Sara received her BSc in biochemistry (2005) from the University of Guelph. She then completed her PhD in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (2011) at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Murray S. Junop. In 2012, Sara joined the laboratory of Dr. R. Scott Williams at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, before returning back to McMaster University to establish her lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences in 2017. Sara’s love of science continues outside the lab, where she studies food science through baking treats for her lab and physics by playing goal in her hockey league.

Sara received her BSc in biochemistry (2005) from the University of Guelph. She then completed her PhD in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (2011) at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Murray S. Junop. In 2012, Sara joined the laboratory of Dr. R. Scott Williams at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, before returning back to McMaster University to establish her lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences in 2017. Sara’s love of science continues outside the lab, where she studies food science through baking treats for her lab and physics by playing goal in her hockey league.

Research in the Bishop Lab is focused on the biogenesis of bacterial cell envelopes, including biochemical studies of lipid transport, the bacterial outer membrane enzyme PagP, as well as enzymology and signal transduction of lipid A (endotoxin).

Research in the Bishop Lab is focused on the biogenesis of bacterial cell envelopes, including biochemical studies of lipid transport, the bacterial outer membrane enzyme PagP, as well as enzymology and signal transduction of lipid A (endotoxin).

Dr. Eric Brown is a Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and member of the M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. 

Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and has received a number of other awards including the Canadian Society of Microbiologists Murray Award for career achievement and the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences Merck Frosst Prize for new investigators.  He recently held a Killam Research Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts and is currently a Canada Research Chair in Microbial Chemical Biology. 

Dr. Brown is a former department Chair and was also the founding Director of the Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization program. He has served on advisory boards for a variety of companies as well as national and international associations, including a term as President of the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology. He was a member of the Medical Review Panel of the Gairdner Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Infection and Immunity of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and College Chair advising the Canadian Institutes of Health Research on peer review, and a member of the Advisory Board of the EU’s Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Research. Currently, he is a member of the editorial board of ACS Infectious Diseases and the Series Editor of the annual Antimicrobial Therapeutics Review of the Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 

Brown Lab researchers are innovating in diverse areas of drug discovery using tools of chemical and systems biology to probe the complex biology that underlies disease states. The goal of these studies is to contribute to fresh directions for new therapeutics. 

If you are interested in a position at Brown Lab, please visit our contact page for more information on how to get in touch with Dr. Brown.

Dr. Eric Brown is a Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and member of the M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. 

Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and has received a number of other awards including the Canadian Society of Microbiologists Murray Award for career achievement and the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences Merck Frosst Prize for new investigators.  He recently held a Killam Research Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts and is currently a Canada Research Chair in Microbial Chemical Biology. 

Dr. Brown is a former department Chair and was also the founding Director of the Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization program. He has served on advisory boards for a variety of companies as well as national and international associations, including a term as President of the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology. He was a member of the Medical Review Panel of the Gairdner Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Infection and Immunity of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and College Chair advising the Canadian Institutes of Health Research on peer review, and a member of the Advisory Board of the EU’s Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Research. Currently, he is a member of the editorial board of ACS Infectious Diseases and the Series Editor of the annual Antimicrobial Therapeutics Review of the Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 

Brown Lab researchers are innovating in diverse areas of drug discovery using tools of chemical and systems biology to probe the complex biology that underlies disease states. The goal of these studies is to contribute to fresh directions for new therapeutics. 

If you are interested in a position at Brown Lab, please visit our contact page for more information on how to get in touch with Dr. Brown.

Professor Lori Burrows is a molecular microbiologist whose research interests include biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, bacteriophages, and ubiquitous bacterial adhesins called type IV pili (T4P). Her research is funded by CIHR, NSERC, CFI, ORF, plus industrial and philanthropic sources. She holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Microbe-Surface Interactions, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is the Associate Director of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Diseases Research, a member of the Advisory Board for CIHR’s Institute for Infection and Immunity, and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Bacteriology (ASM), the Journal of Biochemistry (ASBMB), and ACS Infectious Diseases. Her contributions to the field were recognized in 2020 with the Canadian Society for Microbiologists’ (CSM) prestigious Murray Award for Career Achievement. In 2023 she received the John G. Fitzgerald Award from the Canadian Association for Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and the Canadian Science Publishing Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences. She is a champion for women in science and in 2021 created the CSM Burrows Award for Womxn in Microbiology, given annually to outstanding female microbiology trainees who advance the cause of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access. 

