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MSc Student in Dr. Bowdish's lab (McMater Immunology Research Centre) receives award.
Google's search for scholars nets master's student $5,000
Google has identified a McMaster student as one of the most promising young women in Canada's technology field.
The world's most popular search engine and web technology company has awarded master's student Fiona Whelan its $5,000 Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship.
May 15, 2012 by McMaster Daily News
Funding
The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) announces three awards under its new policy:
Funding Research with Real-Life Impact
Dr. Charu Kaushic, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, was one of the three recipients.
The Board of Directors of the OHTN is pleased to announce the results of the first competition under our new policy 'Funding Research with Real-Life Impact'. Three of 21 applications met the demanding criteria of our new Impact-Focused Research Program and were funded.
The OHTN would like to thank all the applicants for their efforts to meet our requirements for: scientific rigour and excellence, direct relevance to the populations most affected by HIV, and short-to-medium term (2-5 years) impact. We would also like to congratulate the members of our Scientific Review Committee -- academics, community members and knowledge users -- who accepted and met the challenging task of reviewing applications through the lens of our new policy. They helped us achieve our mission to improve the health and well-being of people living with and at risk of HIV in Ontario.
The OHTN recognizes that achieving our goal of supporting excellent, impact-focused research for all populations affected by HIV will take time and effort. In some cases, we must build the capacity within Ontario to do the type of research that will meet our criteria. Over the next few months, the Board of Directors, with the newly established Research Policy & Priorities Advisory Committee, will identify gaps and take innovative steps to ensure that all populations affected by HIV in Ontario will benefit from our research investments.
OHTN website, March 2012
NSERC Discovery Award
Dr. Zhou Xing, Professor, Deparment of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, received an award for his project: Regulation of NK cell biology by lung macrophage-derived interleukin-15.
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine Website, April 2012
Members of the Faculty of Health Sciences celebrate honorary Doctor of Science degree
Members of the Faculty of Health Sciences, John Bienenstock, distinguished university professor; Paul O'Byrne, professor and chair of medicine; Stephen Collins, distinguished universtity professor and associate dean, research; and Judah Denburg, professor came together to celebrate Jack Gauldie's honorary Doctor of Science degree from McMaster University.
Dean's Newsletter, Fall 2011
Funding
The Faculty of Health Sciences
administers more than $120
million in research funding. Grants of $120,000 or more were received by faculty members between July 2010 and April 2011.
CIHR research and personnel grants were awarded to two faculty members from the McMaster Immunology Research Centre: Jonathan Bramson, professor and Manel Jordana, professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
Ali Ashkar, associate professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, a faculty member from the McMaster Immunology Research Centre, received funding from The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Faculty members who received renewals of CIHR grants in the McMaster Immunology Research Centre include:
Karen Mossman, associate professor and Zhou Xing, professor, Department of
Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
Martin Stampfli, associate professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, faculty member from the McMaster Immunology Research Centre, received funding from Hoffman-La Roche.
Dean's Newsletter, Fall 2011
Sexually transmitted co-infections increase HIV risk: study
Bacterial and viral sexually transmitted infections can exacerbate HIV replication in co- infected individuals, a team of Canadian researchers led by Charu Kaushic, associate professor of pathology and molecular medicine, has found.
"While sexually transmitted infections are associated with increased HIV-1 susceptibility and viral shedding in the genital tract, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood," said Kaushic about the study that appears online this month in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. "Our research has found that normal response to these infections by the epithelial cells (the cells that line the genital tract) can lead to increased HIV replication in the female reproductive tract."
Through this study, Victor Ferreira, a graduate student in Kaushic's lab revealed how bacterial (gonorrhoea) and viral (genital herpes) sexually transmitted infections can increase HIV replication in co-infected individuals, opening new doors of understanding.
June 20, 2011 by McMaster Daily News
Awards recognize those working to build a culture of innovation
The McMaster Innovator Awards were presented last week as part of the McMaster Innovation Showcase.
From a pool of outstanding nominees, Jack Gauldie, professor of pathology and molecular medicine, was honoured with the 2011 McMaster Lifetime Innovator Award, and Mick Bhatia, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, was chosen as the McMaster Innovator of the Year. Adiga Life Sciences Inc received the McMaster Industry Partner Award.
To acknowledge their achievement, all three were presented with sculptures by local artist David Hunter.
The McMaster Innovator Awards recognize researchers who contributed to McMaster University's ongoing efforts to build a culture of innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship by creating a product or service to transfer their research discoveries and inventions to society.
June 7, 2011 by McMaster Daily News
Approximately 5,400 students will graduate in May and June this year. Honorary degree recipients are recognized for contributions in such areas as public service, education and scholarship, creative and performing arts, and for work within the McMaster community.
Convocation will take place at Hamilton Place.
Dr. Jack Gauldie is on the list of honorary degree recipients for Spring 2011 convocations.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Friday May 20, 2:30 p.m.
