Launched in November 2025, this competition supports bold, innovative research advancing our understanding of infection across three key areas: pandemic preparedness, antimicrobial resistance, and microbes that shape human health.

Reprogramming Gut Bacteria into Living Vaccines
Lucienne Tritten & Irah King

Many infections begin in the gut, yet most vaccines are designed to work in the bloodstream rather than at the body’s mucosal surfaces. This project explores a groundbreaking approach: using harmless gut bacteria as “living vaccine factories.” By reprogramming naturally occurring bacteria to produce tiny vaccine-carrying particles directly in the intestine, this strategy could provide continuous, localized protection right where infections start. If successful, this work could pave the way for low-cost, easily deployable vaccines built from the body’s own microbiome.

Tracking the Spread of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Hospitals
Yves Longtin & Dao Nguyen

Carbapenems are among the last-resort antibiotics used to treat severe infections. However, resistance to these drugs is rising rapidly worldwide, including in Quebec, posing a serious threat to patient care. This project investigates how these resistant bacteria spread in hospitals: between patients or within individuals through mobile genetic elements called plasmids. In the first Canadian study of its kind, the team will track how these bacteria evolve and spread among patients at the Jewish General Hospital. Their findings will help inform more effective infection prevention strategies, both at the hospital and patient level.

Each team will receive $150,000 to support their research over up to 24 months.

This round of funding was made possible through the generous support of the Pathy Family Foundation and MI4.

Read More

2026 MI4-Pathy Seed Fund Grant (SFG) – Round 7. MI4 Website.

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Deborah Assayag (Priority Announcement)
The Longitudinal Use of Oscillometry in Interstitial Lung Diseases

Jonathon Campbell
Co-Investigators: Benjamin Smith, Kevin Schwartzman, Dick Menzies, Andrea Benedetti
Functional Outcomes, Lung health, and Livelihood Outcomes among people With Tuberculosis (FOLLOW-TB): a pan-Canadian prospective cohort study

Maziar Divangahi
Harnessing the power of trained immunity in disease tolerance against influenza virus

Elizabeth Fixman (Priority Announcement)
Sex-specific mechanisms by which environmental triggers promote durable changes to the lung to exacerbate type 2 innate and adaptive immunity

Irah King
Mechanisms of tissue-resident T cell activation for intestinal host defense

Larry Lands (Co-Principal Investigator)
Nominated Principal Investigator: Juan Ianowski (University of Saskatchewan)
Function of pulmonary ionocytes and club cells in human airway and their contribution to cystic fibrosis lung disease

Larry Lands (Co-Principal Investigator)
Nominated Principal Investigator: Sze Man Tse (Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine)
Predicting biologic therapy response in children with severe asthma: the Medication response and Asthma Therapy in CHildren with severe Asthma (MATCHA) Study

Sushmita Pamidi
Co-Investigators: Andrea Benedetti, John Kimoff
Sleep-Disordered Breathing During Pregnancy and Long-Term Postpartum Blood Pressure Pattern

Bryan Ross
Co-Investigators: Jean Bourbeau, Jun Ding, Sabah Hussain, Larry Lands
Enhancing the Clinical Benefits of COPD Chronic Management: The SUPplementation with URolithin-A during Pulmonary Rehabilitation in COPD (SUPRA-COPD) Trial

The post CIHR Project Grant Results – Fall 2025 appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

This research explores how alterations in the gut microbiome may drive the development of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder that affects up to 8% of the population and remains without a clear cause or diagnostic test. The team will investigate how specific gut microbes can trigger immune responses that generate antibodies capable of inducing pain. By uncovering how these antibodies form and act, the study aims to pave the way for new diagnostic tools and targeted treatments that address immune and microbiome-related causes of fibromyalgia.

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MI4 supported research and initiatives.

The post New MI4 Microbiomes and Rheumatic Diseases Grant to Irah King appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Published in Cell, the research could lead to new treatments for digestive diseases that affect billions of people globally, from worm infections in developing countries to inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s here in Canada. The discovery shows that helping the gut tolerate infection might be just as important as fighting off the bugs.

