Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD) is a virologist and the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Zoonotic Viruses and Comparative Immunology at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Banerjee is the co-lead for the One Health Signature Area at the University of Saskatchewan. Research within Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory focuses on three main themes that are inspired by the One Health ideology, (1) virus-host interactions in wildlife reservoir species, such as bats, (2) virus-host interactions in spillover species, such as humans, and (3) viral vaccine development.
Dr. Banerjee completed his Master of Science degree in virology from the National Institute of Virology in India where his master’s thesis was awarded the university gold medal. Next, Dr. Banerjee completed his PhD from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada where his doctoral thesis on coronavirus-host interactions was awarded Canada’s Governor General’s Gold medal. Dr. Banerjee’s postdoctoral research at McMaster University, Canada was awarded the Gerard Wright postdoctoral award in Infection Research and the postdoctoral fellow impact award. Dr. Banerjee was recruited to the University of Toronto, Canada to contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic response in 2020. In 2022, Dr. Banerjee was selected as CBC Saskatchewan’s Top 40 under 40. In 2024, Dr. Banerjee was awarded the Canadian Society for Virology’s Early Career Researcher Award and the University of Saskatchewan’s Young Alumni award. In 2025, Dr. Banerjee was selected for the King Charles III Coronation medal which highlights the significant contribution of individuals to their province and to Canada.
Research Interests:
- Virus-host interactions in reservoir and spill over species
- Mechanisms of virus persistence
- Discovering and harnessing novel antiviral responses
- Next generation pan-viral vaccines
Current Project:
- Comparative immunology of bats
- Zoonotic viruses and host response
- Poxvirus and host immune modulation
- Animal reservoirs
- Broadly protective vaccines
- COVID-19 vaccine development
- Reservoir host responses following Hantavirus infection