INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER
Prof Dana Philpott
University of Toronto, Canada
Professor Dana J. Philpott is a leading immunologist at the University of Toronto, where she is a faculty member in the Department of Immunology and co-directs the Canadian Foundation for Innovation / Ontario Research Fund Host-Microbiome Research Network. She oversees Toronto’s first gnotobiotic (germ-free) mouse facility.
Dr. Philpott earned her BSc at the University of Calgary and completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, studying Escherichia coli pathogenesis. She then pursued postdoctoral research at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, investigating host–pathogen interactions with Shigella flexneri.
Her research focuses on the interface of innate immunity and the gut microbiome, particularly in inflammatory bowel disease. Her lab was among the first to demonstrate that NOD1 and NOD2 detect bacterial peptidoglycan and continues to explore how dysregulated microbial sensing contributes to disease. More recently, her work has examined links between innate immunity and proteins such as LRRK2, with implications for Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Philpott is internationally recognized for her contributions to understanding how microbial sensing shapes immune homeostasis and disease.