This breakthrough opens up new paths for safer treatments that support gut health without harsh medications or surgery.

Read More

Researchers uncover novel immune mechanism that protects the intestine. By studying intestinal worms, scientists from The Institute make a breakthrough in gut immunity—opening the door to improved treatments for global digestive disorders. The Institute News. May 29, 2025.

Researchers uncover novel immune mechanism that protects the intestine. McGill Health e-News. June 11, 2025.

Read the Publication

A type 1 immune-stromal cell network mediates disease tolerance against intestinal infection. Westfall S, Gentile ME, Olsen TM, Karo-Atar D, Bogza A, Röstel F, Pardy RD, Mandato G, Fontes G, Herbert D, Melichar HJ, Abadie V, Richer MJ, Vinh DC, Koenig JFE, Harrison OJ, Divangahi M, Weis S, Gregorieff A, King IL. Cell. 2025 Jun 12;188(12):3135-3151.e22. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.043.

The post Breakthrough Discovery in Gut Health appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

This research is particularly important in areas where intestinal infections are common and can cause long-term damage like scarring and inflammation. It also has implications for conditions like Crohn’s disease and intestinal fibrosis, which can result from excessive immune responses or chronic inflammation. By revealing how the immune system can preserve organ function without fully clearing the infection, the study opens new doors for developing therapies that reduce harm while supporting recovery. The findings could also revive older therapeutic strategies that were previously dismissed because we didn’t fully understand how they worked.

Read More

A type 1 immune-stromal cell network mediates disease tolerance against intestinal infection. Westfall S, Gentile ME, Olsen TM, Karo-Atar D, Bogza A, Röstel F, Pardy RD, Mandato G, Fontes G, Herbert D, Melichar HJ, Abadie V, Richer MJ, Vinh DC, Koenig JFE, Harrison OJ, Divangahi M, Weis S, Gregorieff A, King IL. Cell. 2025 Apr 22:S0092-8674(25)00395-2.

Read the Publication

Researchers uncover novel immune mechanism that protects the intestine. By studying intestinal worms, scientists from The Institute make a breakthrough in gut immunity—opening the door to improved treatments for global digestive disorders. The Institute News. May 29, 2025.

The post Discovery Reveals How the Immune System Protects the Gut Without Killing the Infection appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Maddison Arlen (PhD with Carolyn Baglole). Bourses de doctorat en recherche – FRQS.
Title: La perturbation de la signalisation PPAR par l’inhalation de produits du cannabis altère les mécanismes de défense de l’épithélium respiratoire.

Andrei Bogza (PhD with Irah King). Bourses de doctorat en recherche – FRQS.
Title: Rôle des infections helminthiques dans le retard de croissance causé par des carences nutritionnelles.

Andrei Bogza (PhD with Irah King). CIHR Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships.
Title: Investigating the Role of Helminth Infections in Diet-Induced Stunting

Susan Cai (MSc with Maziar Divangahi). Bourses de maîtrise en recherche – FRQS.
Title: Le rôle de IFN-g en imprimer les fonctions des macrophages alvéolaires.

Susan Cai (MSc with Maziar Divangahi). CIHR Master’s Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: The role of interferon-gamma in imprinting alveolar macrophage functions

Alyson Deprez (PDF with Basil Petrof). CIHR Fellowship.
Title: Trained immunity, macrophages and muscle stem cells in dystrophic respiratory muscle.

Hansen Feng (MSc with James Martin). CIHR Master’s Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: The role of pulmonary macrophages during syngeneic and allogeneic pregnancy in the context of an influenza A viral infection

Felix Girard (PhD with Dennis Jensen). CIHR Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: Influence of respiratory mechanical (un)loading on inspiratory neural drive and breathlessness during exercise.

