What's happening in the lab.

At Dr. Heba Alnaseri's Ph.D. graduation.

Ph.D. alumna Heba Alnaseri has data from the final chapter of her Ph.D. thesis published in the Journal of Bacteriology. Congratulations, Dr. Alnaseri!

Congratulations to Robert Kuiack for passing his Ph.D. comprehensive exam, and for receiving an OGS scholarship award.

Congratulations to M.Sc. student Kate Ferguson for being awarded a CGS-M graduate scholarship.

Welcome to new undergraduate honours thesis students Camryn Bonn and Garrie Peng.

Congratulations to Kate Ferguson for successfully defending her M.Sc. thesis!

Robert Kuiack presented his poster, "From survive to thrive: Evaluating the role of GraS and novel fatty acid metabolic pathways in promoting Staphylococcus aureus adaptation to antimicrobial free fatty acids of human skin," at the Canadian Student Health Research Forum (CSHRF) 2022.

Congratulations to Robert Kuiack on completing his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Western University.

Palmitic acid metabolism, solved

Robert Kuiack found that S. aureus can break down palmitic acid, the most abundant free fatty acid in human plasma, through a β-oxidation pathway encoded by the fadXDEBA genes, a route previously thought absent in this bacterium. Published in Molecular Microbiology.

Gordon Conference on Staphylococcal Diseases, Waterville Valley, NH. With former doctoral student Kelly Rice (now Professor of Microbiology, University of Florida), and McGavLab trainees Robert Kuiack and Camryn Bonn-Dunbar.

Dr. McGavin chaired the organizing committee for the 74th annual Canadian Society of Microbiologists meeting, held at Western University from June 23–26, 2024. Thanks to Cliff Fielder and committee members Jeremy Burton, Carole Creuzenet, Veronica Guariglia, Jennifer Guthrie, David Heinrichs, Susan Koval, John McCormick, and Vera Tai, as well as doctoral candidate Camryn Bonn-Dunbar, who designed the conference logo.

McGavLab lunch with Tika Thapa, Robert Kuiack, Camryn Bonn-Dunbar, Akanksha Thukral, and Laura Liu.

Akanksha Thukral presented at the International Conference on Gram Positive Bacteria in Omaha, Nebraska.

Lab members presented at the Banff Conference on Infectious Diseases, 2025.

With doctoral candidate Akanksha Thukral at the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) annual meeting, Halifax.

Camryn Bonn-Dunbar received the John A. Thomas Award in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Western University.

Camryn Bonn-Dunbar received the Top Speaker Award at the CSM 2026 Student Oral Symposium, part of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) annual meeting held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, June 16–19, 2026.

Tika Thapa will present a poster at the 2026 International Symposium on Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections (ISSSI) in Banff, Alberta, September 20–23.