Jude Uzonna, PhD, DVM
Assistant Professor
Immunology
uzonna@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
Parasitic diseases are major causes of mortality and morbidity in developing countries and afflict more people worldwide than any other disease. Leishmaniasis is a globally widespread group of parasitic diseases caused by different species of protozoan parasite belonging to the genus Leishmania. Currently, WHO estimated that about 12 million people are afflicted with the disease worldwide with 350 million people at risk. The overarching goal of my laboratory is to understand the nature of protective anti-Leishmania immune response, including the induction., maintenance and loss of such immunity. Key research areas in the lab include: host and parasite factors that regulate host immune response and disease outcome; factors controlling generation, maintenance and loss of secondary (memory) anti-Leishmania immunity; regulation of different subsets of (central and effector) memory T cells and vaccines and vaccination strategies against cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Cornelia van Ineveld, MD, MSc, FRCP(C)
Assistant Professor
Internal Medicine
cineveld@cc.umanitoba.ca
Open for Collaboration
Interprofessional education; Predicting and preventing functional decline in the elderly.
Norah Vincent, PhD, CPsych
Associate Professor
Clinical Health Psychology
nvincent@exchange.hsc.mb.ca
Open for Collaboration
My research interests include sleep disorders, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and eating disorders. In particular, I am interested in developing innovative and non-pharmacological ways to treat sleep disorders such as internet-based treatment. With my collaborators, I have developed a screening measure for generalized anxiety disorder and am interested in obtaining more data to demonstrate the utility of the early identification of GAD in patients with comorbid medical problems. Finally, I have an interest in the treatment of eating disorders.
Maria Vrontakis, MD, PhD, FRCP(G)
Associate Professor
Human Anatomy & Cell Science
vrontak@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
My lab has been working on the neuropeptide galanin. Galanin has been shown to be involved in neural regeneration, pain, obesity, depression and Alzheimer's disease. We are currently working towards the therapeutic actions of galanin, using the galanin transgenic model, which I have developed in my lab. With the recent interest in using bone marrow stem cells to treat various neurological conditions, the extent to which galanin promotes neurogenesis is being studied in my laboratory, using modern molecular and cellular techniques.
Lynne Warda, BASc(Hon), MD, FRCPC(Pediatrics), PhD
Associate Professor
Pediatrics and Child Health
lwarda@mts.net
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Injury Prevention Research:
- Observational studies of bicycle helmet use (replication of methods over 6 study years); protective equipment and helmet use among inline skaters and scooter riders; PFD use by recreational boaters in Manitoba; playground equipment exposure (in order to calculate risk associated with equipment type); waterfront supervision of infants and toddlers by parents/guardians at Manitoba provincial parks.
- Injury data and surveillance projects (local, provincial, national levels)
- Playground surface performance studies
- Systematic reviews of evidence for injury prevention interventions
- Case control and interview studies of school aged children and family supervision
- Booster seat use: survey, consumer preference study, intervention for nonusers
- Patient safety: development/validation of audit instrument for pediatric hazards in healthcare facilities
Leah E. Weinberg, PhD, MSc, BPT, Advanced Cert. in Gerontology
Assistant Professor
Physical Therapy
weinbrg@cc.umanitoba.ca
Open for Collaboration
Research interests:
Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Client-Centred Practice
Curriculum Development for Interprofessional Education Among Health Professional Students
Curriculum Development in Geratrics / Gerontology for Physical Therapy Students
Fall Prevention in Older Adults / Fear of Falling and Balance Confidence in Older Adults
Functional Outcomes after Lower Limb Joint Replacement in Older Adults
Perceived Control, Cognitive-Behavioural Models of Rehabilitation for Older Adults
Pamela Wener, M.Ed., BMR OT
Associate Professor
Occupational Therapy
pwener@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
My current research interests primarily focus on two areas of study:
1) Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Client-Centred Practice and 2) Program Development, Implementation and Evaluation.
The focus on interprofessional education for collaborative client-centred practice includes an examination of interprofessional collaboration for both pre-licensure students and post-licensure professionals. In this regard, I am exploring the impact of early exposure to the skills of interprofessional collaboration on the attitudes and perceptions of first year university students regarding teams and professional stereotypes. The work on program development, implementation and evaluation is a person-centred life skill program designed for young adults who have a cognitive or developmental disorder and are beginning to transition out of their homes and into independent or semi-independent living.
