Brian Ward

While vaccines have been successful in controlling some human diseases (eg: small-pox), millions of people continue to suffer and die from vaccine-preventable illnesses. For example, measles virus infects >10 million children every year causing between 0.5-1 million deaths. Although most measles-related mortality occurs in the developing world, even countries with high vaccination rates suffer periodic outbreaks as a result of poorly understood vaccine failure. We are involved in a number of field-based, basic studies in which we hope to identify the factors responsible for poor measles vaccine efficacy in the developing world (eg: Peru, Haiti) and vaccine failure in the developed world.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is another pathogen which continues to kill hundreds of thousands of children despite the availability of a vaccine for more than 30 years. The efficacy of the pertussis vaccine currently used in Canada is only 40-50%. We do not understand what constitutes 'effective' immunity against pertussis hence we are limited in our ability to develop more successful vaccines. We have developed a variety of tools for measuring humoral and cellular immune responses to vaccines which we are applying in field evaluations of new vaccines directed against both measles and pertussis.

Human pathogens can do damage either directly or indirectly. Measles infection is associated with a range of immunopathologic conditions. Poorly understood mortality occurs for months to years after exposure to wild-type measles and even to high titers of vaccine-strain measles virus. We are involved in several field- and lab-based studies of the immuno-pathologic potential of measles.

Another area if interest is the role of nutrition in modulating immunity to infectious agents. We are involved in three field studies examining nutritional factors in the horizontal transmission of HIV (Zimbabwe), in measles vaccine responses (Peru) and in the modulation of Chagas Disease expression (Brazil)

• Kardoush MI, Ward BJ, Ndao M. Identification of Candidate Serum Biomarkers for Schistosoma mansoni Infected Mice Using Multiple Proteomic Platforms.PLoS One. 2016 May 3;11(5):e0154465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154465. eCollection 2016.
• Pillet S, Aubin É, Trépanier S, Bussière D, Dargis M, Poulin JF, Yassine-Diab B, Ward BJ, Landry N. A plant-derived quadrivalent virus like particle influenza vaccine induces cross-reactive antibody and T cell response in healthy adults. Clin Immunol. 2016 Jul;168:72-87. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2016.03.008. Epub 2016 Mar 14.
• Yam KK, Gupta J, Allen EK, Burt KR, Beaulieu É, Mallett CP, Burt DS, Ward BJ. Comparison of AS03 and Alum on immune responses elicited by A/H3N2 split influenza vaccine in young, mature and aged BALB/c mice. Vaccine. 2016 Mar 14;34(12):1444-51. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.02.012. Epub 2016 Feb 9.
• Zacour M, Ward BJ, Brewer A, Tang P, Boivin G, Li Y, Warhuus M, McNeil SA, LeBlanc JJ, Hatchette TF; Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Influenza Research Network (PCIRN). Standardization of Hemagglutination Inhibition Assay for Influenza Serology Allows for High Reproducibility between Laboratories. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2016 Jan 27;23(3):236-42. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00613-15.
• Lajoie J, Zijenah LS, Faucher MC, Ward BJ, Roger M; ZVITAMBO Study Group. "Novel TAP1 polymorphisms in indigenous Zimbabweans: their potential implications on TAP function and in human diseases." Hum Immunol. 2003 Aug;64(8):823-9.
• Lajoie J, Zijenah LS, Faucher MC, Ward BJ, Roger M; ZVITAMBO Study Group. "New transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP-2) polymorphisms in the Shona people of Zimbabwe." Hum Immunol. 2003 Jul;64(7):733-40.
• Jenkins AL, Gyorkos TW, Culman KN, Ward BJ, Pekeles GS, Mills EL. "An overview of factors influencing the health of Canadian Inuit infants." Int J Circumpolar Health. 2003 Mar;62(1):17-39. Duval B, De Serre G, Shadmani R, Boulianne N, Pohani G, Naus M, Rochette L, Fradet MD, Kain KC, Ward BJ. "A population-based comparison between travelers who consulted travel clinics and those who did not." J Travel Med. 2003 Jan-Feb;10(1):4-10.
• De Serres G, Duval B, Shadmani R, Boulianne N, Pohani G, Naus M, Fradet MD, Rochette L, Ward BJ, Kain KC "Ineffectiveness of the current strategy to prevent hepatitis A in travelers." J Travel Med. 2002 Jan-Feb;9(1):10-6.
• Grant J, Mahanty S, Khadir A, MacLean JD, Kokoskin E, Yeager B, Joseph L, Diaz J, Gotuzzo E, Mainville N, Ward BJ "Wheat germ supplement reduces cyst and trophozoite passage in people with giardiasis." Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2001 Dec;65(6):705-10.
• MacDougall LA, Gyorkos TW, Leffondre K, Abrahamowicz M, Tessier D, Ward BJ, MacLean JD "Increasing referral of at-risk travelers to travel health clinics: evaluation of a health promotion intervention targeted to travel agents." J Travel Med. 2001 Sep-Oct;8(5):232-42.
• Bautista-Lopez NL, Vaisberg A, Kanashiro R, Hernandez H, Ward BJ "Immune response to measles vaccine in Peruvian children." Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(11):1038-46.
• Marcus VA, Ward BJ, Jutras P Intestinal amebiasis: a diagnosis not to be missed. Pathol Res Pract. 2001;197(4):271-4; discussion 275-8.