It is the department of medical microbiology and infectious diseases’ (MMID) pleasure to pass along the great news that adjunct professor Dr. Paul McLaren’s first-author Nature paper entitled Africa-specific human genetic variation near CHD1L associates with HIV-1 load was published in Nature online August 2, 2023 (Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06370-4). Publishing a first-author Nature paper is a major accomplishment that most researchers are not able to achieve during their entire career. This represents a tremendous amount of work both before, and after, submission so it shows that preservice and hard work can pay off. Congratulations to McLaren and his whole team including co-authors MMID student Riley Tough, NML technician Jeff Tuff, as well as MMID members Dr. Ma Luo and Dr. Frank Plummer (posthumously).
Congratulations to Dr. George Zhanel who has been identified as a highly cited researcher. In 2023, Clarivate identified a small fraction of global researchers who demonstrate a significant impact, brought influence in their field of research and contribute disproportionately to extending the frontiers of knowledge. Each researcher selected has authored multiple highly cited papers and rank in the top 1 per cent by citations for their field and publication year in the web of science over the past decade.
Congratulations to Michelle Wuzinski for passing her master’s thesis oral examination on July 20, 2023. Thank you to her advisor, Dr. Meenu Sharma, co-advisor Dr. Hafid Soualhine, and committee members Drs. Denice Bay and Natalie Knox, and thank you to Dr. Xiao-Jian Yao for chairing the event.
Congratulations to Nelson Mok for a successful defense on July 28, 2023. Thank you goes out to Mok’s committee, Dr. Natalie Knox, advisor, Dr. Gary Van Domselaar, co-advisor, Dr. Aleeza Gerstein and Dr. Paul McLaren for their guidance and support of Mok throughout, and to Dr. Denice Bay for chairing the event.
Congratulations to Jayelle Friesen-Enns on acing her master of science oral examination of her thesis, Antimicrobial Resistant Plasmid Effects on Salmonella enterica Serotype Heidelberg, on August 2, 2023. Thank you to the advisory/examining committee consisting of Dr. Mike Mulvey, advisor, Dr. A. Karen Brassinga, department of microbiology, and Dr. Denice Bay for their support of Friesen-Enns throughout the program, and thank you to Dr. Lyle McKinnon for chairing the event.
Sending congratulations to Carmine Slipski who did an excellent job presenting and defending his thesis. Thank you to his committee members, Dr. Denice Bay, advisor, Dr. George Zhanel, co-advisor, Dr. Teri De Kievit (microbiology/science), Dr. Ayush Kumar (microbiology), and to Dr. Franck Duong (biochemistry and molecular biology, UBC), external examiner, who were, as quoted by Bay, “all very impressed with his scope of work and accomplishments as well.”
Congratulations to Jessy Slota on a stellar thesis defense of Addressing current challenges to experimental modelling of prion disease: the lack of clinically relevant human prior infection models and the unknown role of different brain cell types in prion pathogenesis on September 13, 2023. Special thanks to Slota’s advisor Dr. Stephanie Booth, the internal examining committee of Dr. Lyle McKinnon and Dr. Michael F. Jackson, and extra thank you to Dr. Joel C. Watts, external examiner for attending in person and taking the extra time to present a seminar to the department.
Congratulations to Vanessa Schulz on a successful Master’s thesis defense. Thank you to her advisory committee for guidance throughout – Dr. Paul McLaren, advisor, Dr. Paul Sandstrom, co-advisor, Dr. Carla Osiowy and Dr. Lyle McKinnon. Thank you as well to Dr. Jason Kindrachuk for chairing the event.
Congratulations to Dominic Kielich on a successful master’s thesis defense. Thanks goes out to Kielich’s committee – Dr. Bradley Pickering, advisor, Dr. James Strong, co-advisor, Dr. Kevin Coombs and Dr. Darwyn Kobasa. We also send thanks to Dr. Jason Kindrachuk for chairing the event.
Titus Olukitibi, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of medical microbiology and infectious diseases, is the founder of Raising Foundations of Generations (RFGimpacts), a non-governmental organization that focuses on professional development for high school students. RFGimpacts provides mentorship to students, motivates them to pursue their career goals and encourages them to have faith in God to achieve success.
On September 2, 2023, Olukitibi and his team at RFGimpacts organized a Scientific Spelling Bee Competition (SPELBEC-Science) at the Bannatyne campus for Winnipeg high school students, particularly those from the BIPOC community. The event featured a career talk covering various areas of science, with speakers from engineering, biological research, information technology and mathematics. The students had the opportunity to network with the career panelists and judges, who were scientific professionals in research, veterinary surgery and other fields. The event was attended by 80 people, including contestants’ families, friends, volunteers, judges, panelists and the RFGimpacts team.