81 243 8 MIMM 324 Fund. Virology 3 102 306 10 MIMM 384 Micro. & Imm. Lab 3 82 246 8 MIMM 396 Micro. Research Project 3 3 9 0 MIMM 397 Imm. Research Project 3 8 0 0 MIMM 414 Advanced Immunology 3 60 180 5 MIMM 465 Bacterial Pathogenesis 3 66 198 6 MIMM 498 Library Research Project Imm. 1 0 0 0 MIMM 501D1 Honours Imm Res Project 6 14 66 4 MIMM 502D1 Honours Micro Res Project 6 11 48 3 39 775 2382 78
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
TABLE 6. Student evaluation of undergraduate courses in Microbiology & Immunology
Winter 2015 and Fall 2015
number of evaluation number of evaluation
course # completed (1=poor course # completed (1=poor
evaluations 5=excellent) evaluations 5=excellent)
Winter 2015 Fall 2015
MIMM 214 126 out of 346 4.55 MIMM 211 67 out of 230 4.40
MIMM 314 25 out of 108 4.30 MIMM 212 74 out of 124 4.55
MIMM 385 22 out of 73 4.15 MIMM 323 30 out of 81 3.45
MIMM 387 32 out of 136 4.2 MIMM 324 35 out of 101 3.45
MIMM 413 19 out of 74 4.40 MIMM 384 34 out of 82 3.25
MIMM 466 16 out of 62 3.45 MIMM 414 16 out of 60 3.70
MIMM 501/502D2 10 out of 19 4.40 MIMM 465 24 out of 66 4.15
MIMM 509 10 out of 12 4.40
average 4.23 average 3.85
Question 1 - Overall, this is an excellent course (question 1 & 2 average).
Question 2 - Overall, I learned a great deal from this course (question 1 & 2 average).
TABLE 7. Undergraduate students graduations Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015
Winter 2015 Spring 2015 Fall 2015
Liberal 1 Liberal 2 Liberal 1
Honours 0 Honours 18 Honours 1
Majors 6 Majors 26 Majors 3
IHI Honours 0 IHI 17 IHI 0
7 63 5
TOTAL 75
Table 8. Undergraduate students applying to the B.Sc. / M.Sc. Fast Track Program Spring 2015 6
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
TABLE 9. Total Graduate Degrees granted over the past five years
Winter 2015 Spring 2015 Fall 2015
Registered Graduated Registered Graduated Registered Graduated
M.Sc. 31 0 27 4 30 3
Ph.D. 39 2 37 3 35 5
TOTAL 70 2 64 7 65 8
Winter 2014 Spring 2014 Fall 2014
Registered Graduated Registered Graduated Registered Graduated
M.Sc. 25 2 27 1 33 3
Ph.D. 37 4 36 1 38 1
TOTAL 63 6 63 2 71 4
Winter 2013 Spring 2013 Fall 2013
Registered Graduated Registered Graduated Registered Graduated
M.Sc. 20 4 21 0 27 4
Ph.D. 43 3 41 2 38 8
TOTAL 63 7 62 2 65 12
Winter 2012 Spring 2012 Fall 2012
Registered Graduated Registered Graduated Registered Graduated
M.Sc. 25 6 22 4 22 6
Ph.D. 46 1 45 3 44 4
TOTAL 71 7 67 7 66 10
Winter 2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2011
Registered Graduated Registered Graduated Registered Graduated
M.Sc. 28 0 28 2 28 3
Ph.D. 42 6 42 3 45 3
TOTAL 70 6 70 5 73 6
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
TABLE 10. GRADUATE STUDENT ENROLLMENT & POSTDOCS
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Graduate Students 74 68 63 80 66
Number of New 22 15 20 26 16
Graduate Students
Average CGPA of 3.76 3.53 3.48 3.59 3.61
Incoming Students
