Microbiology & Immunology News

2012

Dr. John Roder, a Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital completed his graduate research (Immune Regulation in Autoimmunity) under the supervision of Dr. David Bell and Dr. Kim Singhal in 1977 in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He has been awarded the 2012 Professional Achievement Award by the Alumni Association.
Congratulations to Alexander Oberc, the G.E. Hall Scholarship awardee. Awarded to a student with the highest average in third year, who is entering fourth year of an Honors Specialization (preferred) offered by the Departments of Biochemistry, Medical Biophysics, Microbiology and Immunology, Physiology and Pharmacology, or a double Major in an Honors degree which includes one or more of these subjects. (These scholarships were established through Foundation Western.) Value: 4 @ $450
Congratulations to Jordan Bisanz for his NSERC doctoral award, Colin Way CIHR CGS masters award, Lee Goneau CIHR CGS doctoral award.
Congratulations to Dr. David Colby for his promotion to the rank of full Professor as of July 1, 2012. David is an outstanding teacher who has contributed enormously to professional teaching at all levels.
The Graduate Affairs Office is pleased to announce the CGS winners from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. From Microbiology & Immunology, Master’s Awards - Kyle MacDonald and Colin Way. Doctoral Award - Lee Goneau.
Three students in our program won poster awards the Oncology Research & Education Day: Saman Maleki (Koropatnick lab), Mike Cohen (Mymryk lab), and Rachel Ziliotto (DeKoter lab). Christine DiCresce (Koropatnick lab) won an award for best oral presentation
Dr. Gregor Reid was a co-investigator on a CIHR grant titled "Maternal-Infant Microbiome and Immunity (MIMI) Network" valued at $600,000 for three years.
Dr. Bhagi Singh assumed the role of acting Chair on July 1 on the resignation of Dr. Miguel Valvano
Congratulations to M&I students for their awards at Oncology Reseach and Education Day:
Michael Cohen (supervisor Joe Mymryk), Christine Di Cresce (supervisor Jim Koropatnick), Rachel Ziliotto (supervisor Rod DeKoter), Saman Maleki Vareki (supervisor Jim Koropatnick)
Dr. Rodney DeKoter received a $25,000 grant from The London Regional Cancer Program Small Grants for Translational Cancer Research and Training for " Function of PU.1 and Spi-B in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia".
Dr. Bryan Heit was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 76,260 per year. The title of the grant is: "Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Apoptotic Body Phagocytosis and its Impact on the Development of Atherosclerosis"
Stanley Lee (MSc student supervised by Mansour Haeryfar) and Shereen Turkistany (supervised by Rodney DeKoter) won poster awards, respectively, at the Canadian Society for Immunology meeting on June 15-18. Western took two of the top three awards.
Greg Fonseca a student in Dr. Mymryk's lab received the Drs Madge and Charles Macklin award for Publication in Medical Sciences. His
recent paper “Epigenetic subversion of interferon innate immunity by the viral E1A oncoprotein during infection” published in Cell Host-Microbe highly impressed the committee.
Congratulations to:
- Johnson Cheung who was awarded the Governor General Gold Medal at the Spring Convocation
- Richard Onizukafor winning the Western Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology
- Noah Manczyk for winning the Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity
- Nelson Andre, a BSc student for winning the Gold Medal for the Major in Microbiology and Immunology
Dr. Gregor Reid received a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration for testing if a yogurt supplemented with the Moringa plant can benefit under-nourished pregnant women by improving their breast milk quality and the types of bacteria present in their intestines.
Dr. Peter Cadieux received $200,000 from the Weston Foundation, $50,000 from OCE/Industry match for an oral probiotics study, and a $150,000 ERA award.
We congratulate Dr. David Heinrichs for his success obtaining the Dean's Award of Excellence.
Congratulations Lee Goneau a student in Dr. Cadieux's lab on winning a CIHR fellowship.
Congratulations Jordan Bisanz a student in Dr. Reid's lab on winning a NSERC PGS-D studentship.
Congratulations Kyle McDonald a student in Dr. Cadieux's lab his poster award at the London Health Sciences Research Day.
Congratulations to Dr. Greg Dekaban on his 25 year service milestone.
NSERC Discovery Grants for Microbiology and Immunology
Dr. Stephen Barr, $26,000 (5 years) for "Molecular and functional characterization of the novel role of HERC4 in spermiogenesis"
Dr. Bryan Heit, $31,000 (5 years) for "Regulation of receptor signalling and ligand recognition by nanometer scale membrane microdomains"
Dr. John McCormick received $80,965.00 from NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grants competition for a Multilabel Microplate Reader.
Congratulations to first year masters student Kyle MacDonald who won the poster award at the London Health Research Day for Infection & Immunity
Dr. Steve Kerfoot received $271,450 (3 years) from the Multiple Sclerosis Society for "Characterization of the pathogenic mechanisms and potential as therapeutic targets of antigen-experienced B cells in chronic central nervous system autoimmunity".
Dr. Chil-Yong Kang was named among 60 Canadians today to receive the Diamond Jubilee Medal for advancing scientific research and his dedication to finding a preventative vaccine for HIV.
Ph.D. Defences
1. Darah Christie - "Characterization of SLP-2 function in T lymphocytes"
M.Sc. Defences
1. Holly Lemmon
2. Clayton Hattlmann
3. Teresa Fernandez
4. Marc Monachese
5. Mathias Scinocca

