Originally published on January 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 3 at 12pm, IRC Lecture Theatre 5, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC campus
Presentation by: R.E.W. (Bob) Hancock, PhD, OC, OBC, FRSC
The global burden of infectious diseases is enormous, affecting billions of individuals and representing the 2nd leading cause of death. To permit the campus community to become involved in these issues, a neglected global diseases initiative (NGDI) is starting up on campus with the mission “To develop interventions for neglected global diseases and ensure their delivery to those in need”. Specific examples of research and development aimed at addressing global disease issues will be presented, based on 2 large multinational projects addressing the therapy of drug resistant microbes and single shot vaccines for neonates.
Bob Hancock is a Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at UBC and is a Canada Research Chair holder. He was the founding Scientific Director of the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network and currently heads the UBC Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research. His research interests include antibiotic uptake and resistance, systems biology and the development of small cationic peptides as novel antimicrobials and modulators of innate immunity. He has published more than 480 papers and reviews, is an ISI highly cited author in Microbiology with more than 21,000 citations, and has 36 patents awarded. He has won many awards, including the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award in 2003 and Canada’s three top prizes for Health Research. In 2001 he was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is co-Founder of Inimex Pharmaceuticals Inc, Migenix Inc, and the Centre for Drug Research and Development, and has served as a Scientific Advisory Board member or consultant with 27 Biotech and Pharmaceutical Companies. Bob Hancock is a key participant on two large multinational Grand Challenges in Global Health Research grants aimed at delivering antimicrobial therapies and effective vaccines to developing countries.