Brett Finlay

Brett Finlay is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine. He leads research at the Michael Smith Laboratories, focusing on host-pathogen interactions and microbiome impacts on health. His work spans molecular mechanisms of Salmonella and E. coli pathogenesis, innate immunity, and microbiota roles in diseases like asthma, Parkinson's, and malnutrition.

• Education: PhD in Molecular Biology, University of Alberta (1986)
• Research Keywords:
  • Microbial Pathogenesis
  • Microbiome-Host Interactions
  • Neurodegenerative Disease
  • Immunology
  • Antibiotic Resistance

His lab has pioneered discoveries in bacterial virulence factors (e.g., Tir protein), developed vaccines (e.g., E. coli O157 bovine vaccine), and established links between early-life microbiota and asthma development. Recent work explores gut-brain axis dynamics in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Notable contributions include:

• First use of confocal microscopy to study pathogen-host interactions (1991)
• Identification of Salmonella-induced filaments (Sifs) (1993)
• Development of a SARS vaccine (2004)
• Commercialization of E. coli O157 vaccine (2008)

Students and trainees include:

• PhD graduates: Katelyn Knuff (2020), Kelsey Huus (2020), Kylynda Bauer (2020), Rozyln Boutin (2020), Natalie Marshall (2018), Eric Brown (2017)
• Current graduate students: Mihai Cirstea, Katherine Donald, Sebastian Hunter Moreno, Zakhar Krekhno, Paula Littlejohn, Avril Metcalfe-Roach, Jorge Pena, Nina Radisavljevic, Andrew Santos, Makpal Tabusi, Sarah Woodward, Isabel Tarrant