Healthy People, Healthy Animals
A 2-day symposium in infectious disease prevention
September 23-24, 2025
**Please note, this event is now sold out**
Join us as we celebrate 50 years of scientific excellence at VIDO’s Healthy People Healthy Animals Scientific Summit—a two-day event bringing together the brightest minds in infectious disease research. This summit will feature leading experts in virology, bacteriology, immunology, vaccine formulation and delivery, and both animal and non-animal models. Through engaging presentations and discussions, we will showcase groundbreaking research from global thought leaders while also highlighting VIDO’s contributions to advancing health for people and animals. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, collaborate, and shape the future of infectious disease preparedness.
Confirmed Speakers include:
- Dr. Alejandra Capozzo - Argentinean National Research Council
- Dr. Nicolas Collin - CEO, Vaccine Formulation Institute
- Dr. Jennifer Corcoran - University of Calgary
- Dr. JoAnne Flynn - University of Pittsburgh
- Dr. Scott Gray-Owen - University of Toronto
- Dr. Jörg Jores - University of Bern
- Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien - SickKids
- Dr. Paul Kubes - Queens University
- Dr. Thomas Mettenleiter - Former President Of The Federal Research Centre For Animal Health, Germany
- Dr. Chris Netherton - The Pirbright Institute
- Dr. Steven Rayan - quanTA, University of Saskatchewan
- Dr. David Safronetz - National Microbiology Lab, Winnipeg
Agenda
Sept. 23, 2025
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.: Conference Welcome - Volker Gerdts
8:15 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.: Bacteriology Session Introduction - Dr. Jeffrey Chen
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.: Keynote - Defining protection against tuberculosis - Dr. Joanne Flynn, University of Pittsburgh
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: Deciphering of pathogenicity mechanisms and development of novel vaccines using Mycoplasma genome editing - Dr. Jörg Jores, University of Bern
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.: TIFAsome-dependent control of bacterial immunopathogenesis - Dr. Scott Gray-Owen, University of Toronto
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Networking Break
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: VIDO Research Program Highlights - Drs. Jeffery Chen (Mycobacterial weapons of destruction to TB in domestic pigs and a Canadian wildlife icon – new frontlines in the fight against TB), Arinjay Banerjee (From Reservoir to Patient: A One Health Perspective on Viral Evolution and Disease Emergence), and Antonio Facciuolo (Using a bovine intestinal loop model to characterize mucosal immune responses to enteric mycobacterial infection)
12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.: Lunch
1:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Enabling Technologies Session Introduction - Dr. Andrew Van Kessel
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Keynote - Open-access adjuvants: a key enabling technology for Global Health vaccines - Dr. Nicolas Collin, Vaccine Formulation Institute
2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Transmission-blocking malaria vaccines: from structures to designs - Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien, Sick Kids
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Quantum Computing for Vaccines: A Roadmap - Dr. Steven Rayan, quanTA, University of Saskatchewan
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Networking Break
4:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.: Dr. Michael Wozny - Cryo-Electron Microscopy as a Tool for Pathogen Research
4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Rachael Jayamani David Prince - Genetic control of Group 3 (K96) capsule synthesis and human complement resistance in abovine mastitis-associated Escherichia coli ST69 strain
4:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.: Ana Norte - Dose optimization and evaluation of a pre-licensing Streptococcus zooepidemicus live vaccine in pigs
4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Slim Zriba - Rv3860 - a novel transcriptional activator of the M. tuberculosis complex type-7 ESX-1 system
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Networking Reception and Poster Session
Sept. 24, 2025
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.: Conference Welcome - Volker Gerdts
