| IIDR Newsletter - Issue 24 January 31st, 2019
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Novel Antibacterial Targets Salmonella in Immune Cells
Pathogens often reside within human immune cells, where they are better protected from both components of the immune system and numerous of our mainstay antibiotics. Collaborative research from the Brown, Coombes, and Magolan labs has identified a novel antibacterial with the unique ability to target Salmonella bacteria hiding within macrophages. |
| | | Keeping us "One Step Ahead of the Microbes"
Dr. Karen Mossman, Dr. Arinjay Banerjee, and PhD student Kaushal Baid discuss the concept of 'One Health' with The Conversation. Learn More >
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| Unravelling the Antiviral Secrets of Bats
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| The Effects of Antibiotics on Crohn's Disease Patients
MD /PhD student Alexander Oberc of Dr. Brian Coombes’ lab investigates how antibiotic treatment can potentiate the colonization and persistence of Crohn's disease associated E. coli. Learn More > |
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| Identifying the Adaptive Traits of Adherent-Invasive E. coli
Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Wael Elhenawy and PhD student Caressa Tsai of Dr. Brian Coombes' lab disentangle the adaptive traits of Crohn's disease-associated microbes. Learn More > |
| Original Antigenic Sin
Dr. Matthew Miller's lab looks at how one's first exposure to the influenza virus can shape the outcome of subsequent exposures to related strains. Learn More > |
| | Prolonged Vancomycin Use for C. diff Patients
IIDR clinician Dr. Marek Smieja and team find that prolonged vancomycin use could prevent further C. difficile relapses in frequently-relapsing elderly patients. Learn More > |
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| | | ! A Note to PIs: A friendly reminder to please forward your most recently updated CV (preferably updated to Dec 31st, 2018) to grovec3@mcmaster.ca. The purpose of this request is to update our institute’s overall metrics for the 2018 calendar year. |
| Dr.'s Elliot & Kaushic Nominated for Women of Distinction Awards
Congrats to the IIDR's Dr. Marie Elliot and Dr. Charu Kaushic for being nominated for YMCA Hamilton's 2019 Women of Distinction Awards! These awards are nationally recognized as one of the most prestigious awards for women, with YWCAs across Canada joining in the celebration each year to honour the achievements of women who have made significant impacts on their respective communities. Award recipients will be announced on Thursday, March 7, 2019 during International Women’s Week. |
| Dr. Smieja’s Paper Makes 2018 ALTMETRIC TOP 100
A New England Journal of Medicine paper co-authored by the IIDR’s Dr. Marek Smieja earned a spot in the 2018 Altmetric Top 100 - an archive of the 100 most-mentioned scholarly articles published over the last year. The team’s publication entitled Acute Myocardial Infarction after Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Infection was shared nearly 1500 times on Twitter for finding a significant association between the flu and heart attacks. Read the full publication here, and visit the Altmetric Website to see which other papers make the cut.
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| Burrows' Lab Student Wins 2018 William J. Skelly Award
Congratulations to Hamdi Abdo, a fourth-year Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization thesis student in Dr. Lori Burrows' lab, for receiving the 2018 William J. Skelly Award from Cystic Fibrosis Canada. The Skelly Award is granted each year to a summer student who is deemed, on the basis of his or her report, to have conducted the most outstanding work that summer. Hamdi's research looked at the unexpected activity of an older gram-positive antibiotic on Pseudomonas - the key bacterial agent of cystic fibrosis lung infections. |
| IIDR Welcomes Canadian Ministers of Health and Seniors
The IIDR welcomed the Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor (Canadian Minister of Health) and the Hon. Filomena Tassi (Canadian Minister of Seniors) last month to talk about the pressing global issue of antimicrobial resistance. Pathology and Molecular Medicine Professor Dr. Lori Burrows led the team on a tour of McMaster’s world-class science facilities to highlight the IIDR’s innovative research initiatives and to express how academia, government, and industry must work together to solve the global problem.
