The Bowdish lab welcomes summer students Danny, Mina, Joseph and Melodie and congratulates them on their scholarship successes.

The Bowdish lab is pleased to welcome a recent biochemistry graduate and IIDR summer scholarship winner, Joseph Chon, Mina Sadeghi a MIRA (McMaster Institute for Research on Aging) summer student,  Danny Ma a MIRA and NSERC-USRA winner and Melodie Kim, a BHSc summer studentship recipient. We’re thrilled to have such a talented group of students working with us this summer.

Summer students 2018, all of whom have summer studentships! (L-R) Joseph Chon (IIDR), Mina Sadeghi (MIRA), and Danny Ma (NSERC-USRA, MIRA) and not pictured Melodie Kim (BHSc). Welcome!

PDF and PhD position available.

The Bowdish lab is looking for new members to join our team! We currently have an opening for a post-doctoral fellow and a graduate student.

The PDF will project will involve investigating how the upper respiratory tract microbiome changes with age and declining immune function. Applicants must have a strong publication record in the field of immunology, microbiology, systems biology or molecular biology and applicants eligible for PDF funding from http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mgdfa/ are particularly encouraged to apply (see link for eligibility). Experience in analysis of the microbiome or statistics of large/complex datasets are assets. Please provide a c.v. and a cover letter detailing your interest in the lab that includes contact details for references.

The graduate student position will be studying why aging macrophages are less able to kill bacteria. Applicants interested in beginning studies in January, May or Sept 2018 will be considered. Students aiming to pursue a PhD are preferred but exceptional MSc applicants will be considered. Previous research experience is strongly preferred. Candidates must have relevant courses in molecular/cellular biology, biochemistry, immunology or microbiology. Please include a transcript, a cover letter outlining your previous research experience and a list of references. Foreign students must have a scholarship to be considered.

Come join our strong team!

Bowdish lab scholarship winners 2015/2016: Netusha Thevaranjan (CIHR-PhD), Avee Naidoo (CIHR-PhD), Kyle Novakowski (NSERC-PhD), Pat Schenck (CIHR-PhD), Dessi Loukov (CIHR-PhD), Justin Boyle (NSERC-MSC).

The Bowdish lab is the strongest lab at McMaster and we have the scholarship winners to prove it!

Who’s got the strongest lab at McMaster? I do! We’ve had a great run of success at the Bowdish lab with fully all of our students receiving prestigious scholarships! And that’s not to mention our other successes such as our summer scholarship winners (Jason Fan – IIDR), our students who got their degree and moved on to great things (Dr. Fan Fei – manager of Mass Spec facility, Dr. Mike Dorrington – PDF at the NIH), and our PDF, Dr. Chris Verschoor who got a faculty position!

Who's got the strongest lab at McMaster? I do! Bowdish lab scholarship winners 2015/2016: Netusha Thevaranjan (CIHR-PhD), Avee Naidoo (CIHR-PhD), Kyle Novakowski (NSERC-PhD), Pat Schenck (CIHR-PhD), Dessi Loukov (CIHR-PhD), Justin Boyle (NSERC-MSC).

Bowdish lab scholarship winners 2015/2016: Netusha Thevaranjan (CIHR-PhD), Avee Naidoo (CIHR-PhD), Kyle Novakowski (NSERC-PhD), Pat Schenck (CIHR-PhD), Dessi Loukov (CIHR-PhD), Justin Boyle (NSERC-MSC).

Let Dawn wait on you at the Lung Association-MIRC Boston Pizza fundraiser!

The faculty at MIRC are doing some fundraising with the Lung Association to raise money for a studentship in Lung Health. MIRC has many researchers performing cutting edge research in lung disease (e.g. asthma, lung cancer, COPD, pneumonia) but lung research is seriously underfunded in Canada. We want to fix this by training more young people to contribute to lung health and this studentship is step one. Bring your friends & family, have dinner and support the important work our trainees are doing in lung health!

Flyer - Boston Pizza Celebrity Server Night

The Bowdish lab is on a roll!

This past month has been very productive in the Bowdish laboratory, with many triumphs achieved by it’s industrious members.

Firstly, a big congratulation goes to Kyle Novakowski, the Bowdish 2013-10-17 23.42.39lab’s newest PhD student. Following a lot of hard work, determination and great dedication to his Masters project, Kyle successfully passed his transfer exam on July 7 and has officially begun his seemingly endless exciting pursuit for a PhD. Good luck to Kyle in continuing his interesting investigation on the regulation and function of MARCO!

 

Dessi Loukov presents her undergraduate work in the Bowdish lab at the 1st annual Perey Symposium, convinces everyone she's a senior PhD student and brings home the Faculty choice award for best speed poster presentation.

