Dr. Maziar Divangahi is a Professor of Medicine at McGill University. Dr. Divangahi is the Associate Director of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories and the Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre. He is an internationally recognized pulmonary immunologist, and the overarching focus of his research program is to investigate the regulatory mechanisms involved in host resistance and disease tolerance against major pulmonary bacterial (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and viral (influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2) pathogens. He is currently investigating how to harness the power of innate memory response (Trained Immunity) in vaccine development. Throughout his career, he has been a prolific investigator, publishing in outstanding journals and receiving numerous awards, including a CIHR New Investigator Award, FRQS Award, and the CIHR Foundation grant. His scholarly work has been recognized by election to the Royal Society of Canada. He is currently holding the Strauss Chair in Respiratory Diseases.
Current Research Projects:
Development of novel vaccine strategies via innate memory. Since over 95% of species rely solely on innate immunity, immunological memory inevitably evolved in this branch of the immune system. While the concept of trained immunity is new, evidence of innate memory in host defence has long been established. For example, BCG vaccination in newborns protects against tuberculosis, respiratory viral infections, and neonatal sepsis. Dr Divangahi’s laboratory demonstrated for the first time that a vaccine (BCG) or an adjuvant like β-glucan (a component of fungal cell walls) can reprogram HSCs to produce protective monocytes/macrophages with unique epigenetic signatures against tuberculosis (Cell 2018 & Cell Reports 2020).
Recognizing trained immunity as an evolutionarily conserved strategy, he then showed that pathogens like Mtb and SARS-CoV-2 access the bone marrow to prevent HSC-mediated trained immunity (Cell 2020 & Cell Reports 2022). Importantly, Dr. Divangahi has translated some of these preclinical observations to clinical. For instance, through collaboration with Dr. Luis Barreiro (Chicago University), he has recently shown how BCG vaccination in adult humans reprograms HSCs (Immunity 2024). Dr. Divangahi’s research program has also defined how vaccines provide non-specific protection against heterologous infections. He has recently shown how BCG provides cross-protection against the influenza virus through a dialogue between adaptive and innate memory responses (Nature Immunology, 2024). Additionally, he identified a mechanism that promotes disease tolerance in β-glucan-trained HSCs, reducing the severity of influenza (Nature Immunology, 2025). His scientific endeavours have been continuously funded by grants from the CIHR, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the NIH.
Email: maziar.divangahi [at] mcgill.ca
