Our Trainees

Lyme disease is an emerging tick-borne disease in Canada and is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. This spirochete resides in the skin of the vertebrate host. I will explore the impact of B. burgdorferi on the bacterial microbiome in the skin of mice and the ticks that feed on these mice.

I have recently graduated from the University of Tehran with a Bachelor's degree in microbiology, and my research interests revolve around investigating the interactions between hosts and parasites, particularly viruses like Nipah. Currently, my project is focused on exploring the antiviral mechanisms of IFITMs against NiV.

My work primarily focuses on maping the form and repertoire of EV-associated DNA using EV-ATAC, nuclease-protection assays, Illumina/Nanopore sequencing, ddPCR, and cryo-ET/immunogold followed by, the identification and validation of packaging machinery with dual screens, this is further followed by targeted knockouts/conditional alleles and harmonized read.

My research focuses on understanding how environmental factors, like increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, can affect crop resilience. I will be investigating the effects on pathogen virulence and identifying pathogen-resistant bean genotypes. This insight into agricultural productivity and sustainability is vital for addressing current and future food security challenges.

Aiming to develop accessible and effective nature-based solutions, I investigate the potential of treatment wetlands—harnessing plant-microorganism interactions—for water purification. My PhD research addresses the global antimicrobial resistance crisis by evaluating an innovative wastewater management practice in colder climates and assessing its impacts on both ecosystem and human health

Gillian’s PhD thesis focuses on how copper affects the pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Her research aims to characterize the environmental conditions and mutations that lead to the emergence of copper resistance in L. pneumophila and examine the efficacy of using copper in Legionella control.

Kirsten graduated with a BSc in Microbiology and Chemistry from the University of Victoria. Her Master's thesis focuses on placental malaria and the role extracellular vesicles play in the disease. Her research aims to uncover vital biomarkers to provide early diagnosis and to discover novel host defence mechanisms.

My research focuses on the development of novel methods for the isolation, identification, and characterization of food-borne pathogens. My PhD work will investigate the genomic and phenotypic factors that facilitate the persistence of pathogenic bacteria in low-moisture foods, which will then be leveraged to develop genomic characterization pipelines used in part to perform risk assessment of strains identified through regulatory monitoring programs.

My PhD thesis interests revolve around extracellular vesicles (EVs), with a focus on the protozoan parasite Leishmania. My project aims to characterize this parasite and their EVs in the context of drug resistance and RNAi pathway modifications to gain a better understanding of their influence on parasite-parasite and parasite-vector interactions.

I am researching how environmental factors shape the gut microbiome and disease resilience in trout. By comparing wild and farmed trout microbiota, I aim to understand how microbial diversity impacts infection resistance. This research could help reduce antibiotic overuse in aquaculture, lowering the risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

My PhD project is part of a broader initiative to develop sustainable, community-led rabies co-management as a climate change adaptation. My research focuses on identifying community-specific barriers and facilitators to rabies reporting and vaccination, and on developing a pilot Community Vaccinator Training and Certification Program to support long-term regional capacity.

Sarah Dickson is a recent graduate of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she obtained her MSc in Epidemiology. Her research focused on using mathematical modelling to examine how conflict scenarios impact the risk of measles transmission in Gaza, Palestine. She is looking forward to beginning her PhD, which will examine the feasibility of control mechanisms to detect zoonotic leaps of H5N1 into high-risk agricultural populations and halt eventual transmission chains to densely populated areas.

Dengue and malaria pose significant public health burdens in regions like Colombia, where they are endemic. To inform the development of more effective, equity grounded disease-control strategies, my M.Sc. thesis aims to assess determinants of co-infection and co-occurrence of these diseases, using integrated clinical, socio-economic, climatic, and entomological data.

Sarah is a MSc candidate whose research project focuses on natural products, with an interest in antimicrobials that are encoded by biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Sarah’s project involves BGCs located on large plasmids found in actinomycetes, specifically BGCs on plasmids which contain prophage regions.

Ethan graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Saskatchewan. His research aim is to develop deployable diagnostic technologies that allow anyone to diagnose disease in plants, animals, and humans at the point of sample collection.

My doctoral work investigates the vector competence of mosquito species, both native and invasive to Canada; specifically, their capability for infection with arthropod-borne viruses (e.g., West Nile and Zika viruses). I am also exploring the use of insect-specific viruses as a means of vector control and arbovirus transmission reduction.

I investigated, in my masters, and I’m currently working on phenotypic differences in Leishmania resistance to drugs. I aspire working as a researcher within institutes, organizations, universities, or the pharmaceutical industry, with the aim of advancing the development of improved strategies for the treatment and control of infections.

I am working on a project focused on reducing enteric pathogens in flour using UV treatment and L-cysteine. This research aims to enhance food safety by optimizing pathogen inactivation strategies while maintaining flour quality and functionality, with potential applications in commercial processing.

