Dr. Valvano's home page

Dr. Valvano is a Professor holding a Chair of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the Centre for Infection and Immunity, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom, and is also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

His UK laboratory is in the Health Sciences Building, Queen's University Belfast. His Canadian laboratory is in the Siebens-Drake Research Building, University of Western Ontario.

Contact:

Office number (44) (0) 28 9097 2878
Fax number (44) (0) 28 9097 2671
m.valvano@qub.ac.uk

Research is fun...just a lifestyle, not a job.

Lab's Mission Statement

To carry out hypothesis-driven research in microbiology
To train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to become outstanding biomedical scientists
To develop and foster an environment of scientific inquiry, and at the same time respect for each individual's expertise and contribution
To place an emphasis on personal and scientific integrity and on team player skills

Advice for Young (and Old too) Professors

"...although you've been hired for your scientific skills and research potential, your eventual success will depend heavily on your ability to guide, lead, and empower others to do their best work..." (Thomas Cech).

"...only science, exact science about human nature itself, and the most sincere approach to it by the aid of the all-powerful scientific method, will deliver man from its present gloom, and will purge him from his contemporary shame in the sphere of interhuman relations..." (Ivan Pavlov, 1922).

Our Team

	Katie Nurse, Bachelor of Applied Technology in Biotechnology (Fanshawe College), Research Assistant; knurse2@uwo.ca Enthusiastic and dependable, keeps me on top of the game, the lab remains organized, and nobody dares to say no when she asks for volunteers
	Janet Torres-Bustos, Biochemist, University of Chile, Research Assistant; j.torres-bustos@qub.ac.uk Enthusiastic, reliable and well organized. Always ready for new challenges with smile
	Daniel Aubert, Ph.D. (Université de Paris), Postdoctoral Fellow; daubert@uwo.ca A quiet fellow, highly dependable, who has discovered a new secretory pathway involved in B. cenocepacia survival in macrophages and in the rat agar bead model of chronic lung infection. Did I say quiet? Wait for a party!
	Xiang Ruan, Ph.D. (Tsinghua University, China), Postdoctoral Fellow; xruan3@uwo.ca Tenacious at all cost, slower pace but but always stepping on solid ground, and ready to tackle the assembly of O antigen and its ligation to the lipid A-core oligosaccharide.
	Mohamad Hamad, Ph.D. (University of North Dakota, USA), Postdoctoral Fellow; mhamad3@uwo.ca A bubbly fellow and an innate geneticist. His name is a palindrome with a combination of insertions and deletions. Perfect to unravel mechanisms of B. cenocepacia resistance to antimicrobial peptides.
	Crystal Schmerk, Ph.D. (University of Victoria, Canada), Postdoctoral Fellow; cschmerk@uwo.ca Multitasking, tireless, and always hungry. Ready to tackle intracellular survival of B. multivorans in macrophages, the role of hopanoids, and much more...
	Anna Hanuszkiewicz, Ph.D. (Research Centre Borstel, Germany), Postdoctoral Research Associate; a.hanuszkiewicz@qub.ac.uk She agreed with my principles of why a PDF should do science...didn't get the job for that, but because she likes to work hard and smile a lot while unravelling how B. cenocepacia glycosylates proteins.
	Kinnari Patel, Ph.D. (University of Western Ontario) Postdoctoral Research Associate; k.patel@qub.ac.uk Patiently and quietly trying to see how loops and pops ("loolypops") determine the function of O-antigen assembly proteins.
	Ángel Andrade Torres, Ph.D. (Universidad Autónoma de México), Postdoctoral Fellow; aandrad3@uwo.ca Interested in learning molecular pathogenesis, Ángel is exploring why B. cenocepacia likes to delay phagosomal maturation.
	Faviola Tavares, Ph.D. (Universidad Autónoma de México), Postdoctoral Fellow; ftavares@uwo.ca Interested in how complex membrane proteins work Faviola is exploring proteins that modifiy the lipopolysaccharide.
	Cristóbal Mujica Troncoso, Ph.D. (Universidad de Santiago de Chile), Postdoctoral Research Associate; c.mujica-troncoso@qub.ac.uk Combining biochemistry and genetics to find out how B. cenocepacia can escape from dormancy by remodelling its peptidoglycan cell wall.
	Gonzalo Pradenas, Ph.D. in Microbiology (Universidad de Santiago de Chile), Invited Research Fellow; g.pradenas-martinez@qub.ac.uk From an winning team to another, hoping to unravel key features common to the pathogenesis of Burkholderia cenocepacia and other cystic fibrosis pathogens.
	Sarah Furlong, B.Sc. (University of Western Ontario), Ph.D. student; sfurlon@uwo.ca She has discovered the wonders of LPS synthesis and fine enzymology. Not afraid to tackle a tough one.
	Omar El-Halfawy, M.Sc. (University of Alexandria), Ph.D. student; oelhalfa@uwo.ca Rigorously trained in microbial pharmacology and with impeccable work ethics, he will tell us how Burkholderia communicates its extraordinary antimicrobial resistance to its neighbors.
	Maryam Khodai-Kalaki, M.Sc. (University of Western Ontario), Ph.D. student; mkhodaik@uwo.ca Very soft spoken but with strong determination to succeed in science and impeccable planning of the experiments, Maryam is learning how AtsR works as a global virulence regulator.
	Yasmine Fathy, M.Sc. (University of Alexandria), Ph.D. student; jessy_fathy1@hotmail.com Comes from the land of pharaohs to investigate the multitude of flippases and oligosaccharyltransferases in B. cenocepacia.
	Stephanie Lamothe, B.Sc. (University of Western Ontario), M.Sc. student; slamoth2@uwo.ca Driven to succeed in postgraduate education and showing how to pegylate membrane proteins to unequivocally characterize their topology.
	Leslie Daille, M.Sc. Biotechnology (Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile), Visiting Researcher; keiiclyn@gmail.com An individual for whom high recommendations fall short, Leslie will crack the mistery of the specifcity of the O-antigen flippase.

Also from this web page:

Are you interested in joining our laboratory? Then read more

Do you enjoy adventure and exploration and don't care being frustrated from time to time?
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You don't like the routine of a life without excitement
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