The major research focus of our program aims to understand the biology of inflammation and the immune system in acute and chronic kidney diseases. Specifically, our group is interested in the biology of the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family of proteins and inflammasome in the pathogenesis of kidney disease. More recently, we have discovered a novel role for the kidney protein, dipeptidase-1, in kidney inflammation. The role of of these pathways in the molecular biology of the renal epithelium, in renal injury and fibrosis are significant interests in the laboratory. New projects emerging in the laboratory will use advanced microscopy to study the intersection of the  immune system and tubular transport in the kidney, molecular trafficking of DAMPs and PAMPs as well as the role of leukocyte trafficking and immune surveillance in kidney injury and disease. Finally, our group has established the largest kidney disease biobank in Canada that will provide a direct link to clinical samples as well as a clinicopathologic database to enable biomarker discovery, renal pathology research and molecular disease classification.

Our laboratory is part of the Immunology Research Group, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. We work in close collaboration with other scientists at the University of Calgary including Dr. Justin Chun (stem cells and chronic kidney disease), Dr. Justin MacDonald (protein biochemistry, structure and function), and Dr. Peter Stys (advanced imaging and spectroscopy).