Anna Majer, PhD

Dr. Anna Majer’s research program focuses on understanding the molecular epidemiology and pathogenicity of enteric viruses of public health concern. Enteric viruses usually caused mild to no symptoms however, numerous types can cause debilitating and deadly diseases including aseptic meningitis, cardiomyopathy, acute respiratory illness and paralysis. No treatments are currently available to combat these disease and how enteric viruses cause these diseases remains largely unknown. 

Through molecular epidemiology coupled with system biology approaches, her laboratory aims to uncover viral genetic traits and molecular mechanisms responsible for severe pathogenicity. Her ultimate goal is to uncover molecular mechanisms that can be used as targets for therapeutic intervention.

Keywords

• Enteric viruses
• Enteroviruses
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Molecular epidemiology
• Pathogenesis
• Transcriptomics
• Viral genomics

Dr. Anna Majer is the lead research scientist at the Enterovirus and Enteric Viruses Laboratory, National Microbiology Laboratory Branch (NMLB) in Winnipeg. Her main research interests include developing effective molecular tools to enhance population level surveillance of enteric viruses to better detect viruses responsible for causing severe disease. Her other area of research is to use molecular tools to understand viral pathogenicity and by so doing, uncover potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

Education

• NSERC Post Doctoral Fellowship, National Microbiology Laboratory
• PhD in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba
• MSc in Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba