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2026 Annual 鶹ýվ AMR Symposium

ճ𳾱:AMR: A One Health Perspective

Monday, June 8, 2026| 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (tentative)
In-Person | Registration required
Networking reception to follow

Plaza Centre-Ville, Regency A
777 Boulevard Robert-Bourassa, Montreal

The 鶹ýվ AMR Centre hosting it's 6th Annual Symposium on Monday June 8, 2026!We invite you to join this in-person event to network and discuss AMR-related topics, AMR community research interests and needs.Special guests Sabrina Sholts (Smithsonian Institute) and Ed Topp (INRAE) will be the keynote speakers.

Keynotes:

Profile of Sabrina SholtsSabrina Sholts, PhD
Curator of Biological Anthropology
Department of Biological Anthropology
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Talk Title: "AMR, One Health, and Natural History"
Abstract: Many of the greatest threats to global health are shared by people, animals, and environments, necessitating “One Health” approaches to these interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral challenges. One challenge of growing urgency is antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where excessive antimicrobial use in different sectors, particularly humanmedicineand agriculture, hasfacilitatedthe rapid emergence of drug-resistant microbes that spread across species via water, soil, and food. However, some of the human activities that promote AMR in the 21st century - such as industrialized livestock farming and global travel and trade - are also drivers of emergingviral zoonoses and other One Health problems. In this presentation, I will discuss these activities in contexts of natural history and human evolution, with a focus on anthropological, paleomicrobiological, and historical evidence that sheds light on past processes of intensification and helps to inform effective strategies for future management.

Profile of Ed ToppEd Topp, PhD
ANR/INSERM Senior Research Chair, Priority Research Program on AMR
Research Director, Agroecology Mixed Research Unit, INRAE, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
Founder of the EDAR conference series and Co-Chair of EDAR8

Talk Title: "Role played by the environment in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in plant-based food production systems"
Abstract: This presentation will give an overview of what is known about the emergence and transmission of AMR in plant-based food production systems. Among the various sources and transmission routes considered include the use of fertilisers of faecal origin, and irrigation with treated municipal wastewater. The relative significance of microbial and of chemical contaminants including antibiotics will be considered. Finally, reference will be made to past and ongoing research, and key knowledge gaps will beidentified.

Preliminary program also includes

Faculty Speakers:

  • Nitish Boodhoo, Department of Animal Science, 鶹ýվ
    "The One Health implication of Enterococci in poultry production"
  • Caroline Duchaine, Department of Biochemistry, University Laval
    "Bioaerosols and AMR: towards understanding their role and impacts"
  • Veasna Duong, Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab, 鶹ýվ
    "Diagnostic Performance of NS1 Antigen Rapid Test and Its Impact on Antibiotic Use in Suspected Dengue Patients in Three Cambodian Provincial Hospitals"
  • Sara Mahshid, Department of Bioengineering, 鶹ýվ
    "Nano-plasmonic optofluidic for ultra-rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing"
  • Corinne Maurice, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, 鶹ýվ
    "Characterizing the gut phageome in early life"
  • Xin Zhao,Department of Animal Science, 鶹ýվ
    "Exploring One Health Connections: How Might Antimicrobial Resistance Move from Livestock to Humans"

Career Insights Trainee Luncheonwith non-academia experts:

  • Colombe Bélaise,Technico-commercial Analyst, Axelys
  • Sigrun Kullik, AMR Task Force,Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Frédéric Leduc, Chief Business Officer, Anasens
  • Patrick O'Neill, Medical Science Liason, bioMérieux
  • Alexander Schurr,ClinicalResearchCoordinator, MI4 - Clinical Research Program,RI-MUHC
  • Josephine Sciortino,Senior Director of Editorial, Canadian Science Publishing
  • Manuella Villion, Microbiologist, Centre d'expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec (CEAEQ)

Fireside Chat with André Picard (Globe and mail) and keynotes explore "Bringing science and knowledge to action: from citizens to global organizations"

Trainee flash talks

Poster Session - Call for abstracts submissions is now open, see more information here.

Book cover of The Human Disease, How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our BeliefsNetworking reception - Dr Sholts will be available to sign her book "The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs" - bring your copy! Her book can be purchased on or .

