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null RI-MUHC researcher Maziar Divangahi honoured by the Royal Society of Canada

Recognition for high-level achievement in research into pulmonary infectious diseases

Maziar Divangahi, PhD, is associate leader of the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program scientist at the Research Institute of the MUHC
Maziar Divangahi, PhD, is associate leader of the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program scientist at the Research Institute of the MUHC

Sep. 16, 2020

Source: Royal Society of Canada and McGill Newsroom. Maziar Divangahi, PhD, a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), is one of 50 new members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists named by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) on September 8. An associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Strauss Chair in Respiratory Diseases at McGill University, he is one of four McGillians to receive that distinction in 2020.

Members of the Royal Society’s College of New Scholars are Canadians who, at an early stage in their career, have demonstrated a high level of achievement. “The contributions of these outstanding artists, scholars and scientists have significantly impacted their respective disciplines at both national and international levels,” says RSC President Jeremy McNeil.

Maziar Divangahi is an internationally renowned pulmonary immunologist who has made major contributions to our understanding of both innate and adaptive immunity to pulmonary infectious diseases. His pioneer work on innate immune memory has identified hematopoietic stem cells as potential target for the development of novel vaccine against pulmonary infections, such as tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), influenza (H1N1), and coronaviruses (SARS-CoV2). Associate leader of the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program at the RI-MUHC, he is also associate director of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories and of the McGill International TB Centre. His work is widely published in respected scientific journals.

“I am very proud to become a member of the RSC. This achievement reflects the amazing family, friends, colleagues, and McGill community that have supported me along the way,” he says.

Fifty-one Canadian universities and the National Research Council nominate members to the College, which is the first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for Canadian intellectual leadership. Each new cohort represents an emerging generation of scholarly, scientific and artistic leadership from coast to coast.

The 2020 cohort of RSC Fellows and members of the college will be officially inducted to the RSC at the annual RSC Celebration of Excellence and Engagement on Friday, November 27.

Read more: Royal Society of Canada press release; McGill Newsroom