THE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2025
INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND IMMUNITY IN GLOBAL HEALTH (IDIGH) PROGRAM
SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS
A modernized Clinical Trials Network to tackle health challenges associated with HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections in Canada
Dr. Marina Klein will lead the network at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Globally and in Canada, new cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) have been rising steadily. Although significant progress has been made in developing effective therapies to combat HIV, a cure and vaccine remain elusive. Coinfections also pose unique challenges in terms of diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
Thanks to a five-year, $25-million investment from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Pan-Canadian HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network (CTN) will expand to address these challenges. Originally established in 1990 as a cornerstone of the federal AIDS Strategy, the CTN will broaden its focus to include all sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), and will become known as CTN+.
Under the leadership of National Director Dr. Marina Klein at The Institute in Montreal, the network will undertake clinical trials to find new ways to prevent, treat and manage HIV and other STBBIs, prioritizing a community-based approach to ensure relevant solutions for Canada’s most at-risk populations. It will also invest in developing the next generation of Canadian researchers, to increase the country’s capacity to conduct clinical trials and improve the health and well-being of people living with and affected by STBBIs. Learn more
New study reveals key mechanism behind natural resistance to tuberculosis
Researchers identify a unique immune response in the lungs that may help prevent tuberculosis infection in high-risk individuals
A groundbreaking study co-led by researchers at The Institute has identified a potential new mechanism of resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB). Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the study sheds light on how some people with HIV remain uninfected despite repeated exposure to Mtb.
Erwin Schurr, PhD, a senior scientist in the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program at The Institute, led the research team. They analyzed alveolar immune cells from individuals highly exposed to Mtb who nevertheless remained uninfected. Their findings revealed a significantly increased number of alveolar T cells, including cytotoxic T cells known to kill Mtb. This suggests a previously unrecognized immune defense mechanism at the point of Mtb entry—the lung alveoli. Learn more
More research highlights from the IDIGH Program
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Maha Reda Farhat, Helen S. Cox, Marwan Ghanem, Claudia Maria Denkinger, Camilla S. Rodrigues, Mirna S. Abd El Aziz, Handaa Enkh-Amgalan, Debrah Vambe, César Augusto Ugarte-Gil, Jennifer Joan Furin, Madhukar Pai. Drug-resistant tuberculosis: a persistent global health concern. Nature Reviews Microbiology 22(1): 617-635, 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41579-024-01025-1
Carly Sillcox, Sofianne Gabrielli, Andrew O'Keefe, Christine McCusker, Elissa M Abrams, Thomas Eiwegger, Adelle Atkinson, Vy Kim, Ana-Maria Copaescu, Moshe Ben-Shoshan. Evaluating Pediatric Macrolide Allergy Using Direct Graded Oral Challenges JAMA pediatrics vol. 178,12 (2024): 1362-1364. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3685
Marcel A. Behr, Ildiko Mehes, Charles Noah Bernstein. It's Time to Change Tack in IBD Treatment. Gastroenterology 167(6): 165-17.e2, 2024. DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2024.06.036
Zahra Nauresh Sohani, Anthony Lieu, Reggie Bamba, Mina Patel, Mical Paul, Dafna Yahav, Emily G. McDonald, Alexander Lawandi, Todd Campbell Lee. Establishing piperacillin--tazobactam susceptibility in ceftriaxone non-susceptible Enterobacterales: comparing disk diffusion, Etest, and VITEK 2 automated minimal inhibitory concentration measurements vs. broth microdilution. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 31(4): 575-581, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2024.11.031
Marina G Birck, Cristiano S Moura, Kevin L Winthrop, Marina A A Machado, Autumn Neville, Sasha Bernatsky (2025). Choosing Wisely: Effectiveness and Safety of Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Close Contacts of Invasive Group A Streptococci Infection. Clinical infectious diseases, 80(2): 314-315, 2025. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciae524
Mohammad Abdullah Shehab, Fatema R. Alrashed, Abdulwahab AlSayegh, Usama Jehad AlDallal, Christopher Ma, Neeraj Narula, Vipul Jairath, Siddharth Singh, Talat Bessissow. Comparative Efficacy of Biologics and Small Molecule in Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology 23(2): 25-262, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2024.07.033
Mikhaël Attias, Fernando Alvarez, Tho-Alfakar Al-Aubodah, Roman Istomine, Paige McCallum, Fan Huang, Abrahim Sleiman, Tamiko Nishimura, Sonia V del Rincón, Yasser Riazalhosseini, Ciriaco A Piccirillo (2025). Anti-PD-1 amplifies costimulation in melanoma-infiltrating Th1-like Foxp3+ regulatory T cells to alleviate local immunosuppression. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, vol. 13. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-009435
Monica Dallmann-Sauer, Vinicius M. Fava, Stephanus T. Malherbe, Candice E. MacDonald, Marianna Orlova, Elouise E. Kroon, Aurélie Cobat, Stéphanie Boisson-Dupuis, Eileen G. Hoal, Laurent Abel, Marlo Möller, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Gerhard Walzl, Nelita Du Plessis & Erwin Schurr (2025). Mycobacterium tuberculosis resisters despite HIV exhibit activated T cells and macrophages in their pulmonary alveoli. The Journal of clinical investigation, vol. 135. DOI: 10.1172/JCI188016
Marija Landekic, Isabelle Angers, Yongbiao Li, Marie-Christine Guiot, Marc-André Déry, Annie Beauchamp, Lucie Roussel, Annie Boisvert, Wen Bo Zhou, Christina Gavino, Julia Luo, Stéphane Bernier, Makayla Kazimerczak-Brunet, Yichun Sun, Brendan Snarr, Michail S. Lionakis, Robert T. Wheeler, Irah L. King, Salman Qureshi, Maziar Divangahi, Donald C. Vinh (2025). A CARD9-deficiency mouse model recapitulates human chronic CNS candidiasis, identifying defective monocytic-cell responses in immunopathogenesis. JCI insight, vol. 10. DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.176676
Marc-Alexandre Gingras, Robert Dubé, Jerome Williams, James Shih, Anthony Lieu, Tania Morin, Kristen Moran, Iman Huseen, Todd C Lee, Emily G McDonald (2024). Direct-to-Consumer Educational Brochures to Promote Gabapentinoid Deprescribing in Older Adults. JAMA internal medicine, vol. 184, p. 1386-1388. DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.4748
Sarah N Danchuk, Ori E Solomon, Thomas Andreas Kohl, Viola Dreyer, Ivan Barilar, Christian Utpatel, Stefan Niemann, Dick van Soolingen, Richard Anthony, Jakko van Ingen, Joy S Michael, Marcel A Behr (2024). Challenging the gold standard: the limitations of molecular assays for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis heteroresistance. Thorax, vol. 79, p. 670-675. DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2023-220202
Nadine Kronfli, Daniel J. Bromberg, Henri B. Wolff, Linda Montanari, Serheii Vasyliev, Frederick L. Altice. Improving implementation of needle and syringe programmes to expand, scale up, and sustain evidence-based prevention interventions for HIV and hepatitis C in prisons. The Lancet Public Health 10(1): e63-e7, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00275-5