2011

Graduate student Ryan Chanyi won the Canadian College of Microbiology poster award at the annual CSM meeting. "Characterization of pilT1 and pilT2 in the life cycle of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus"
Graduate students Christine Di Cresce and Mark Gruca won awards for their posters at the 8th annual oncology research and education day (LRCP)
Dr Lakshman Gunaratnam has been awarded the Schulich Clinician-Scientist Award for 2011. This award in conjunction with an award from the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario (AMOSO) will allow him time to establish his research program. Dr Gunaratnam has also secured a grant from the Krescent program for three years at $70,000/yr and infrastructure support of $25,000. The title of the grant is "Exploiting KIM-1 signalling to ameliorate renal ischemia reperfusion injury through clearance of apoptotic cells."
Congratulations to:
Kyle MacDonald for winning the Western Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology
Linsday Bowman for winning the Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity
Alexandra Farag for winning the Gold Medal for the Major in Microbiology and Immunology
Dr. Ann Chambers has received Western's highest honour for investigators - the Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research.
Dr. Bosco Chan and Dr. Terry Delovitch granted Professor Emeritus status at the spring 2011 Convocation.
Congratulations to Katie Kasper, she has been awarded the Drs. Madge and Charles Macklin Fellowship for Teaching and Research In the Medical Sciences for 2011
Congratulations to Matthew Miller, he won the John Thomas Award.
Congratulations to Johnson Cheung a MSc. student in Dr. Heinrichs' lab, he has won the Dr. John Robinson Graduate Scholarship and the inaugural Danone Science Award
Grace Wang is a high school student working in Dr. Haeryfar's lab won first place in life sciences plus the best in fair project, along with the Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories award and a $1000 scholarship to the University of Ottawa.
David Heinrichs received $62,236 from NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grants competition for a cell disruptor.
NSERC Discovery Grants for Microbiology and Immunology
David Heinrichs, $40,000 (5 year) for "Molecular analyses of the iron starvation response in the caogulase-negative group of Staphylococci.
Martin McGavin, $36,000 (5 year) for "Expression and function of secreted proteases in commensal lifestyles of Staphylocci.
Joseph Mymryk, $28,560 (1 year) for "Detection and analysis of nuclear import signals"
Bhagirath Singh, $36,000 (1 year) for "Regulation of dendritic cell and monocyte differentiation by a self peptide"
Miguel Valvano, $55,600 (5 year) for "Novel global regulator controlling bacterial adaptability to multiple niches"
Dr. Crystal Schmerk, a PDF in Dr. Valvano's laboratory has been awarded a two year fellowship from Cystic Fibrosis Canada for "Hopanoid synthesis, intramacrophage survival, and antimicrobial resistance of B. multivorans and B. cenocepacia"
Miguel Valvano received $297,000 (3 years) from Cystic Fibrosis Canada for "Burkholeria cenocepacia survival strategies in macrophages"
Biljana Todorovic, a graduate student in Dr. Mymryk's laboratory has won the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement from CIHR.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada has awarded Miguel Valvano the 2011-2012 Zellers Senior Scientist Award.