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| BASEF Call for Judges: Friday, March 29th, 2019
The Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair (BASEF) is looking for Science Fair Judge volunteers for their 59th annual fair, being held at Mohawk College in Hamilton on Friday, March 29th. The IIDR is a proud sponsor of BASEF, which is one of the oldest continuously running regional science fairs in Canada. BASEF give grades 7 to 12 students the chance to showcase their hard work on science, engineering and math related projects. Visit the BASEF website here for more information on how to register as a judge. |
| | | ID/IIDR Combined Rounds: "Applying genomic surveillance to the clinic - lessons on late onset infection prevention in the NICU” Wed., February 6th, 8:00am - 9:00am, HSC 1A6
Please join us for February's ID/IIDR Combined Rounds, presented by Dr. Andrew McArthur and Dr. Sarah Khan. Dr. McArthur is a member of IIDR, an associate professor within McMaster's Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, and Cisco Research Chair in Bioinformatics. Dr. Khan is an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Disease and Associate Medical Director for Infection Prevention Control for Hamilton Health Sciences. Tea, coffee and cookies will be served at 7:45am. Please note the room change to HSC 1A6 for the remainder of the term. |
| State of the CARD 2019: A Week of Lectures, Demos, & Training
February 18th – 24th, McMaster University (Rooms TBD)
Registration Deadline: February 11th
During McMaster’s Spring Mid-Term Recess (February 18 - 24), Dr. Andrew McArthur's lab is pleased to present a series of lectures, demonstrations, and training sessions for the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) and its associated Resistance Gene Identifier (RGI) software. Visit the McArthur lab website here to find out more about the week’s events and to register for those of interest. Locations within the MDCL will be determined based on final registration numbers. For further inquiries, please email card@mcmaster[dot]ca. |
| Demystifying Medicine Seminar SeriesMon., February 4th & Mon., February 11th, 4:15pm - 5:15pm, HSC 1A6
During the Feb 4th seminar, Sonia Padwal, Project Manager of the McMaster Immunology Research Centre, will present her talk entitled "The many faces of a PhD: Insights into becoming a research scientist and beyond". Khaled Nawar, a Masters of Science Student within the Neuroscience Graduate Program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences will follow with a talk called "Neurotrophins, ER stress and the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease". During the Feb 11th seminar, Dr. Greg Curnew, Associate Clinical Professor in the Divisions of Cardiology and General Internal Medicine will present "From the doctors of yesterday to the doctors of tomorrow". Find out more about the Demystifying Medicine Series and past and future events here. |
| Work in Progress (WIP) Seminar Series Wed., February 6th, 9:00am - 10:00am, MDCL 3023
IIDR students and members are invited to attend next week's WIP Seminar Series, offered through MIRC's Immunology and Infection Program. Yechan Kim will present "Modulation of cAMP Levels for Potentiation of Long-Acting Beta-Agonist and Glucocorticoids in Human Airway Epithelial Cells", and Ramtin Ghasemi will follow with a presentation called "Examining the effect of estradiol on B cell responses against herpes simplex virus type 2 in the female genital tract". |
| Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute (TaARI) Research Seminars
Wed., February 6th, 9:30am - 10:30am, DBRI Auditorium (C1-205)
Dr. David Ginsburg is an Investigator from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics and Paediatrics at the University of Michigan. He will be presenting his research in a seminar titled "Cargo Receptors in the ER: From Clotting Factors to Cholesterol Regulation". |
| Department of BBS: Autoclave Training Session
Tues., February 12th, 10:00am - 10:30am & 10:30am - 11:00am, HSC 4H23
The Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences will be offering a hands-on Autoclave training session for those who have already completed the Health and Safety office Autoclave training through Mosaic (found here). You will not be permitted to attend the session without proof that the Mosaic portion of the training has been completed. Please request attendance by Friday, February 8th by emailing Wendy Harrison at harrissw@mcmaster[dot]ca. |
| Immunology and Infection Program (IIP) Seminar Series Wed., February 13th, 9:00am - 10:00am, MDCL 3023
This IIP Seminar Series, offered through MIRC, presents McMaster's own Dr. Gregory Steinberg, Professor within the Department of Medicine's Endocrinology Division and Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Diseases. He will present a talk called "Cellular Energy Sensing and Metabolism”. |
| Antibiotic Resistance – One Health Perspective (AROHP-2019) Symposium March 5th - 8th & March 8th - 11th, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
The IIDR has been invited to attend the 22nd Annual Symposium on “Antimicrobial Resistance – One Health Perspective (AROHP-2019)” from March 5 to 8, 2019 and the Hands-on Workshop on "Antimicrobial Resistance - Let's Get Practical" from March 8 to 11, 2019 at the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. To learn more about the symposium, the speakers (including our very own Dr. Gerry Wright & Dr. Eric Brown!), and how you can participate, please visit the AROHP website here.
