A delegation of researchers from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) recently visited McMaster University to explore opportunities for collaboration. The visit, which included tours of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, the Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory, and the IIDR’s Centre for Microbial Chemical Biology, culminated with a collaborative science discussion between some of the country’s top infectious disease researchers.

Meet McMaster’s ant man: Cameron Currie, PhD. His arch enemy is antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. His mission: to help lead McMaster University in the fight against pandemics as the inaugural Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Pandemic Research and Prevention. Alongside Currie on this important mission are his trusty sidekicks – thousands of leafcutter ants that could be key fighters against the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis.

What do democracy and drug resistance have in common? They may seem worlds apart, but, during a pandemic, both are vital aspects of a public health response. That’s why Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats has awarded $7,500 to two undergraduate students to conduct research into pandemic preparedness from different perspectives.

The new program, which seeks to correct underrepresentation in STEM research settings, has brought a diverse group of Ontario-based scholars who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or 2SLGBTQIA+ to McMaster on fully funded research scholarships. Run in partnership with the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) and the Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats, the SSP provided the cohort with intensive research skills training, close mentorship and guidance, and experiential learning opportunities in an array of McMaster laboratories.

An international team of scientists who analyzed centuries-old DNA from victims and survivors of the Black Death pandemic has identified key genetic differences that determined who lived and who died, and how those aspects of our immune systems have continued to evolve since that time.

Dominik Mertz, director of the division of Infectious Diseases in the department of Medicine at McMaster, is the newly named holder of the Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Infectious Diseases. The chair, established in 2010 through a gift from DeGroote, is awarded to highly accomplished researchers who contribute significantly to the body of scholarship around infectious diseases through teaching and research.

Acclaimed thought leaders will share research, ideas, and lived experiences in a virtual discussion aimed at exploring the impacts of COVID-19

While researchers work to develop new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections, world-leading experts say the crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) won’t be solved by new drugs alone.

The toxin creates ‘a total assault on the cell’ in unprecedented ways, paving the way for potential new generation of antibiotics.

The interdisciplinary symposium will explore AMR solutions at the nexus of science, society, commercialization and policy.

A study that included McMaster researchers identified three significant concerns for family members: the health and safety of their incarcerated loved ones, challenges in trying to communicate with them and a loss of personal connection.

Join international experts as they discuss the “slow-moving pandemic” of antimicrobial resistance and highlight the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in tackling this global threat.

The findings could inform new approaches to protecting high-risk groups, including the elderly and children during an emerging influenza pandemic, say the study’s researchers.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will be testing wastewater across the country for any indication of the virus.

Targeted clinics and judgment-free messaging will help make sure the limited quantities of vaccines make it to those most in need to contain the spread of the virus, expert Kevin Woodward explains.

The discovery shows that the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are more complex and highly evolved than scientists had previously recognized.

Moderna vaccines are better than Pfizer in protecting residents of long-term care (LTC) homes from COVID-19 Omicron infections, say McMaster University researchers.

Further studies evaluating the effectiveness of COVID-19 therapeutics are needed as new variants emerge, say the study’s authors.

To control monkeypox, there is a short window — weeks, not months — in which to vaccinate the most susceptible and to encourage and support self-isolation for those who have symptoms, says McMaster’s Kevin Woodward.

A COVID CommUNITY – South Asian study led by McMaster University researchers has found that South Asian communities living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) suffered disproportionately from COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic.

McMaster researchers receive federal funding to support projects related to posttraumatic stress disorder among health-care workers in context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Scientists have solved the mystery behind how Candida auris produces more drug-resistant, virulent strains of itself.

The WHO’s move to rethink the names of viral infections is entirely appropriate, the infectious disease expert notes.

An international team led by researchers at McMaster University, working in collaboration with the University of Paris Cité, has identified and reconstructed the first ancient genome of E. coli, using fragments extracted from the gallstone of a 16th century mummy.

McMaster experts talked to CBC News and TVO’s The Agenda about recent cases of monkeypox and the need for a destigmatized and positive public health care approach.

Inhaled aerosols bypass the nasal passage and deliver vaccine droplets deep in the airway, where they can induce a broad protective immune response, researchers confirm.

McMaster researchers who created an accurate, portable diagnostic test have new federal funding to support their work with a company that specializes in developing nanotechnology and health-care solutions.

The test, once it becomes widely available, is expected to be a valuable tool for identifying and isolating outbreaks in farm settings, and for limiting the possibility of animal-to-human transmission of infections.

Historian Ian McKay’s Syndemic Magazine and lecture series with public intellectuals delves into the implications and lessons from COVID-19 that we can apply to future challenges.

McMaster University and the University of Liverpool have entered into a partnership that will advance pandemic preparedness research and training opportunities at both institutions.

Retirement home residents, who must pay for health-care services, are more likely to seek publicly funded hospital-based care than older adults living in long-term care home, research shows.

When political candidates talk about their long-term care proposals, let’s remember there isn’t much point unless we recruit and adequately compensate enough workers to care for our loved ones, writes Canada’s Global Nexus expert, Andrew Costa.

Canada’s Global Nexus researcher Eric Brown’s start-up firm Synmedix will soon test a new topical preparation of bicarbonate mixed with the antibiotic azithromycin to treat infected diabetic foot ulcers.

On May 27, join Canada’s Global Nexus and a panel of experts for a virtual conversation focused on understanding the factors in vaccine uptake.

To finally end tuberculosis in Indigenous communities, the federal government needs to take lessons from the Global South and make a major investment.

A team of McMaster University researchers has discovered the role of an anti-viral signalling molecule in stopping the immune system from ‘going rogue’ and attacking the body’s own tissues when fighting viral infections.

