The Senescence, Aging, Infection and Immunity (SAIL) laboratory studies immune responses in chronic and persistent viral infections (HIV, CMV, HCV); the role of chronic viral infection in chronologic and immunologic aging; interactions between innate and adaptive immunity in chronic viral infection and the modulation of the immune response to generate therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines in persistent viral infections. Clinically Dr. Barrett is also interested in treating viral infections in underserved and incarcerated populations.

Dr. Michael Bezuhly is an Assistant Professor in Departments of Surgery and Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University. Originally from Toronto, he speaks English, Russian and French. He completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University in 1999 and his medical degree at the University of Toronto in 2003. During his residency training in plastic surgery and in the Clinician-Investigator Program he obtained graduate degrees in Anatomy and Neurobiology from Dalhousie University and Epidemiology from Harvard University. After completing residency training at Dalhousie University in 2010, Dr. Bezuhly received additional subspecialty training in pediatric plastic surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children, and in pediatric craniofacial surgery at the Hopital Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris, France.

Dr. Bortolussi is a former Vice President of Research of the IWK Health Centre and is Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics at Dalhousie University.  He edited “The Handbook for Clinician Scientists” which is used in many Universities in Canada and as part of the MicroResearch Curriculum. He is a fellow of Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and President of the Global Health Section of the Canadian Paediatric Society. He is presently the editor of Clinical and Investigative Medicine (CIM). 

We investigate how human natural killer cell immunogenetics program immune responsiveness to cancer and infectious diseases. We use bioinformatics, humanized in vivo models, cell-signal analysis, and highly-parametric flow cytometry to understand how genetic variation creates diversity in human immune potentials. Our interdisciplinary and collaborative work aims to translate research findings into precision therapies.

My research is largely informed by clinical practice, where research questions regarding medication use are identified at the bedside.  My primary research interests involve appropriate medication use in older patients and reducing vaccine-preventable diseases in older populations.

Drs. Beata Derfalvi and Thomas Issekutz provide clinical immunology care to children throughout the Maritimes through an inpatient attending and consultation service and a weekly immunology outpatient clinic. The services focus on patients with chronic immunological conditions involving primary and secondary immunodeficiencies and autoimmune processes.

Our research relies primarily on the use of Drosophila, a genetically amenable model system, to elucidate the previously unexplored role of peroxisomes as signaling platforms in the innate immune response. We demonstrated the peroxisome direct involvement in immune defense, with evidence of peroxisome requirements in phagocytic pathogen clearance and innate immune signaling in immune responsive tissue in flies and mammals. Peroxisomes are essential metabolic organelles present in every eukaryotic cell.

Dr. Duncan’s research group discovered the reovirus fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) proteins, a novel family of virus-encoded fusogens that mediate cell-cell membrane fusion. His interests are focused on biochemical and biophysical analysis of the FAST proteins, cellular pathways involved in cell-cell fusion, and factors that affect actin dynamics during membrane fusion and cell migration.

Dr. Graham is an anthropologist of science, technology and medicine in the Department of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases). She studies the cultural, technical and moral tensions in regulating one health. Interested in the moral basis of profit when disease becomes a market opportunity, she works among those who develop, regulate, commercialize, implement and use emerging pharmaceuticals and vaccines to examine their safety and efficacy.

Dr. Gujar’s research program focuses on molecular and immunological aspects of human health, with special focus on cancer immunotherapies. His multi-disciplinary interests include Oncolytic viruses, Immunology and immunotherapies, Epitope discovery, Cellular biology and metabolism, Applied immunomics and Proteo-immuno-metabolomics.

Dr. Halperin’s applied research program focuses on vaccine program implementation and evaluation and health policy research. She has methodological expertise in mixed methods, survey research and grounded theory. Currently she is a co- investigator with the PHAC/CIHR Canadian Immunization Research Network that was established to provide Canada with a national capacity to undertake coordinated, evaluative research to inform public health policy relating to vaccine and vaccination. She is currently a Principal Investigator on a CIHR collaborative study in Nunavut and a Co-Investigator on a Public Health Agency of Canada funded program evaluation in Prince Edward Island.