Professor Lori Burrows is a molecular microbiologist whose research interests include biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, bacteriophages, and ubiquitous bacterial adhesins called type IV pili (T4P). Her research is funded by CIHR, NSERC, CFI, ORF, plus industrial and philanthropic sources. She holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Microbe-Surface Interactions, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is the Associate Director of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Diseases Research, a member of the Advisory Board for CIHR’s Institute for Infection and Immunity, and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Bacteriology (ASM), the Journal of Biochemistry (ASBMB), and ACS Infectious Diseases. Her contributions to the field were recognized in 2020 with the Canadian Society for Microbiologists’ (CSM) prestigious Murray Award for Career Achievement. In 2023 she received the John G. Fitzgerald Award from the Canadian Association for Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and the Canadian Science Publishing Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences. She is a champion for women in science and in 2021 created the CSM Burrows Award for Womxn in Microbiology, given annually to outstanding female microbiology trainees who advance the cause of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access. 

The long-term vision of the Coombes laboratory is to generate fundamental knowledge into how bacterial pathogens override immunological systems. This information can be used as an entry point to drug discovery where the goal of therapy is to harness the power of innate immune systems to eradicate disease-causing microbes and overcome challenges such as antimicrobial resistance. Working at the interface of microbiology and innate immunity, we study host-pathogen dynamics in cell models and pre-clinical models of various infections and chronic conditions. We are particularly interested in drug-resistant bacterial infections and chronic diseases where microbes are disease modifiers, such as inflammatory bowel disease. 

Research Interests: Infectious diseases, microbiology, innate immunity, Crohn’s disease 

The long-term vision of the Coombes laboratory is to generate fundamental knowledge into how bacterial pathogens override immunological systems. This information can be used as an entry point to drug discovery where the goal of therapy is to harness the power of innate immune systems to eradicate disease-causing microbes and overcome challenges such as antimicrobial resistance. Working at the interface of microbiology and innate immunity, we study host-pathogen dynamics in cell models and pre-clinical models of various infections and chronic conditions. We are particularly interested in drug-resistant bacterial infections and chronic diseases where microbes are disease modifiers, such as inflammatory bowel disease. 

Research Interests: Infectious diseases, microbiology, innate immunity, Crohn’s disease 

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Mucosal Immunity to HIV & sexually transmitted infections.

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Mucosal Immunity to HIV & sexually transmitted infections.

The Li Lab works on the interface between chemistry and biology. Their overall research interest is to examine unusual functions of nucleic acids and to be creative about them. Their group is also interested both in the study of basic functions of these molecules (basic science focus of the lab) and in the exploration of these molecules as novel molecular tools for therapeutics, biomolecular detection, drug discovery and nanotechnology.

The Li Lab works on the interface between chemistry and biology. Their overall research interest is to examine unusual functions of nucleic acids and to be creative about them. Their group is also interested both in the study of basic functions of these molecules (basic science focus of the lab) and in the exploration of these molecules as novel molecular tools for therapeutics, biomolecular detection, drug discovery and nanotechnology.

Dr. Nathan Magarvey is the founder and chief scientific officer of Adapsyn Bioscience, and is responsible for all aspects of the company’s current collaboration with Pfizer. Additionally, he is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Natural Products and Chemical Biology in the Departments of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and Chemistry & Chemical Biology, at McMaster University.

He joined McMaster from Harvard Medical School and previously spent time in the pharmaceutical industry working for Wyeth Research, where he was directly involved in the discovery of new antibiotic and therapeutic microbial natural product small molecules. Dr. Magarvey’s research focuses on disrupting how the discovery of microbial metabolites is done and, in particular, how to leverage the ability to connect Genomes to Natural Products. His research has advanced the discovery of new microbial small molecules. His work leads to research intersecting the interfaces of medicine, biology, chemistry and computer science.

Dr. Nathan Magarvey is the founder and chief scientific officer of Adapsyn Bioscience, and is responsible for all aspects of the company’s current collaboration with Pfizer. Additionally, he is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Natural Products and Chemical Biology in the Departments of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and Chemistry & Chemical Biology, at McMaster University.

