http://www.mrcglobal.org/

Faculty Research Interests

McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health

A major new initiative in the ID Division is the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (MRC), which is part of the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine. Laboratories for the MRC are located on the 10th floor of the MaRS building in the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower (TMDT).

• The research focus of the MRC is infectious diseases of global health importance.
• The ultimate goal of the MRC research program is the elucidation of the molecular basis of the host response to pathogens, in an effort to develop novel and innovative therapeutic approaches to infectious diseases of global health importance.
• The primary mission of the MRC is accelerated translational research in infectious diseases of global health importance, with an emphasis on infectious diseases that have significant public health implications in the developing world, as well as the developed world.
• Malaria will be the initial focus for research effort in the MRC. The MRC research program will be expanded into other areas, including:

• Tuberculosis and respiratory viruses (influenza A, avian influenza) within the near future. Another major focus of the MRC is sepsis, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients in the developed world.

• Despite decades of research, effective treatment options remain limited for sepsis and its associated complications, including the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS).

• Insights into the molecular dynamics of the host-pathogen interface will elucidate the immunopathogenic mechanisms responsible for tissue injury and organ dysfunction, processes that are responsible for patient morbidity and mortality.

• By identifying immunopathogenic mechanisms, MRC investigators can design novel and innovative therapeutic strategies for initial testing in clinically relevant models, followed by rapid translation into clinical field trials.

Founding Members

The three founding members of the Centre for Global Health are Dr. Kevin Kain (Director), Dr. W. Conrad Liles, and Dr. Lena Serghides.

Dr. Abdullah Daar and Dr. Peter Singer have also recently joined the MRC, bringing their interest in programs and bioethics in the developing world and expanding the scope of activities within the MRC.

Currently, the research agenda of the MRC includes 3 core components:

• Infectious disease/innate immune host response
• Development of new molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases in the developing world of global health importance
• Bioethics in the developing world

Plans for the Future

The plan is to recruit two or three new Principal Investigators to the MRC within the next two years. These recruits will join the MRC as full time faculty members in the Division of Infectious Diseases. These individuals will include an immunologist, a computational biologist, and an expert in viral host interactions.