Gregor Reid has been presented with Massey University's "Distinguished Alumni Award".
Jacqui Hayworth received a $500 Student Travel Award from the Canadian Society for Immunolgy to attend their AGM in Lake Louise
Lakshman Gunaratnam received $100,000 (I year) for “Exploiting KIM-1 signalling to ameliorate acute kidney injury through clearance of apoptotic cells”
David Heinrichs received $702,770 (5 years) for the project, “Role of iron and heme binding proteins in pathogenesis of Staphlococcus aureus”
Anthony Jevnikar received $609,640 (5 years) for the project, “Regulation of renal tubular epithelial cell injury to promote kidney allograft survival”
Joseph Mymryk received $807,400 (5 years) for the project, “Molecular genetic analysis of adenovirus E1A function”
Ph.D. Defences
1. Kemi Adeyanju - "HIV-1 Tat protein and Adverse Drug Reactions: A model system utilizing Jurkat T cells and sulphamethoxazole-hydroxylamine"
2. Andrew Martins - " The Role of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor in the Intestinal Immune System and the Response to Probiotics"
3. Federico Beasley - "Serum iron uptake and virulence in Staphylococcus aureus"
4. Jailai Ablack - "Transactivation by Human Adenovirus Early Region 1A-Conserved Region Three"
5. Kinnari Patel - "Structure-Function Analysis of PHPT proteins"
6. Matthew Miller - "Critical stages in viral replication: Entry, gene regulation and egress"
7. Jennifer Tolman - "The intracellular behaviour of Burkholderia cenocepacia in murine macrophages"
M.Sc. Defences
1. Catherine Chung
2. Christian Sandrock
3. Ryan Buensuceso
4. John Cooper
5. Johnson Cheung
6. Ryan Lum-Tai
7. Jacqui Hayworth
8. Anthony Wong
9. Rachel Ford
10. Mateusz Rytelewski
11. Jessica Tong
12. Sarah Spanton
13. Marek Gruca
14. Kelvin Shek
15. Rod MacPhee
16. Chelsea Clarke
17. Yue Cheng Zhu

2010

IIRF awards:
Oral Presentation Awards: Matthew Woods, Alyx Holden (Carleton University)
Poster Awards: Sarah Furlong, Matthew Miller, Biljana Todorovic, Stacey Xu, Andrew Pepper, Benjamin Koestler (Michigan State University), Fiona Whelan (McMaster University), Michael Dorrington (McMaster), Michael Tang (University of Toronto)
Undergraduate Category: Courtney Meilleur
Jailal Ablack was awarded a NIH travel award to attend the Chromatin Control of Viral Infection Meeting
Congratulations to OGSST winners Rachel Ford (Dr. Creuzenet), Jenna Kelly (Dr. Barr), and Sarah Furlong (Dr. Valvano).
Dr. Ewa Cairns and Dr. David Bell have received a grant from The Arthritis Society for $360,000 (3 year). The title of the grant is "Arthritogenicity of the immune response to citrullinated antigens".
Jacqui Hayworth, co-supervised by Dr. McCormick and Dr. Haeryfar, has been awarded a CIHR Master's Award (Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship).
Graduate students Saman Maleki Vareki (Dr. Haeryfar) and Christine Di Cresce (Dr. Koropatnick) have been awarded a one year CIHR Strategic Training Scholarship in Cancer Research and Technology Transfer (CaRTT)
Graduate students Jai Ablack and Saman Maleki Vareki (supervised by Dr. Mymryk and Dr. Haeryfar respectively) received awards for their poster presentations at the Oncology R & E Day.
Rodney DeKoter was awarded a CIHR grant of $756,130 (5 year). The title of the grant is: "Functions of Related Ets Transcription Factors in B Cells".
Stephen Barr was awarded a CIHR grant of $100,000 (1 year). The title of the grant is: "Understanding the mechanism and impact of TRIM22 on HIV replication and disease progression".
Greg Dekaban was part of a group that secured > $1,000,000 funding for spinal cord injury research.
Mark Kirchhof has been selected as this years Schulich Medicine and Dentistry Collip award winner.
The Centre for Human Immunology held a press conference to announce its official opening (June 3, 2010).