Michael West, MD, BSc(Med), PhD, FRCSC, FACS
Professor and Head
Section of Neurosurgery
mwest@exchange.hsc.mb.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
Neuro-Oncology, Vascular Neurosurgery, Gamma Knife Surgery, Radiosurgery, Cranial Base Tumor Surgery, Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke
Three disciplines/subdisciplines for research:
NEUROSCIENCES (Surgery, Neurological)
CANCER/ONCOLOGY (Brain Tumors)
RADIOLOGY/RADIATION BIOLOGY/NUCLEAR MEDICINE (Magnetic Resonance Imaging/Spectroscopy)
Jeffrey Wigle, PhD, BSc
Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Medical Genetics
jwigle@sbrc.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
Our research focuses on how homeobox transcription factors control vascular growth during both embryonic development and during disease progression. Since many of the growth pathways used by fetal blood vessels are re-utilized in adults during disease, we can better understand the disease processes by determining how the vessels grow during embryonic development. We are studying genes that control the growth of blood vessels (Meox1/Meox2) and that control the growth of lymphatic vessels (Prox1). Meox1 and Meox2 have important roles in regulating growth of vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. Growth of new lymphatic vessels facilitate the spread of tumor cells from the primary tumor site. Prox1 has been shown to be essential for the growth of new lymphatic vessels. We have extensive techniques such as molecular biology, cell biology, transgenic mice and immunohistochemistry.
Klaus Wrogemann, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Biochemistry & Medical Genetics
Pediatrics & Child Health
k_wrogemann@umanitoba.ca
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
My main interest has always been the field of genetic diseases with special emphasis on muscular dystrophies. I used three widely different approaches over the years to study these diseases, covering the fields of bioenergetics, proteomics, and ultimately molecular genetics. Interests on the side evolved from this approach relating to cardiomyopathies, androgen resistance syndrome and genetic diseases in inbred populations. As the result of the incredible advances in sequencing, I saw the need to adapt to this field for the study of Mendelian disorders more effectively and arranged my most recent Research/Study leave at one of the leading institutes in this field to gain first-hand experience. My current major interest is in this rapidly emerging field leading to Personalized Medicine.
John Wylie, PhD
Assistant Professor
Medical Microbiology, Community Health Sciences
John.Wylie@gov.mb.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
My primary field of research is Public Health, focusing on bacterial and viral pathogens. My approach to Public Health research is to combine both social and molecular techniques to advance our understanding of the transmission and epidemiology of communicable diseases in populations. For the collection of social data, both traditional epidemiological approaches (focusing on the individual) and social network analysis (focusing on the interactions occurring within groups of individuals) are used. This social data is combined with data gathered on the molecular epidemiology of different species and strains of pathogens (primarily food-borne, respiratory, and blood-borne pathogens) to provide a detailed understanding of the origin and transmission of pathogens and to provide data for the development of new Public Health communicable disease control programs.
Jiuyong Xie, PhD
Assistant Professor
Physiology
xiej@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
My lab is mainly studying the molecular basis of cell signal-regulated RNA processin, particularly alternative pre-messenger RNA splicing.
Alternative splicing is a common way to regulate the expression of metazoan genes, leading to the generation of multiple mRNA and protein isoforms from a single gene contributing greatly to the proteomic diversity. Aberrant alternative splicing causes human genetic diseases.
We are using molecular and cellular approaches to characterize the pre-mRNA elements and trans-acting splicing factors responsive to the activation of protein kinases, in genes involved in cellular excitibility, cell growth/death or neurodegenerative diseases. We hope to understand the molecular basis of this important regulation and help correct the aberrant splicing events in genetic diseases.
Xi Yang, MD, PhD
Professor
Medical Microbiology, Immunology
yangxi@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
The current research program in my laboratory focuses on (a) the cellular and molecular basis of immune responses to allergens and infectious agents and (b) the development of protective and therapeutic approaches for alergy, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. The program is composed of four major projects: (1) Study of the molecular basis of the causal relationship between the decline of infection and the increase of atopic allergy in developed countries; (2) Study of the protective immunity and immunopathology of chlamydial infection; (3) Development of vaccine for human chlamydial diseases; and (4) Development of new methods in diagnostics and treatment of cardiac ischemia and infarction.
