- Congratulations to Dr. Benjamin Smith on receiving a group grant from the Réseau en santé respiratoire du Québec – FRQS: Recherche pour des projets-équipes for his project entitled “A COPD risk factor more powerful than smoking: Building a translational team to investigate the genetic basis of dysanapsis to achieve life-long lung health.” (December 2018)
- Congratulations to Dr. Sushmita Pamidi on receiving a group grant from the Réseau en santé respiratoire du Québec – FRQS: Recherche pour des projets-équipes. (December 2018)
- Congratulations to the following trainees on being awarded Réseau en santé respiratoire du Québec – FRQS Programme de complément de bourse: Dr. Hussain Traboulsi (PDF with Drs. Carolyn Baglole and Benjamin Smith) for his project entitled: FGF10 haploinsufficiency is associated with smaller airways lumen: implications for COPD susceptibility, Wided Akik (Dr. Larry Lands), Dr. Julien Malet (PDF with Dr. Dao Nguyen), Frank Niro (Dr. Dennis Jensen).
- Feature articles by the RI-MUHC and the Globe and Mail on the life and accomplishments of Dr. Margaret Becklake. (November 2018)
- Congratulations Lisa Hennemann and Tianxiao Yang, graduate students with Dr. Dao Nguyen, on placing 1st and 2nd, respectively, for best poster presentation during the 2018 Journées Québécoises en Santé Respiratoire (November 2018).
- Congratulations Dr. Irah King on the successful renewal of his Canada Research Chair in Immunology of Barrier Surfaces. (November 2018)
- The Canadian Respiratory Conference has chosen Dr. Dick Menzies as the 2019 Conference Keyntote (October 2018).
- Dr. Dorival Martins (PDF with Dr. Dao Nguyen) recently published his study in PNAS. He discovered a new cellular target that can weaken the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a daunting microbe which can become highly tolerant to many antibiotics, and thus refractory to antibiotic therapy. Full press release here. Full PNAS article here. (September 2018)
- Our very own Dr. Eva Kaufmann (PDF with Maziar Divangahi) received the Werner-Müller-Prize from the German Society for Immunology. The prize is awarded to outstanding young scientists for their achievements in the field of immunology. Dr. Kaufmann received the prize for describing a new mechanism for protection against tuberculosis with the BCG vaccine, recently published in Cell. Read the press release in German here (September 2018)
- A game changing study was recently published by Dr. Dick Menzies in The Lancet. His research is leading to the overhaul of WHO treatment guidelines for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. For more information see McGill Med e-News and theMUHC Newsroom. Media Coverage: La Presse Canadienne, Radio-Canada International. (September 2018)
- Dr. Eva Kaufmann, PDF with Dr. Maziar Divangahi, received the FRQ Relève étoile Jacques-Genest Award for her publication in Cell entitled “BCG Educates Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Generate Protective Innate Immunity against Tuberculosis”. Here success was also featured in the McGill Med e-News. (August 2018)
- Dr. Maziar Divangahi and Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan were appointed as new Associate Directors of the McGill International TB Centre. (July 2018)
- A study by Dr. Dick Menzies on treatment of latent tuberculosis shows a novel, short therapy (4 months Rifampin) is safer and more effective in children and adults than standard therapy Read more in the Gazette and at the RI-MUHC. (July 2018).
- Charity softball game funds life-changing equipment, clinics, and research at the Montreal Chest Institute of the MUHC. Read more here (July 2018)
- Dr. Salman Qureshi was awarded a 5 year CIHR Project grant for his project entitled “Functional and genetic susceptibility to progressive cryptococcal pneumonia”. (July 2018)
- Dr. Elizabeth Fixman has been appointed to the position of Associate Graduate Program Director for the Division of Experimental Medicine. (June 2018).