The UWO Gold Medal for Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology was awarded to Krista Vincent. The UWO Gold Medal for Honors Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity was awarded to Scott Findlay.
Dr. Quim Madrenas was awarded the 2010 Hippocratic Council Basic Science Teaching Award.
Michael Cohen a gratuate student in Dr. Mymryk's laboratory was the winner of the Margaret Moffat Research Day award for best poster in the Microbiology category. His title was "The Hunt For Mitochondrially LocalOctober 22, 2012Microbiology and Immunology and Lawson Health Research Institute Scientist has received Western's highest honour for investigators - the Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research. Established in 1996, the prize is named for Bishop Isaac Hellmuth.
Dr. Miguel Valvano has been reappointed Tier 1, Health Canada Research Chair in Infectious Diseases and Microbial Pathogenesis. The support for tier 1 iOctober 22, 2012awarded the John D. Reynolds award from the Canadian Society for Immunology. The award is given to a long-term member of the CSI for their exceptional service to CSI. "The awards committee felt that Bhagi richly deserved this award, given that as the inaugural Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity, he worked tirelessly and effectively for the entire Canadian immunology community," said Hermann Ziltener, CSI's Past-President. Congratulations Dr. Singh for this well-deserved recognition
Dr. Quim Madrenas has been named a Faculty Scholar by the University of Western Ontario. Faculty Scholars have an international presence in their discipline and are considered all-round scholars. Winners hold the title of Faculty Scholar for two years, and receive a stipend of $7,000 each year for scholarly activities.
Dr. Carole Creuzenet was awarded a NSERC grant of $185,000 (5 year). The title of the grant is "Biosynthesis and function of novel
modified heptoses present in bacterial surface polysaccharides"
Dr. Rodney DeKoter was awarded a NSERC grant of $155,000 (5 year). The title of the grant is "Graded regulation of gene expression by PU.1"
Dr. Gregor Reid was awarded a NSERC grant of $27,000 (1 year). The title of the grant is "Deciphering lactobacillus functionality"
Dr. Bhagi Singh has been appointed director of the Centre for Human Immunology located in SDRI.
Dr. David Heinrichs and Dr. M. Murphy were awarded a CIHR grant of $1,031,050 (5 year). The title of the grant is: "Structure-function analyses of bacterial staphyloferrin systems "
Dr. Ewa Cairns, Dr. Miguel Valvano and Dr. Rodney DeKoter have received bridge funding each of $100,000
Dr. Joaquin Madrenas was awarded a CIHR grant of $833,360 (5 year). The title of the grant is: "Systems Immunology of S. aureus
Infection"
Dr. Laura Hertel was awarded a CIHR grant of $555,345 (5 year). The title of the grant is: "Human cytomegalovirus tropism for
dendritic cells and fibroblasts"
Drs. Joe Mymryk, Laura Hertel and Peter Cadieux received an "Award of Excellence" from the University Students Council in recognition of their high teaching evaluations and are listed on the USC "Teaching Honour Roll".
Ph.D. Defences
1. Slade Loutet - "Antimicrobial peptide resistance of Burkholderia cenocepacia"
2. A.K.M. Nur-ur Rahman - "The CDR2 loop of the T cell receptor beta chain governs Vbeta selectivity and activation by bacterial superantigens"
3. Khaled Mahmoud - "Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOS): fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), type IV pili and predation"
M.Sc. Defences
1. Chris Melo
2. Isaac Elias
3. Sari Kichler
4. Patrick Hopf
5. Boram Ham
6. Alex Skeldon
7. Michael Cohen
8. Bryan Au
9. Catherine Chung
10. Christian Sandrock

