Author Archives: Dr. Dawn M. E. Bowdish

Bowdish lab attends the Western’s Infection & Immunity Forum.

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Members of the Bowdish lab took a road trip to the University of Western Ontario on November 6th to participate in the 9th annual Infection & Immunity Research Forum. All members presented their research either by an oral or poster presentation.

Dessi Loukov presents her work on chronic inflammation on macrophage function.

Dessi Loukov presents her work on chronic inflammation on macrophage function.

PhD Student Dessi Loukov gave an excellent oral presentation on how the effects of chronic age and inflammation affect macrophage function; specifically in response to our favourite pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Dr. Carol Cruezenet discusses Avee Naidoo's poster at IIRF 2014.

Dr. Carol Cruezenet discusses Avee Naidoo’s poster at IIRF 2014.

Avee Naidoo, Netusha Thevaranjan, Nick Yap, Patrick Schenck and Kyle Novakowski all gave poster presentations that generated insightful scientific discussion and even some potential research collaborations! Kyle Novakowski took home the Cedarlane award for best graduate poster presentation (for students <6 months). Well done, team!

Kyle Novakowski (PhD candidate) receives his award for the best poster award as chosen by the audience.

Kyle Novakowski (PhD candidate) receives his award for the best poster award as chosen by the audience.

The award winning poster! Well done Kyle!

The award winning poster! Well done Kyle!

A poster of Netusha Thevaranjan's undergraduate work that she's continuing as a MSc student.

A poster of Netusha Thevaranjan’s undergraduate work that she’s continuing as a MSc student.

Bowdish lab members past (Charles Yin and Julie Kaiser) and present (Netusha Thevaranjan) catche up at IIRF 2014.

Bowdish lab members past (Charles Yin and Julie Kaiser) and present (Netusha Thevaranjan) catche up at IIRF 2014.

Extra! Extra! Bowdish Gang Uncovers Truth About IL-17 In The Nose!

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The nose is the gateway to the soul… or the lungs at least… making it an important point of first contact between our fragile bodies and the hordes of superbugs attempting to take over the world. Only the brave immunologist has the power to save us from this dire threat. While it’s been known for a few years now that the inflammatory cytokine IL-17A is key to the control of many respiratory infections, no-one has been able to provide any information on the source of this cytokine in nasal infections or how this production is regulated. No more!

Post-doctoral fellow Chris Verschoor and Ph.D. Candidate Mike Dorrington, both trainees in Dr. Dawn Bowdish’s lab have recently had their manuscript “MicroRNA-155 is required for the clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae from the nasopharynx” accepted for publication in Infection & Immunity. The paper, which was produced in collaboration with Dr. Param Nair of the Firestone Institute, outlines how microRNA- (miR-)155 regulates the immune response to S. pneumoniae colonization in the nasal passages of mice by stimulating the differentiation of Th17 cells. These cells then produce large amounts of IL-17A, which then acts as a chemotactic agent for macrophages, which have awesome swords and stuff that kill the bacteria and save the world! (macrophages are the best cells, by the way)

This paper is the first to show a direct connection between IL-17A-producing T cells and the clearance of a bacterial pathogen from the nasopharynx. It is also the first to show a phenotype of IL-17A deficiency without completely knocking out the cytokine itself. It represents a significant step forward in understanding the regulation of intranasal immune responses to bacterial colonization and how innate and adaptive immune networks collaborate in clearing these events. Way to go Bowdish Lab!

For more information please visit www.bowdish.ca/lab and check out the paper in an upcoming edition of Infection & Immunity.

 

Verschoor CP, Dorrington MG, Novakowski KE, Kaiser J, Radford K, Nair P, Anipindi V, Kaushic C, Surette MG, Bowdish DME. MicroRNA-155 Is Required for Clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae from the Nasopharynx. Infect Immun. 2014 Nov;82(11):4824-33. doi: 10.1128/IAI.02251-14.

