EToH Seminar Series: Exploring evolutionary immunogenomics - Lessons from our ancestors and past pandemics
On Wednesday, February 15, Luis Barreiro (Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Division, Medicine, Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago) will be giving a talk entitled “Exploring evolutionary immunogenomics: Lessons from our ancestors and past pandemics” as part of the Emerging Topics of Health (EToH) Seminar series, cohosted by the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Physiology and Human Genetics, the Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI), the McGill University Research Centre on Complex Traits (MRCCT) and M[i]4. If you are interested in meeting with Professor Barreiro one-on-one, send me an email @ marianne.provost [at] mcgill.ca.
Grad students
Sign up to have lunch with our guest speaker! There will be a lunch with Dr Barreiro for graduate students and postdocs. If you would like to have lunch with our guest speaker, please fill out this SURVEY. The lunch will be held from 12h to 1h in Room #530 in the Bellini.
- Note there will be a 5à7 after the talk at Brass Doors Pub (2171 Crescent Street) and anyone (students, postdocs, and faculty) are welcome to join!
Abstract
Infectious diseases have always been a major health problem throughout the world, imposing strong selective pressure on the human genome. Despite the recent development of vaccines and antibiotics, there are still nearly 15 million deaths every year attributable to the effects of infectious diseases. Although genetic studies of infectious diseases have identified important pathways involved in protective immunity, very little is known about the underlying genetic and evolutionary factors contributing to differences in susceptibility to infectious diseases at the population level. In this talk, I will discuss the importance of host genetic factors, natural selection, and social gradients in shaping population differences in innate immune responses to infectious agents.
