Research Profile

Dr. Kain is the Director, The Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Parasitology. Dr. Kain received his medical degree (cum laude) from the University of Western Ontario, undertook his residency training at the University of British Columbia, and completed postdoctoral training as a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Immunology, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington. Dr. Kain has worked extensively in the tropics and sub-tropics including New Guinea, Uganda, Honduras, Laos, Thailand, and the Amazon basin. He is the recipient of the C. Woolf Award for the Excellence in Teaching from the University of Toronto, a Career Scientist Award from the Ontario Ministry of Health, and the Young Investigators Award from the Canadian Infectious Disease Society. Dr Kain was recently profiled by TIME magazine as one of "Canada's Best In Medicine." He has served as chairperson on Health Canada's Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Malaria Foundation, Board member of the Programme for Appropriate Technology (PATH) Canada, and as a consultant to many organizations including the World Health Organization, Red Cross, Canadian Blood Services, and the CDC.

 

Dr. Kain's research efforts are focused on developing a translational research program that characterizes host-parasite interactions responsible for major global health threats such as malaria and HIV. One of his primary goals is to elucidate the molecular basis for adverse outcomes in malaria and to translate this knowledge into novel therapeutic interventions. Other specific research efforts include the development of molecular diagnostic and epidemiologic tools for the surveillance of emerging diseases, especially those that threaten travelers, migrants, blood safety, and global health and security including malaria, SARS, and West Nile Virus. Dr. Kain's efforts are also focused on global equity and knowledge sharing and education, including the transfer of appropriate technologies and the training of research scientists in the developing world, enabling and empowering them to address their own problems in a sustainable fashion.