Denice Bay, PhD

  • Denice Bay

  • Associate professor

    Max Rady College of Medicine
    Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
    Room 514C – 745 Bannatyne Avenue
    University of Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0J9

    Phone: 204-894-9160
    Fax: 204-789-3926
    denice.bay@umanitoba.ca

Research summary

Dr. Denice Bay’s research program explores cationic antiseptic and antibiotic mechanisms of resistance and tolerance in Gram-negative, Gram-positive and Mycobacterial species. The Bay lab applies multi-omics, electron microscopy, and biochemical/ biophysical techniques to examine how efflux pumps, outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), and biofilm formation are altered by prolonged cationic antimicrobial (antiseptics) exposure.

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Efflux pumps
  • Antiseptic resistance/ tolerance
  • Multi-omics
  • Outer membrane vesicles
  • Lipopolysaccharides 

 

Biography

Dr. Denice Bay is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba.

Her research program applies cutting edge tools in molecular microbiology, genomics, and biochemistry to study bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) mechanisms and develop new rapid AMR detection techniques.

She completed her PhD at the University of Manitoba (2007), and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary (2015), before joining the University of in 2015.

Dr. Bay’s research currently focuses on four topics:

  1. Development of rapid fluorescent dye-based assays to detect antiseptic resistance/tolerant phenotypes
  2. Characterization of bacterial membrane proteins (porins and efflux pumps) and lipids (lipopolysaccharides and phospholipids) in vitro using various biophysical (fluorescence and mass spectroscopy (MS) and biochemical (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, liquid chromatography (LC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and genetic techniques
  3. Unraveling AMR mechanisms in Gram-negative species by combining phenotypic screening approaches with multi-omics techniques (genomic, proteomic, transcriptomic, lipidomic) analyses
  4. Examining bacterial outer membrane vesicle (OMV) formation associated with cationic antimicrobials and OMV applications to reduce AMR infections

Education

Research associate, University of Calgary (2012-2015)

Post-doctoral fellowship, University of Calgary (2007-2012)

PhD, microbiology, University of Manitoba (2007)

Bachelor of Science, Microbiology, University of Manitoba (2000)

Awards

2020

  • Ed Kroeger Mentorship Award nomination, Health Sciences Graduate Student Association (HSGA), University of Manitoba

2019

  • Merit Award for Service, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences (RFHS), University of Manitoba
  • Educator of the Year Award, Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba

2017

  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Travel Award for International Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe), sponsored by Institute Pasteur, Harvard Medical School, and McMaster University, held in Les Pensières, Annecy, France (November 11-19)

2015

  • Graduate Student’s Association Award for Graduate Student Mentorship, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta

2011

  • Edward R. McCauley Award for Postdoctoral Research Excellence in Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta

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

MMID1@umanitoba.ca
204-789-3299
204-789-3926