Mission de la SCV

La Société Canadienne pour la Virologie (SCV) est une organisation qui favorise et soutient la recherche en virologie partout au Canada.

La virologie est l'étude des virus – particules infectieuses submicroscopiques parasites dont le matériel génétique est protégé dans un manteau protéique. Les virus sont remarquablement diversifiés et constituent la grande majorité de la diversité génétique sur Terre.

Des virus distincts ont la capacité d’infecter tous les organismes vivants de la planète. Les virus sont des machines biologiques relativement simples qui dépendent fortement des cellules hôtes pour leur fournir l’énergie et la machinerie nécessaire à leur réplication. 

En raison de cette dépendance, les virus évoluent en mettant en place de nombreuses façons de corrompre ou de coopérer avec les processus cellulaires de la cellule hôte. L’étude des virus nous permet donc également de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement des cellules, du système immunitaire et d'autres aspects de la physiologie animale, végétale et bactérienne. 

Certains virus sont les agents étiologiques de maladies (pas uniquement chez les humains). La recherche sur les virus est donc essentielle pour comprendre et déterminer les causes virales des maladies et découvrir de nouveaux vaccins et traitements.

La SCV a été fondé en 2016 par les Drs. Nathalie Grandvaux (Université de Montréal) et Craig McCormick (Dalhousie University). Les membres de la SCV représentent des universités, des hôpitaux et des instituts de recherche partout au Canada.

Tous les deux ans, la SCV organise un symposium qui est devenu un rendez-vous majeur pour les virologistes canadiens. La SCV souligne également l'excellence de ses membres par la remise de plusieurs prix récompensant les chercheurs à toutes les étapes de leur carrière.  

Des prix sont également remis aux étudiants gradués, aux chercheurs post-doctoraux et aux nouveaux chercheurs sous la forme de bourses de voyage pour assister aux symposium biennal de la SCV et à des congrès internationaux en virologie. D”autre part, la SCV finance également un programme d'échanges entre laboratoires permettant aux étudiants et stagiaires post-doctoraux d'obtenir une formation dans un laboratoire d'accueil.

La SCV assure un lien de communication entre ses membres et des organismes de financement tels que l’Institut des maladies infectieuses et immunitaires (IMII) des IRSC. Sur le plan international, l’American Society for Virology a appuyé avec enthousiasme la création de la SCV. Les deux sociétés ont prévu préserver ce partenariat, notamment, en tenant conjointement des symposia. 

La SCV fournit également des privilèges exclusifs à ses membres en offrant des tarifs préférentiels sur l’abonnement de  revues de renommée internationale dans le domaine de la virologie.

 

 

 

Nos partenaires

 

Comité exécutif de la SCV

La SCV est gérée par un comité exécutif composé d'un président, d'un vice-président, d'un président sortant, d'un secrétaire-trésorier, de trois administrateurs et d'un  représentant des étudiants. Les membres du comité exécutif sont élus par les membres titulaires de la SVC et sont nommés pour un mandat d’un ou deux ans.

Les membres actuels du conseil d'administration sont:

Président:
Dr. Rod Russell (Memorial University)

Vice-président
Dr. Selena Sagan (McGill University)

Secrétaire-trésorier
Dr. Linda Chelico (University of Saskatchewan)

Administrateur:
Dr. Craig McCormick (Dalhousie University)

Administratrice:
Dr. Maya Shmulevitz (University of Alberta)

Administrateur – Chercheur en début de carrière
Dr. Che Colpitts (Queen’s University)

Représentante des étudiants:
Hannah Wallace (Memorial University)

Présidente sortante (non votant):
Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos (Western University)

 

CSV Executive 2018-2020

Délégués universitaires de la SCV

Délégués universitaires (2020-2021):