8:15 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.: Immunology and Vaccine Design Session Introduction - Dr. Heather Wilson
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.: Keynote - Dr. Paul Kubes, Queens University
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: Understanding FMD Vaccine Efficacy: The Role of Antibody Quality and Co-infections in Cattle - Dr. Alejandra Capozzo, Argentinean National Research Council
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.: Adenovirus-vectored vaccines against African swine fever - Dr. Chris Netherton, The Pirbright Institute
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Networking Break
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: VIDO Research Program Highlights: Drs. Yan Zhou (Crossing Boundaries: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Infection of Mammary Tissue and Zoonotic Risk), Darryl Falzarano (Pathogen preparedness toolkits: Approaches to developing pan-Lassa virus vaccines), and Gordon Broderick (The Art (and computational science) of Imitating Life: Digital mimicry in Vaccine Design
12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.: Lunch
1:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Virology Session Introduction - Dr. Yan Zhou
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Keynote - One Health: the development and importance of a (not so) novel concept - Dr. Thomas Mettenleiter, former President of the Federal Research Centre for Animal Health, Germany
2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: The importance of animal models in understanding and treating emerging viral diseases - Dr. David Safronetz, National Microbiology Lab, Winnipeg
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: A truncated SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein enhances virus fitness by evading antiviral responses - Dr. Jennifer Corcoran, University of Calgary
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Networking Break
4:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.: Lauren Aubrey, VIDO PhD candidate - Host responses to H5N1 influenza virus in dairy cows
4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Dr. Kristof Jenik, VIDO PDF - Characterizing the Type III Interferon Pathway in Bats and Humans
4:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.: Dr. Benedicte Mpia Moni - Comparative Analysis of Mpox Virus Clades Ib and Clade IIb in Human Cell Models
4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Naga Suresh Kola - Stabilizing messenger RNA-Lipid Nanoparticles with Carbohydrates for Inhalation
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Networking Reception and Poster Session
Posters
|
23-Sep |
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|
S.NO |
Title |
Authors |
|
1 |
Visualizing cAMP Dynamics in Mycobacterium tuberculosis |
Shaun Wachter, Chris Chen, and Neeraj Dhar. |
|
2 |
Regulation of Intestinal Mucosal Immunity to Johne’s disease in Cattle Through Parenteral Vaccination |
Itzel Guadalupe Aguilar-Lopez, Laura Sofia Gomez-Diaz, Travis Blimkie, Amy H. Lee, Antonio Facciuolo. |
|
3 |
Assembly of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis type-7 ESX-1 secretion system in Mycobacterium smegmatis leads to a novel TB vaccine |
Slim Zriba, Ze Long Lim, Marlene Snider, Nirajan Niroula, Marie Hardouin, Jeffrey M. Chen. |
|
4 |
Identification of T cell-specific immunogens among all Streptococcus zooepidemicus proteins |
Haoming Liu, Donaldson Magloire , Zahed Khatooni, Diogo Pellegrina, Diane Mutumwinka, Siew Hon Ng, Pooja Choudhar , Sulove Koirala , Arthur Finatto, Ana Norte, Daniela Montiel, Suzana Stubert, Roman Nosach, Alison Jeffery, Hannah Burlet, Mohamed Helmy, Matheus de Oliveira Costa, and Heather L. Wilson. |
|
5 |
Designing a mucosal saRNA vaccine against bovine alpha herpesvirus-1 infection in cattle |
Alaa Ibrahim, Anil Kumar, Sylvia van den Hurk, Aneesh Thakur |
|
6 |
Bioengineered yeast to provide antimicrobial peptides and EAA to improve gut health in piglets |
Carolina Pantuzza-Ramos, Siew H. Ng, Zahed Khatooni, John Husnik, Hao Ding, Ye Wang, Partho Adhikary, Erin Gilchrist, Heather L. Wilson. |
|
7 |
Evaluating the Accuracy of Molecular Docking Tools for Antimicrobial Design: iGEMDOCK, AutoDock Vina, and rDock on Crystallized Ligands |
Zahin Hafiz, Shahed Al Asmi, Meshail Elfaki, Divyanshi Divyanshi and Zahed Khatooni. |
|
8 |
Design and delivery of nanoparticle-based STING agonist for adjuvanting mucosal subunit vaccines |
