 |
My laboratory is in Rooms 201-208, Siebens-Drake Research Building Dr. Valvano is Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Professor of the Department of Medicine, and a Canada Research Chair in Infectious Diseases and Microbial Pathogenesis. |
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 |
 |
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. |
 |
Roberto Rosales Reyes, Ph.D. (Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Mexico), Postdoctoral Fellow; rrosale@uwo.ca Highly reliable, well-trained fellow, and endowed with great thirst of knowledge and ability to succeed understanding the cell biology of the intracellular infection of B. cenocepacia in macrophages. |
 |
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 Fellow; ahanuszk@uwo.ca 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 Fellow; kpatel68@uwo.ca Patiently and quietly trying to see how loops and pops ("loolypops") determine the function of WbaP in Salmonella. |
 |
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 neighbours. |
 |
Hanna Ostapska, B.Sc. (University of Western Ontario), M.Sc. student; hostapsk@uwo.ca Wanted to study microbes since an early age. She confessed to dream being in our laboratory, but now has waken up to the sizzles of hydrogen peroxide and chloride in the vacuoles of macrophages containing B. cenocepacia. |
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?
- Have you ever wondered how does it feel to discover something new?
- You don't like the routine of a life without excitment
- You would like to explore the fascinating world of microbiology but you are not a microbiologist
- If the answer to all of the above is YES! click on any of the links below