2009

Dr. Alp Sener Receives 2009 Schulich Clinician Scientist Award
Mansour Haeryfar is part of a pan-Canadian, multi-centered team of investigators who received a $300,000 CIHR team Catalyst grant on H1N1 pandemic flu. The title of the grant is: "The mechanism and immunological correlates of severe respiratory illness following 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus infection".
Gregor Reid has been inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS).
Biljana Todorovic was awarded Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral Award of $105,000 (3 years)
Kelvin Shek, Alexander Skeldon, Ryan Buensuceso were awarded Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's Awards of $17,500 (1 year)
Dr. Ewa Cairns was awarded a CIHR grant of $100,00 (1 years). The title of the grant is: "Arthritogenicity of the immune response to citrulline in mice and in human Rheumatoid Arthritis"
Dr. John McCormick was awarded a CIHR grant of $603,105 (5 years). The title of the grant is: "Immunobiology of bacterial superantigens"
Dr. Sung Kim was awarded a CIHR grant of $640,450 (5 years). The title of the grant is: "Investigating the mechanisms of Nod-like receptor-induced cytokine release and cell death in macrophages"
Dr. Stephen Barr was awarded a CIHR grant of $100,000 (1 year). The title of the grant is: "Understanding how interferon-induced human TRIM22 inhibits HIV particle production"
Dr. Peter Cadieux has been selected the inaugural Miriam Burnett Research Chair in Urological Sciences.
The UWO Gold Medal for Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology was awarded to Shipa Gupta. The UWO Gold Medal for Honors Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity was awarded to John Wiggers. The UWO Gold Medal for the Major in Microbiology and Immunology was awarded to Ryan Lum-Tai.
The Economist has published a report on our recent paper in Nature Medicine on "superbugs".
Tony Kwon a high school from A.B. Lucas working in John McCormick's lab has been selected to attend that Canada-wide science fair for the past two years. Last year Tony recieved an honourable mention in "biotechnology and pharmeceutical sciences" at the Canada-wide science fair (http://www.ysf.ca/files/PDF/cwsf/CWSF_08_Award_Recipients-EN.pdf). This year Tony placed at the top of the London District Science Fair in the senior division (https://secure.ysf-fsj.ca/sfiab/londondistrict/winners.php?year=2009&type=Other), and attended the Canada-wide science fair and won a gold medal in the field of health sciences (http://www.ysf.ca/files/PDF/cwsf/Award_Recipients_09-EN.pdf).
Gregor Reid has been made a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
Gregor Reid will hold the first research chair in Human Microbiology and Probiotics at Lawson Health Research Institute thanks to a $7-million donation from international yogurt maker Danone Group.
Dean's Awards of Excellence: Ms. Kim Arts (Dean's Awards of Excellence for Staff), Dr. Joaquin Madrenas (Schulich Leader Award), Dr. David Colby (Schulich Educator Award), Dr. CY Kang (Lifetime Achievement Award).
Dr. Sung Kim (PI), Miguel Valvano, Bhagi Singh, Laura Hertel, Mansour Haeryfar, Stephen Barr have been awarded $108,611 from the Academic Development Fund Major Grant Competition for “Molecular and cellular analysis in single cells” (micromanipulator, microinjection, microdissection, single-cell PCR cycler, fluorescent microscope).
Dr. David Heinrichs (PI), Miguel Valvano, Carole Creuzenet, John McCormick have been awarded $89,000 from the Academic Development Fund Major Grant Competition for “Fluorescent imaging workstation, including capability to image small animals”
"The London Strategic Training Program in Cancer Research and Technology Transfer" has been renewed; Dr. Jim Koropatnick (Director) along with 9 nominated PIs and 45 additional co-applicants, including J. Mymryk and M. Haeryfar for a total value: $3,759,600 ($1,950,000 from CIHR) and the remainder from funding partners.
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar has been awarded an "Early Researcher Award" from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. His project is titled "Understanding and Boosting Anticancer T Cell Responses: An Important Step Towards Developing Effective Tumor vaccines"
Dr. Martin McGavin joins the Department (April 1).
Microbiology ang Immunology winners for the 2009 Moffat Research Day Poster competition are:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Winner: Matthew Miller Poster: EFFICIENT ONSET OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS REPLICATION IN FIBROBLASTS REQUIRES THE PRESENCE OF AN INTACT VIMENTIN CYTOSKELETON Co-author: Laura Hertel
Pharmacology Winner: Wendy E. Furlong Poster: IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL BINDING PARTNERS OF HUMAN CYTOMEGALOVIRUS GLYCOPROTEIN US9 Co-authors: Gregory J. Fonseca, Joe S. Mymryk, Laura Hertel
David Colby have received "The Bank of Nova Scotia, The UWO Alumni Association and The University Students’ Council Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching"
The Science Student Donation Allocation Committee has granted the Department $21257.30 for the purchase of new equipment for the teaching labs.
Dr. Tony Jevnikar has been awarded a $1.1M CIHR/Wyeth Clinical Research Chair in Transplantation
Dr. Rodney DeKoter joins the Department (February 1)
Congratulations Daniel Hynes, Samar Sayedyahossein, and David Yue this academic year's recipients of the GTRA (Graduate Thesis
Research Awards)
Congratulations to Dr. Ewa Cairns, Dr. Joe Mymryk, Dr. David Heinrichs on their promotions to full Professor.
Dr. David Heinrichs is the acting chair while Dr. Miguel Valvano is on study leave for 2009.
Ph.D. Defences
1. Wendy Teft - Characterization of the Inverse Agonist Activity of CTLA-4 in T Lymphocyte Activation
2. Ahmed Yousef - Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a tool to study human adenovirus E1A functions
3. Mark Kirchhof (MD/Ph.D.) - The Role of Stomatin-Like Protein 2 in T-cell Activation
M.Sc. Defences
1. Katrina Huszarik
2. Lisa Mannik
3. David Yue
4. Dan Hynes
5. Kathy Hung
6. Karly Lycett-Lambert
7. Robert Tohn
8. Hartley Blumenfeld