Anna Martens-Koop, Aneesh Thakur. |
|
9 |
Molecular Engineering of Borrelia burgdorferi for Tailored OMV Composition in Lyme Disease Vaccine Design |
Uddab Poudel, Jenny Wachter. |
|
10 |
Development of Mucosal mRNA Vaccines: Optimizing the Design of In Vitro Transcribed Messenger RNA and Lipid Nanoparticles for Enhanced Immunogenicity |
Mehmet Nadir Sahinci, Yan Zhou, Jo-Anne Dillon, Aneesh Thakur. |
|
11 |
From 2D to 3D: Bioprinting 3D lung models for infection studies |
Nuraina Anisa Dahlan, Kim Chiok, Arinjay Banerjee, Neeraj Dhar, Xiongbiao (Daniel) Chen. |
|
12 |
Extracellular Porin Variability Characterized in Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains |
Megan Tomilin, Himen Salimizand, Chinenye R Nnajide, Wolfgang Köster, Aaron P. White. |
|
13 |
Genome-wide Analysis of Transcriptional Noise in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. |
Nandini, Neeraj Dhar. |
|
14 |
Multi-Platform Bacterial Genomics Pipeline for AMR and Virulence Profiling in Public Health |
Sylvia Li, Tazmeen Gill, Kenil Dave, Lingling Jin, Mohamed Helmy. |
|
15 |
Impact of persistent intestinal Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infection on parenteral vaccine-induced mucosal immunity. |
Laura Sofia Gomez Diaz, Itzel Aguilar Lopez, Amy H. Lee, Antonio Facciuolo. |
|
16 |
Development of key immunodiagnostic tools to combat bovine tuberculosis in Canadian bison |
Josephine Chileshe, Jeffrey Chen and Todd Shury |
|
17 |
Development of a novel vaccine to control foot rot in Canadian feedlot cattle |
Jose Perez-Casal, Tracy Prysliak , Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Joyce Van Donkersgoed. |
|
18 |
In Silico Design of PRRSV and ASFV Binders Using BindCraft: An Approach for Novel Short Peptide Antivirals |
Emily Ruby, Yusra Naveed, Heather Wilson, Suresh Tikoo and Zahed Khatooni. |
|
19 |
Establishing how changes in glycosylation pattern in maternal immunoglobulin G and/or changes in antigenpresenting cell function impacts maternal immunity. |
Diane Mutumwinka, Pooja Choudhary, Heather L. Wilsona, George Mutwiria. |
|
20 |
The Computational Vaccine and Antimicrobial Lab: Building Collaborations for Future Innovation |
Monika Kashyap, Jethro Odeyemi, Heather Wilson, Gordon Broderick, and Zahed Khatooni. |
|
21 |
Unraveling the regulatory network of a crucial protein involved in Lyme Borreliosis |
Supriya Ramesh, Satyender Hansra, Shu Hui Huang, Kerri Kobryn, and Jenny Wachter. |
|
22 |
Stabilizing messenger RNA-Lipid Nanoparticles with Carbohydrates for Inhalation |
Naga Suresh Kola, Aneesh Thakur. |
|
23 |
Intrauterine vaccines: Using nanoparticles to encapsulate antigens and adjuvants to make semen-friendly vaccines |
Pooja Choudhary, R. Mohammadi, D. Magloire, S. Ng, K.R. Fourie, Z. Khatoone, H. Liu, A. Haddadi, H.L. Wilson. |
|
24 |
From Penicillin-binding to Cytokinesis: Insights into Domain Architecture and Species-specificity of FtsI in Neisseria gonorrhoeae |
Griffin Lehnert, Oluwatobi E. Oladele, Dhrumi Patel, Kirsten Lowe, Jenny Wachter, Jo-Anne Dillon. |
|
25 |
A Sweet Spot to Investigate Efficacy of Salmonella Dublin vaccines |
Dinesh H Wellawa, Shirley Lam, Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen, Kyla Cutts, Carla Norleen, Rob Stevenson, Christopher Luby, Aaron White, José Perez-Casal, and Wolfgang Köster. |
|
26 |
Investigation of clinical LNP compositions for mRNA delivery across respiratory mucosa |
Dhruv Patel, Aneesh Thakur. |
|
27 |
PathwayDenesterWeb: An online visual interface for Improving Pathway Enrichment Analyses by Taking Ontology Structures into Account |
Diogo Pellegrina, Noha El-Haj, Nikita Chaudari, Mohamed Helmy. |
|
24-Sep |
||
|
1 |
Infection of bovine mammary gland cells with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) H5N1 |
Ulises Barron-Castillo, Nathalie Berube, Erin Scruten, Antonio Facciuolo and Yan Zhou. |
|
2 |
PEDVS1-specific Induction of T-bet expression |
Donaldson A. Magloire, Haoming Liu, Pooja Choudhary, Heather L Wilson. |
|
3 |
Development of Novel Vaccination approaches for New World Hantaviruses |
Sourabh Suran, Nidhi Kaushik, Syan Olver, Melanie Goens, Sarah Wootton, Jonathan Lovell, Zahed Khatooni, Bryce Warner. |
|
4 |
Deep Learning Approach to B-Cell Epitope Prediction for Next Generation Vaccine Design. |
Jethro Odeyemi, Monika Kashyap, Steven Rayan, Gordon Broderick, Heather Wilson, and Zahed Khatooni. |
|
5 |
Chimeric Lassa Virus Glycoproteins for Broad Vaccine Coverage |
