The following trainees were awarded scholarships from CAN-AMR-Net for the 2024-2025 academic year for their work tackling antimicrobial resistance from multiple perspectives including applied and environmental sciences, public health, agriculture and fundamental biology.
25 trainees were funded from 9 institutions across Canada, marking a total investment of $275,000.00 in the national AMR research ecosystem.
PhD student
Supervisor: Dominic Frigon (McGill University)
Project summary: “My interdisciplinary research focuses on addressing the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes from environmental to human microbiomes by building an understanding of the human gut resistome and microbiome. Collaborating with experts in the field of nutrition and utilising dynamic in vitro human gut reactor, the current research helps build a risk assessment framework for ARG dissemination into human gut.”
Postdoctoral fellow
Supervisor: Andrew G. McArthur (McMaster University)
Project summary: “My work involves building next-generation genomic surveillance tools for antimicrobial resistance. Using protein language models, he is focused on improving the detection of emerging and divergent β-lactamase threats, with the long-term goal of deploying foundation models that operate at a global sequencing scale.
Postdoctoral fellow
Supervisor: Émilie Bédard (Polytechnique Montréal)
Project Summary: “My project focuses on developing a decision toolbox for hospitals to reduce colonization by AMR bacteria of sink drains by integrating drain microbiome data, clinical strains, and infection control strategies.”
MSc student
Supervisor: Zhenyu Cheng (Dalhousie University)
Project summary: “I am working to characterize a virulence factor called protease IV from the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to better understand its role in a lung infection context. I am also testing a potential protease IV inhibitor in mice, which I hope could be used as an alternative to antibiotics to relieve the symptoms of P. aeruginosa infection.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Herman Barkema (University of Calgary)
Project Summary: “A bacteriophage targeting Shiga toxin–producing E. coli O157 was genetically engineered by tail fiber swapping with an O103-infecting phage, resulting in a broadened host range. The engineered phage efficiently infected both O157 and O103 strains and demonstrated superior bactericidal activity at high MOI compared to the parental phages.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Dao Nguyen (McGill University)
Project summary: “We successfully developed a pipeline to isolate, dereplicate, identify, and screen Arctic isolates and their compounds for antibacterial activity. With this pipeline we identified a potential compound responsible for bioactivity in one of our candidate extracts, as well as the putative biosynthetic gene cluster responsible for its synthesis.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Dongyan Niu (University of Calgary)
Project summary: “I am currently investigating bacteriophage therapy as a strategy to control Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC) infections in poultry. My work focuses on assessing phage efficacy, characterizing phage-resistant mutants, and elucidating key host–phage interaction mechanisms.”
Postdoctoral fellow
Supervisor: Dao Nguyen (McGill University)
Project summary: “A bacteriophage targeting Shiga toxin–producing E. coli O157 was genetically engineered by tail fiber swapping with an O103-infecting phage, resulting in a broadened host range. The engineered phage efficiently infected both O157 and O103 strains and demonstrated superior bactericidal activity at high MOI compared to the parental phages.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Thomas Martin Schmeing (McGill University)
Project Summary: “Using cryo-EM to determine the 3D atomic structure of an integral membrane nonribosomal peptide synthetase that makes antimicrobial poly-ornithine. Currently optimizing grid freezing parameters as well as buffer conditions to achieve a high resolution structure.”
MSc student
Supervisor: Shuaiqi Guo (McGill University)
Project summary: “I recently submitted a manuscript resolving the first in situ architecture of the Tad pilus in Caulobacter crescentus, using cryo-electron tomography. This work provides new insights into the structural organization and dynamics of bacterial nanomachines that facilitate surface attachment and biofilm formation, key processes contributing to virulence and antimicrobial resistance.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Xiaonan Lu (McGill University)
Project Summary: “My research investigates bacterial dormancy and antibiotic persistence in Campylobacter jejuni using integrated multi-omics approaches and molecular microbiology techniques. I explore the metabolic pathways and mechanisms that enable bacterial survival under antibiotic stress, and I study how environmental factors in the agri-food supply chain, as well as interactions within microbial communities, influence bacterial tolerance during treatment.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Xin Zhao (McGill University)
Project summary: “I study the ecology and control of plasmid-mediated AMR within a One Health framework using poultry-associated E. coli and Salmonella. Presently, I am quantifying zinc-driven conjugation and testing strategies to curb plasmid transfer and co-selection.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Jennifer Ronholm (McGill University)
Project summary: “My project focuses on characterizing antimicrobial resistance profiles in retail meat and seafood. She aims to determine the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in store-bought meat and identify the enteric bacteria harbouring these genes using next-generation sequencing.”
