Professor
Max Rady College of Medicine
Department of Microbiology
418 Buller Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Ayush Kumar, PhD
Cross appointments
Does not hold any cross appointments.
Research achievements
Research summary
Antibiotic resistance of bacterial pathogens is one of the biggest challenges faced by modern medicine today.
With a lack of new antimicrobials in the developmental pipeline, particularly for gram-negative pathogens, there are concerns that we are headed back to the pre-antibiotic era.
Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for a pressing need for more research to find effective antimicrobials.
Understanding the mechanisms of resistance is key to developing new antimicrobials.
Our laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the multidrug resistance of gram-negative pathogens acinetobacter baumannii and pseudomonas aeruginosa.
We also study the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the environment.
Research themes
Multidrug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria
Microbiological quality of drinking water from First Nations communities in Manitoba
Research interests
Determinants of multidrug resistance and virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii
Molecular mechanisms of assembly of RND efflux pumps of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Microbiological quality of drinking water from Manitoba First Nations
Keywords
- Gram negative bacteria
- Efflux pumps
- Resistance-nodulation-division
- Virulence
- Antimicrobial resistance genes
- Gene regulation
Biography
Dr. Kumar is a professor in the department of microbiology, University of Manitoba. He is also the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion lead at the Faculty of Science.
He completed his BSc (Microbiology and Biochemistry) and MSc (Microbiology) from Dr. R.M.L. Awadh University, Faizabad, India.
His PhD work was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Worobec, department of microbiology, University of Manitoba.
Dr. Kumar received his post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Herbert Schweizer, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO.
He joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (now Ontario Tech University) as an Assistant Professor in 2007.
Dr. Kumar relocated his laboratory to the University of Manitoba in 2013.
Dr. Kumar is currently a member of the executive committee of Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) as the past-president. He was the president of the CSM in 2020-2021. He is also the chair of the CSM Equity, Diversity, Inclusion subcommittee.
Education
PhD, microbiology, University of Manitoba (2004)
Master of science, Microbiology, Dr. R.M.L. Awadh University, India (1999)
Bachelor of science, Microbiology and Biochemistry, Dr. R.M.L. Awadh University, India (1997)
Awards
Professor of the Year (3000 level courses), Science Students’ Association, University of Manitoba (2019)
Nominated by the Department of Microbiology for the Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Campbell Outreach Award (2018)
University of Manitoba Merit Award in the Combination of Teaching, Service and Research, Scholarly Work and Other Creative Activities category (2018)
Outstanding Teacher Award for significant contribution to excellence in teaching, University of Manitoba (2018)
Professor of the Year (3000 level courses), Science Students’ Association, University of Manitoba (2018)
Mid-Career Researcher Faculty of Science Award for Research Excellence in the Life Sciences, University of Manitoba (2017)
Faculty of Science Award for Outreach, University of Manitoba (2017)
Outstanding Teacher Award for significant contribution to excellence in teaching, University of Manitoba (2017)
Professor of the Year (3000 level courses), Science Students’ Association, University of Manitoba (2017)
Outreach Award, University of Manitoba (2016)
Professor of the Year (3000 level courses) Science Students’ Association, University of Manitoba (2016)
Outstanding Teacher Award for significant contribution to excellence in teaching, University of Manitoba (2016)
Contact us
Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Max Rady College of Medicine
Room 543 - 745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada
204-789-3299
204-789-3926