Our Research         

Sidney Pa, MSc Graduate

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Sidney completed her MSc in 2022 in which she explored the effects of hormonal contraceptives DMPA and NET on the immune system and its influence on HSV-2 susceptibility in vivo. Prior to joining the Kaushic lab, Sidney graduated from McMaster University in the Honours Life Sciences Co-op program. During her undergraduate degree she completed a co-op work term in Dr. Martin Kolb’s lab, in which she helped with ongoing projects in the lab related to the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 

Jenna Ratcliffe, BA​

Jenna has been working with vulnerable and marginalized populations through the coordination of social-health research and clinical trials at McMaster University since 2006. 

Jenna coordinated Dr. Kaushic's randomized controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of estrogen and probiotics in the prevention of HIV among African Canadian women. She has also previously coordinated studies ranging from evaluating the effectiveness of school bullying prevention programs to understanding the supportive needs of young women diagnosed with breast cancer. 

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Jenna has an undergraduate degree (BA) from the Faculty of Social Sciences and an associate degree in Certified Clinical Research (CCRA), both from McMaster University.

Tushar was a project student in the Kaushic lab, and decided to stay on to continue his project as a Masters student. His project investigates the influence of TRIM26, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, in negatively regulating the antiviral responses and HSV-2 infection in the vaginal epithelium through innate immunity. Research in our lab has shown that TRIM26 inhibits IRF3 activation, consequently resulting in negative regulation of IFN-β production, and thus increased viral replication. It is hypothesized that over-expression of the TRIM26 gene will increase HSV-2 infectivity and knockout of the TRIM26 gene will reduce HSV-2 infectivity. Tushar completed his MSc in September 2021.

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In 2014, Puja enrolled in the Medical Science Graduate Program at McMaster University to complete her Masters degree under the supervision of Dr. Kaushic and transferred into the PhD stream in 2016.

Puja's graduate project involved working with the mouse model of herpes-simplex type-2 (HSV-2) infection. Puja's project aimed at underlying mechanism behind enhanced protection observed in estradiol-treated mice, more specifically, by investigating the role of IL-17 and the establishment of tissue-resident memory cells in anti-viral immune responses to HSV-2. Puja completed her Honors PhD in 2020.

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