Dr. Halperin’s research focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Dr. Hanly’s major research foci are pathogenic mechanisms and clinical outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus, with emphasis on how lupus affects the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Dr. Hanly also collaborates on studies of pathogenic mechanisms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. He belongs to several national and international research networks involving clinical studies of systemic lupus erythematosus.

As the Province’s only Medical Virologist and one of the Directors of Immunology and Virology at the QEII HSC I oversee the running of the clinical virology laboratory.  I also oversee the anchor laboratory for the Severe Outcomes Surveillance Project in the PHAC/CIHR Influenza Research Network (PCIRN)

Professor Herder’s research interests cluster around biomedical innovation policy, with particular focus on intellectual property law and practices connected to the commercialization of scientific research. As part of a three-year research project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Professor Herder (Principal Investigator) and a team of interdisciplinary researchers are currently collecting empirical evidence about the inter-relationships between commercialization laws, policies, and practices and emerging health researchers. The team will use the collected empirical evidence to explore a series of normative questions about the ongoing commercialization of academic science.

Dr. Jennifer Isenor’s research areas include evaluation of the scope of practice of pharmacists, including immunizing and prescribing; assessing the use of drug and health information resources by students and clinicians; and geriatric-related research, with a focus on appropriate medication use, including deprescribing.

Dr. Thomas Issekutz provides clinical immunology care to children throughout the Maritimes through an inpatient attending and consultation service and a weekly immunology outpatient clinic. The services focus on patients with chronic immunological conditions involving primary and secondary immunodeficiencies and autoimmune processes.

Dr. Brent Johnston’s research focuses on immune cell development, homing, and activation.  We are currently studying the regulation of autoimmunity and anti-tumour immune responses by natural killer T (NKT) cells, a subset of leukocytes that bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems.

My research investigates the intersection of host age and previous infection in the context of influenza infection and vaccination. I use animal models, in vitro systems, and patient samples to obtain a picture of disease and its mechanisms. I recently discovered that lactating mammary glands are susceptible to influenza infection.

Kelvin and his research team a large part of their research in southeast Asia, where several new viruses have emerged in recent years: the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza (bird flu) and the more recent H7N9 strain that can cause human infections. Being able to characterize a newly emerging influenza virus early is key to understanding whether it has the ability to spread from person to person, cause severe disease or cause a pandemic.

We study virus-host interactions with a focus on intrinsic cell defense mechanisms and their subversion by influenza viruses. Another area of interest in the lab is the biology of stress granules – cytoplasmic foci of messenger RNA-protein complexes that form in response to various types of stress, including viral infections

Dr. Langley is a pediatric infectious disease physician in the Department of Pediatrics and is cross-appointed in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology in the Faculty of Medicine. She is based at the IWK Health Centre and the Canadian Center for Vaccinology. She conducts studies on the prevention of infectious diseases using vaccines, from phase 1 (first in humans) through to efficacy trials (phase 3) and post-marketing studies of how well vaccines work when they are used in immunization programs (phase 4). These studies are done with collaborators in public health, industry, universities, and non-governmental organizations. Dr. Langley has a particular interest in prevention of respiratory infections such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus and influenza. Her work also focuses on vaccine policy and evidence-based decision making in immunization programs.

The primary research interests are in the use of commensal bacteria as live oral vaccine vehicles, host-bacteria interactions, and bacterial physiology. Other interests include pathogenesis of and immunity to oral bacteria.

Dr Légaré is the Head of Cardiac Surgery at the New Brunswick Heart Centre and Professor of Surgery at Dalhousie University Medicine New Brunswick located in Saint John New Brunswick.

Professor Lehmann’s research interests include the immune consequences of local and systemic inflammation (e.g., sepsis, stroke), intravital imaging of the microcirculation in animal models and clinical studies, and the development of new pharmacological approaches for inflammation and infection.