Thomas Murooka, PhD
Associate Professor, Departments of Immunology and MMID

Education:  Postdoctoral fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (2009-2014)
                      Ph.D (Immunology), University of Toronto, Canada (2002-2008)
                      B.Sc (Microbiology & Immunology), University of British Columbia, Canada (1997-2002)

I am also an active member of  the Canadian HIV Cure Enterprise (CanCURE), which is a research collaboration focused on studying HIV persistence and developing strategies towards a functional HIV cure.
Oluwaseun Elizabeth Ajibola, M.Sc
Lab Technician

Education:   BSc (Hons. in Genetics), University of Manitoba 
                 MSc (Immunology), University of Manitoba 
                    
Research projects:
  • Utilizing humanized mouse model of HIV infection to characterize the migratory behavior and cellular distribution of productively and latently-infected T cells in vivo using MP-IVM.
 
  • Protocol optimization to isolate HPV-specific T cells from the female genital tract to understand their immunological function during infection.

Contact:   [email protected]
Camila Oda, B.Sc
Lab Technician

Education:   BSc (Major in Genetics, Minor in Chemistry)

Research projects:
  • Investigating the immunomodulatory roles  of interferon-lambda during bacterial and virus infections in the female genital tract​
 
  • Evaluating long-acting interferon-lambda formulations as an effective antiviral against papillomavirus infections

Contact:   [email protected]​
Marina Costa-Fujishima, B.Sc
PhD candidate (Department of Immunology)

Education:   B.Sc. (Microbiology), University of Manitoba
                    
Research projects:
  • Studying the role of mucosal neutrophils as regulators of vaginal epithelial barrier function. Using microscopy and proteomics approaches, my work will dissect how changes in the vaginal microbiota influences neutrophil migration and function.
​​
  • The goal is to better understand the interplay between neutrophils and the epithelium, and how these interactions play a role in sexual HIV transmission.

Contact:   [email protected]
Riley Greenslade, B.Sc
PhD candidate (Department of Immunology)

Education:   B.Sc. (Microbiology), University of Manitoba 
                    
Research projects:
  • Understanding how T cell receptor signaling events influence the dynamics of the HIV reservoir under antiretroviral therapy using a new reporter system to follow infected cells longitudinally.
​
  • To uncover the role of antigen in driving clonal expansion and persistence of the HIV reservoir, contributing to new therapeutic strategies that prevent or disrupt the long-term survival of latent T cells in people living with HIV

Contact:   [email protected]
Akash Hirgond, B.Tech
MSc candidate (Department of Immunology)

Education:  Bachelors in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, NIIT University, India

Research projects:
  • To determine how different anaerobic bacteria influence MmuPV1 persistence in the female genital tract (FGT) and cervical cancer progression in vivo.
​​
  • To gain a mechanistic understanding of how different anaerobic bacteria modulate mucosal T cell response during MmuPV1 infection. 

Contact:   hirgonda@myumanitoba.ca
 ​Deesha Nayar, B.Sc
MSc candidate (Department of Immunology)

Education:   B.Sc. (Major in Genetics, Minor in Statistics), University of Manitoba 
                    
Research projects:
  • Studying how the vaginal microbiome influences T cell differentiation and effector responses in the female genital tract
​​
  • To investigate the possible interplay between neutrophils and Th17 cells in the female genital tract

Contact:   [email protected]
Ben Procak, B.Sc
MSc candidate (Department of MMID)

Education:   B.Sc. (Bachelor's of Health Sciences), University of Manitoba 
                    
Research projects:
  • Investigate how tissue compartments and cell-cell interactions impact HIV-infected T cell motility and survival

Contact:  [email protected]
Our esteemed alumni:


Ryan Hnatiuk (Co-op student and undergraduate research assistant) 2016-2018

Dr. Wan Hon Koh (Postdoctoral fellow) 2016-2019

Atta Yazdanpanah (M.Sc student) 2017-2019

Umar Mohammed (Co-op student and research technician) 2018-2019

Dr. Carolina Campos Lima Moreira (Postdoctoral fellow, co-supervised with Dr. Kelly MacDonald) 2018-2019

Leo Xinyun Liu (Undergraduate summer student) 2019, 2020

Roshan Parvarchian (M.Sc student) 2019-2022

Paul Lopez (Lab manager) 2015-2022

Nnamdi Ikeogu D.V.M., M.Sc. (Research Associate) 2019-2023

Romaniya Zayats (PhD student) 2017-2023

Mark Rauhaus (undergraduate summer student) 2023

Hubert Sidarta (undergraduate summer student) 2023, 2024

Rudra Patel (undergraduate summer student ) 2024

Morgan Taverner (M.Sc student) 2020-2024