Visiting researchers from Birmingham’s Institute of Microbiology and Infection saw first-hand how their work aligns with Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats and the Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted some ways in which companies and managers can incentivize and engage workers, says Vish Baba, a professor in the DeGroote School of Business.

Researchers have developed a model to investigate COVID-19 variolation — an incidental form of immunization achieved by inhaling smaller doses of the virus than would be inhaled without a mask.

A growing number of drug-resistant bacteria has researchers calling for the development of novel antibiotics to treat them.

Synmedix, a biotechnology company founded by Canada’s Global Nexus researcher Eric Brown, is one of two startups to receive a combined $735,000 from the McMaster Seed Fund to move their innovations closer to reality.

A McMaster researcher is part of a team that has developed a more efficient way to screen for vitamin D deficiency that could become a tool in the fight against COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

When avian influenza spills over from birds to humans, it can be extremely deadly with mortality rates as high as 50 per cent.

Fungicides widely used to prevent apples from spoiling may be fuelling the superbug crisis by acting as reservoir for drug-resistant strains of a deadly pathogen, warn researchers from McMaster University and the University of Delhi.

With Ontario in the sixth wave of the pandemic and infections and hospitalizations on the rise, new data challenges the idea that immunity from an earlier case of COVID-19 can prevent reinfection.

Canada’s Global Nexus researcher Matthew Miller, an associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences, talks about McMaster’s new inhaled COVID-19 vaccines and more on the I Am BIO podcast.

A COVID-19 survivor herself, McMaster researcher Manali Mukherjee has been studying — and experiencing — its lingering effects.

Researchers tested well-fitting cloth masks made from 16 kinds of cotton on human participants, to see how many provided filtration comparable with a certified medical mask. Most of them did.

The applications of wastewater testing, which is highly sensitive and doesn’t rely on sick people getting themselves tested, could go well beyond COVID-19, researchers say.

Going back to the workplace doesn’t necessarily mean returning to a pre-pandemic setup, and that’s all for the best, business professor Catherine Connelly explains.

Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, has been a controversial topic for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.

McMaster researchers are modifying red blood cells to transport viral agents which can safely trigger the immune system to protect the body against SARS-CoV-2, creating a promising new vehicle for vaccine delivery.

Benson Honig, a professor of human resources and management, discusses Canadian entrepreneurs, startups and why current data on the matter may be less concerning than it appears.

Before COVID-19, clean water, antibiotics and vaccines had made us complacent about infectious disease. Infection control can no longer be taken for granted. We must be prepared for future pandemics.

A self-cleaning plastic wrap that protects surfaces from dangerous bacteria, also repels viruses, new research shows. RepelWrap is now moving toward scaled-up production for the marketplace.

Canada lags behind other developed countries in access to newer antimicrobials. Here’s why that matters, and what can be done about it.

New research shows the adverse effects associated with vaccines in general, including COVID-19 vaccines, are 100-fold less frequent compared to the five most commonly used prescription drugs.

Research has shown that without proper workplace supports, emotional labour can cause many problems which include burn-out, reduced job satisfaction and overall well-being and becoming detached from feelings.

Ninety-nine per cent of people who experienced an immediate allergic reaction to their first COVID-19 shot tolerated a second dose without a severe response, according to a new study led by Canada’s Global Nexus researcher Derek Chu.

Both institutions are recognized for their leadership in infectious disease research and the partnership will build on their collective capacity to address future pandemics and biological threats.

An interdisciplinary team of McMaster researchers is recommending Canadian public health officials change how novel antibiotics are approved, procured and accessed in Canada in order to fight the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats has joined forces with scientists at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) to advance international efforts to fight pandemics.

Because inhaled vaccines target the lungs and upper airways where respiratory viruses first enter the body, they are far more effective at inducing a protective immune response, the researchers report.

Experts from Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats are working together and working fast to combat current and future threats to global health.

Policy-makers lack an understanding of how to assess research and the quality of that research. We need to do better during the COVID-19 pandemic and during future health crises, writes McMaster expert John Lavis.

After two years of COVID-19, it’s understandable that many people are weary of infection prevention measures. But simply being tired of the pandemic is no reason to let our guard down.

Canadians are increasingly weary of the pandemic and its management, but research polling shows the majority are resolved to support the measures being put in place by governments to see us through.

Experts from Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats and the Swedish university will work together to find research solutions to COVID-19 and to train future scientists and health professionals.

Researchers at McMaster University have found that children who receive years of season-specific flu vaccines develop antibodies that also provide broader protection against new strains, including those capable of causing pandemics.

A shift in responses to the pandemic shows the need to provide governments and leaders with similar high-quality evidence to address other pressing issues, an international evidence commission finds.

The antagonism driven by political interference in COVID-19 vaccination is fuelling hesitancy. Mass vaccination campaigns require public buy-in via trusted health-care providers and community leaders.

Lockdowns and restrictions have left victims vulnerable by isolating them — often with their abusers — and by making it more challenging to get support and medical treatment.

McMaster University continues to rank among the country’s most research-intensive universities – for both graduate students and faculty members – in the annual ranking of the country’s Top 50 Research Universities.

Researchers found residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes and assisted living facilities mounted a robust immune response to a third mRNA vaccination and had a greater capacity to fight infection compared to those with a two-dose series.

McMaster experts answer your questions about what makes a good quality mask, the importance of fit and current Public Health guidelines for masking.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the headlines, McMaster researchers across fields of study share predictions for the year ahead and insights from their field of expertise.

A McMaster University study has found that adults over age 50 who experience mild or moderate COVID-19 are at increased risk of worsening mobility and physical function, even in the absence of hospitalization for the virus.