Anthony Schryvers

Dr. Anthony Bernard Schryvers

Positions

Professor

Cumming School of Medicine

Full Member

The Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases

Child Health & Wellness Researcher

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Contact information

Background

Educational Background

B.S. Biological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 1976

Doctor of Medicine Medicine, University of Calgary, 1984

Doctor of Philosophy Biochemistry, University of Alberta, 1981

Research

Areas of Research

Bioinformatics
Infection
Microbiome
Vaccination
Activities

My research program is focused on developing new vaccines designed to eliminate important infections in children. We are using a novel and sophisticated approach for designing vaccines that target a critical function that is common to several important pathogens that cause meningitis, ear infections, and other respiratory diseases. The bacteria that cause these infections, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis, rely on surface receptors that acquire iron necessary for growth from the host iron-binding proteins, transferrin, and lactoferrin. Since these bacteria rely on the surface proteins to survive in the upper respiratory tract where they normally live and also require the receptors during infection, they cannot eliminate the receptors to escape the vaccine. In our approach, we use 'structure-based protein engineering' to design antigens and test their ability to react against all known variants of the protein. In addition, our vaccines are capable of preventing colonization of the upper respiratory tract in addition to preventing disease, providing the potential to eliminate the disease-causing bacteria. Our approach is also being applied to important disease in food production animals, providing 'proof of principle' that our vaccines can be effective, before introducing our vaccines into humans.

Participation in university strategic initiatives