Post-Nominal Titles
B. Brett Finlay, PhD, OC, OBC, FRSC, FCAHS
Departments
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Genome Sciences and Technology (GSAT) Graduate Program
Professional Profile
- Ph.D. (1986) University of Alberta
Research Area
The human body routinely encounters many threatening infectious agents, including Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli. Most Salmonella and E. coli infections arise from oral ingestion of tainted food or water and are a significant cause of disease and death in animals and humans worldwide. Salmonella bacteria cause typhoid fever, a frequently fatal infectious condition that is common in the developing world. It also causes gastroenteritis, a type of food poisoning characterized by abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Salmonella species are close relatives of E. coli, which cause numerous diseases including meningitis, urinary tract infections diarrhea and fatal kidney disease. The bacteria infect and interfere with normal function of cells in the stomach and intestine to cause disease. However, the molecular mechanism of how these pathogens adhere, enter, survive, replicate, and exit host cells is not well defined.
Research Questions
- How do pathogenic microbes cause disease?
- How do humans interact with their microbiome?
- Can we harness the microbiome to impact on diseases such as malnutrition, asthma, and brain diseases such as Parkinsons?
Research Keywords
Biochemistry, biotechnology, immunology, translation, systems biology, infectious disease, personalized medicine, protein regulation, proteomics, microbiome, epigenomics, microbial pathogenesis, metabolomics, science education, outreach
To learn more about the Finlay Lab, please visit finlaylab.msl.ubc.ca.