I focus on maternally transmitted strain-specific immunity in mice, against the Lyme disease bacterium. Immunology in Lyme has become a passion of mine as it pertains to prevention, diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring. For my future, I want to include more veterinary expertise, experience, and data in discussions, as well as prioritize patient-driven research.

Paul evaluates the effect of disinfectants on the transfer of antibiotic resistance from bacteria present on food to Salmonella enterica. He aims to test disinfectants and surface sanitizers that are commonly used in the food industry to guide the regulation of these compounds and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Jessica graduated from UQTR with a BSc in biological and ecological sciences. She is currently pursuing a master's degree, with her research focusing on the effect of white-tailed deer abundance on tick-borne diseases and the ecological parameters that modulate this relationship, employing a One Health approach.

My research work focuses on developing smart “lab-on-chip” microfluidic platform for rapid and accurate detection of foodborne pathogens, ensuring the production of safe and high-quality food for consumers.

I’m an epidemiologist, with interests in creation and evaluation of community-based health programs and climate change adaptation. For my PhD project, I’m working with a community in the Northwest Territories to create tools to address the changing risk of rabies transmission between foxes, dogs, and people.

As part of my project with the CFP lab and the Langlais lab team, I am exploring how DR and DS parasites, along with their extracellular vesicles, modulate host immune cells

My research focuses on characterizing a severe dengue mouse model for preclinical vaccine testing. I analyze DENV-specific CD8+ T cells and host-pathogen interactions to better understand severe disease mechanisms and contribute to global dengue prevention strategies.

I recently graduated with a MSc in Microbiology and Immunology from Western University. My doctoral research will evaluate whether ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli detected in wastewater and livestock manure can serve as a reliable proxy for clinical resistance trends, aiming to uncover a low-cost system that enables population-level AMR surveillance.

After recently graduating from McGill University with BSc in Food Science and BSc in Nutritional Science, I am starting my graduate studies at University of Guelph. My graduate work will be centered on food safety and microbiology, with a focus on bacteriophages.

My research interest centers around the dynamic interactions among host microbiomes, their metabolomic profiles, and environmental exposures (including food, pathogens, drugs and other chemicals). We focus on utilizing computational approaches to analyze big data and to gain insights into their complex relationships.

My interests include insect and arthropod vectors (ticks and mosquitoes), and the pathogens they harbor. My prior work characterized the molecular mechanisms of tick repellents. Presently, I devote my research to unraveling the complexities of superinfections of Borrelia burgdorferi in mice and subsequent transmission to feeding ticks.

As an MSc candidate, Marie Zoé studies the phenomenon of loss of resistance in Leishmania infantum by generating revertant strains. Her research will allow us to evaluate the ability of the revertant parasites to survive in different hostile conditions and the presence of medication.

My research interests focus on bacterial dormancy states in the food supply chain, particularly in Campylobacter jejuni. I want to investigate how bacteria enter and exit dormancy states such as the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) and antibiotic persistent state to survive in the agri-food chain and how they contribute to biofilm formation and persistence

Natalia’s project focuses on antimicrobial resistance in Canadian aquaculture. She's working on identifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in aquatic food production and investigating the transfer pathways of antibiotic resistant genes in the food supply chain. Natalia’s research aims to develop intervention strategies to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials used in Canada.

My research interests center on the development of a microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” device that couples isothermal amplification method for specific and rapid detection of foodborne pathogens during fresh produce processing. We currently focus on developing a microfluidic device coupled recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) with lateral flow assay (LFA) to screen norovirus in real food samples.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that can affect both animals and humans. My PhD research is aim at addressing antimicrobial resistance in Mycobacteria by developing immunotherapeutic adjuvants in synergy with antibiotics. Personally, I am also involved in teaching, research, and advocacy for one-digital-health framework in various youth-lead organizations.

Cody’s PhD work is on the zoonotic food-borne parasite, Trichinella, in the North American North. Cody aims to characterize the newly discovered species, T. chanchalensis, and to provide meaningful information that those in the North can use to make informed decisions about the infection risk of consuming wild carnivores and omnivores.

My research is focused on integrated Bayesian probabilistic modeling and risk-based simulation for spatiotemporal prediction of West Nile virus and optimization of public health interventions

I like studying arthropod vectors and the diseases they carry. Previously I worked on characterizing HOX gene expression during tick embryo development. Currently I am trying to identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for variation in spirochete load between different strains of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Giuliana recently graduated with a Bachelors in Life Sciences. She hopes to expand her knowledge on viruses and learn how they invade host cells. Her graduate studies focus on the Nipah Virus host cell attachment and budding, specifically the actin cytoskeleton's function in the M protein. Ultimately, Giuliana believes there is much more to discover in this complicated field.