Chandra Bose Prabaharan, Shelby Harris, Vahid Rajabali Zadeh, Jocelyne Lew, and Darryl Falzarano. |
|
6 |
Dual Defense - Developing a Subunit Vaccine against PEDV variants |
Shreya Sharma, Brittany Thivierge, Qiang Liu. |
|
7 |
Sex bias determines MERS-CoV infection outcomes in a mouse model of differential pathogenicity |
Marin Habbick, Reema Singh, Vincent J. Munster, Stephanie L. Saundh, Neeltje van Doremalen, and Angela Rasmussen. |
|
8 |
Vaccination with ancestral Spike and Nucleocapsid protein overcomes limitations of individual antigen against heterologous SARS-CoV-2 Beta challenge in hamsters |
Tekeleselassie Woldemariam, Léa-J. Blanchette, Jocelyne Lew, Marilène Bolduc, Jill van Kessel, Denis Leclerc, and Darryl Falzarano. |
|
9 |
CP123L is a phosphorylated and palmitoylated membrane associated African Swine Fever virus protein |
Barinder Singh, Niranjan Dodantenna, Sandy Ndlovu, Smriti Chand, Adebowale I. Adebiyi, and Suresh Tikoo. |
|
10 |
Developing a pseudovirus library of zoonotic coronavirus spike proteins for vaccine assessment |
Arianna M. Hurtado-Monzón, Akarin Asavajaru, Sabrina O’Krafka, Trina Racine, and Arinjay Banerjee. |
|
11 |
Modulation of the RIG-I dependent IFNβ response by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 virus NS1 protein |
Leslie Macas Jacome, M. Afzal Javed, and Yan Zhou. |
|
12 |
VIDO’s Automated Pipeline for Vaccine Design: Combining Immunoinformatics and Computational Immunology to Predict T- and B-cell epitopes |
Monika Kashyap, Jethro Odeyemi, Dawn Omoluabi, Heather Wilson, and Zahed Khatooni. |
|
13 |
African swine fever virus p22 localizes to endoplasmic reticulum with type II membrane topology |
Adebowale I. Adebiyi, Smriti Chand, Sandy Ndlovu, Barinder Singh, Niranjan Dodantenna, and Suresh Tikoo. |
|
14 |
Optimization of an inactivated vaccine against Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) |
Mario Fragoso-Saavedra, Brittany Thivierge, Qiang Liu. |
|
15 |
Exposure route and dose of Ebola infection influences lethality and modulates host transcriptional profiles |
Helen M. Parrington, Reema Singh, Jacquelyn Turcinovic, Courtney Woolsey, Thomas W. Geisbert, Robert W. Cross, & Angela L. Rasmussen. |
|
16 |
Exosomal display of Lassa virus glycoprotein: Opportunities for a novel RNA-based vaccine |
Vahid Rajabali Zadeh, Jocelyne M. Lew, and Darryl Falzarano. |
|
17 |
Investigation of Virus and Host Factors Contributing to Efficient Replication of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) Virus in Cattle |
Natalia Pessoa, M. Afzal Javed, Nathalie Berube, Leslie Macas Jacome and Yan Zhou. |
|
18 |
Deciphering the role of protein IIIa in Bovine adenovirus-3 life cycle. |
Faryal Dar, Suresh K. Tikoo. |
|
19 |
Studies into the Virulence and Transmission of Clade 2.3.4.4b Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Cross-Protective Immunity From Prior Influenza Exposure |
Bryce Warner, Nidhi Kaushik, Syan Olver, Tamiru Alkie, Yohannes Berhane, Darwyn Kobasa. |
|
20 |
African Swine Fever Virus Protein MGF 110-3L is Secreted Extracellularly as a Glycoprotein |
Niranjan Dodantenna, Sandy Ndlovu, Smriti Chand, Barinder Singh, Adebowale I. Adebiyi and Suresh K. Tikoo. |
|
21 |
Identification of Novel O-linked Glycans on LASV Surface Glycoprotein and its Implications for Vaccine Design |
Jocelyne M. Lew, Vahid Rajabali Zadeh, and Darryl Falzarano. |
|
22 |
Fetal porcine retina cell-line supports the replication of African swine fevervirus |
Sandy Ndlovu, Smriti Chand, Barinder Singh, Niranjan Dodanhenna, Adebowale Adebiyi, Suresh K. Tikoo. |
|
23 |
Characterization of Host Response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) Infection in Bovine Mammary Gland |
Jill Trann, Natalia Pessoa, Nathalie Berube, Antonio Facciulo and Yan Zhou. |
|
24 |
African Swine Fever Virus H108R: an ER-localized pore-forming glycoprotein |
Smriti Chand, Sandy Ndlovu, Barinder Singh, Lisanework E. Ayalew, Michel Fodje, Suresh K. Tikoo. |
|
25 |
Development of an efficacious Histophilus somni subunit vaccine for beef cattle |
Jose Perez-Casal, Tracy Prysliak, Joyce Van Donkersgoed. |
|
26 |
Empowering Research Through Flow Cytometry: Insights from the VIDO Flow Core |
Tosin Omole, Rachelle Buchanan, Yurij Popowych, Ravendra Garg. |
|
27 |
Using a Transposon Knock-Out Library to Determine Genes Essential for Salmonella Survival in Water |
Rylan D. Bahrey, Sylva Li, Samantha Jelfimow, Michelle Gerber, Jessica Sparrow, Young Min Kwon, Mohamed Helmy and Aaron P. White. |