He joined McMaster from Harvard Medical School and previously spent time in the pharmaceutical industry working for Wyeth Research, where he was directly involved in the discovery of new antibiotic and therapeutic microbial natural product small molecules. Dr. Magarvey’s research focuses on disrupting how the discovery of microbial metabolites is done and, in particular, how to leverage the ability to connect Genomes to Natural Products. His research has advanced the discovery of new microbial small molecules. His work leads to research intersecting the interfaces of medicine, biology, chemistry and computer science.

Dr. Magolan was born in Wloclawek, Poland and raised in Kitchener, Canada. He completed his undergraduate studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, earning degrees in both chemistry and physical and health education, while also playing a little bit of volleyball. As an undergraduate student, he worked with Professor Robert Lemieux on the synthesis of new liquid crystals. He obtained his PhD in 2007, from Western University, Canada, under the mentorship of Professor Michael Kerr, working in the fields of natural products synthesis and synthetic methodology. He did postdoctoral research at the Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery in Brisbane, Australia working in the field of anti-pancreatic cancer medicinal chemistry under the guidance of Professor Mark Coster.

Jakob began his independent career in 2010, in the Department of Chemistry at University of Idaho, where he established an NSF-funded research program in synthetic methodology and was the department’s primary instructor of organic chemistry. Jakob earned tenure and promotion to associate professor at the University of Idaho. He received recognition for his commitment to undergraduate research and education.

In 2017, Jakob moved from Idaho to McMaster University to become an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the inaugural holder of the Boris Family Endowed Chair of Drug Discovery. At McMaster, Dr. Magolan maintains an interest in developing efficient new methodologies for organic synthesis and his research program has also expanded to include a wide range of collaborative projects focused on drug discovery and hit-to-lead medicinal chemistry.

Dr. Magolan was born in Wloclawek, Poland and raised in Kitchener, Canada. He completed his undergraduate studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, earning degrees in both chemistry and physical and health education, while also playing a little bit of volleyball. As an undergraduate student, he worked with Professor Robert Lemieux on the synthesis of new liquid crystals. He obtained his PhD in 2007, from Western University, Canada, under the mentorship of Professor Michael Kerr, working in the fields of natural products synthesis and synthetic methodology. He did postdoctoral research at the Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery in Brisbane, Australia working in the field of anti-pancreatic cancer medicinal chemistry under the guidance of Professor Mark Coster.

Jakob began his independent career in 2010, in the Department of Chemistry at University of Idaho, where he established an NSF-funded research program in synthetic methodology and was the department’s primary instructor of organic chemistry. Jakob earned tenure and promotion to associate professor at the University of Idaho. He received recognition for his commitment to undergraduate research and education.

In 2017, Jakob moved from Idaho to McMaster University to become an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the inaugural holder of the Boris Family Endowed Chair of Drug Discovery. At McMaster, Dr. Magolan maintains an interest in developing efficient new methodologies for organic synthesis and his research program has also expanded to include a wide range of collaborative projects focused on drug discovery and hit-to-lead medicinal chemistry.

The McArthur laboratory’s research program is rooted in bioinformatics, functional genomics, and computational biology. It spans complex informatics approaches to the functional genomics of microbial drug resistance, development of biological databases, next generation sequencing for genome assembly and molecular epidemiology, automated literature curation approaches, and controlled vocabularies for biological knowledge integration. As the David Braley Chair in Computational Biology, his lab leads the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD.mcmaster.ca) and are associated with the Canadian Anti-Infective Innovation Network (CAIN-amr.ca), International Genomic Epidemiology Application Ontology Consortium (GenEpio.org), and Integrated Rapid Infectious Disease Analysis Platform (IRIDA.ca). 

The McArthur laboratory’s research program is rooted in bioinformatics, functional genomics, and computational biology. It spans complex informatics approaches to the functional genomics of microbial drug resistance, development of biological databases, next generation sequencing for genome assembly and molecular epidemiology, automated literature curation approaches, and controlled vocabularies for biological knowledge integration. As the David Braley Chair in Computational Biology, his lab leads the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD.mcmaster.ca) and are associated with the Canadian Anti-Infective Innovation Network (CAIN-amr.ca), International Genomic Epidemiology Application Ontology Consortium (GenEpio.org), and Integrated Rapid Infectious Disease Analysis Platform (IRIDA.ca). 