Dr. Jack Gauldie (Doctor of Science), a McMaster professor of pathology and molecular medicine, pioneer in gene therapeutics and international expert in the molecular forces at play in inflammation and immunity.
May 10 , 2011 by McMaster Daily News
Upcoming talks/presentations
Dr. Martin Kolb
June, 2011
“Pathogenesis of IPF”
Bad
Nauheim, Germany
Dr. Martin Kolb
June, 2011
Liver Conference EASL
“New Therapeutic Concepts in ILD” Petersburg, Germany
Recent talks
Dr. Martin Kolb
May, 2011
ATS Convention Talk “Pathogenesis of IPF” and Post Graduate Course, Denver CO.
Dr. Charu Kaushic attended the Annual Conference for American Society for Reproductive Immunology in Salt Lake City from May 19-22, 2011, where she co-chaired the annual Post-graduate course on May 19th and delivered the annual J. Christian Herr Award Lecture on May 22nd.
Dr. Karen Mossman
Monday, April 18, 2011 University of Kansas
Molecular Biosciences Seminar Series
Title: “How host cells recognize pathogen associated and danger associated molecular patterns”
Dr. Martin Kolb
Apr, 2011
Canadian Respiratory Conference, Update on IPF Pathogenesis: Will This Provide Novel Targets for Therapy? Niagara Falls, Canada
Dr. Martin Kolb
Mar, 2011
Redwan Seminar, “Blood vessels in IPF: too much or not enough?”
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Funding
New grants awarded to Dr. Dawn Bowdish
Congratulations to our newest member, Dr. Dawn Bowdish, on her recent grant awards from the following agencies:
ASPIRE-Pfizer for a project titled "Intranasal administration of Linezolid to prevent seasonal & post-influenza pneumococcal pneumonia in the elderly." (total value = $100,000)
Breaking pneumonia's grip
Researcher awarded $100,000 to study pneumonia in the elderly
When Dawn Bowdish thinks of her 90-year-old grandparents, the importance of her research becomes real. It would be easy for them to become a statistic - one of the thousands of elderly Canadians who die each year of pneumonia, influenza or a combination of both.
This year has been particularly tough, with the influenza strain affecting more elderly than in years past. But with a $100,000 Young Investigator Grant from Pfizer Canada, the assistant professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and member of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) will help researchers better understand why the elderly are so at risk.
Feb 4, 2011 by McMaster Daily News
The Ontario Thoracic Society for a project on "Macrophage scavenger receptors – novel recognition receptors for Mycobacterium tuberculosis" (total value = $50,000)
US National Insitutes for Health for a subproject titled: "Mechanisms of pneumococcal carriage" (total value = $250,000)
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region
Dr. Ali Ashkar was awarded 3 years of funding in the amount of $447,100 from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region for his work entitled "Elucidation of the mechanisms by which IL-15 and NK cells contribute to tumor destruction in a mouse model of mammary carcinoma.
CIHR grants awarded to CGT members
Dr. Carl Richards was awarded 5 years of funding in the amount of $755,000 from CIHR for work entitled "Mediation of allergic airway inflammation and pathology by Oncostatin M". This project continues Dr. Richards' work on important molecules and mechanisms in lung inflammation including asthma.
Dr. Karen Mossman was awarded $761,935 for a grant titled:"Characterization of the innate immune response to virus particle entry". This project has received continuous funding for 13 years and it a testament to the success and importance of her research program.
Drs. Mark Loeb, Jonathan Bramson and Jennie Johnstone were awarded $700,098 for a grant titled:"Identifying immune biomarkers that predict influenza in the nursing home elderly". This project addresses a timely issue and is critically-dependent upon the Human Immune Analysis Facility which will process samples from 2000 nursing home residents.
Dr. Charu Kaushic, Associate Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine was awarded the J. Christian Herr Award
by the American Society of Reproductive Immunology at the Society's annual conference a couple of weeks ago.
The J. Christian Herr Award is given annually to a member of the American Society of Reproductive Immunology (ASRI), International Society for Immunology of Reproduction (ISIR), or European Society for Reproductive Immunology (ESRI), typically in the first 10-15 years beyond accepting a faculty position, who has made outstanding achievements in basic or applied research in reproductive immunology, particularly for investigators involved in technology transfer. This award was established by a past president of the ASRI to acknowledge the dedication of his father to invention, innovation and entrepreneurship through decades of volunteerism in the Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE), a program of the Small Business Administration. The spirit of the award may be found in the words of Louis Pasteur, "There is no true distinction between fundamental and applied science, there is only science in the cause of humankind."
CIHR Team in Mucosal Innate Immunity
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has announced funding to a CIHR Team from McMaster University with expertise in mucosal and innate immunology (CIHR team grant program competition ). This CIHR Team in Mucosal Innate Immunity has received the funding of $1,300,748/year for a total of five years (2008-2013).