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| Women & Their Microbes 4th Annual Conference: Microbiome Management in Pregnancy
Wed., March 6th, McMaster Centre for Continuing Education & Thurs., March 7th, David Braley Health Sciences Centre
The Biointerfaces Institute at McMaster invites you to attend an upcoming scientific conference by Women & Their Microbes, with the theme of “Microbiota Management in Pregnancy”. The conference will open with a clinical half-day on March 6th that focuses on practice-changing microbiome science. March 7th will feature a full research day with top level academics and clinicians presenting their cutting-edge science. Find out more about this year's conference and how to register here.
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| Crohn’s and Colitis Canada's 24th Annual Gutsy Walk
Sun., June 2nd, Confederation Park (Edgewater Pavilion) 585 Van Wagners Beach Rd., Hamilton
Cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are only steps away! Join Crohn’s and Colitis Canada on Sunday, June 2nd for their 24th Annual Gutsy Walk to walk, jog, or run towards a future free from Crohn’s and colitis. Learn more about this year's walk here. |
| | | | Deadline: February 15th, 2019
Attention all IIDR undergrads! The David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery (DBCAD) and Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) will each be providing five $4,000 fellowship awards to eligible undergraduate students who will be working in IIDR member labs during their summer practicum from May – August, 2019. The DBCAD will be accepting applications for projects related to antimicrobial discovery, whereas the IIDR will be accepting applications relevant to infectious disease research.
To be considered eligible for either award, the student must be supervised and recommended by a member of the IIDR. The applicant will need to submit a one-page outline of their research project, signed by the sponsoring principal investigator(s), along with a copy of their CV and unofficial transcript. Your application can be submitted through the IIDR office (MDCL 2235), or emailed as a single pdf to iidr@mcmaster[dot]ca. Please note that the applicant must not have begun graduate school prior to August 31st, 2019.
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| | Deadline: February 15th, 2019
The David Braley Centre for Antibiotic Discovery (DBCAD) and Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) will be providing seed funding research support for a limited number of new projects. The intention of this funding is to provide our members with the opportunity to make connections that otherwise would not have been possible, and to allow our members to generate preliminary data that will enable additional funding from other agencies.
Projects related to antibiotic discovery and antimicrobial resistance should be submitted to the DBCAD call for proposals, whereas the IIDR will be accepting projects focused around the overarching themes of anti-infective innovation, diagnostics, and laboratory/clinical collaborations. All members of the IIDR are eligible for support and invited to participate. To find out more information on how to apply, please email IIDR Associate Director, Dr. Lori Burrows at burrowl@mcmaster[dot]ca.
