Annual Report 2016
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McGill University Department of Microbiology and Immunology 2016 Annual Report Submitted by Benoit Cousineau, PhD Associate Professor & Interim Chair On behalf of Primary members of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Staff List ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6 3. Honours, Awards & Prizes ....................................................................................................................................... 10 4. Publications, Conferences and Patents ............................................................................................................... 12 5. Grants ................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 6. Initiatives and Innovations related to Teaching Programs ........................................................................ 36 A. Graduate Programs ............................................................................................................................. 36 B. Undergraduate Programs ................................................................................................................... 37 7. Success Stories of Faculty and Students ............................................................................................................. 38 8. Departmental Activities ............................................................................................................................................ 43 9. Academic and Community Service ...................................................................................................................... 47 10. Community Involvement (by PI) ...................................................................................................................... 48 11. Consulting Activities .............................................................................................................................................. 64 12. Appendices ................................................................................................................................................................ 65 TABLE 1. NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TAUGHT IN WINTER 2016/ SUMMER 2016/ FALL 2016 ............................................................................................................................................ 66 TABLE 2. FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN COURSES BY THE DEPT. DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS ............................................................................................................ 66 TABLE 3. ENROLMENT IN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS IN MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY, WINTER 2016, FALL 2016 .................................................................................................................... 67 TABLE 4. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN DEPT. DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS .......... 67 TABLE 5. UNDERGRADUATE ENROLMENT AND COURSE FTE'S - WINTER 2016/SUMMER 2016/FALL 2016 .................................................................................................................................................... 68 TABLE 6. STUDENT EVALUATION OF UNDERGRADUATE COURSES IN MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY WINTER 2016 AND FALL 2016 ................................................................................... 69 TABLE 7. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS GRADUATIONS WINTER 2016, SPRING 2016, FALL 2016 .... 69 TABLE 8. UNDERGRADUATES APPLIED/REGISTERED TO THE B.SC./M.SC. FAST TRACK PROGRAM ... 70 TABLE 9. TOTAL GRADUATE DEGREES GRANTED OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS ................................. 70 TABLE 10 . GRADUATE STUDENT ENROLLMENT & POSTDOCS ........................................................... 71 TABLE 11 . GRADUATE STUDENTS & POSTDOCS over the past five years .......................................... 71 TABLE 12. Funding of graduate students by source (2016) ................................................................ 72 Section I Introduction 1. Executive Summary 2016 was a remarkably successful year for the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. On September 30th, after a very successful 5-year term as the MIMM Chair, Dr. Joaquin Madrenas decided to take up a new professional challenge by accepting the position of Chief Scientific Officer at LA BioMed. He was replaced by Dr. Hervé LeMoual as the Director of MDTC and Dr. Benoit Cousineau as the MIMM Interim Chair. On August 1st, the MIMM Community welcomed Dr. Jacques Archambault who joined the Department as a Full Professor with tenure. On April 24th, we were all devastated by the sudden passing of one of our Adjunct Member located at the IRCM, Dr. Cheolho Cheong. Promotions and Awards: Dr. Albert Berghuis was appointed as Chair of the Biochemistry Department at McGill. Dr. Jörg Fritz was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded tenure. Dr. Martin Richer was reappointed as an Assistant Professor for three years. Dr. Nicolas Cermakian was nominated for the Faculty of Medicine Honour list. Dr. Martin Olivier received the R.A. Wardle Medal Career award by the Canadian Society for Zoology. Dr. Ciro Piccirillo received the Anna Maria Solinas Laroche Career Award in Immunology. Dr. Mary Stevenson became a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dr. Irah King received the New Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Immunology. Dr. Mark Wainberg received the 2016 AMMI Canada Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2016 D’Arcy McGee Citizenship Medal and was inducted in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Research: A total of 18 MIMM Primary and Associate Members received funding from CIHR (15) and NSERC (3) in 2016. Dr. Selena Sagan was awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in RNA Biology and Viral Infections. Dr. Corinne Maurice was awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Gut Microbial Physiology and was appointed as an Azrieli Global Scholar by the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research. Dr. Martin Richer received a Chercheur-Boursier Junior 1 Salary Award from FRQS. Dr. Hervé LeMoual and Dr. Irah King both received CFI Infrastructure Operating Funds to help cover a portion of the operating and maintenance costs of CFI-funded equipment. Collectively, our research programs generated 81 publications and attracted over $5.35M in peer- reviewed funding, a 23% increase compared to 2015 ($4.36M). The Department ($20K) and MDTC ($10K) funded again this year two internal grants to support innovative and collaborative research projects. Education: The MIMM Graduate Program admitted a record number of 30 students who received a total of $127,750 in Graduate Excellence Fellowships. Departmental fellowships, including Graduate Excellence Fellowships, were also awarded to 26 returning graduate students for a total of $100,181. Travel awards for a total of $4,500 were granted to 9 trainees to support the presentation of their work at national and international conferences. In this era of limited academic research funding, it is worth mentioning that 22 MIMM graduate students were financially supported through highly competitive provincial/national/international studentships for a total of $432,678. Notably, Sophie Cousineau (Dr. Selena Sagan’s lab) was awarded a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. The Graduate and Post-Graduate Education Committee held a town hall meeting to reach out to our graduate student population. The outcome of this town hall will be used to adjust our graduate program during a half-day Faculty Teaching Retreat planned for September 28th, 2017. In Undergraduate Education, Dr. Claire Trottier, the MIMM educational specialist, with the help of all the MIMM course coordinators, conducted a detailed survey to gather data on all the courses offered by the Department and perform a comprehensive Curriculum mapping. This data was used to identify gaps and determine priorities for discussion at an upcoming half-day Faculty Teaching Retreat planned for September 28th, 2017. In terms of Faculty development, Dr. Trottier organized a workshop specifically for MIMM Faculty in May 2016. This workshop allowed 12 Faculty members to learn about innovative teaching and assessment methods being used by their colleagues. Faculty members gave excellent feedback following this workshop and requested another workshop on assessment. Dr. Trottier then joined a Faculty Development team in the Faculty of Medicine with Dr. David Ragsdale and Dr. Maria Orjuela-Laverde to lead an Assessment Workshop in December 2016. This workshop was attended by MIMM Faculty and Professors from other Departments. Service and Administration: In conjunction with the Administrative Excellence Center #2 we continued to optimize the administrative and financial operations of the Department. The Department revamped the media core facility by replacing the obsolete autoclave and glassware washing equipment that were too expensive to maintain. These pieces of equipment will be important assets to serve both our educational and research missions for the years to come. In terms of community outreach, we continued to engage with local schools, international Universities and corporate partners. Finally, I