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Verschoor CP, Dorrington MG, Novakowski KE, Kaiser J, Radford K, Nair P, Anipindi V, Kaushic C, Surette MG, Bowdish DME. MicroRNA-155 Is Required for Clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae from the Nasopharynx. Infect Immun. 2014 Nov;82(11):4824-33. doi: 10.1128/IAI.02251-14.

This paper outlines how microRNA- (miR-)155 regulates the immune response to S. pneumoniae colonization in the nasal passages of mice by stimulating the differentiation of Th17 cells. 

Kaiser JC, Verschoor CP, Surette MG, Bowdish DME. Host cytokine responses distinguish invasive from airway isolates of the Streptococcus milleri/anginosis group. BMC Infect Dis. 2014 Sep 11;14:498. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-498.

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Kaiser JC, Verschoor CP, Surette MG, Bowdish DME. Host cytokine responses distinguish invasive from airway isolates of the Streptococcus milleri/anginosis group. BMC Infect Dis. 2014 Sep 11;14:498. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-498.

This paper demonstrates that there are host- and strain- specific responses to isolates of the Streptococcus milleri/anginosis group and that isolates from invasive disease appear to be more immunostimulatory than those from commensal relationships.

November is Lung Month! The Bowdish lab gets involved with the Breathing As One campaign.

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Research in Lung health is not nearly as well funded as it should be considering the toll it takes on patients and our healthcare system. That’s why the Bowdish lab is involved in the Lung Association’s Breathing as One campaign to raise money for lung research. Click on the picture to read the insert that was delivered in a number of newspapers (including our own Hamilton Spectator) to launch the campaign.Lung Association Breathing as One

Bowdish lab students recognized for research excellence at the IIDR trainee day!

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Bowdish lab trainees Avee Naidoo and Netusha Thevaranjan were recognized for their research excellence at the fourth annual Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) Trainee Research Day. The event was held at CIBC Hall on Friday, October 10th and featured a keynote address by Professor Quim Madrenas of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University. In addition to the keynote speach, the talented trainees at IIDR presented their latest research findings and accomplishments during the day.

A second-year Master’s student Avee Naidoo was awarded with the Michael Kamin Hart Memorial Scholarship at a reception held at the University Club at the end of the day. The $1,800 scholarphip is named in honour of a gifted Master’s student of IIDR who tragically passed away in 2011. Avee plans to use the scholarship to attend a Keystone meeting on inflammation and aging in Montreal next year. Another Master’s student in the Bowdish lab, Netusha Thevaranjan, was awarded with the IIDR Awards of Excellence for her poster presentation. Kyle Novakowski was the runner up for the PhD poster award.

Both Avee and Netusha are currently working to elucidate the mechanisms underlying age-associated deterioration of the innate immune response.

Congratulations to both Avee and Netusha!

Netusha Thevarnjan wins best MSc poster presentation and Avee Naidoo wins the Michael Kamin Hart Memorial scholarship at the 2014 IIDR trainee day. Dawn beams with pride.

Netusha Thevarnjan wins best MSc poster presentation and Avee Naidoo wins the Michael Kamin Hart Memorial scholarship at the 2014 IIDR trainee day. Dawn beams with pride.

Let Dawn wait on you at the Lung Association-MIRC Boston Pizza fundraiser!

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The faculty at MIRC are doing some fundraising with the Lung Association to raise money for a studentship in Lung Health. MIRC has many researchers performing cutting edge research in lung disease (e.g. asthma, lung cancer, COPD, pneumonia) but lung research is seriously underfunded in Canada. We want to fix this by training more young people to contribute to lung health and this studentship is step one. Bring your friends & family, have dinner and support the important work our trainees are doing in lung health!

Flyer - Boston Pizza Celebrity Server Night

Undergraduate positions for 2014/2015 filled.

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Thank you for your interest in our lab but unfortunately all undergraduate positions for the  2014/2015 school year have been filled. We do not take volunteers (see our FAQ page for a detailed explanation as to why). In general we fill positions about 6-12 mo in advance. Thank you for your interest and best of luck in your search.