About our Speakers:

Sabrina Sholts PhD
Dr. Sholts is a Curator of Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), where her research uses One Health approaches to explore intersections of human, animal, and environmental health in the past and present. She received her PhD in Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara and was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in the Department of Integrative Biology and the Human Evolution Research Center. Her first book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs (MIT Press, 2024), won a PROSE award and a Smithsonian Secretary's Research Prize in 2025. Sholts was Lead Curator for the exhibit “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World” at NMNH in 2018-2022 and scientific advisor for the exhibit “Épidémies, prendre soin du vivant” at the musée des Confluences in Lyon, France in 2024-25. She was named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist in 2019 and received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2025.

Ed Topp, PhD
Since July 2023, Dr. Topp has held the ANR/INSERM Senior Chair, in France’s Priority Research Program on Antibiotic Resistance, and is Director of Research at the UMR Agroecology at the INRAE research center in Dijon. Before his arrival in France, he was a Principal research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). He was also the scientific coordinator (2016-23) of the Federal genomics research and development initiative on antimicrobial resistance [GRDI-AMR], a key element of the Canadian federal action plan against antimicrobial resistance. He holds adjunct faculty positions in the Department of Biology at the University of Western Ontario. Ed is an environmental microbiologist and chemist and conducts research on animal and crop production practices that are protective of environmental and human health. A particular focus is the mitigation of the development and transmission of antimicrobial resistance. Ed has co-authored over 325 peer-reviewed publications and has an H-index of 91 (Google scholar 11.2025). He co-authored the 2023 United Nations Environmental Program report “”. He is a past president of the Canadian Society for Microbiologists (2011), and was on the JPIAMR Science Advisory Board (2019-21). He was awarded the AAFC Gold Harvest award for Career Achievement (2015), and the Government of Canada Public Service Award of Excellence for Scientific Contribution (2016). He was elected a corresponding member of l’academie d’agriculture de France (2016) and was appointed a Fellow of the Soil Science of America (2022).

Profile of Nitish BoodhooNitish Boodhoo, PhD
Dr. Boodhoo's research program is centered on advancing the understanding of gastrointestinal health in avian species. Particular emphasis is placed on developing next-generation therapies like vaccines, probiotic formulations, and other immunomodulatory interventions. Ultimately, his goal is to fortify the health and productivity of poultry while mitigating the transmission of zoonotic agents along the poultry value chain, thereby reinforcing both animal and public health security.

Profile of Caroline DuchaineCaroline Duchaine, PhD
Dr. Duchaine is the holder of the Tier-1 Canada Research Chair on Bioaerosols, and Professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Université Laval. Her research focuses on bioaerosols, from a human, animal and environmental perspective.

Profile of Veasna DuongVeasna Duong, PhD
Dr. Duong is a virologist with nearly 20 years of experience working on endemic and emerging arboviruses and zoonotic viruses. He began his career at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) in 2005 and earned his PhD in 2011, serving as Head of the Virology Unit from 2020 to 2024 before moving to Canada. Now based at 鶹ýվ’s Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL), his work focuses on point-of-care diagnostics of arboviruses to optimize antibiotic use in low-resource settings, and on bridging genomic and field surveillance with basic science to better understand viral emergence and inform preparedness.

Profile of Sara MahshidSara Mahshid, PhD
Dr. Mahshid is an associate professor of Bioengineering at 鶹ýվ, a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, and an associate member of the Division of Experimental Medicine and interdisciplinary initiatives such as MI4 and the AMR Centre at 鶹ýվ. Her lab develops innovative nano-biosensing diagnostic devices that integrate nanomaterials, microfluidics, and artificial intelligence. With multiple patents, over 70 high-impact publications in top-tier journals, and leadership roles in international networks, she is at the forefront of translating fundamental research into bedside applications for cancer, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Her honors include the Pfizer-MI4 Early Career Investigator Award, the PerkinElmer Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy Award, the Canadian Society for Chemistry Fred Beamish Award, and membership in the Royal Society of Canada- College of New Scholars.

Profile of Corrine MauriceCorinne Maurice, PhD
Corinne Maurice, PhD, is a Tier 2 Canada Research in Gut microbial interactions, an Associate Professor in the Microbiology & Immunology Department at 鶹ýվ, and co-Director of the 鶹ýվ Centre for Microbiome Research. Her lab explores the interactions between gut bacteriophages, viruses specific to bacteria, and bacteria in a variety of conditions, to determine how to use bacteriophages to promote health.

Profile of Xin ZhaoXin Zhao, PhD
Dr. Zhao is a professor in the Department of Animal Science with training in lactation physiology. His research focuses on mastitis in dairy cows and gut health in poultry. His group aims to reduce antibiotic use in animal production, mitigate zoonotic risks, and enhance food security and safety

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