Dr. Suresh Tikoo
Director, Vaccinology and Immunotherapeutics Program; Professor

• Molecular virology
• Viral pathogenesis
• Virus-host interactions
• Vaccinology
• Mucosal immunization
• Viral vectors
• Dendritic cell vaccines

• Understanding how DNA viruses - including non human adenoviruses - interact with host and produce progeny virions. A major focus of the laboratory is to develop and use non human adenoviruses for vaccination of animals and humans. My current areas of research include:
• Molecular characterization of non human adenoviruses
• Non human adenovirus as a vaccine delivery vector
• Targeted animal adenovirus
• Adenovirus DNA packaging
• Protein-Protein interactions
• Role of structural \ non structural proteins in viral replication

• VACC 801.3 – Vaccinology & Immunotherapeutics (Team taught course)
• VTMC 833.3 – Advanced Virology (Team taught course)
• VTMC 830.3 – Recent Advances in Microbiology (Team Taught course)

As Principal Investigator:

2019-2024 PI NSERC-DG, “Characterization of structural protein pV of bovine adenovirus-3”                         ($250,000)

2014-2019 PI Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada, “Characterization of Non structural proteins of bovine adenovirus-3” ($265,000\5 yrs)

2013-2016 PI Saskatchewan Agriculture Development fund, “Development of control strategy for porcine respiratory & reproductive syndrome disease”

As Co-Investigator:

2015-2017 Co-I Canadian International Food Security Research Fund, "Livestock Vaccines Against Viral Diseases for Developing Farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa" ($820500 / 30 month)

2015-2017 Co-I Saskatchewan Agriculture Development fund, "Interference of maternal immunity and Marek’s disease vaccine in performance of newly develop inclusion body hepatitis vaccines" ($100200\2 years)

2015-2017 Co-I SCIDF, "Interference of maternal immunity and Marek’s disease vaccine in performance of newly develop inclusion body hepatitis vaccines" ($22000\2 years)

2014-2016 Co-I Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), "Development of a vaccine for protection of piglets from porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV)" ($249750/18 months)

Xu, A., Zhang, X., Chibbar, R., Freywald, A., Tikoo, S., Zhang, C., Xiang, J. (2019). Transgene IL-21-engineered T cell-based vaccine potently converts CTL exhaustion via activation of the mTORC1 pathway in chronic infection. World Journal of Vaccine, 9(1): 1-21

Zhang, K., Donovan, T., Sucharita, S., Brownlie, R., Snider, M., Tikoo, S., van Drunen Littel - van den Hurk, S. (2019). US3 kinase-mediated phosphorylation of tegument protein VP8 plays a critical role in the cellular localization of VP8 and its ability to affect lipid metabolism of bovine herpesvirus-1-infected cells. J Virol 93:,pii:e02151

Said, A., Woldemariam, T., Tikoo S. K. (2018). Porcine adenovirus-3 E3 encodes a structural protein essential  for capsid stability and production of infectious progeny virions.  J Virol, 92:e00680-18

Said, A., Woldemariam, T., Tikoo S. K. (2018). Domains of bovine adenovirus-3 protein 22k involved in interacting with viral protein 52k and cellular importins alpha-5 \ alpha-7. Virology, 522: 209-219

Zhang, F., Tikoo, S., Cheng, P., Zhang, L., Liu, Z., Chen, R., Ren, J. (2018). Generation of infectious genome of bovine adenovirus type I expressing a visible marker gene. J Viroil Meth, 261:139-146

Thushari, G., Ashfaque Ahmed, K., Goonewardene, K., Popowich, S., Kurukulasuriya, S., Karunarathana, R., Gupta, A., Chow-Lockerbie, B., Foldvari, M., Tikoo, S.K., Willson, P., Gomis, S. (2018). Synthetic CpG-ODN rapidly enriches immune compartments in neonatal chicks to induce protective immunity against bacterial infection. Scientific reports, 9:341
 
Gaba, A., Ayalew, L.E., Patel, A., Kumar, P., Tikoo, S.K. (2018). Bovine adenovirus-3 pVIII associates with Eukaryotic initiation factor-6 during infection. Cellular Microbiology, 20:e12842

Zhang, L., Tikoo, S., Cheng, P., Zhang, F., Liu, Z., Chen, R., Ren, J., Du, E. (2018). Generation of infectious genome of bovine adenovirus type I expressing a visible marker gene. J Virological Methods, 261:139-146

Gupta, A., Popowich, S., Ojkic, D., Kurukulasuriya, S., Chow-Lockerbie, B., Gunawardana, T., Goonewardane, K., Karunarathna, R., Awalyew, L.E., Ashfaque Ahmed, K., Tikoo, S.K., Willson, P., Gomis, S. (2017). Inactivated and live bivalent fowl adenovirus (FAdV8b + FAdV11) breeder vaccines provide broad-spectrum protection in chicks against inclusion body Vaccine. Vaccine, 36:744-750
 
Popowich, S., Gupta, A., Chow-Lockerbie, B., Ayalew, L., Ambrose, N., Ojkic, D., Gunawardana, T., Kurukulasuriya, S., Willson, P., Tikoo, S.K., Gomis, S. (2017). Broad spectrum protection of broiler chickens against inclusion body hepatitis in the Canadian broiler chicken industry by vaccinating their broiler breeder parents with two serotypes of live fowl adenovirus. Research in Veterinary Science, 118:262-269