Xiaojian Yao, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor/Director
Medical Microbiology/ Laboratory of Molecular Human Retrovirology
yao2@cc.umanitoba.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
The Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) pandemic continues to drastically threaten the lives, welfare, and social stability of people worldwide. Global estimates indicate that roughly 15,000 new HIV infections occur each day, with one tenth of these occurring in children. Due to the drastic threat of this viral infection to human lives, extensive fundamental research efforts are continuingly needed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV-1 replication.
Our main scientific attention is to explore the mechanisms of how HIV interplays with the host during its life cycle, including how HIV integrase hijacks cellular proteins in viral nuclear import and chromatin targetting, and how to develop a novel anti-HIV strategy by modifying host antiviral molecule. These research efforts will contribute to the development of new anti-HIV strategies. In addition, we also conduct research on avian influenza H5N1 virus. The main project is to develop a safe and sensitive avian influenza virus entry system for studying of the impact of H5N1 HA mutations on virus entry in human cells and for screening antiviral agents.
Peter Zahradka, PhD
Professor
Physiology
peterz@sbrc.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
The primary objective of my research is to understand how injury triggers the growth of vascular smooth muscle cells, and why this growth does not stop once the damage has been repaired. This work is relevant to a clinical disease called restenosis, which occurs in 30-40% of patients that have undergone balloon angioplasty of bypass surgery to remove an atherosclerotic lesion. One of the factors being investigated is the hormone angiotensin II. We have shown that several compounds capable of blocking signals transmitted via the angiotensin receptor can prevent restenosis in vivo. In parallel, we have begun to study adiponectin, a hormone produced by adipose tissue and has been linked to improvements in insulin sensitivity and decreased atherosclerosis. Finally, we are collaborating with Dr. Carla Taylor (Dept. Human Nutritional Sciences) on a project designed to better understand the molecular mechanisms that lead to obesity and diabetes, and to evaluate specific nutritional supplements that may be able to control the morbidity associated with these conditions.
Teresa Zelinski, PhD
Professor
Pediatrics and Child Health, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics
zelinski@ms.umanitoba.ca
Open for Collaboration
The ongoing research program of the Rh Laboratory focuses on the study of Human blood groups. Our investigations cover most aspects of the subject including serological definition and distinction, mode of inheritance, expression, chromosomal localization of the controlling genes and molecular characterization of a specific erythrocyte antigens.
In addition to our blood group research we are actively involved in gene localization/characterization studies for The Centre for the Investigation of Genetic Disease. This group of 15 basic and clinical scientists are committed to studying genetic diseases in isolated Manitoban populations in an attempt to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality. The pilot project, Bowen-Conradi Syndrome, a lethal autosomal recessive disorder, has progressed through the gene localization and characterization phases, and gene functional studies are currently underway.
George G. Zhanel, PharmD, PhD
Professor
Medical Microbiology
ggzhanel@pcs.mb.ca
Accepting Graduate Students
Open for Collaboration
Open for Commercialization
Antimicrobial resistance interests include understanding the prevalence and epidemiology of antimicrobial resistant infections, describing the clincial relevance of resistant infections, identifying and developing molecular diagnostic methods to rapidly diagnose resistant infections, investigating the molecular mechanisms of resistance, assessing activity of investigational antimicrobials aginast resistant pathogens and studying pharmacodynamic modeling and Monte Carlo analyses to provide optimal treatment of antimicrobial resistant infections. Specific infections and pathogens of research interest include antimicrobial resistant respiratory infections (S.pneumoniae, P.aeruginosa) antimcrobial resistant urinary tract infections, infections in community and hospitalized patients as well as in intensive care units, bacteremic infections, Extended Spectrum -lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae, methicillin-resistant Staphylcococcus aureus (MRSA) including community-associated CA-MRSA, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and Clostridium difficile. Synthesis of novel aminoglycoside fusion antimicrobials is underway.