Justine Mathé (PDF with Dao Nguyen). CIHR Fellowship.
Title: Deciphering Host-Pathogen Interactions in Cystic Fibrosis Lung Through Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis

Ava Naphin (MSc with Carolyn Baglole). CIHR Master’s Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: The Impact of E-Cigarette Use on Susceptibility to Influenza and Secondary Bacterial Infection

Anabel Selemon (MSc with Jonathon Campbell). CIHR Master’s Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: Improving the Targeting of Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment in Canada

Kailu Song (PhD with Jun Ding). FRQS Bourses de doctorat en recherche.
Title: DeepExonas : Faire progresser la représentation cellulaire au-delà du niveau du gène en intégrant la quantification au niveau de l’exon et les lectures de jonction avec des réseaux neuronaux profonds.

Fariya Wahab (MSc with Deborah Assayag and Carolyn Baglole). CIHR Master’s Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Title: Biomarker Identification for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

The post Spring 2025 Student Awards appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Unlike other fungi that transiently colonize the gut, Kp can be passed from one generation to the next and significantly enhances type 2 immune responses, which are associated with fighting parasitic worms and allergic reactions. Remarkably, Kp boosts resistance to intestinal helminths, parasitic worms that afflict millions worldwide. The work demonstrated that Kp colonization reduces worm burdens in infected mice, suggesting a direct role in enhancing anti-parasite immunity. This finding provides an essential new model for studying fungal commensalism and its impact on host health, filling a gap in microbiome research that has historically overlooked fungi. The study also reveals a complex three-way interaction between fungi, parasites, and the host immune system, highlighting how different components of the microbiome shape health outcomes.

The discovery of Kp opens avenues for future research and potential therapies. Understanding how Kp strengthens immunity against helminths could lead to innovative treatments for parasitic infections. Additionally, studying fungal colonization in humans might offer insights into immune activation in conditions like asthma or autoimmune diseases.

This research underscores the need to consider fungi as a vital component of the gut microbiome.

In the News

Discovery of a commensal fungus that shapes anti-parasite and allergic immune responses. This groundbreaking discovery opens up new opportunities to study the role of host-fungus interactions in intestinal immunity. The Institute News. December 20, 2024.

Read More

Fungal symbiont transmitted by free-living mice promotes type 2 immunity. Liao Y, Gao IH, Kusakabe T, Lin WY, Grier A, Pan X, Morzhanaeva O, Shea TP, Yano H, Karo-Atar D, Olsen KA, Oh JH, Vandegrift KJ, King IL, Cuomo CA, Artis D, Rehermann B, Lipman N, Iliev ID. Nature. 2024 Dec;636(8043):697-704.

The post Gut Fungus: A Hidden Ally in Fighting Parasites appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Irah King (Nominated Principal Investigator)
Team Members: Corrine Maurice, Ali Ahmadi
Funding Agency: New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration (2023 Competition)
Application Title: Integrating parasitology and bioengineering to improve gut health
Summary: Intestinal helminths remain one of the most prevalent causes of infectious disease in the world that secrete a multitude of factors that alter the microbiota and regulate the immune response to prevent their expulsion, but also promote tissue healing to ensure the survival of their hosts. This project will explore the secretions from helminths as potential new anti-inflammatory treatments. The plan is to develop smart, ingestible capsules that can precisely release these helminth-derived products to targeted parts of the intestine. These capsules will also collect detailed information on the local microbial and metabolic environment. This innovative approach could lead to a non-invasive, compact, and highly specific system for drug delivery and monitoring.

Dao Nguyen (Co-Investigator)
Director: Yves Brun (Université de Montréal).
Funding Agency: Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund.
Application Title: PandemicStop-AI: for an accelerated response to pandemics.
Summary: This project will use artificial intelligence to discover new antibiotics and develop new technologies to manufacture these novel antibiotics in Canada.

Dao Nguyen and Maziar Divangahi (Co-Investigators)
Lead: Lyle Whyte
Funding Agency: Canadian Space Agency FAST 2023 Program
Application Title: Development and application of an integrated surface melt probe in Icy Moon and Mars analogue sites for biosignature detection and Mars sample return planetary protection risk assessment
Summary: Concerns have been raised about the potential biohazard risk of returning samples from space missions that might contain biological entities capable of replicating and causing disease in humans. The team will analyze the pathogenicity risk of samples collected from extreme environments on Earth (i.e glaciers and arctic sea ice) to ensure the development of instruments and detection protocols. This work will help ensure the safety of samples returned from future missions to icy moons and Mars.