Dessi Loukov presents her undergraduate work in the Bowdish lab at the 1st annual Perey Symposium, convinces everyone she’s a senior PhD student and brings home the Faculty choice award for best speed poster presentation.

Next up is Dessi Loukov, who is currently an undergraduate but come September will be the Bowdish lab’s 4th PhD student. At the 1st annual MIRC Perey Symposium held on June 19, Dessi impressed faculty and trainees with her educational and enthusiastic speed poster presentation on modulating the immune system to potentially reverse age-associated inflammation. Dessi was awarded a travel award as a result of her superb presentation skills. Kudos also to Fan Fei (PhD candidate) and Avee Naidoo (MSc candidate) who gave excellent speed poster talks and Dr. Chris Verschoor who gave an excellent oral presentation.  Who knew that research in inflammation could be so exciting? The Bowdish lab, that’s who!

One PhD candidate who deserves great recognition for his recent successes is Mike Dorrington. Not only was Mike awarded with a prestigious and well-deserved Canadian Lung Association & Canadian Thoracic Studentship, but he additionally achieved received The Ruth and Wilson Tafts Prize for Immunology for having the best paper published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2013. Geez Mike, save some awards for the rest of us. These awards will be used to further fund his fascinating work on the role of macrophages – clearly, the best cell around – in recognition and clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the upper respiratory tract. Congratulations Mike!

At the celebration of Mike's first first author publication. Although Dawn is mostly happy for Mike, she is also slightly nervous that she might be about to lose an eye when the champagne is opened.

At the celebration of Mike’s first first author publication. Although Dawn is mostly happy for Mike, she is also slightly nervous that she might be about to lose an eye when the champagne is opened.

Then, there’s Dr. Chris Verschoor, the lab’s most productive and well-rounded member. Chris’ paper entitled, “Alterations to the frequency and function of peripheral blood monocytes and associations with chronic disease in the advanced-age, frail elderly“, was recently accepted into the PLoS one. If you’re interested in changes in monocyte populations with age – I mean, who isn’t? – keep a look out for Chris’ article in the next issue of PLoS one . Way to go Chris on this well-deserved publication!

Chris-sm

 

<- Manuscipt accepted = happy post-doc.

 

 

And last, but definitely not least, the lab takes great pleasure in congratulating our passionate leader, Dr. Dawn Bowdish, who has been awarded tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor effective as of July 1, 2014. This accomplishment is a fitting acknowledgement of Dawn’s exceptional work, devotion and academic contributions to research in the field of macrophage biology. In addition to her promotion and tenure, Dawn recently received a Best Teacher Award in the Department of Pathology for excellence in undergraduate teaching and graduate supervision. Well-done Dawn!

Dawn receives the Pathology & Molecular Medicine Department's best teacher award for her undergraduate and graduate supervision. Dr. Murray Potter, the education co-ordinator and Dr. Fiona Smaill, the chair, present her with the award.

Dawn receives the Pathology & Molecular Medicine Department’s best teacher award for her undergraduate and graduate supervision. Dr. Murray Potter, the education co-ordinator and Dr. Fiona Smaill, the chair, present her with the award.

Congratulations Bowdish lab on our successes!

Way to kill it, like young macrophages on pneumo 😉

Avee Receives a Prestigious CIHR Banting & Best CGS Scholarship

A long overdue congratulations to Avee Naidoo(MSc candidate) for receiving the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Master’s Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Avee-med

The award funds Avee’s research examining age-associated inflammation, impaired macrophage function and disease susceptibility in the elderly.

Way to go Avee!

Alumnus update: Former Bowdish lab undergraduate, Keith Lee, receives a CIHR MSC scholarship!

Keith Lee, who will be attending the University of Toronto for medical school starting August 2013 has received a very prestigious CIHR MSc graduate award. He has chosen to decline to pursue his medical studies and potentially re-apply as an MD/PhD student next year. Congratulations Keith!

Fiona Whelan wins prestigious Google Anita Borg scholarship!

We in the Bowdish lab are beaming with pride that Fiona Whelan (MSc candidate) has won an extremely prestigious scholarship from Google. The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Dr. Anita Borg, who devoted her life to encouraging the presence of women in computing and founded the Institute for Women in Technology in 1997. Anita passed away in 2003, and we created the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship in 2004 to honor her memory. Anita’s legacy lives on today through this scholarship and the organization she created, which has since been re-named the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. This is especially inspiring since Anita Borg was a driving force to attract and retain young women in computer science. According to the scholarship committe -“Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instead of avoiding or ignoring it. She has touched and changed the lives of countless women in the computing fields and beyond.”

To read the press release from Google, click here.

To read the McMaster Daily News article, click here.

To read the CBC article, click here.

As part of her award Fiona will be travelling to Google HQ to network, participate in workshops learn about new Google products. Way to go Fiona!