Université de Montréal
Nathalie Grandvaux

Dalhousie University
Craig McCormick

McGill University
Selena Sagan

University of Alberta
Maya Shmulevitz

University of Manitoba
Jason Kindrachuk

University of Western Ontario
Jimmy Dikeakos

Memorial University of Newfoundland
Rodney Russell

Université Laval
Amelie Fradet Turcottte

McMaster University
Matthew Miller

Queen's University
Che Colpitts

Simon Fraser University
Zabrina Brumme

University of British Columbia
Eric Jan

Universty of Calgary
Jennifer Corcoran

University of Guelph
Sarah Wootton

University of Ottawa
Marceline Côté

University of Saskatchewan
Vikram Misra

University of Toronto
Samira Mubareka

University of Waterloo
Josef Nissimov

York University
Andrew White

VIDO Intervac
Darryl Falzarano

University of Sherbrooke
Brendan Bell

Institut Armand Frappier
Alain Lamarre

Wilfrid Laurier University
Stephanie DeWitte-Orr

Université du Quebec
Benoit Barbeau

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Helene Sanfacon

University of Lethbridge
Trushar Patel

Public Health Agency of Canada
Logan Banadyga

University of Winnipeg
Renee Douville

 

BIOGRAPHIE DU COMITÉ EXÉCUTIF

 

 

President: Dr. Rod Russell (Memorial University)

Dr. Rod Russell is a Professor of Virology and Immunology within the Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s Degree in Medicine studying HIV under the supervision of Dr. Michael Grant at MUN, and then did a PhD at McGill University with Drs. Mark Wainberg and Chen Liang in the field of HIV research. Dr. Russell carried out Postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (USA) under the supervision of Drs. Suzanne Emerson and Robert Purcell where he switched his research focus to the hepatitis C virus. In 2008, he returned to MUN to establish a research program that now covers fundamental virology, viral immunology and viral pathogenesis, as well as antiviral drug discovery and development. His team is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to study virus-induced cell death and inflammasome activation, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to develop novel virus imaging techniques. Dr. Russell sits on Editorial Boards for Pathogens & Immunity, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, and Viruses, and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Viral Immunology. Dr. Russell delivered over 150 media pieces via online, radio and television during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Vice-President: Dr. Selena Sagan (McGill University)

Dr. Selena M. Sagan, Ph.D. is a Canada Research Chair in RNA Biology & Viral Infections and Associate Professor in the Departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Biochemistry at McGill University. Her laboratory studies positive-sense RNA viruses of the Flaviviridae family (including hepatitis C virus, dengue and Zika viruses) as well as respiratory viruses (including respiratory syncytial virus and human coronaviruses). The focus of her research program is RNA-RNA and protein-RNA interactions at the host-virus interface.

 

Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. Linda Chelico (University of Saskatchewan)

Dr. Linda Chelico received her Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Saskatchewan in Applied Microbiology. Following 5 years of postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California with Myron F. Goodman, she accepted a faculty position at the University of Saskatchewan in 2009 and was promoted to Professor in 2019. She has been studying the APOBEC family of enzymes since 2004 and was the first to purify and characterize biochemically APOBEC3G, the primary APOBEC3 enzyme studied for its ability to restrict replication of APOBEC3G. In her independent lab, she has characterized numerous APOBEC3 family members. Her lab has been funded by CIHR since 2011 to study how APOBEC3 enzymes restrict HIV replication. She has also received funding from NSERC, CANFAR, and Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation. In 2018 she received a “Best Supervisor Award” from the College of Medicine. Apart from running her research lab she is also Vice Department Chair of the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Director of the Protein Characterization and Crystallization Facility (PCCF) in the College of Medicine, and was Co-Lead from 2017-2022 of a community based organization, Saskatchewan HIV/AIDS Research Endeavor (SHARE), which aims to increase the research capacity in communities affected by HIV.

 

 

Director: Dr. Craig McCormick (Dalhousie University)

Dr. Craig McCormick received a B.Sc.(Hons.) in Biology/Chemistry from the University of New Brunswick in 1995, and a PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of British Columbia in 2000. He completed postdoctoral training at the University of California San Francisco under the mentorship of Dr. Don Ganem, where he studied KSHV, a cancer-causing herpesvirus. In 2006, he was recruited to the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Dalhousie University, where he continued studies of KSHV and expanded the scope of his research program to include influenza viruses and coronaviruses. His lab now studies host antiviral defences and the tactics employed by viruses to overcome these defences. Dr. McCormick is committed to research, teaching and service. In 2016, he co-founded the Canadian Society for Virology with Dr. Nathalie Grandvaux (U. de Montreal). He continues to serve as a Director on the CSV Executive. He is a current Dalhousie University Distinguished Research Professor (2020-2026), which recognizes his contributions to research. In 2018, he was voted “Lecturer of the Year” by the Society of Microbiology & Immunology Students, and in 2019, he received the Rosemary Gill Award for Outstanding Service to Students.