2008

Microbiology and Immunology held a retreat at Spencer Hall to map our plan for the future.
Dr. Laura Hertel received a $3000 fellowship to study "New Methods to Produce Virus Mutants Using the Technology of BAC Mutageneis"
Professor emeritus Robert Murray commissioned a memorial to former Western president G. Edward Hall, which will be mounted in the entrance of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Dr. Martin Chalfie a speaker in our Seminar Series has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with GFP
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an Ontario Research Fund grant of $199,036. The title of the grant is: "Developing more effective therapies for viral infections"
Saman Maleki Vareki, Biljana Todorovic, Darah Christie, and John Cooper were awarded Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Entrance Fellowships
Dr. Stephen Barr joins the Department
Dr. Quim Madrenas was awarded the Dr. John B. Dossetor Mission Award in Research of The Kidney Foundation of Canada, in recognition of outstanding dedication and contribution to the Foundation's Research Program. (June 7/08 in Montreal)
Undergraduate student Bo Li was offered an NSERC CGS M award for the 2008-09 academic year.
Jai Ablack won a SOGS TA Award
Dr. Wayne Flintoff was received as Professor Emeritus at the spring 2008 Convocation.
The Dean's Awards of Excellence: Dr. Ewa Cairns (Schulich Educator Award), Dr. Terry Delovitch (Dean's Awards of Excellence for Faculty Individual ), Fred Williams (Dean's Awards of Excellence for Staff)
Slade Loutet was awarded the John A. Thomas Award.
Dr. Carole Creuzenet was awarded a NSERC equipment grant of $93, 588 for a micro-ultracentrifuge and rotors. Co-PIs: Drs. HeOctober 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012October 22, 2012Dendritic Cells: A Role for Vimentin?" was deemed the best of all the talks presented this year in the 540/541y graduate seminar course.
Nikhita Singh, a grade 11 student and Chen Sun, a grade 12 high school student at A.B. Lucas Secondary School have won spots on Team Canada at the Canada Wide Science Fair. Both have been asked to present their work at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta Ga. Nikhita Singh has been named in Canada's Top 20 under 20.
Dr. Ewa Cairns won the Calder Award (five year term) from the Department of Medicine
Sakina Thawer won an award for her poster at the Margaret Moffat Research Day "The lys-EGFP-ki mouse model reveals novel hematogenous and microglial macrophage populations following spinal cord injury"
Dr. Gregor Reid who has recently been awarded an honorary doctorate degree in biology from Örebro university
in Sweden. The award recognizes Gregor's international leadership in probiotic research, his contributions toward improved health in women and the application of his work in Africa.
Dr. Laura Hertel and Dr. John McCormick received the "Award of Excellence" from the University Students Council in recognition of their high teaching evaluations and are listed on the USC "Teaching Honour Roll".
Dr. Joshua Lederberg (1925 - 2008), Nobel Prize 1958 "bacteria can exchange genes; genes act by regulating specific chemical processes"
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 126,013 per year. The title of the grant is: "Regulation of antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses by innate invariant natural killer T cells"
Ph.D. Defences
1. Dirk Lange - "The role of capsular polysaccharide components in the virulence of Campylobacter jejuni"
2. Michelle McCully - "Cellular and Molecular Linkers of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Peritoneal Cavity"
3. Kendra Maloney - "The role of MGTC in the pathogenesis of Burkholderia cenocepacia"
4. Dalam Ly - "Mechanisms of iNKT Cell Protection Against Type 1 Diabetes"
M.Sc. Defences
1. W. Monty McKillop
2. Dana McIvor
3. Dennis Ng
4. Melinda Demendi
5. Jordan Schwartz
6. Sakina Thawer
7. Simon Lam
8. Jaspreet Chahal
9. Kate Duffy
10. Tara Koyama
11. Todd Fairhead
12. Karim Khan
13. Emily Haggerty

