2023 Chappel Memorial Lecture with Dr. Charu Kaushic

Thursday, April 6, 2023 | 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM | OVC Enhanced Clinical Learning (ECLA) 1720 or via Teams 

Understanding biological factors in female reproductive tract that regulate susceptibility to sexually transmitted viruses: from bench to bedside

Dr. Charu Kaushic

Dr. Charu Kaushic will discuss how factors such as sex hormones, inflammation and vaginal microbiota regulate the mucosal environment in the female reproductive tract to determine susceptibility to sexually transmitted viruses, HIV-1 and HSV-2. The talk will focus on how the results from basic research on vaginal microbiome over last 8 years provided a potential strategy to improve reproductive health in women, leading to a Phase I clinical trial. Dr. Kaushic will end the presentation by giving a short summary of the results from the Phase I clinical trial and future plans.

Dr. Kaushic, PhD, has served as the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-Institute of Infection and Immunity since July 1, 2018. She is also a professor in the Department of Medicine in McMaster University, Hamilton.

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The Chappel Memorial Lecture series invites internationally renowned scientists from human and veterinary medicine and the biomedical sciences to present their work to the University of Guelph community. The Chappel Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1987 through an endowment from OVC graduate Dr. Clifford Chappel and his wife in memory of his father Herbert James Chappel.