 

 

Director: Dr. Maya Shmulevitz (University of Alberta)

Dr. Maya Shmulevitz is Professor in the department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta, and Canada Research Chair in Molecular Virology and Oncotherapy. She trained at the University of Alberta (BSc Honors Biochemistry), Dalhousie University, Weizmann Institute (Rehovot, Israel), Argonne National Laboratories (Chicago, USA), and the University of Saskatchewan’s Veterinary and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO). The Shmulevitz laboratory repurposes reovirus, a benign enteric virus, into potential cancer therapies and oral vaccine vectors. The laboratory explores reovirus and host factors that establish virus-host relationships unique to tumors versus the natural entire niche, and that differentially impact reovirus infection and immunological responses among these distinct environments. Ultimately the Shmulevitz lab hopes to improve the potency and predictability of reovirus as an oncolytic therapy and oral vaccine vector.

 

 

Director – Early Career Investigator: Dr. Che Colpitts (Queen’s University)

Dr. Che Colpitts joined the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University in 2019 as an Assistant Professor in Molecular Virology. She obtained her PhD in Virology from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where her research focused on characterizing the antiviral mechanisms of novel broad-spectrum viral entry inhibitors. She then moved to the University of Strasbourg (France) and later to University College London (UK) for postdoctoral research focused on hepatitis C virus, supported by a fellowship from CIHR. Since establishing her lab at Queen’s University, Dr. Colpitts’ research program has focused on Coronaviridae and Flaviviridae, with the aim of characterizing conserved virus-host interactions and cellular antiviral responses to advance the development of broadly-acting antivirals. One research theme focuses on determining the roles of viral and cellular glycans in coronavirus entry and pathogenesis, while another focuses on understanding how cyclophilin inhibitors and other molecules enhance cellular resistance to positive-sense RNA virus infection. The Colpitts lab is currently comprised of six graduate students, and is supported by grants from CFI, NSERC, CIHR, the J.P. Bickell Foundation and Queen’s University.

 

Trainee Representative: Hannah Wallace (Memorial University)

Hannah Wallace is a PhD Candidate in the lab of Dr. Rod Russell (CSV President) at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Prior to her move to Memorial, Hannah completed her BSc (honours) at the University of New Brunswick – Saint John where she fell in love with viruses despite her honours project having focused on fish physiology. Hannah’s PhD work focuses on virus-induced programmed cell death induced by RNA viruses. Overall, she is interested in the pathogenesis of emerging viruses, particularly from a One Health perspective. Hannah is a trainee in the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C and has been a member of CSV since 2018.

 

 

Past President (Non-voting): Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos (Western University)

Dr. Jimmy D. Dikeakos is an Associate Professor (with Tenure) and Chair of the Graduate Program in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western University within the Schulich School of Medicine of Dentistry. Dr. Dikeakos is the past the President of the Canadian Society for Virology. He obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Montreal and received PostDoctoral training in HIV Pathogenesis at the Vollum Institute in Portland. In 2012, he joined the Faculty at Western where he directs a laboratory focused on diverse membrane trafficking pathways in both infected and non-infected cells. His research program is primarily focused on the HIV-1 accessory proteins Nef and Vpu. In the last two years, Dr. Dikeakos has also shifted his research interests to study SARS-CoV-2. In 2019, Dr. Dikeakos received the Dean’s Award of Excellence from the Schulich School of Medicine for his achievements. In 2022, was awarded the “Faculty Scholar” title by the Office of the President at Western for the 2022-2024 period. Dr. Dikeakos regularly sits on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research peer review committee for “Virology and Viral Pathogenesis” and was Chair of VVP for the last two years. In addition to his role within the Canadian Society for Virology, Dr. Dikeakos also currently sits on Council for the American Society for Virology.

 

 La SCV est une organisation à but non lucratif qui est constituée en vertu de la Loi canadienne sur les organisations à but non lucratif #967119-6.