Mini-Medical School 2026-2027
Ask Me Anything: Snyder Institute's Science on the Spot
Join us for an interactive and engaging public lecture where the audience takes center stage!
The Mini-Medical School session will bring leading medical researchers and trainees out of the lab and into an open forum to answer your most burning questions about health, disease, research and the workings of the Snyder Institute. Discover the groundbreaking science happening right here in Calgary, gain direct insights into cutting-edge chronic and infectious disease research, and explore how these discoveries are shaping the future of medicine. Featuring expert researchers and trainees from UCalgary’s Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, this lecture will offer a unique opportunity to connect with scientists, satisfy your curiosity, and get your questions answered in real time.
Please not we cannot provide personalized medical advice.
About Mini-Medical School
The Snyder Institute's Mini-Medical School is designed for anyone who is interested in learning about chronic, infectious and inflammatory diseases. Our interactive lecture series features topics such as chronic inflammation, HIV, kidney diseases, autoimmune diseases, cancer, the microbiome, lymphatics, diabetes, respiratory diseases and much more.
You won’t graduate with a medical degree after attending our Mini-Medical School series, but you will gain insight into healthy living and chronic diseases.
There are no pre-requisites to attend these lectures and they are open to the public from high school students to retirees. Each lecture will combine basic science with real life clinical situations in order to give Canadians a better understanding of the effects of chronic diseases on the body. Each presenter is highly knowledgeable and respected in their field of research, and most are current members of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at UCalgary's Cumming School of Medicine.
As one attendee commented: "While your clinical trials may still be years away, I know you are on to something huge that is going to transform many people's lives!"
Mini-Medical School will take place one Monday evening per month from 6:30-8:00pm and each lecture will be presented in a hybrid format: both in person and online via ZOOM.
To attend in person, please register first, then join us in Theatre 4 in the Health Science (HSC) Building on Foothills Campus. Directions to Theatre 4 can be found here. Doors open at 6:15 PM.
Mini-Medical School is proudly sponsored in part by AstraZeneca and UCalgary's Cumming School of Medicine.
Should you have any questions or concerns please contact Hannah Reilly, hannah.reilly@ucalgary.ca
Full 2026-2027 Program Details
October 5, 2026
Presenters: Dr. Fui Boon Kai & Dr. Kerri Johannson
Topic: Pulmonary Fibrosis: When Healing Goes Too Far
Dr. Kerri Johannson
Dr. Kerri Johannson, MD, MPH, FRCPC, ATSF, is a Pulmonary physician and Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary, and co-leads the translational portfolio for the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. She is Scientific Director for the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) program in Calgary and the ILD Fellowship director. She is a Deputy Editor at Annals of the American Thoracic Society, and chair of the Canadian Thoracic Society’s ILD Assembly. Her research is focused on characterizing the impact of environmental exposures on pulmonary fibrosis and improving the lives of patients with ILD.
Dr. Fui Boon Kai
Dr. Fui Boon Kai, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and a member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at the University of Calgary. She is a recipient of the CIHR Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award and the Lung Health Foundation Emerging Scholar Award. Dr. Kai has more than a decade of research experience investigating how scarred tissues can actively influence disease progression. Building on her background in cancer research, she now applies bioengineering, biophysical, and biochemical approaches to understand how changes in lung tissue contribute to pulmonary fibrosis. Her research group aims to uncover how interactions between cells and scarred tissue drive disease progression and to identify new therapeutic strategies that could disrupt these harmful interactions and improve outcomes for people living with pulmonary fibrosis.
November 2, 2026
Panellists: Dr. Craig Jenne, Dr. Ranjani Somayaji, Dr. Luis Murguia Favela, Dr. Jane Shearer, Mr. Liam Wilkinson, and Mr. Deen Islam
Topic: Ask Me Anything: Snyder Institute’s Science on the Spot
Dr. Craig Jenne
Dr. Craig Jenne, PhD, is the Deputy Director of the Snyder Institute s. He has a faculty appointment within the departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Calgary. He also holds the Jessie Boden Lloyd Professorship in Immunlogy Research. Dr. Jenne is continuing his work using intravital microscopy to study the early innate immune response to viral and bacterial infections, the impact of vaccines on infectious diseases, and the interface between inflammation and coagulation.
Dr. Ranjani Somayaji
Dr. Ranjani Somayaji, MD, MPH, FRCPC, is an infectious disease specialist, an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary and a member of the Snyder Institute. Dr. Somayaji has focal clinical expertise in the areas of general infectious disease, cystic fibrosis and obstructive lung disease, and chronic wounds. Dr. Somayaji runs a large translational research program with international collaborations focused on improving care and outcomes from acute and chronic infections. Dr. Somayaji holds the GSK Professorship in Inflammatory Lung Disease and is focused on building research capacity at the institute and more broadly the University of Calgary with an equitable and inclusive lens.
Mr. Liam Wilkinson
Liam Wilkinson is a PhD candidate in Dr. Johnathan Canton’s lab which focuses on tumour immunity and host-pathogen interactions. Liam is also one of the Snyder Institute Trainee Committee’s Social and Community Outreach Co-Directors and helps organize initiatives like Immunology Career Day and Lab Olympics. He currently studies how antibiotic-resistant bacteria can evade the immune system by surviving and replicating within immune cells, ultimately contributing to sepsis.
Deen Islam
Deen Islam is a PhD candidate in Dr. Carla Coffin's lab which focuses on hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis Delta virus (HDV). Deen is also one of the Snyder Institute Trainee Committee’s Education Co-Directors and helps organize various educational events, such as Snyder Trainee Research Day and Snyder Undergraduate Research Night.
Dr. Jane Shearer
Dr. Jane Shearer, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Calgary, cross-appointed to the Faculty of Kinesiology and the Cumming School of Medicine. She is recognized for her research in metabolic physiology, nutritional metabolomics, and the gut–brain axis. Her work focuses on how nutrition, exercise, mitochondrial function, and microbiome influences on chronic disease, metabolic health, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Shearer earned her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph, followed by a fellowship at a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases hub at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. She has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, and her research has attracted funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and numerous other national foundations. In addition to her research program, Dr. Shearer serves as Research Lead at the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. She is actively involved in scientific leadership, national and international peer review, and the mentorship and development of the next generation of researchers. Her scientific philosophy is grounded in collaboration, intellectual humility, and lifelong learning. She believes that meaningful discoveries often begin by acknowledging what we do not know, asking simple questions, imagining new possibilities, and challenging established thinking.
Dr. Luis Murguía-Favela
Dr. Luis Murguía-Favela, MD, FRCPC, FCIS, is a Pediatric Clinical Immunologist at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary. His clinical practice and research is focused on inborn errors of immunity and immune dysregulation disorders. He is an associate member of the Snyder Institute of Chronic Diseases and its Immunology Research Group as well as the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Murguía-Favela is the Chair of the Clinical Immunology Network-Canada and is the Principal Investigator and co-Investigator in a number of national and international research studies on inborn errors of immunity.