The BC-CfE’s Laboratory Director, Dr. Zabrina Brumme, is this year’s winner of the Providence Health Care (PHC) Research and Mission award. The annual award recognizes a PHC scientist who exemplifies the mission and values of Providence Health Care while conducting outstanding research.
Recipients are recognized for their “contribution to scientific knowledge at an exceptional level”. As an internationally regarded scientist who has contributed substantially to scientific knowledge over the past 20 years, predominantly in HIV vaccine and cure-related research, Dr. Brumme is a worthy selection for the honour.
Her research integrates molecular biology, epidemiology and computational approaches to study HIV genetic diversity and evolution with the ultimate goal of informing the design of vaccines and curative approaches. Dr. Brumme’s body of work, which includes nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications, initially focused on HIV’s capacity to evade immune recognition through mutation, a process called “immune escape”. Her research team created viral genomic “maps” that identified specific sites and pathways of immune escape in HIV, and studied how immune selection pressures shape HIV evolution in individuals and populations over time. Understanding these processes can inform the design of HIV vaccines that can protect against genetically diverse and ever-changing strains. More recently, Dr. Brumme has been studying the genetic diversity of HIV sequences that persist in the body, even during successful antiretroviral treatment. HIV, like all retroviruses, integrates its genome into that of the host cell, and has the capacity to persist in this form for years or even decades. Curing HIV will require eliminating these persisting HIV copies, and Dr. Brumme’s research is bringing us closer to that goal.
In addition to the exceptional contribution to scientific knowledge, the PHC Research and Mission award is given to a scientist that “displays the quality of a team player, is reliable, and contributes to the success of the organization in the context of PHC’s mission and vision.” This description epitomizes Dr. Brumme throughout her career and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as her research focus expanded to respond to the emerging and evolving situation. She brought together PHC and Simon Fraser University (SFU) laboratories to improve COVID-19 diagnostic test collection techniques, develop a quantitative SARS-CoV-2 assay, and implement full genome sequencing to support outbreak investigations in health care settings. When COVID-19 vaccines were first made available in BC to priority populations, she co-led a PHC-based team, funded by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), to monitor vaccine responses in older adults, including residents of long-term care. Similarly, when COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out to the general population in BC, she led a team of scientists at PHC and SFU to monitor vaccine responses in people living with HIV. Both of these vaccine studies are still ongoing and results have helped inform public health decision making in BC and Canada around COVID-19 vaccination.
In addition to her responsibilities at the BC-CfE, Dr. Brumme is a tenured Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU. Thanks to this, Dr. Brumme benefits from the complementary strengths of SFU and BC-CfE laboratories, developing connections between both institutions. This connection-building includes the mentoring of the many students she supervises, some of whom continue their academic careers at the BC-CfE and St. Paul’s Hospital.
Dr. Brumme is an inspiring leader who is full of energy and passion. I had the opportunity to work with her at the start of the pandemic and she has been most helpful and insightful with the research and clinical teams. I look forward to learning more from her.
– Dr. Victor Leung, President of the PHC Medical Staff Association and Medical Director, Infection Prevention Control
As the winner of this year’s PHC Research and Mission award Dr. Brumme was offered a $2,000 prize toward attending an international conference, however, she declined this financial reward. Instead, at her request, the funds have been put towards the St. Paul’s Foundation It’s Happening campaign.