Number of Postdocs 9 16 12
TABLE 11. GRADUATE STUDENTS & POSTDOCS
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Number of New 22 15 20 26 16
Graduate Students
Average CGPA of 3.76 3.53 3.48 3.59 3.61
Incoming Students
Number of Postdocs 9 16 12
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Table 12. Department of Microbiology and Immunology
New Graduate Student list 2015 (Fast-track included)
Winter 2015
Student Program Supervisor Residency Status Admission
Term
Alsahafi, Nirmin PhD Dr. Andres Finzi Int'l Winter 2015
Anstett, Kaitlin PhD / Fast-
track Dr. Mark Wainberg OFP Winter 2015
Dube, Jean-Yves M.Sc. Dr. Marcel Behr Quebec Winter 2015
Meli, Alexandre PhD / Fast-
track Dr. Irah King Quebec Winter 2015
Mendonca, Laura M.Sc. Dr. Maziar Divangahi Quebec Winter 2015
Palanisamy, Navaneethan PhD Dr. Mark Wainberg Int'l Winter 2015
Summer 2015
Student Program Supervisor Residency Status Adm. Term
Lira Filho, Alonso Silva PhD 1 Dr. Martin Olivier Int'l Summer 2015
Fall 2015
Student Program Supervisor Residency Status Adm. Term
Aldossary, Haya Ph.D. Brian Ward International Fall 2015
Cordeiro, Brendan M.Sc. Connie Krawczyk QC Fall 2015
Kang, Eugene PhD /Fast-
track Samantha Gruenheid OFP Fall 2015
LaRoche-Johnston, Felix M.Sc. Benoit Cousineau QC Fall 2015
Lypaczewski, Patrick PhD /Fast-
track Greg Matlashewski QC Fall 2015
Pardy, Ryan M.Sc. Martin Richer OFP Fall 2015
Rajah, Maraan Michael M.Sc. Selena Sagan OFP Fall 2015
Smith, Logan M.Sc. Martin Richer OFP Fall 2015
Taguer, Mariia M.Sc. Corinne Maurice OFP Fall 2015
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
Table 13. Funding of graduate students by source (2015-2016)
A. Departmental Awards
Number Value
Max Binz Fellowship 1 $3,333.00
Max Stern Award 1 $5,000.00
W. Yaphe Award 2 $400.00
The Wares Family Postodoc Award 1 $10,000.00
Weiselberg DDTP Award 1 $250.00
Graduate Student Research Day 7 $1,550.00
TOTAL 13 $20,533.00
B. Faculty of Medicine Allocation
Number Value
Graduate Excellence Fellowship (GEF's) 42 $165,000.00
Max Stern Recruitment Award 1 $5,000.00
Meakins Christie Fellowship 1 $10,000.00
The Great Travel Awards 8 $5,200.00
Internal Studentship Awards 4 $40,667.00
TOTAL 56 $225,867.00
C. Internal Funding
Number Value
Student Stipends (Department) 40 $603,785.16
Differential Fee Waiver 2 $18,254.00
MUHC Research Inst Scholarship 3 $27,850.00
Teaching Assistantships 27 $72,173.12
TOTAL 72 $722,062.28
D. External Fellowships
Number Value
NSERC/Research Assistantship 1 $4,000.00
NCRTP-HepC 1 $8,300.00
Department of Microbiology and Immunology: 2015 Annual Report
CIHR Studentship Award 4 $71,666.68
Cystic Fibrosis Canada Studentship 1 $1,968.75
FRQS 4 $55,833.00
Lady Davis Inst. Fellowship 1 $10,000.00
MICRTP Fellowship 1 $12,000.00
CNPq (Brazil) 2 $46,040.00
Mitacs Globallink Fellowship 2 $20,000.00
NIAID Travel Award 1 $1,500.00
Saudi Arabia Government 2 $41,984.00
TOTAL 20 $273,292.43
GRAND TOTAL $1,241,754,71