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| Post-Doctoral Fellow or Research Scientist
IIDR member Dr. Zeinab Hosseini-Doust is looking for a postdoctoral fellow or research scientist to conduct phage display experiments including library construction and screening for high affinity binders, and troubleshooting technical problems. Qualifications include a PhD in Molecular Biology or related field and experience in Molecular Biology. Required Skill Set: Experience with RNA isolation, RT-PCR, cDNA, and Molecular Cloning, construction of cDNA libraries, DNA sequencing, bacterial and/or yeast expression and purification of proteins, strong organizational, documentation, and record keeping skills, and observational and troubleshooting skills. Experience with bacteriophage work and phage display is a plus. In order to be considered, please send your resume and a brief cover letter to doust@mcmaster[dot]ca. |
| Post-Doctoral Fellow
Dr.’s Michael Organ and Christopher Boddy from the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa are looking to recruit a postdoctoral fellow with expertise in biocatalysis and protein engineering to participate in an interdisciplinary project centered around the development of an enzyme-transition metal tandem catalysis system. Candidates with expertise in automation and the ability to work closely with synthetic organic chemists are preferred. If interested, please send a CV and letter of interest to organ@uottawa[dot]ca and cboddy@uottawa[dot]ca. |
| Senior Scientific Researcher, Infectious Diseases
The Infectious Diseases Department at Genentech, based in South San Francisco, CA, is seeking a talented Senior Scientific Researcher to execute projects aimed at discovering novel therapeutics for infectious diseases with high unmet medical need. This is a laboratory-based position with responsibilities that include elucidation of the mechanisms of host-pathogen/microbiome interactions, discovery and validation of candidate targets, evaluation of antimicrobial compounds, and assay development. Learn more here. |
| Postdoctoral ResearcherDeadline: February 18th, 2019
The University of Edinburgh's Centre for Inflammation Research is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and inventive postdoctoral researcher to undertake computational analyses - with some bench science - to study the microbiome and Antimicrobial Host Defence Peptides (HDP) profiles of the upper respiratory tract, in defining risk of severe pulmonary viral infection with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). This post is working in the laboratory of Dr. Donald J. Davidson, in close collaboration with Dr. Debby Bogaert. Learn more about this position here, and contact Donald Davidson at donald.davidson@ed[dot]ac[dot]uk for informal enquiries.
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| Participants Needed for CIHR-Funded Tuberculosis Booster Vaccine Study
The research team of IIDR's Dr. Fiona Smaill and Dr. Zhou Xing is looking for healthy participants who were born outside of Canada to enroll in their CIHR–supported tuberculosis booster vaccine study. The purpose of this Phase 1, open-label clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of their adenovirus-based tuberculosis vaccine, administered by aerosol. If interested in participating in the study, visit their website to learn more. Remuneration will be provided for all participants. |
| Call for Research Participants: Dr. Dawn Bowdish’s Lab
Dr. Dawn Bowdish's team at McMaster University is looking for male volunteers over 40 years of age to participate in a research study. The purpose of their study is to investigate how age-related changes in immune responses alter the microbes that live in our nose and mouth and whether this could explain why some older adults get more respiratory infections such as colds, the flu, and pneumonia. Find out more about the study and how to volunteer here. |
| Postdoctoral Researcher
Deadline: February 28th, 2019
The Max von Pettenkofer Institute of the Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Germany invites applications for a position as a Post-Doctoral Scientist, available starting March 2019. The successful postdoctoral researcher will contribute to a DZIF (German Center for Infection Research) - funded project on the characterization of novel antibacterial compounds, conducted by Dr. Christine Josenhans. Methods planned to use include, among others: genome and transcriptome analyses; microbiota analyses; protein-compound interaction and compound analytics; tissue culture; infection models; post-analysis of samples from animal models. Applicants must have completed a PhD in the life sciences with a focus on bacterial pathogens and/or novel antibacterial therapies. For more information, contact mvpi_medmicro.applications@mvp[dot]uni-muenchen[dot]de. |
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Have Something Exciting to Share?
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| | | Christy GrovesCommunications Coordinator Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research
MDCL 2235 | McMaster University (905) 525-9140 x 22448 grovec3@mcmaster.ca www.mcmasteriidr.ca |
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