Research Interests: pandemics, influenza virus, coronavirus, vaccines, antivirals, virus/host interactions, neurodegenerative diseases, B cells, antibodies

Research Interests: pandemics, influenza virus, coronavirus, vaccines, antivirals, virus/host interactions, neurodegenerative diseases, B cells, antibodies

Research interests: Viral immunity, virus-host interactions in humans and bats, oncolytic viruses, cancer immunotherapy

Research interests: Viral immunity, virus-host interactions in humans and bats, oncolytic viruses, cancer immunotherapy

Michael Surette, a professor of medicine and one of Canada’s top microbiologists, is shedding new light on why some microbes keep us healthy while others cause illness, what role our microbes play in chronic diseases, how the microbiome develops and changes across the lifespan and how changes with age affect susceptibility to disease.

While it is often stated that most of the microbiome is not accessible by laboratory culturing methods, Surette’s lab has challenged this assumption. His pioneering approach combining culture-enriched molecular profiling with state-of-the-art genome sequencing allows his laboratory to routinely grow more than 99.9% of bacterial populations, and typically recovers 2-3 times the diversity of bacteria than recovered by molecular profiling alone.

These approaches are being used to investigate specific diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome, and to address fundamental questions about microbe-microbe/host interactions. Exploiting beneficial properties of the human microbiota holds promise for the development of new microbiome-derived therapies for the treatment of a wide range of conditions impacted by the health of our microbiota.

Michael Surette, a professor of medicine and one of Canada’s top microbiologists, is shedding new light on why some microbes keep us healthy while others cause illness, what role our microbes play in chronic diseases, how the microbiome develops and changes across the lifespan and how changes with age affect susceptibility to disease.

While it is often stated that most of the microbiome is not accessible by laboratory culturing methods, Surette’s lab has challenged this assumption. His pioneering approach combining culture-enriched molecular profiling with state-of-the-art genome sequencing allows his laboratory to routinely grow more than 99.9% of bacterial populations, and typically recovers 2-3 times the diversity of bacteria than recovered by molecular profiling alone.

These approaches are being used to investigate specific diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome, and to address fundamental questions about microbe-microbe/host interactions. Exploiting beneficial properties of the human microbiota holds promise for the development of new microbiome-derived therapies for the treatment of a wide range of conditions impacted by the health of our microbiota.

John received his BSc in biological chemistry, in 2007, from the University of Guelph. He then completed his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children. From 2013–16 John was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, before establishing his lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster in 2017.

Research in the Whitney Lab seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie microbe-microbe interactions.

Bacterial Competition Mediated by the Type VI Secretion System: The bacterial type VI secretion system is a recently identified protein translocation pathway used by Gram-negative bacteria to deliver toxins to neighbouring bacteria in a cell contact-dependent manner. The Whitney Lab is interested in understanding how these antibacterial proteins are transported from one cell to another and how they exert toxicity once delivered to a target cell.

Type VII Secretion-dependent Interbacterial Antagonism: In contrast to their Gram-negative counterparts, the pathways involved in interbacterial antagonism between Gram-positive bacteria has long remained elusive. In recent work, the Whitney Lab and others have found that the type VII secretion system exports antibacterial toxins that mediate interbacterial competition. Elucidating the mode of action of these toxins will allow for the identification of new vulnerabilities in Gram-positive cells that can be exploited for the development of new antibiotics.

Exopolysaccharide Secretion and Interbacterial Adhesion: Many species of bacteria exist in dense cellular aggregates held together by bacterially produced exopolysaccharides. In this form, bacteria are difficult to eradicate due in part to decreased efficacy of antibiotics. The Whitney Lab is interested in determining how bacterial exopolysaccharides are synthesized and exported from the cell.

John received his BSc in biological chemistry, in 2007, from the University of Guelph. He then completed his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children. From 2013–16 John was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, before establishing his lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster in 2017.

Research in the Whitney Lab seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie microbe-microbe interactions.

