We made a PhD! But what's a PhD good for?

Research labs don’t just generate new science; we also produce new scientists! Our most lasting and important impact will be through the trainees who pass through the lab.

Rajiv in his armoured suit presenting 5yrs worth of work in 40 min.

We’re very excited that Rajiv has successfully defended his PhD thesis and is now Dr. Jain! During his time here, Rajiv developed several new techniques and reagents that will continue to be important to our lab’s research for years to come. His primary project, which focused on understanding how T cells control B cell responses to different antigen targets, and how properties of those antigens themselves influence immune outcome, has just been accepted for publication and we’ll talk more about it soon.

The cake was not a lie.

The rest of the team claims some of the credit (and cake).

Rajiv is now planning his next steps to continue his training as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. He’ll tell you more about that himself in an upcoming post. Post-Doctoral training is an opportunity to learn new techniques, branch out into a new field of research, and gain more experience and independence. It’s often a necessary step for the next stage in a science career, whether that be in academics, industry, or something else. In fact, most PhDs go on to use their science training outside of academia.  

Signed proof Dr. Jain has completed his thesis to the satisfaction of his supervisor and exam committee.

It’s becoming all too real: Rajiv’s empty desk and pile of lab books. We’ll miss you Rajiv!

PhD’s are sometimes accused of been over-specialized, and not useful outside of their niche specialty. Nothing could be further from the truth. During their PhD program (and Rajiv is an excellent example), students train to and become adept at thinking creatively to ask new questions and solve new problems; develop new approaches to overcome unforeseen hurdles; troubleshoot issues as they arise; become technically expert in hands-on procedures; to develop and adapt procedures to new uses and environments; to quickly become expert in a new topic that unexpectedly becomes important to their project; to clearly communicate highly complex and technical topics through different media, including written papers, oral presentations, and visual figures; to train and mentor more junior students; and to collaborate with other experts to solve important problems. What industry would not value such highly flexible and broad expertise?

Up for a challenge? We’ll be looking for our next PhD trainee soon. It could be you!

Over the next few months we expect to start the search for our next PhD student. If you’re considering your own next steps and willing to take on a challenge (and it is a challenge), PhD training can be a great entry point into many careers.

Yodit at the 2018 endMS Summer School

This year, I had the opportunity to attend the annual endMS Summer School, run by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. The theme of the weeklong retreat was “Environmental and Lifestyle Factors associated with MS”. Hosted in downtown Toronto at the Hospital for Sick Children’s Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, I joined a diverse group of researchers ranging from physicists, engineers, physical therapists, psychologists, MD-PhD’s and, lastly, immunologists like me!

(Photo Credit from endMS website) The incoming and outgoing SPRINTers, 2018! Yodit second from bottom left.

The topics covered included: Trials on progressive MS; Modeling MS in Mice Models; the Microbiome; Diet; Vitamin D; Neuropsychiatry; Effects of Smoking; Physical Activity Interventions in MS; as well as ways to halt Pediatric MS and trigger the initiation of new oligodendrocytes for the treatment of MS. Furthermore, we were given amazing networking advice and interview prep skills for all our future endeavors.

Group 2 (we're not flashing the peace sign) visits the Art Gallery of Ontario during a short break in the action.

I’ll also be participating in the endMS SPRINT program over the next year, through which I have the fortunate opportunity to work with a team of SPRINTers under the guidance of Dr. Lindsay Berrigan from St. Francis Xavier University. We’ll return to next year’s endMS Summer School to present the results from our SPRINT Team Project looking at cognitive dysfunction in MS.

Congratulations to our Honors Students!

Yomna, Steve, and Maitri in their wizarding robes for convocation.

Congratulations to Yomna El-Sakka and Maitri Makwana for graduating from the Microbiology & Immunology Honors Program! It has been a pleasure having you both in the KerfootLab during your honors year. We wish you all the very best for all your future endeavours!

Rajiv’s SPRINT project – completed!

Two years ago I (Rajiv) went to the 2016 MS summer school in Vancouver Canada to start my endMS Scholar Program for Researchers IN Training (SPRINT) project. In this program, three trainees from different fields of research are brought together to work on one interdisciplinary project over the course of a year. My project was supervised by Dr. Ghasemlou from Queens University and focused on reviewing the literature surrounding circadian rhythms (how biological functions are altered over the course of a day/year) and their effects on MS pathology and psychosocial outcomes.

Overall, we found that the rhythmic release of hormones associated with circadian rhythms, melatonin and cortisol, are either blunted or amplified, respectively, in MS patients. These hormones are known to influence immune responses and are likely influencing MS pathology and may also contribute to psychosocial aspects of MS including fatigue, depression, and disability. Lastly, all of the currently approved MS drugs target some portion of the immune system that has an associated circadian rhythm. Thus, there is untapped potential in considering whether the timing of administration of our current drugs could be used to further amplify their efficacy.

This work was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. Overall, the SPRINT experience is rewarding and is definitely worth pursing for those who are motivated to work on a project with people outside of their own field. This is also a good opportunity to thank Dr. Nader Ghasemlou and his lab for their support in producing this publication as well as the other members of the SPRINT team, Dr. Kelvin Poon and Elisea De Somma as this could not have been completed without you!

