News

2022

Congratulations to our post-doctoral researcher Dr. Marina Ninkov on her manuscript entitled Improved MAIT cell functions following fecal microbiota transplantation for metastatic renal cell carcinoma published in Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. Exciting translational research to reveal the mechanisms of MAIT cell function in FMT used as a therapeutic intervention in the context of cancer.

  • Alex Michaud successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations Alex!

Congratulations to Nicole Wang and Inbar Habaz, the latest recipients of Canada Graduate Scholarships from
CIHR and NSERC, respectively, from our team! Well done!

  • Nicole received a USRA Award from NSERC to continue her research on cross-talk between innate-like T cells.
  • Dr. Marina Ninkov received an American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Trainee Abstract Award, a Travel Award, and a podium presentation to share her research findings at the 2022 AAI meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA.

2021

Our work on innate immune amnesia and the measles virus continues to receive extensive media coverage. Dr. Haeryfar was featured in an article for BBC Future entitled, “The race to understand ‘immune amnesia'” and an article in Down To Earth magazine entitled, “COVID-19 fallout: Immune amnesia may be lurking amid millions of missing measles shots”.

  • Jenna Benoit successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations Jenna!
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was nominated and then elected to serve as the Vice President of the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI).
  • Jenna Benoit received a poster award at the 33rd annual Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) meeting.
  • Patrick Rudak successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations Dr. Rudak!

The recent publication of our Cell Reports article, “Chronic stress physically spares but functionally impairs innate-like invariant T cells” has received considerable media interest. The research was featured in a news article by London Free Press and live interview broadcast by Global News Radio 980 CFPL .

  • Patrick Rudak was awarded the 2020 John A Thomas award. This Award was established in the memory of John A. Thomas, D.V.M., Ph.D., and is adjudicated based on outstanding performance in research and academia among Ph.D. students during the last stages of the program.
  • Jenna Benoit provided a peek at life in our lab during a Microbiology & Immunology Student Association (MISA) lab tour. Check out the video below!
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a CIHR Project Grant aimed at tackling evidence gaps in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The five-year project is entitled “Mobilizing the Antiviral Capacities of MAIT Cells to Combat COVID-19: From Fundamental Immunology to Vaccine Optimization and Immunotherapy”.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar became a member of the Centre for Translational Cancer Research at the London Health Sciences Centre’s London Regional Cancer Program.

2020

The recent publication of our article, “Measles virus infects and programs MAIT cells for apoptosis” has received extensive media coverage. The research was featured in a live interview broadcast titled, “Immune Amnesia & Herd Immunity” by Global News Radio 980 CFPL and covered in a news article by London Free Press.

  • Joshua Choi successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations Dr. Choi!
  • Tony Yao successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations Tony!
  • Jenna Benoi was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) award.

2019

  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Canadian Cancer Society Innovation Grant to examine “MAIT Cell Functions and Therapeutic Potentials in Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma”.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar received the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Careers in Immunology Fellowship Award.
  • Christine Wardell successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations Christine!
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an NSERC Individual Discovery Grant to investigate “Glucocorticoid and Adrenergic Receptor Signaling at the Neuroimmune Interface”.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Dean’s Award of Excellence for Faculty.
  • Christine Wardell and Patrick Rudak received poster presentation awards at the 32nd Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) meeting in Banff, Alberta.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was nominated for the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) Vice-President position.
  • Joshua Choi was selected by Western University to compete in the upcoming Canadian Student Health Research Forum to be held in June 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was recognized to be among the top 5% of Ph.D. students in Canada.
  • Patrick Rudak was awarded a Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) travel award to attend the 32nd annual CSI meeting in Banff, Alberta.
  • Christine Wardell’s and Joshua Choi’s abstracts were selected for podium presentations at the 32nd Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) meeting to be held in Banff, Alberta.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Western Strategic Support for CIHR Success seed grant to study ovarian cancer.
  • Christine Wardell successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis. Congratulations Christine!

2018

  • Courtney Meilleur successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations Dr. Meilleur!
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar is now a Professor of General Surgery in the Department of Surgery.
  • Courtney Meilleur received a poster presentation award at the 31st Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) meeting in London, Ontario.
  • Patrick Rudak received a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral Program).
  • Christine Wardell received a Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology.
  • Joshua Choi received a Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology.
  • Joshua Choi received an American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Trainee Abstract Award to give a podium presentation at the 2018 AAI meeting in Austin, Texas.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was promoted to the rank of Full Professor.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a five-year CIHR Project Grant to study “Functional Roles and Therapeutic Potentials of Invariant NKT Cells in Sepsis”.