The Bowdish lab is on a roll!

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This past month has been very productive in the Bowdish laboratory, with many triumphs achieved by it’s industrious members.

Firstly, a big congratulation goes to Kyle Novakowski, the Bowdish 2013-10-17 23.42.39lab’s newest PhD student. Following a lot of hard work, determination and great dedication to his Masters project, Kyle successfully passed his transfer exam on July 7 and has officially begun his seemingly endless exciting pursuit for a PhD. Good luck to Kyle in continuing his interesting investigation on the regulation and function of MARCO!

 

Dessi Loukov presents her undergraduate work in the Bowdish lab at the 1st annual Perey Symposium, convinces everyone she's a senior PhD student and brings home the Faculty choice award for best speed poster presentation.

Dessi Loukov presents her undergraduate work in the Bowdish lab at the 1st annual Perey Symposium, convinces everyone she’s a senior PhD student and brings home the Faculty choice award for best speed poster presentation.

Next up is Dessi Loukov, who is currently an undergraduate but come September will be the Bowdish lab’s 4th PhD student. At the 1st annual MIRC Perey Symposium held on June 19, Dessi impressed faculty and trainees with her educational and enthusiastic speed poster presentation on modulating the immune system to potentially reverse age-associated inflammation. Dessi was awarded a travel award as a result of her superb presentation skills. Kudos also to Fan Fei (PhD candidate) and Avee Naidoo (MSc candidate) who gave excellent speed poster talks and Dr. Chris Verschoor who gave an excellent oral presentation.  Who knew that research in inflammation could be so exciting? The Bowdish lab, that’s who!

One PhD candidate who deserves great recognition for his recent successes is Mike Dorrington. Not only was Mike awarded with a prestigious and well-deserved Canadian Lung Association & Canadian Thoracic Studentship, but he additionally achieved received The Ruth and Wilson Tafts Prize for Immunology for having the best paper published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2013. Geez Mike, save some awards for the rest of us. These awards will be used to further fund his fascinating work on the role of macrophages – clearly, the best cell around – in recognition and clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the upper respiratory tract. Congratulations Mike!

At the celebration of Mike's first first author publication. Although Dawn is mostly happy for Mike, she is also slightly nervous that she might be about to lose an eye when the champagne is opened.

At the celebration of Mike’s first first author publication. Although Dawn is mostly happy for Mike, she is also slightly nervous that she might be about to lose an eye when the champagne is opened.

Then, there’s Dr. Chris Verschoor, the lab’s most productive and well-rounded member. Chris’ paper entitled, “Alterations to the frequency and function of peripheral blood monocytes and associations with chronic disease in the advanced-age, frail elderly“, was recently accepted into the PLoS one. If you’re interested in changes in monocyte populations with age – I mean, who isn’t? – keep a look out for Chris’ article in the next issue of PLoS one . Way to go Chris on this well-deserved publication!

Chris-sm

 

<- Manuscipt accepted = happy post-doc.

 

 

And last, but definitely not least, the lab takes great pleasure in congratulating our passionate leader, Dr. Dawn Bowdish, who has been awarded tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor effective as of July 1, 2014. This accomplishment is a fitting acknowledgement of Dawn’s exceptional work, devotion and academic contributions to research in the field of macrophage biology. In addition to her promotion and tenure, Dawn recently received a Best Teacher Award in the Department of Pathology for excellence in undergraduate teaching and graduate supervision. Well-done Dawn!

Dawn receives the Pathology & Molecular Medicine Department's best teacher award for her undergraduate and graduate supervision. Dr. Murray Potter, the education co-ordinator and Dr. Fiona Smaill, the chair, present her with the award.

Dawn receives the Pathology & Molecular Medicine Department’s best teacher award for her undergraduate and graduate supervision. Dr. Murray Potter, the education co-ordinator and Dr. Fiona Smaill, the chair, present her with the award.

Congratulations Bowdish lab on our successes!

Way to kill it, like young macrophages on pneumo 😉