headshot of man

Dr. James Wasmuth

BSc, MRes, PhD
Pronouns: he/him

Positions

Associate Professor (Host-Parasite Interactions)

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fulltime

Affiliations

Head

Graduate College

Contact information

Web presence

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 210-8507

Location

Office: CWPH1E33

Background

Educational Background

PhD Bioinformatics & Genomics, University of Edinburgh, 2006

MRes Bioinformatics, University of York (UK), 2002

BSc Biochemistry, Imperial College, 2000

Biography

Dr. James Wasmuth has been Head of the Graduate College since August 2019. He is excited by the College’s mission to enrich the graduate experience of its Scholars and opportunities to connect with the wider community. First recruited to the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2011, Dr. Wasmuth’s research uses genomics and bioinformatics to study parasitic species which infect livestock in Alberta. The goal is to develop urgently needed new anti-parasitic drugs. Importantly, these drugs can also be used to treat parasites of people in low and middle income countries. Dr. Wasmuth holds degrees from the Universities of Edinburgh and York, and Imperial College, London. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. He has a deep passion for graduate education, stating it is an ideal time to support students to develop into emerging leaders of their community, from local to global. Dr. Wasmuth was awarded his Faculty’s prize for Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

Research

Areas of Research

Immunology and Infectious Disease
Activities

Dr. Wasmuth's lab uses genomics, bioinformatics to study parasitic worms (helminths).

The two main themes are: 1) understanding how parasitism evolved and identifying the genomic adaptations involved, 2) modelling biochemical pathways of parasites to identify targets for much needed anti-parasitic drugs.

The drug discovery research focuses on helminths of cattle, a significant problem for animal welfare and the production economics of Albertan and Canadian cattle industries. The Wasmuth lab is supported by funding from NSERC, Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
CMMB 530 LAB 01 B01 Honours Res Proj in CMMB 2021
CMMB 530 LAB 01 B01 Honours Res Proj in CMMB 2021
ECOL 507 LAB 01 B01 Special Problems in Ecology 2021

More Information

Graduate Teaching:

  • Practical Bioinformatics
  • Genome Informatics
  • Integrated Parasitology
  • Helminthology

Undergraduate Teaching:

  • Genetics and Molecular Biology (first year DVM)