Leonard J. Foster University of British Columbia, Canada

Dr. Leonard Foster is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He grew up in McBride, BC and did his undergraduate studies at Simon Fraser University. He then moved to the University of Toronto to complete a doctoral degree in cell biology and biochemistry. From there he went to the University of Southern Denmark to study mass spectrometry and proteomics with Matthias Mann. In 2005 he took up his current position at UBC. Dr. Foster’s research interests revolve around the application of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to study host-pathogen interactions. He uses proteomics to understand, at a systems biology level, how human pathogens manipulate their host cells and how the cells, in turn, respond to infection. In particular, he has developed, with other collaborators at UBC, potential vaccines for Chlamydia and Salmonella bacteria. He is also known for his research in honey bees, particularly for understanding the mechanisms of disease resistance and using this knowledge to try to guide selective breeding in this important insect. In the twelve years that he has been an independent investigator at UBC, Dr. Foster has held the Canada Research Chair in Quantitative Proteomics, he has published 153 papers and he has trained more than thirty undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral fellows. He remains very active in outreach and extension and frequently engages the public on various aspects of human health, honey bees and biotechnology.

Lab Website: http://fosterlab.msl.ubc.ca/