2017

  • Dr. Ryan Shaler’s paper in Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy was selected by Springer Nature as “a groundbreaking article with the potential to change the world”. Ryan’s work was featured in the “Change the World, One Article at a Time” campaign.
  • Dr. Arash Memarnejadian’s 2017 paper was featured in the “In This Issue” section of The Journal of Immunology, which “highlights articles considered to be among the top 10% of articles published in the journal”. The significance of this work was outlined in a commentary entitled “Boosting Subdominant Cancer-Specific CD8+ T Cells”.
  • Dr. Ryan Shaler’s 2017 paper in PLoS Biology was highlighted or covered by The Scientist, ScienceDaily, Science Media Centre of Canada, and CTV News among other media outlets.
  • Peter Szabo’s 2017 paper was featured in the “In This Issue” section of The Journal of Immunology, which “highlights articles considered to be among the top 10% of articles published in the journal”. The significance of this work was outlined in a commentary entitled “The Shocking Truth about IL-17A”.
  • Peter Szabo’s 2017 paper in The Journal of Immunology was recommended by the Faculty of 1000
  • Joshua Choi received the 3rd place oral presentation award at the Infection and Immunity Research Forum organized by the graduate students of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western University.
  • Christine Wardell was awarded a Frederick Banting and Charles Best CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s Program (CGS-M).
  • Christine Wardell was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) award.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar and Courtney Meilleur are given the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) laboratory travel award to attend 104th Annual AAI Meeting in Washington, D.C.
  • Dr. Ryan Shaler received the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research travel award.
  • Dr. Ryan Shaler received the Centre of Human Immunology travel award.
  • Patrick Rudak is given the Cedarlane Graduate Student travel award.
  • Patrick Rudak is awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).
  • Patrick Rudak is given the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) poster award.
  • Josh Choi received the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).
  • Farzan Parvi received a Schulich Research Opportunities Program (SROP) award to study the role of MAIT cells in sepsis (co-supervised by Dr. Tine Mele and Dr. Mansour Haeryfar).
  • Rakshith Gangireddy is given the NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award.
  • Peter Szabo successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis. Congratulations Dr. Szabo!

2016

  • Dr. Ryan Shaler is awarded a two-year CIHR postdoctoral fellowship.
  • Dr. Ryan Shaler is given the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) postdoctoral travel award to attend the 29th annual Canadian Society for Immunology meeting held in Banff, Alberta.
  • Dr. Arash Memarnejadian received the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research travel award.
  • Peter Szabo was among the top 5% Ph.D. students selected to compete at CSHRF. He won a CIHR travel award to attend this meeting.
  • Josh Choi’s abstract is one of four selected for a podium presentation at the 28th Annual Buffalo Conference on Microbial Pathogenesis in Buffalo, New York.
  • Peter Szabo won the 1st place feature platform presentation award at the London Health Research Day.

2015

  • Dr. Ryan Shaler is given the CIHR Strategic Training Program in Cancer Research postdoctoral fellowship award.
  • Dr. Ryan Shaler received the CIHR Human Immunology Network (CHIN) travel award.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar is re-elected to the Canadian Society of Immunology (CSI) Council for two years.
  • Peter Szabo won a Canadian Society of Immunology (CSI) trainee travel award.
  • Peter Szabo won a American Association of Immunologists (AAI) trainee abstract award.
  • Peter Szabo is awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).
  • Peter Szabo is given the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) travel award to attend the 28th annual meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Peter Szabo received the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) travel award.
  • Courtney Meilleur received one of the 12 Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) poster awards.
  • Courtney Meilleur is awarded the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship.
  • Josh Choi received the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).
  • Patrick Rudak is awarded the Western Graduate Research Scholarship.

2014

  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded Dr. John Robinson Award in recognition of her academic achievements and research productivity in Microbiology and Immunology.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Movember Discovery Grant from Prostate Cancer Canada to study “NKT Cell-based Adjuvant Immunotherapy of Prostate Cancer”.
  • Sina Ghoreishi received his Honors degree (Double Major in Medical Sciences and Medical Cell Biology). He won the Gold Medal for the Major in Medical Cell Biology.
  • Wei-She Tai won the Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis.
  • Ankur Goswami successfully completed his M.Sc. studies.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an NSERC Individual Discovery Grant to investigate “Neuroimmune Biology of Natural Killer T Cells”.
  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
  • Courtney Meilleur successfully completed his Ph.D. candidacy exam.
  • Ankur Goswami and Courtney Meilleur each won one of the 12 Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) poster awards during the Society’s 27th annual meeting in Quebec City. Approximately 90 posters were in competition.
  • Peter Szabo was selected to give a podium presentation at the “Immune Mediated Diseases: Tolerance, Autoimmunity and Inflammation” workshop during the 27th annual CSI meeting in Quebec City.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar is appointed an associate professor of Clinical Immunology & Allergy in the Department of Medicine.
  • Ankur Goswami received the 2nd place Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) poster award.
  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded the Dr. Frederick W. Luney Graduate Entrance Scholarship.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha is given the Canadian Journal of Surgery Editor’s Choice Award.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha is given the Canadian Association for General Surgeons (CAGS) Basic Science Award.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha is given the Resident Research Award at the Robert Zhong Dept. of Surgery Research Day.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha received the Resident Research Presentation Award at the General Surgery Residents’ Research Day.
  • John Shin is given a NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award.