Gregory Fonseca (Co-Investigator)
Team Members: Greg Dekaban, Marco Prado, Vania Prado, Jane Rylett (Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, Western University)
Funding Agency: Krembil Foundation
Application Title: Determining Why Immune Regulation Fails to Control Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Summary: This project will understand the impact of the aging process in the development of Alzheimer’s and use spatial data to show the location of inflammation in the brain, along with machine learning models to analyze the inflammation.

Read the Press Release:
Krembil funds help researchers seek answers to misfiring of brain’s immune system in battling Alzheimer’s. A grant of $2.4 million will enable Greg Fonseca of the RI-MUHC and a team of researchers from Western University to learn more about the role of inflammation in this debilitating disease. RI-MUHC News. April 25, 2024

The post New 2024 Grants to Meakins Faculty appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

The winners for best oral presentation were:

Sophia Goldman
MSc student with Dao Nguyen
Pseudomonas aeruginosa evasion of neutrophil-mediated clearance in persistent Cystic Fibrosis infections

Benjamin Mappin-Kasirer
Resident with Nicole Ezer, Emily McDonald, Todd Lee
Development of a clinical risk score for the prediction of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in hospitalized patients

Matheus Schultz
PhD student with Anne-Marie Lauzon
Holding It Together: Investigating h-Caldesmon’s Impact on Smooth Muscle Efficient Force Maintenance

The winners for best poster presentation were:

Kriti Agarwal
PhD student with Tania Janaudis-Ferreira
Recruitment, Retention, and Adverse Events in Long-COVID Virtual Rehabilitation Trial

Vincenza Caruana
PhD student with Carolyn Baglole
Evaluating the Atherosclerotic Effects of a Chronic E-Cigarette Exposure in a Hyperlipidemic Mouse Model

Bavanitha Thurairajah
PhD student with Irah King
Investigating gut microbiota determinants of IL-17-producing γδ T cells during early life

Susan Westfall
Postdoctoral fellow with Irah King
A type I immune-stromal cell network mediates disease tolerance and barrier protection against intestinal infection

Elizabeth Lapshina
MSc student with Maziar Divangahi
The crosstalk between the peritoneal cavity and bone marrow in β-glucan-induced trained immunity

Kristina Nikolaou
MSc student with Maziar Divangahi
The mystery of the BCG vaccine in protection against SARS-CoV-2

The post 2024 RESP Research Day Poster and Oral Winners appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

MIMM Graduate Student Research Day – May, 2024

POSTER PRESENTATION WINNER:

Sumaiya Jusab
MSc student with Dao Nguyen
The role of the type 3 secretion system on the long-term survival of intracellular Pseudomonas aeruginosa in airway epithelial cells

ORAL PRESENTATION WINNERS:

Mina Sadeghi
PhD student with Maziar Divangahi
Regulation of bone marrow iron metabolism in hematopoiesis and host defence against TB

Jacquelyn Rich
PhD student with Dao Nguyen
Proteomic profiling of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa stringent response

11th Annual TB Research Day – March, 2024

BEST BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL & HEALTH OUTCOME ORAL PRESENTATION:

Mina Sadeghi
PhD student with Maziar Divangahi
Investigating the regulation of bone marrow iron metabolism in hematopoiesis and host defense against TB

BEST 2023 PUBLICATION AWARD (Emil Skamene Award for Best Paper in Basic Biomedical Research):

Kim A. Tran
PhD student with Maziar Divangahi
BCG immunization induces CX3CR1hi effector memory T cells to provide cross-protection via IFN-γ-mediated trained immunity

Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s

Kaitlin Olsen
MSc student with Irah King
Investigating type 3 immunity and early life IgA in promoting life-long intestinal immune resilience

Andrei Bogza
MSc student with Irah King
Investigating the tripartite relationship between helminth infection, the gut microbiome, and stunting in early life

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