My project investigates the genetic basis of macrocyclic lactone resistance in the zoonotic parasite Dirofilaria immitis by characterizing the genomic region containing two resistance-linked single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), with the goal of identifying structural and regulatory variants to improve diagnostics, resistance surveillance, and One Health strategies across the world.

My research interests center around the management of zoonotic infections in wildlife species. My current work focuses on developing rapid and lab-independent molecular diagnostic methods for Brucella abortus (Brucellosis) infection in wild bison, which will support wood bison conservation efforts in Canada.

Recently graduated with a MSc in Molecular Microbiology, I am starting a PhD program at the University of Guelph. The aim of my PhD project is to develop a solution to inhibit the survival and propagation of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strains with an approach based on phage- encoded sequences in combination with natural antimicrobial compounds.

I specialize in nanomedicine and synchrotron-based drug system design, focusing on neuronal reprogramming by converting astrocytes into induced neurons to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and epilepsy. This approach also addresses the neurological effects of fever, vector-borne, and zoonotic (FWVZ) pathogens, including Zika virus, offering potential therapeutic strategies for infection-related neurodegeneration.

Having graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and a microbiology minor from the University of Guelph, I am starting my MSc in Pathobiology. My research will focus on investigating susceptibility profiles of veterinary Microsporum canis isolates across North America to determine whether they are growing resistant to antifungals.

Vibrio cholerae is a waterborne pathogen that causes the severe diarrheal disease, cholera. This project aims to track phage:V. cholerae ratios over time in cholera patients to establish causal relationships, and develop and validate a predictive model of cholera disease severity based on the phage:V. cholerae ratio.

About one in four individuals carries Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of Tuberculosis. Treatment outcomes are hindered by multidimensional challenges to healthcare access and antibiotic persistence, a phenomenon by which a pathogenic subpopulation displays an increased tolerance to antibiotics due to phenotypic heterogeneity. My project aims to identify the determinants of antibiotic persistence in Mtb.

My project is an examination of the pathogenicity of polar microbes collected from Mars and icy moon analogue sites in the high arctic. This research is part of a larger planetary protection study designed to prepare for the Mars Sample Return mission proposed for the early 2030’s.

I am a veterinarian and MSc candidate studying antimicrobial resistance in Trueperella pyogenes, a pathogen prevalent in livestock infections. My research focuses on characterizing the antimicrobial susceptibility of T. pyogenes isolates, utilizing genome sequencing to identify genetic determinants of resistance, and enhancing antimicrobial stewardship practices.

My research focuses on the differences in gut microbiota between Singaporean wild red junglefowl and Canadian domestic chickens. The goal of my project is to establish a culture collection of potential probiotic candidates that could help in treating key pathogenic diseases within the poultry industry.

My research involves collaboration between OHAP, the CFIA, and the GRDI-AMR-One-Health project. I am investigating the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria capable of producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, including carbapenemases, found on ready-to-eat food commodities. I focus on ARGs within mobile genetic elements and their transmission to pathogenic strains.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a zoonotic virus that is capable of infecting a wide variety of animal species. My research focuses on host-pathogen interactions of IAVs with human and non-human animal hosts. My aim is to understand a specific molecular mechanism by which IAVs cross the species barrier and establish infection in a new host.

I hold a BSc in Pharmaceutical Chemical Biology from the University of Guanajuato. My MSc research focuses on how Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, responds to chemical stress, with the goal of better understanding parasite biology.

Research involving the unexplored intricate interactions between hosts and parasites has always been my passion. My planned work centers around elucidating the infection ecology of Echinococcus multilocularis within its various hosts in Western Canada, and using laboratory techniques to determine the pathogenicity of the various strains located here.

As part of my MSc position in Food Science, I am working on a project focused on developing a novel hydroxyl-radical process for inactivating enteric viruses on fresh and frozen soft fruits. This research aims to enhance food safety by optimizing antimicrobial treatments while maintaining product quality, with potential applications for commercial validation.

Yarina’s research focuses on the economic impacts of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Canada, examining how agricultural practices and policy interventions affect public health. She aims to use economic modelling to inform evidence-based strategies that mitigate AMR risks and advance sustainable agricultural systems.

My research integrates a One Health perspective to health economic modeling to evaluate equitable vaccination strategies and their effects on population health and downstream antimicrobial use. By combining infectious disease transmission dynamics with distributional cost-effectiveness analysis, my work supports evidence-based policy decisions across human, animal, and environmental health sectors in Canada.

My PhD research will focus on developing microbiome-directed strategies to reduce Salmonella Dublin colonization in cattle. By developing defined microbial consortia and evaluating their ability to suppress S. Dublin in controlled models and calf studies,  my work aims to support sustainable pathogen control and reduced antibiotic reliance in agriculture.