The Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto celebrated its 40th anniversary with an event reflecting on its remarkable journey and the significant contributions it has made to the field of immunology since its inception in 1984. The event spanned an entire day and took place at the historical Hart House on campus grounds....

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Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin during the summer of 1921 at the University of Toronto. Since then, this seminal discovery has saved millions of diabetic patients. Before the discovery of insulin, from 1915 to 1922, physicians Frederick Madison Allen (Univ. of California) and Elliot Proctor Joslin (Harvard Medical School) promoted a strict diet...

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Vaccines are a life-saving tool that prevent infection by training your immune system to fight against viruses and bacteria. Canada played a significant role in the creation of an Ebola vaccine. Ebola virus (EBOV) is a deadly virus found in regions of Africa that causes hemorrhagic fever and has high mortality rates. Work on an...

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James Arthur Gairdner was not a scientist – rather, he was a World War I veteran who had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, a track-and-field athlete, landscape painter, and chairman of profitable businesses. Although not formally trained in the sciences, Gairdner recognized the value of biomedical research, and sought to celebrate and encourage continual...

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For this issue of IMMpress Magazine on Canadian Immunology, we take our readers to April 2024 when immunologists across Canada gathered at scenic Banff, Alberta for the annual spring conference hosted by the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI). Home to nine CSI spring conferences since 1997, the snow-capped Rockies were the backdrop for four days...

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In keeping with the theme of this seasonal edition, I sat down to interview an integral member of our Canadian immunology community here at the University of Toronto (UofT). Dr. Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker was the UofT’s Department of Immunology Chair from 2012 to 2023. He has left a lasting legacy on our community, and here...

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“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Frederick Banting Nobel Laureate Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin with Charles Best, says something that we must embrace as Canadian Scientists. In this issue of IMMpress we have lots to be proud of as Canadian Scientists. We punch above our weight class (and...

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Autumn has arrived, and as the maple leaves turn a vibrant red, we are thrilled to bring you this latest issue of IMMpress Magazine, dedicated to the rich and diverse landscape of Canadian immunology. Canadians from sea to sea are making significant strides in the field of immunology every day, and so in this issue,...

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