- Professor Salman Qureshi was presented the Osler Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Faculty of Medicine. This award is presented to a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine who, in the opinion of the senior medical students, has made the most outstanding contribution to their medical education. (May 2018)
- Dr. Jean Bourbeau was awarded the Research Award for Excellence in Research by the MUHC Department of Medicine. This award recognizes consistent and lasting excellence in research by a Department of Medicine Staff member. The nominee’s research program will be judged on its importance, the
impact of the results, the ability to obtain funding, and research productivity. (May 2018) - The 29th annual Respiratory Research Day featured 50 oral andposter presentations. The winners for best oral presentation were: Wissam Shalish (PhD student with Dr. Guilherme Sant’Anna) and Jeffrey Downey (PhD Student with Dr. Maziar Divangahi). The winners for best poster presentation were: Julia Chronopoulos (MSc student with Dr. James Martin), Jean-Philippe Leduc-Gaudet (PhD student with Dr. Sabah Hussain), Erwan Pernet (PDF with Dr. Maziar Divangahi), Lauren Tracey (MSc student with Dr. Dennis Jensen) and Mariaenrica Tine’ (Clinical Fellow with Dr. Manuel Cosio). (May 2018)
- Vanessa Moarbes (PhD student with Dr. Elizabeth Fixman) received the James C. Hogg Basic Research Award for best basic poster during the CTS. (May 2018)
- Congratulations Dr. Maziar Divangahi for receiving the Strauss Chair in Respiratory Diseases (April 2018-March 2023). (April 2018)
- Congratulations to the following RESP (Meakins and RECRU) trainees for their FRQS training awards: Dr. Erwan Pernet (PDF with Dr. Maziar Divangahi) for his project entitled “Modulation de l’inflammation par la 5-lipoxygenase dans les infections grippales: fonction immunomodulatrice des interferons de type I.”, Adamo Donovan (PhD student with Dr. Benjamin Smith) for his project entitled “la morphologie et la fonction du diaphragme in vivo dans la maladie pulmonaire obstructive chronique (MPOC)”, and Dr. Jonathan Campbell (PDF with Dr. Dick Menzies) for his project entitled “Le rôle des régimes avec une rifamycine dans le traitement de la tuberculose latente: informer les lignes directrices et modifier la prise en charge.” (April 2018)
- Congratulations to our RESP researchers for receiving FRQS chercheurs boursiersawards for the 2018-2019 competition. Dr. Dao Nguyen received a chercheurs boursiers cliniciens award for her project entitled “Les infections chroniques du Pseudomonas aeruginosa: de la microbiologie a la reponse inflammatoire des voies respiratoires” and Dr. Andrea Benedetti received a chercheurs boursiers award for her project entitled “Défis statistiques dans la meta-analyse des données individuelles aved des applications dans la tuberculose et la dépression”. (April 2018)
- Dr. Eva Kaufmann, PDF with Dr. Maziar Divangahi, was interviewed by Radio-Canada for her Cell paper. Great job Eva! Watch the video here. (March 2018)
- Congratulations Dr. Qutayba Hamid, a recipient of the #ATS2018 Distinguished Achievement Award!. Distinguished Achievement Award: outstanding contributions to fighting respiratory disease through research, education, patient care or advocacy. (March 2018)
- The Meakins would like to welcome Dr. Irah King as its newest member. His research efforts are focused on mucosal immunology and barrier tissues such as the intestine, lung and skin, and how complex network of immune cells protect from environmental insults and pathogen invasion. (January 2018)
- Congratulations to the following RESP investigators for receiving CIHR Project grants in the 2017 Fall competition: Dr. James Martin (The role of eicosanoids in airway responses to oxidative injury from chlorine), Dr. Arnold Kristof (Targeted Therapies for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis), Dr. Anne-Marie Lauzon (Asthmatic phenotyping by microfluidic assessment of shortening velocity and contractile force of airway smooth muscle cells obtained from biopsies), and Dr. Andrea Benedetti (Improving Depression Screening in Geriatric Patients by Reducing Bias and Generating Individualized Accuracy Estimates: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)). (January 2018)
- Congratulations to Drs. Benjamin Smith and Carolyn Baglole on their PNAS publication entitled “Human Airway Branch Variation and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease”. Their work shows that the internal anatomy of our lungs is surprisingly variable, and some of those variations are associated with a greater risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). (January 2018)
- Congratulations to the Divangahi group, including first author Eva Kaufmann (PDF with Dr. Maziar Divangahi), for their latest publication in Cell. Their work shows BCG-iv induces trained immunity through education of hematopoietic stem cells and offers long-term innate immune protection against M. tuberculosis infection. (January 2018)