MSc student
Supervisor: Lindsay Kalan (McMaster University)
Project summary: “The goal of my research is to understand the competitive interactions between members of the skin microbiome, and how they may prevent skin infections without the need for additional antibiotics. To examine this, I have developed a high-throughput assay which combines robotics and machine learning models to detect pathogen inhibition by skin commensal bacteria. This screen will allow us to determine which of these interactions are most important to maintaining skin homeostasis..”
PhD student
Supervisor: Jesse Shapiro (McGill University)
Project summary: “I am currently working with a large collection of Acinetobacter genomes to understand how species in this genus evolve across space and time.
At this stage, I am focusing on characterizing Acinetobacter baumannii–specific patterns of horizontal gene transfer in clinical settings and within a broader One Health framework.“
PhD student
Supervisor: Mary E. Wiktorowicz (York University)
Project summary: “Babatunde is in his second year of a PhD in Global Health at York University. His research involves a comparative analysis of governance, contextual issues, strengths and limitations of implementing One Health national antimicrobial resistance policies, plans and strategies using Canada and Nigeria as case studies of high and lower middle-income country settings..”
MSc student
Supervisor: Rees Kassen (McGill University)
Project summary: “I am studying the impact of spatial heterogeneity in complex metapopulation structures on the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes by evolving multiple metapopulations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lab and tracking where antimicrobial resistance genes spread in the presence and absence of spatial heterogeneity. I completed one round of tests at a high migration rate using colony counting and presented the results at CSEE, and a second round at a lower migration rate using flow cytometry.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Christian Landry (Université Laval)
Project summary: “Resistance to azole antifungals is often caused by mutations in the drug target Erg11. In my master’s project, I aim to measure the impact on azole resistance of more than 5000 single and double mutants of the Erg11 protein from the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Herman Barkema (University of Calgary)
Project summary: “My research focuses on surveillance of infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. I lead the implementation of the Cattle Health Surveillance System (CHeSS), which monitors major infectious diseases and AMR in Alberta dairy herds. Additionally, I contribute to global AMR surveillance by synthesizing evidence from peer-reviewed literature through systematic reviews and meta-analyses to address gaps in global AMR data.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Mary E. Wiktorowicz (York University)
Project summary: “I am working on the global governance of AMR, with a focus on national action plans analyzed through systems methods. In this context, I am conducting a critical, policy-oriented interpretive synthesis of global data.”
MSc student
Supervisor: Shuaiqi Guo (McGill University)
Project summary: “We identified and structurally characterized minimal peptide inhibitors of the Vibrio cholerae adhesin FrhA, demonstrating that D-amino-acid substitutions substantially enhance binding affinity and stability while preserving the molecular interaction mode revealed in our X-ray structures. These optimized D-peptides block FrhA-mediated epithelial adhesion in vitro, supporting their development as anti-adhesion therapeutics that mitigate infection without promoting antibiotic resistance.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Ayush Kumar (University of Manitoba)
Project summary: “Elucidating the regulatory mechanisms and physiological functions of drug efflux transporters to inform the development of non-traditional therapeutic strategies against Acinetobacter baumannii, a multidrug-resistant pathogen.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Shuaiqi Guo (McGill University)
Project summary: “My project aims to understand how the HaeSR two-component system (TCS) regulates virulence attenuation in the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. I am currently optimizing cryo-EM grid preparation for full-length HaeS and also investigating its potential interaction partners.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Paul Thomassin (McGill University)
Project summary: “My PhD research uses a One Health approach to study Mycoplasma bovis in Alberta dairy herds using molecular diagnostics and genomic tools.The goal is to improve surveillance and control while supporting antimicrobial stewardship and sustainable dairy production.”
PhD student
Supervisor: Jennifer Ronholm (McGill University)
Project summary: “My research project focuses on the design of a model bovine gut synthetic microbiome to characterize representative taxa contributing to the AMR mobilome and to experimentally assess the impact of microbial interactions on AMR gene transfer at the One Health interface.”
