Lorne Babiuk

Biography

Dr. Lorne Babiuk joined the University of Alberta in 2007 as the Vice-President of Research. Dr. Babiuk has devoted his career to Canadian-based vaccine research designed to safeguard the health of people at home and abroad. He specializes in immunology, pathogenesis, virology, molecular virology, and vaccinology. He is also a world expert in infectious diseases and their control, specifically by vaccination. Prior to joining the University of Alberta, Dr Babiuk was the Director of VIDO. While at VIDO, he built the organization into an international powerhouse, carrying out major research in immunology, pathogenesis, virology, molecular virology, and vaccinology. As an example of his leadership, in 2005, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Dr. Babiuk and his colleagues from VIDO US $5.6M over five years to develop a single-dose vaccine to protect newborns against whooping cough (pertussis), a respiratory disease that kills 400,000 babies annually. Dr. Babiuk is an Officer of the Order of Canada, Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Member of the European Academy of Sciences. He was also awarded the 2012 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award. Dr. Babiuk completed his Master’s in soil microbiology, earned his Ph.D. in virology from the University of British Columbia, and a DSc from the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Veterinary Microbiology. He has published over 500 manuscripts and 80 book chapters or review articles on infectious diseases and holds 35 issued patents (with 14 patents pending). 

Research Interest

Immunology, Microbiology, Pathogenesis