URS 2024 Keynote: Dr. Jim Sun

Dr. Jim Sun is a distinguished researcher who has recently joined UBC Microbiology & Immunology with his cellular microbiology lab this year. Dr. Sun’s journey in academia began at UBC, obtaining his BSc in 2006 and his PhD in 2012. Following this, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Sun has been awarded multiple early career research awards, including those granted from Pfizer Canada, Canadian Society for Immunology, American Society for Microbiology, and Lung Health Foundation.

Between 2017-2023, Dr. Sun established a dynamic tuberculosis research program at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Sun’s research has revealed crucial insights into the evasion mechanism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, leading to the development of novel treatments and the discovery of the tuberculosis necrotizing toxin. Now, Dr. Sun is investigating host immunity to M. tuberculosis and other bacterial pathogens in hopes to develop novel host-directed therapies for tuberculosis and other bacterial infections.