Bacterial Competition Mediated by the Type VI Secretion System: The bacterial type VI secretion system is a recently identified protein translocation pathway used by Gram-negative bacteria to deliver toxins to neighbouring bacteria in a cell contact-dependent manner. The Whitney Lab is interested in understanding how these antibacterial proteins are transported from one cell to another and how they exert toxicity once delivered to a target cell.

Type VII Secretion-dependent Interbacterial Antagonism: In contrast to their Gram-negative counterparts, the pathways involved in interbacterial antagonism between Gram-positive bacteria has long remained elusive. In recent work, the Whitney Lab and others have found that the type VII secretion system exports antibacterial toxins that mediate interbacterial competition. Elucidating the mode of action of these toxins will allow for the identification of new vulnerabilities in Gram-positive cells that can be exploited for the development of new antibiotics.

Exopolysaccharide Secretion and Interbacterial Adhesion: Many species of bacteria exist in dense cellular aggregates held together by bacterially produced exopolysaccharides. In this form, bacteria are difficult to eradicate due in part to decreased efficacy of antibiotics. The Whitney Lab is interested in determining how bacterial exopolysaccharides are synthesized and exported from the cell.

Gerry Wright is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and an associate member in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

Dr. Gerry Wright received his BSc in biochemistry (1986) and his PhD in chemistry (1990) from the University of Waterloo, working in the area of antifungal drugs under Dr. John Honek. He followed this up with two years of postdoctoral research in Chris Walsh’s lab at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, where he worked on the molecular mechanism of resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin in enterococci. He joined the Department of Biochemistry at McMaster in 1993.

He holds the Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Infection and Anti-Infective Research and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Antibiotic Biochemistry. From 2001–07 Gerry served as chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster.

Gerry was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2012) and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2013). He is the recipient of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scientist (2000-2005), Medical Research Council of Canada Scholar (1995-2000), Killam Research Fellowship (2011-1012), R.G.E. Murray Award for Career Achievement of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (2013), NRC Research Press Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (2016), Premier’s Research Excellence (1999) and the Polanyi Prize (1993). In 2016, he was named a McMaster Distinguished University Professor.

Gerry has served on grant panel advisory boards and chaired grant panels for a number of funding agencies in Canada, USA and Europe, and consults widely for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

He is the author of over 240 manuscripts and is a member of the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals including mBio, Antimicrobial Agents Chemotherapy, Cell Chemistry and Biology and the Journal of Antibiotics. He is an associated editor of ACS Infectious Diseases and Editor of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Antimicrobial Therapeutics Reviews.

Gerry’s Batman job is drummer for the “Null Hypothesis”, a pants-dropping, hard rocking, booty-shaking cover band.

Gerry Wright is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and an associate member in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

Dr. Gerry Wright received his BSc in biochemistry (1986) and his PhD in chemistry (1990) from the University of Waterloo, working in the area of antifungal drugs under Dr. John Honek. He followed this up with two years of postdoctoral research in Chris Walsh’s lab at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, where he worked on the molecular mechanism of resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin in enterococci. He joined the Department of Biochemistry at McMaster in 1993.

He holds the Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Infection and Anti-Infective Research and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Antibiotic Biochemistry. From 2001–07 Gerry served as chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster.

Gerry was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2012) and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2013). He is the recipient of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scientist (2000-2005), Medical Research Council of Canada Scholar (1995-2000), Killam Research Fellowship (2011-1012), R.G.E. Murray Award for Career Achievement of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (2013), NRC Research Press Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (2016), Premier’s Research Excellence (1999) and the Polanyi Prize (1993). In 2016, he was named a McMaster Distinguished University Professor.

Gerry has served on grant panel advisory boards and chaired grant panels for a number of funding agencies in Canada, USA and Europe, and consults widely for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

He is the author of over 240 manuscripts and is a member of the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals including mBio, Antimicrobial Agents Chemotherapy, Cell Chemistry and Biology and the Journal of Antibiotics. He is an associated editor of ACS Infectious Diseases and Editor of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Antimicrobial Therapeutics Reviews.

Gerry’s Batman job is drummer for the “Null Hypothesis”, a pants-dropping, hard rocking, booty-shaking cover band.