June 2025 updates from the PRAIRIE Hub for Pandemic Preparedness
Prairie Hub for Pandemic Preparendess. Pandemic Readiness Approach & Innovative Response Initiative Ecosystem. University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada
June 2025 Newsletter
Hub News
Dr. Mona Nemer's visit with the PRAIRIE Hub
Dr. Mona Nemer, the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, visited the PRAIRIE Hub on May 27, 2025. Representatives from each of the four awarded CBRF/BRIF2 programs delivered presentations before guided tours of the ACTM and lab spaces from the Viral Vector Vaccines Platforms (Pelka/Shmulevitz) program. Dr. Nemer enjoyed learning about the Hub and funded programs and interacted with trainees.
Upcoming Events
    • VIDO scientific summit featuring talks on bacteriology, virology, vaccinology, immunology, animal/non-animal models, computational antigen design, poster sessions, and networking
  • October 28-29, 2025 Symposium on the Science of Vaccine Safety: Bridging Across Pillars (Edmonton) 
 
PRAIRIE Hub CBRF-BRIF Stage 2 Teams
This month, we would like to highlight the Viral Vector Vaccine Platforms (V3P) team led by Dr. Peter Pelka and Dr. Maya Shmulevitz. 
The V3P immunology team has begun work to screen multiple viral vectors and antigens to identify promising vaccine candidates to move forward with. With their virology team starting bench-scale production of viral vectors, their immunology team is gearing up for their evaluation of the vectors so they can focus efforts on the most promising candidates. They define a promising vaccine as one that:
  • Elicits both a B-cell and a T-cell immune response;
  • Protects infected animals from death and serious morbidity;
  • Has an effective and clearly defined dosing regimen (ideally intranasally);
  • Has one or more definable and robust correlates of protection; and
  • Is safe, with few or no adverse effects in animals.
The immunology teams at the University of Alberta (Troy Baldwin, Sue Tsai, Xavier Clemente-Casares, Kevin Kane, Matt Macauley, Mengyi Zhu, Rony Thomas, Juliette Bougon, Liany Luna Dulcey, Tolga Kilic), University of Calgary (Guido van Marle, Craig Jenne), and University of Manitoba (Keith Fowke, Barb Porto) are taking advantage of their complementary techniques and expertise to do comprehensive screening of our vaccine candidates after an initial proof-of-concept screen at the University of Alberta. They will also work with the HA and NP antigens produced by the University of Manitoba protein chemistry team (Brian Mark, Jörg Stetefeld, Michael Kim, Neilier Rodrigues Da Silva Junior, Oliver Peters) to understand how the viral vector vaccines compare to a "simple" protein vaccine. They also expect these data will support basic research on mechanisms of immunity and will also be used by their AI team to feed into their vaccine selection models.
Other News

European Vaccines Hub (EVH) Launches to Strengthen Pandemic Readiness

The European Vaccines Hub (EVH) was officially launched in May 2025 as a major public-private partnership to advance vaccine development for pandemic threats. The EVH focuses on WHO-priority pathogens and aims to accelerate vaccine development from prototype to deployment, while reinforcing Europe’s scientific autonomy and response capacity.

Backed by over €100 million from the EU4Health programme and coordinated by the Sclavo Vaccines Association, the EVH brings together 24 institutions from seven European countries in a coordinated response to health emergencies. The EVH is organized into four centralized pillars, each led by a dedicated center of excellence:

  • Discovery

  • Preclinical

  • Clinical

  • Manufacturing

This pipeline-based structure avoids duplication and allows deep expertise at each stage, offering an instructive model for national and international vaccine ecosystems.
Opportunities
New Funding Opportunities
  • Leadership Award for Excellence in Vaccine Research. This award will support the career development of mid-career researchers and contribute to national and international efforts to prevent and prepare for future global health threats. Webinar for applicants on June 12, 2025. Expressions of Interest due July 16, 2025.
 
Trainee Opportunities
 
PRAIRIE Hub Training Initiative
  • The Training Initiative provides funding for trainees to travel for training purposes, such as for conferences, workshops, and lab-to-lab exchanges. More information is available on our website or you can email phpp@ualberta.ca with questions.
    • Conference travel: maximum award of $2,000
    • Short-term research/training (1-7 days): maximum award of $5,000
    • Long-term research/training (1-4 weeks): maximum award of $15,000
Recent Publications
Recent Publications from CBRF Members

  1. Akinfolarin, S., Shah, D., Heffernan, C., Samardzic, T., Lau, A., Love, R., ... & Long, R. (2025). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis program performance in Alberta, Canada: a population-based evaluation. CMAJ, 197(15), E403-E412.

  2. Araujo David, B., & Kubes, P. (2025). Natural antibodies as frontline helpers in bacterial clearance. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 117(5), qiaf028.

  3. Basnayake, Y., Matsuyama, A., Popowich, S., Palkumbura, A., Ranaraja, A., Rathnayake, M., ... & Gomis, S. (2025). Comparing immunosuppressive effects of classical and variant infectious bursal disease viruses in the bursa of Fabricius of broiler chickens. In Western Poultry Disease Conference (p. 24).

  4. Houghton, M. (2025). A rat hepacivirus model to aid hepatitis C viral vaccine development?  Journal of Hepatology.

  5. Islam, M. R., Akochy, P. M., Tyrrell, G. J., Janella, D., Sharma, M. K., & Soualhine, H. (2025). Draft genome sequences of Mycobacterium caprae strains linked to human tuberculosis in Canada. Microbiology Resource Announcements, e00234-25.

  6. Klemets, H., Bardoul, A., Pelin, A., Singaravelu, R., Boileau, M., Falls, T., ... & Roy, D. G. (2025). RNAi Screening in Tumor Cells Identifies Artificial microRNAs That Improve Oncolytic Virus Replication. Pharmaceuticals, 18(5), 708.

  7. Makangara-Cigolo, J. C., Kenye, K. M., Lunyanga, L., Jansen, D., Kinganda-Lusamaki, E., Kavira, S., ... & Mbala-Kingebeni, P. (2025). Clade Ia monkeypox virus linked to sexual transmission, Democratic Republic of the Congo, August 2024. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 31(5), 1033.

  8. Miranzadeh Mahabadi, H., Noyce, R. S., Evans, D. H., & Power, C. (2025). Neurological complications of orthopoxvirus infections: neurotropism and neurovirulence. Brain, awaf181.

  9. Ranaraja, A., Shaik, N., Rathnayake, M., Subhasinghe, I., Gautam, H., Popowich, S., ... & Gomis, S. (2025). Metabolomic biomarkers as a tool to detect acute E. coli septicemia in neonatal broiler chickens. In Western Poultry Disease Conference (p. 175).

  10. Wadhwa, R., Chen, Y. T., Fucich, D., Drikic, M., Prince, A., Lewis, I., ... & Wong, T. (2025). Diet-mediated Immunometabolic Regulation Promotes Pulmonary Clearance of K. Pneumoniae. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 211(Abstracts), A1105-A1105.
If you have anything you would like included in the next newsletter, please send us an email with the details.
The PRAIRIE Hub is led by the University of Alberta, partnering with the University of Calgary, Lethbridge, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Regina, and Concordia University of Edmonton, as well as technical schools, non-profit, industry, and government stakeholders within the Hub region

PRAIRIE Hub for Pandemic Preparedness, 4-020E Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G

|