2007

Ahmed Yousef won " The Morris Kroll Memorial Scholarship"
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a CFI (Canada Foundation for Innovation). The title of the grant is: "Infrastructure for highly sensitive and quantitative analysis of CD8+ T cell-mediated immunity" (Leaders Opprtunity Fund); Amount: $497,531.00
Dr. Terry Delovtich was elected as the new President of the Immunology of Diabetes Society. This volunteer position carries a term of 3 years.
Dr. Oliver Smithies, a former speaker in our Molecular Biology Seminar Series together with Dr. Mario Capecchi, and Sir Martin Evans were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday for their work on gene targeting. (more)
Jennifer Trowbridge wins the Stephan D. Poland Award
Robert Tohn, Hartley Blumenfeld, David Yue, and Lisa Mannik were awarded Miccrobiology & Immunology Graduate Entrance Fellowships
Dr. Sung Kim was awarded an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Government at 100,000. The Early Researcher Award program helps promising, recently appointed Ontario researchers undertake cutting-edge research and build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates.
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an ADF grant from UWO at $8500. The title of research to be undertaken is "The role of Thy-1 in natural killer T (NKT) cell-mediated responses".
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Cancer Research Society operating grant for 2 years at 62,500 per year. The title of the grant is: "Modulation of anti-tumor CD8+ T cell responses by iNKT cell-based immunotherapy"
Dr. RGE Murray was granted the degree Doctor of Science honoris causa by McGill University at their spriing convocation May 29.
Ron Flannagan is the recipient of the 2005 John A. Thomas Award. He gave a public lecture on June 11
Gregor Reid and Andrew Bruce have been awarded the 2007 Elie Metchnikoff Prize for Nutrition and Health for breakthrough developments in probiotic research.
Dr. J.(Quim) Madrenas a current Tier Two chairholder, has been upgraded to a Tier One chairholder, and will now receive $200,000 annually for seven years.
Tom Linn was awarded a NSERC grant for 3 years at 25,000 per year. The title of the grant is The Role of Sigma Factors in Regulating Bacillus cereus Virulence
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded "Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) Junior Investigator Travel Award" to attend the 13th International Congress of Immunology (Rio de Janeiro, August 2007), ~ $3000.00
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an Individual Discovery Grant in the amount of 43,000.00 p.a. (for 5 years; 2007-12); Titled: "Deciphering a novel function for TdT in enforcing immunodominance hierarchies of CD8+ T lymphocytes"
Siobhan Ramcharran won the 2006-2007 Roche Diagnostics Award . Her talk (B cells and the role of sCD83 in long term cardiac allograft survival in a murine model) was deemed the best of all the talks presented this year in the 540/541y graduate seminar course.
Siobhan Ramcharran was a Moffat Research Day Poster Competition Winner. Her poster "Soluble CD83 can inhibit B cell activation and differentiation" was cCo-authored with: Jacqueline Arp, Lora Baroja, Hao Wang, Robert Zhong
Dr. Miguel Valvano was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 138,500 per year. The title of the grant is: "Genetics of lipopolysaccharide assembly in gram-negative bacteria"
Dr. Jim Koropatnick was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 114,194 per year. The title of the grant is: "Antisense downregulation of thymidylate synthase as an anticancer therapy"
Dr. Joe Mymryk was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 138,500 per year. The title of the grant is: October 22, 2012 coproteins"
Dr. Quim Madrenas was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 121,389 per year. The title of the grant is: "The role of SLP-2 in TCR signalosome assembly and T cell activation"
Dr. Gregor Reid (with Dr. Bocking & Dr. Challis) was awarded a CIHR operating grant for 5 years at 96,070 per year. The title of the grant is: "Role of lactobacilli in maternal and perinatal health"
Dr. Gregor Reid appointed "Academic and Research Microbiologist" by the Canadian College of Microbiologists.
Gregor Reid and Andrew Bruce have been awarded the 2007 Elie Metchnikoff Prize for Nutrition and Health for breakthrough developments in probiotic research.
Dr. Laura Hertel received the "Award of Excellence" from the University Students Council in recognition of her high teaching evaluations and is listed on the USC "Teaching Honour Roll".
Ph.D. Defences
1. Steven Bosinger - " Modelling of host immune responses to HIV and SIV using functional genomics reveals a disruption of innate immunity"
2. Chad Michalski - "Development of a Novel Prime-Boost Vaccine Against HIV/AIDS"
3. Yvonne Tourand - "Telomere Resolution in Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme Disease Spirochete:
  Dissecting the Complex Relationship Between Substrate and Protein in an Unusual Biochemical Process"
4. Kristin Chadwick - "Role of Smad7 in primitive human hematopoietic and embryonic stem cell regulation"
5. Julie Lamothe - "Characterization of the strategy used by Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria to survive within phagocytic cells"
6. Christie Vermeiren - "Characterization of the Staphylococcus aureus iron-regulated surface determinants"
7. Steve Nazarian - "Studies in Yatapox genome sequences, primary cell tropism, and virulence factors"
8. Vijay Somalinga - "Structure/Function characterization of aminotransferases from
  Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni"
9. Karen Morley - "Anticancer effects of citrus flavonoids tangeretin and nobiletin in human cancer cells"
10. Ron Flannagan - "Characterization of Burkholderia cenocepacia K56-2 stress response genes using
  novel mutagenesis plasmids"
11. Alexandra Merkx-Jacques - "The existence and molecular basis of protein glycosylation and its role in the production of virulence factors in Campylobacter jejuni and Helicobacter pylori"
M.Sc. Defences
1. Jonathan Herbert
2. Megan McGarry
3. Jacob Richardson
4. Katherine Kasper
5. Brad Shrum
6. Amber Jarvis-Metcalfe
7. Nathan Ho
8. Kanish Mohib
9. Alanna Watson
10. Kris Marshall
11. Siobhan Ramcharran