Working with Others

We had a chance to collaborate with Dr. Luc Vallières and his team at the Université Laval in a study that was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight. In the paper, Hawkins et. al. shows that during central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity, a population of neutrophils gains access to the inflamed CNS. Interestingly, these CNS neutrophils acquire a very un-neutrophil like property: the ability to acquire and present antigens to T and B cells – something normally performed by very different kinds of immune cells.

We contributed to this study through our ongoing work to develop and characterize mouse models of CNS autoimmunity that incorporate B cells in the disease process. We found extensive neutrophil invasion of the CNS in one of these B cell-dependent models of CNS autoimmunity induced using a modified MOG protein that we developed. By using this B cell-dependent model, Hawkins et. al. showed that deletion of a protease (ASPRV1), which is highly expressed in CNS neutrophils, leads to a significant decrease in the severity of CNS autoimmunity.

Overall this has been, and will continue to be, a productive collaboration that has taught us a great deal about how neutrophils contribute to CNS autoimmunity but also identifies a novel role for neutrophils in the immune response that remains unstudied.

2017 J Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine recognizes Multiple Sclerosis research

Last week the Robarts Research Institute awarded the 2017 J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine to Dr. V. Wee Yong from the University of Calgary. Every year a theme is chosen for the prize, and this year the theme was Multiple Sclerosis. I was honored to participate as a member of the organizing committee and particularly pleased to see Dr. Yong receive the prize.

Dr. Yong (far right beside Steve) participating in a public panel moderated by Andre Picard.

Dr. Yong has been an important leader in developing the MS research community in Canada and internationally. He has also made very important contributions to the field through his research. His interest in re-purposing approved drugs as novel (and affordable) MS treatments stands out in particular. I remember some of the early experiments from his group testing minocycline as a therapy in animal models of MS from my time as a graduate student at the University of Calgary, and it is very exciting to see these come to fruition in human trials many years later.

Steve, Ravi, and Sara providing a London MS Update

The scientific symposium for the day turned out really well. Our external panel members gave outstanding presentations, introducing attendees to the excellent and collaborative research that is occurring in Canada and internationally. I had the opportunity to talk about our work and collaborations with Drs. Ravi Menon and Sarah Morrow here at Western University.

Kate....

and Yodit presenting their work. It was pretty dark, hence the blurry pics.

The day ended with the Leaders in Innovation Dinner honoring Dr. Yong as well as guests Ann and Mitt Romney. Kate and Yodit had the chance to talk about their work with attendees at the reception.

end of a long, but good day. Yodit, Steve, and Kate at the Leaders in Innovation Dinner.

We're in Rapport Magazine!

Steve and his "serious face"

Check out this great article describing how we work with other Schulich and Robarts clinicians and scientists to learn more about Multiple Sclerosis and how to help those living with it.

Are you in London ON and interested in hearing about world-class research?

You are welcome to attend the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine Symposium in Multiple Sclerosis.

Join us as we celebrate research innovations in multiple sclerosis (MS). The day includes presentations by experts in the fields of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of MS, a panel discussion moderated by André Picard, health columnist with The Globe and Mail, and a keynote lecture by the 2017 J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine recipient, V. Wee Yong, PhD.

Learn more about all our speakers and see our full day agenda: http://www.robarts.ca/symposium.

Event Details:

• Wednesday, November 15, 2017

• 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

• Auditorium A, University Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre

RSVP:

New this year the full day Symposium is open for everyone to attend but space is limited and you must RSVP: 

Hope to see you there!

For those interested, you are also welcome to buy a ticket to join us at the associated Leaders in Innovation Dinner. More information on that here.

Meet this year's team

left to right-ish (you'll figure it out): Heather (tech), Yomna (undergrad), Kate (post-doc), Yodit (PhD candidate), Maitri (undergrad), Rajiv (PhD candidate), and Steve (lab head).

This year, we're pleased to welcome two Honors Thesis students to the lab! Yomna El-Sakka (top left) will be working with Yodit and Rajiv to characterize spinal cord pathology on some disease models that we're working on. Maitri Makwana (front, centre) will be working with Kate to finalize the development of a reagent we're developing for use in a collaboration with the London MS clinic. 

KerfootLab and Friends at the 2017 PwC MS Bike Ride

Team Microbiology & Immunology: (left to right) KerfootLab members Heather, Rajiv, Kate and Yodit. Dikeakos Lab members Aaron and Brennan. And then Steve.

As we have for the last few years, members of the lab and others from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology took part in the 2017 PwC MS Bike Ride from Grand Bend to London and back.

Heather and Kate make wraps

Rajiv checks out the wraps

Heather, Kate, and Rajiv donated their considerable talents to help feed hungry riders at the half-way point on the first day.

Start line, Day 1

Start line, Day 2. Still smiling!

Yodit and Steve were joined by Brennan and Aaron from the Dikeakos Lab to make the ride from Grand Bend to London on Day 1 and then back again on Day 2. Everyone made it safe and well fed, thanks to the great organizers and volunteers that made it a great day. 

150km later: tired, hungry, but still smiling.

Other $1.4m was raised by this ride to support both research and community programs that are run by the MS Society of Canada. This is a great opportunity to that the MS Society for their support; Rajiv is funded by an MSSOC PhD Studentship and Kate holds an MSSOC Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Thanks must also go to all of the volunteers and donors that make it possible for the MS Society to do the important work that it does.