2013

  • Dr. Ram Anantha received a travel award from Centre for Human Immunology at Western to attend the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS). Advanced Course in Basic and Clinical Immunology in Scottsdale, Arizona.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a five-year CIHR operating grant to study “mTOR regulation of CTL responses”.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha received a Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (CSCI)/CIHR Resident Research Award.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha received a travel award from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western to attend the 2013 Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada Young Investigators Forum in Ottawa, Ontario.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha was awarded a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship by CIHR.
  • Peter Szabo successfully completed his Ph.D. candidacy exam.
  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) by NSERC.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
  • Courtney Meilleur received a travel award from Centre for Human Immunology at Western to attend the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2013 Trainee Satellite Symposium in Boston, Massachusetts.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha received the Danone Science Award from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western for the best departmental graduate seminar presentation.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was elected to the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) Council for a two-year term.

2012

  • Adil Shivji successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha won the Novus Biologicals Award for Excellence in Oral Presentation during the 7th Infection and Immunity Research Forum, Western University.
  • Dr. Ram Anantha was awarded a Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Entrance Fellowship.
  • Stanley Lee won the Cedarlane Laboratories Poster Award, one of the top three poster prizes presented at the 25th Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) annual meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
  • Peter Szabo received a travel award from Centre for Human Immunology at Western to attend the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2012 Trainee Satellite Symposium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • Peter Szabo and Stanley Lee each received a travel award from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western to attend the 25th Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) annual meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
  • Richard Onizuka won the Western Gold Medal in the Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology program.

2011

  • Courtney Meilleur was awarded a Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Entrance Fellowship.
  • Shannon Meilleur, a Scholar’s Elective student in the Haeryfar lab, was awarded a Microbiology and Immunology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure.
  • Jacqueline Hayworth and Mateusz Rytelewski Successfully defended their M.Sc. thesis.
  • Grace Wang, a high school student working in the Haeryfar lab, competed in the 2011 London Science Fair and won the First Place in Life Sciences, the award for the “Best in Fair Project”, the Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories award, and a $1000 scholarship from the University of Ottawa.
  • Jacqueline Hayworth received a Student Travel Award from the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) to attend the Society’s 24th annual meeting in Lake Louise, Alberta.

2010

  • Jacqueline Hayworth was awarded a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship from CIHR.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was appointed Canada Research Chair in Viral Immunity & Pathogenesis (Tier 2) by Government of Canada.
  • Mateusz Rytelewski was awarded an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) by NSERC.
  • Saman Maleki Vareki was awarded a one-year CIHR Strategic Training Scholarship in Cancer Research and Technology Transfer (CaRTT).
  • Eric Tin Lung Lai, a Scholar’s Elective student in the Haeryfar lab, won the University of Western Ontario Gold Medal for the Faculty of Health Sciences.
  • Shannon Meilleur, a Scholar’s Elective student in the Haeryfar lab, received an NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award.
  • Saman Maleki Vareki received a poster award at the Oncology Research & Education Day gathering at Western.

2009

  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar is a member of a pan-Canadian, multi-centered team of investigators that received a $300,000 CIHR Catalyst team grant on H1N1 pandemic flu. The title of this grant is “The mechanism and immunological correlates of severe respiratory illness following 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus infection”.
  • Nitan Garg received an NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award.
  • Lisa Mannik successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an “Early Researcher Award” from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. His project is titled “Understanding and boosting anticancer T cell responses: an important step towards developing effective tumor vaccines”.
  • Kyle Walker won the “Best Oral Presentation Prize” of the 2009 Rheumatology Research Day at Western.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was nominated by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology for a Schulich Educator Award in Undergraduate Teaching.

2008

  • Lisa Mannik received a travel award from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western to attend the 21st Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) annual meeting in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
  • Lisa Mannik was awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) by NSERC.
  • Jason Stuart received an NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a five-year CIHR operating grant on “Regulation of antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses by innate invariant natural killer T cells”.
  • Kathleen Duffy successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was nominated by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology for a Schulich Educator Award in Undergraduate Teaching.

2007

  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Leaders Opportunity Fund to establish “Infrastructure for highly sensitive and quantitative analysis of CD8+ T cell-mediated immunity”.
  • Lisa Mannik was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
  • Lisa Mannik was awarded a Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Entrance Fellowship.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an Academic Development Fund (ADF) small grant from Western. The title of research to be undertaken is “The role of Thy-1 in natural killer T (NKT) cell-mediated responses”.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a two-year operating grant from Cancer Research Society Inc.. The title of his grant is “Modulation of anti-tumor CD8+ T cell responses by iNKT cell-based immunotherapy”.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a “Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) Junior Investigator Travel Award” to attend the 13th International Congress of Immunology in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a five-year Individual Discovery Grant from NSERC entitled “Deciphering a novel function for TdT in enforcing immunodominance hierarchies of CD8+ T lymphocytes”.

2006

  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded a two-year grant from Dairy Farmers of Canada on “The effect of bovine lactoferrin on virus- and tumor-specific CD8+ T cell responses in vivo”. This grant was matched by NSERC through its Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) program.
  • Dr. Mansour Haeryfar was awarded an operating grant from London Health Sciences Centre (Multi-Organ Transplant Program). The title of his grant is “The role of plasmacytoid pre-dendritic cells (pDCs) in inducing transplantation tolerance”.