SFU is celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Here is a quick glimpse of why some of our prominent women in science chose science as a career, along with their encouraging advice for young women and girls today.
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ZABRINA BRUMME – FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
Zabrina Brumme’s fascination with studying the HIV virus grew from a passion for science she’s had since she was a child.
A professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Brumme integrates molecular biology, epidemiology and computational approaches to study how HIV can adapt and evolve within populations.
Through analyzing population-based cohorts of HIV-infected individuals in Canada and worldwide, Brumme’s research has helped to create “maps” of the HIV genome that systematically identify specific sites and pathways where the virus has evaded host immunity.
Recently, Brumme and her team discovered a way of identifying multiple strains of HIV that can remain dormant in an individual. Tracking the evolutionary history of the virus is critical for advancing research that leads to designing an effective HIV vaccine or cure that could completely eliminate the disease.
Brumme is the laboratory director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, where she continues to investigate HIV at a molecular level. In addition to her research, Brumme mentors and supervises graduate students in her lab, sharing her passion for science while training the next generation of scientists.