2006

We mourn the deaths of Dr. Phil Fitz-James and Dr. Carl Robinow
Dr. David Heinrichs has been awarded the 2006 Fisher Award
Congratulations Drs. Creuzenet, Hertel, McCormick, Min, and White on their successful CHIR grant applications.
Jailal Ablack has won the Roche Award for Graduate Student Presentations
Dr. Miguel Valvano and Ms. Lydia Dafoe have earned an Award of Excellence from the Dean
Wendy Teft has been awarded a Nellie Farthing Fellowship
Dr. David Colby has been selected for a Certificate of Merit Award. The aim of this award is to promote medical education in Canadian medical schools and to recognize and reward faculty's commitment to medical education.
The Departments of Microbiology & Immunology together with Biology co-host the annual meetings of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists and the Genetics Society of Canada. M&I Faculty members Miguel Valvano, David Heinrichs, Grant McFadden, Gregor Reid, Quim Madrenas, and Bhagi Singh were invited symposium speakers.
Wendy Teft is the recipient of the 2005 John A. Thomas Award. She gave a public lecture on June 16.
MNI 4th year Student Sarah Blissett has been named a Summer Fellow by the Ontario Genomics Institute
MNI 4th year Student Christina Katsios was awarded the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers
Peter Cadieux is congratulated for his outstanding achievement receiving the 2006 Polanyi Prize
MNI Graduate Students Emilty Haggerty (Dr. Valvano), Jaspreet Chahal (Dr. Creuzenet), Karim Khan (Dr. Jevnikar & Dr. Singh), Jennifer Tolman (Dr. Valvano) received Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Fellowships (2006 Entrance Awards)
The Board of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), an organization dedicated to high quality, multidisciplinary, scientific investigation of health-promoting probiotic bacteria and prebiotic compounds, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gregor Reid as its new President.
Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Dairy Farmers of Canada/NSERC Grant for two years at $61,000 CDN/year on "The Effect of Bovine Lactoferrin on Virus- and Tumor-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses in Vivo”
Dr. Terry Delovitch was awarded a JDRF grant for 3 years at 165,000 (USD) per year. The title of the grant is: Novel Strategies for Innate Immune Modulation of Type 1 Diabetes.
Ph.D. Defences
1. Cecile Beaurepaire
M.Sc. Defences
1. Aleksandra Pandyra

2005

Dr. RGE Murray celebrates 60 years at Western (October 4, 1945 - 2005)
Peter Cadieux - Distinguished Fellowship Award from the American Foundation for Urological Diseases
Ron Flannigan - CCFF Studentship Award
Dr. Wayne Flintoff - CIHR operating grant
Dr. David Heinrichs - CIHR operating grant, NSERC operating grant, NSERC equipment grant
Dr. Jana Jass - Martha P. Foster Award, NSERC equipment grant, NSERC Discovery grant, Network Centre or Excellence -CNDN Inst. Photonic Innovations
Dr. Anthony Jevnikar - Kidney Foundation of Canada Medal for Research Excellence
Dr. Michael John - Canadian Patient Safety Institute Research grant
Dr. Sung Kim - CIHR New Investigator Award, CIHR Operating grant
Piya Lahiry - CIHR Master Award
Julie Lamothe - CIHR Ph.D. Canada Graduate Scholarship
Dalam Ly - Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) Doctoral Award
Dr. Joaquin Madrenas - Director, Canada's first FOCIS Centre for Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapeutics, Who's Who in Medical Science Education, UWO Hippocratic Council Basic Science Teaching Award, Dean's Award of Excellence in Research, UWO Hippocratic Council; Subject Development Group Award for Innovative Teaching in Microbiology & Immunology, UWO Hippocratic Council "Best Curriculum on Earth" Certificate of Appreciation for Year 2 Immunology Teaching, USC Teaching Honour Roll
Dr. John McCormick - CFI
Dr. Grant McFadden - Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Fellow
Alexandra Merkx-Jacques - CIHR-CDHF Doctoral Award
Dr. Bhagirath Singh - Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences: Fellow
Wendy Teft CIHR Doctoral Award

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