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Brian Ward

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor


Vaccine Immunology

Brian Ward
Contact Information
Address: 

1001 Decarie Blvd
RM EM33248, Bloc E
Montréal(Québec)Ìý H4A 3J1
Tel: 514-934-1934 Ext. 42810

Phone: 
Email address: 
brian.ward [at] mcgill.ca
Division: 
Associate Members
Branch: 
Immunology & Parasitology
Location: 
MUHC Research Institute, 1001 Boul. Decarie
Graduate supervision: 

ACCEPTING GRADUATE STUDENTS

Biography: 

Research Interests

Immunology and immunopathology of vaccines; Nutrition, immunity and infectious diseases

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Awards

  • Elected to serve on new CIHR Institutional Advisory Board (Health Promotion and Prevention), June 2016
  • Elected as Chair of the Canadian Association for Immunization Research & Evaluation (CAIRE), Jan 2016
  • Represented Canada on Global Infectious Diseases Preparedness Research (GloPID-R) Scientific Advisory Board
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Research Orientation

While vaccines have been successful in controlling some human diseases (eg: small-pox), millions of people continue to suffer and die from vaccine-preventable illnesses. For example, measles virus infects >10 million children every year causing between 0.5-1 million deaths. Although most measles-related mortality occurs in the developing world, even countries with high vaccination rates suffer periodic outbreaks as a result of poorly understood vaccine failure. We are involved in a number of field-based, basic studies in which we hope to identify the factors responsible for poor measles vaccine efficacy in the developing world (eg: Peru, Haiti) and vaccine failure in the developed world.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is another pathogen which continues to kill hundreds of thousands of children despite the availability of a vaccine for more than 30 years. The efficacy of the pertussis vaccine currently used in Canada is only 40-50%. We do not understand what constitutes 'effective' immunity against pertussis hence we are limited in our ability to develop more successful vaccines. We have developed a variety of tools for measuring humoral and cellular immune responses to vaccines which we are applying in field evaluations of new vaccines directed against both measles and pertussis.

Human pathogens can do damage either directly or indirectly. Measles infection is associated with a range of immunopathologic conditions. Poorly understood mortality occurs for months to years after exposure to wild-type measles and even to high titers of vaccine-strain measles virus. We are involved in several field- and lab-based studies of the immuno-pathologic potential of measles.

Another area if interest is the role of nutrition in modulating immunity to infectious agents. We are involved in three field studies examining nutritional factors in the horizontal transmission of HIV (Zimbabwe), in measles vaccine responses (Peru) and in the modulation of Chagas Disease expression (Brazil)

Selected Publications

  • Kardoush MI, Ward BJ, Ndao M.Ìý.PLoS One. 2016 May 3;11(5):e0154465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154465. eCollection 2016.
  • Pillet S, Aubin É, Trépanier S, Bussière D, Dargis M, Poulin JF, Yassine-Diab B, Ward BJ, Landry N.Ìý. Clin Immunol. 2016 Jul;168:72-87. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2016.03.008. Epub 2016 Mar 14.
  • Yam KK, Gupta J, Allen EK, Burt KR, Beaulieu É, Mallett CP, Burt DS, Ward BJ.Ìý. Vaccine. 2016 Mar 14;34(12):1444-51. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.02.012. Epub 2016 Feb 9.
  • Zacour M, Ward BJ, Brewer A, Tang P, Boivin G, Li Y, Warhuus M, McNeil SA, LeBlanc JJ, Hatchette TF; Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Influenza Research Network (PCIRN).Ìý. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2016 Jan 27;23(3):236-42. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00613-15.
  • . "Novel TAP1 polymorphisms in indigenous Zimbabweans: their potential implications on TAP function and in human diseases." Hum Immunol. 2003 Aug;64(8):823-9.
  • . "New transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP-2) polymorphisms in the Shona people of Zimbabwe." Hum Immunol. 2003 Jul;64(7):733-40.
  • . "An overview of factors influencing the health of Canadian Inuit infants." Int J Circumpolar Health. 2003 Mar;62(1):17-39. . "A population-based comparison between travelers who consulted travel clinics and those who did not." J Travel Med. 2003 Jan-Feb;10(1):4-10.
  • "Ineffectiveness of the current strategy to prevent hepatitis A in travelers." J Travel Med. 2002 Jan-Feb;9(1):10-6.
  • "Wheat germ supplement reduces cyst and trophozoite passage in people with giardiasis." Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2001 Dec;65(6):705-10.
  • "Increasing referral of at-risk travelers to travel health clinics: evaluation of a health promotion intervention targeted to travel agents." J Travel Med. 2001 Sep-Oct;8(5):232-42.
  • "Immune response to measles vaccine in Peruvian children." Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(11):1038-46.
  • Intestinal amebiasis: a diagnosis not to be missed. Pathol Res Pract. 2001;197(4):271-4; discussion 275-8.
Selected publications: 

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