Cameron Laboratories

  • Cameron Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology
  • 1 (250) 853-3190
  • caroc@uvic.ca
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Meet the Team

STAFF FROM CAMERON LABORATORY

Meet the Team

Ph.D

Caroline E. Cameron
Ph.D., Research Associate

Simon Houston
Lab Manager

Alloysius Martin Gomez
Postdoctoral Researcher

Mara Goodyear
Research Technician

Ayman Haimour
Research Technician

Akash Ranasinghe
Research Technician

Steven Marshall
Research Technician

Ellis Evans
Graduate Student

Sean Waugh
Graduate Student

Angela Mitchell
Undergraduate: Honours

Katie Besko

Ph.D

Caroline E. Cameron

Dr. Caroline Cameron is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Victoria in Victoria BC, Canada, Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee within the Department, and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA.  She is Past-President of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR) and chaired the 2019 STI & HIV World Congress held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  She is internationally funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.  Caroline’s research program focuses upon the identification and characterization of molecules that are central to the pathogenesis of the spirochetes Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (causative agent of syphilis) and Leptospira spp (causative agent of leptospirosis), with the ultimate goal of translating these research discoveries into vaccine candidates and novel diagnostic assays.

Ph.D., Research Associate

Simon Houston

Simon is a Research Associate in the laboratory of Dr. Caroline Cameron in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Victoria. After completing his M.Sc. in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, he worked as a protein scientist in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in Toronto. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology at Queen’s University Belfast (UK) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in spirochete pathogenesis at the University of Victoria. His current research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms that facilitate tissue invasion and widespread dissemination of the highly invasive syphilis spirochete, Treponema pallidum.

Lab Manager

Alloysius Martin Gomez

Alloysius moved from Malaysia to Victoria to obtain his BSc in Microbiology (Minor in Biology) from the University of Victoria. He has always been fascinated by STIs because of the stigma surrounding them in Malaysia. He is currently working on syphilis vaccine development experiments and working with collaborators to develop a direct diagnostic test for syphilis

Postdoctoral Researcher

Mara Goodyear

Mara joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow after completing her PhD at the University of Guelph. During her PhD Mara studied antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and used proteomics to compare clinical strains and their responses to antibiotic treatments. In the Cameron Laboratory Mara will continue to apply proteomics to study syphilis infections, with an interest in both microbial pathogenesis and host responses.

Research Technician

Ayman Haimour

Ayman has joined the Cameron laboratory as a research technician after obtaining a BSc. In Microbiology at the University of Victoria. His project focuses on the development of a syphilis vaccine and understanding the mechanisms of T. pallidum’s pathogenesis. Ayman is interested in the pathological mechanisms behind diseases and hopes to pursue a career in biomedical research.

Research Technician

Akash Ranasinghe

Akash is returning to the lab as a research technician after completing his BSc in microbiology (honours) from the University of Victoria. Originally from Sri Lanka, and as a part of the lgbtq+ community, Akash has a strong interest in syphilis research as a means to combat the stigma associated with lgbtq people and STIs that exists to this day. His work will contribute to the development of a protective syphilis vaccine, as well as investigating the mechanisms of pathogenesis employed by T. pallidum.

Research Technician

Steven Marshall

Steven grew up on the island and moved to Ontario to complete his undergraduate studies at the University of Ottawa where he got his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science. Following graduation, he moved to Victoria and joined the Cameron Laboratory as a Lab Technician. In this role he is utilizing proteomics in the hopes of further uncovering the mechanisms that T. pallidum employs to evade the host immune system. Steven has always been passionate about biomedical research and is looking forward to begin his career in the field.

Research Technician

Ellis Evans

Ellis Evans obtained their BSc from Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, completing an honours thesis on the spread of Lyme-associated Borrelia bacteria into Atlantic Canada. They went on to do a MSc at the University of Victoria studying the impact of thyroid hormones and temperature on tadpole metamorphosis. Ellis is passionate about health-related microbiology and is excited to have joined the Cameron lab as a research technician working on syphilis vaccine development.

Graduate Student

Sean Waugh

Sean’s research is focused on characterizing signal transduction pathways as well as transcriptomic and proteomic alterations in human brain endothelial cells when exposed to Treponema pallidum. Additionally, Sean contributes to the development of a syphilis vaccine.

Graduate Student

Angela Mitchell

Angela completed her BSc (Hons.) Microbiology at the University of Victoria and is now a Masters student in the Cameron Lab. Her research focuses on using mass spectrometry to analyze changes in the proteome of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, during infection. This work has the potential to further our understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenesis utilized by T. pallidum and identify proteins for use in the development of a syphilis vaccine. She is especially interested in infectious diseases and reducing the stigma associated with sexually-transmitted infections. Fun fact: Angela loves discovering new food spots around town and maintains a detailed list of the best places she has visited.  

Undergraduate: Honours

Katie Besko

Katie is a fourth-year biochemistry student at the University of Victoria, completing her honours project in the Cameron and Swayne Labs. Her project will utilize microscopy to investigate the impact of Treponema pallidum on brain endothelial cells. Katie will also be co-localizing host proteins with T. pallidum to identify potential interactions that could assist in development of the syphilis vaccine.

Former Lab Members

Graduate Students

Mike Cummings
Brigette Church
Yavor Denchev
Azad Eshghi
Claudia Gaither
Karen Lithgow
Brenden Smith

Lab Manager

Rebecca Hof
Charmaine Wetherell

Post Doctoral Fellows

Helena Pětrošová
Tim Witchell

Technicians

Bradley Bachmeier
Teresa Brooks
Julia Hassler
Susanne Hrynuik
Bianca Jackson
Rosie Mazzolla
Drew Phillips
Shannon Russell
Darcy Sutherland
Emily Tsao

Undergraduates

Nika Abramova
Razlin Azman
Arwen Barr
Marcus Barron
Brett Bauman
Kellie Brown
Rachael Brown
Alex Camenzind
Aman Dheri
Nicholas Dimopouos
Celine Doehring
Joslyn Dosanjh
Deirdre Farrington
Emma Field
James Furney
Aaron Hawkes
Marketa Hlavon
Lisa Honeyman
Kyle Irvine
Ben Jiang
Melissa Kirk
Kate Lawrence
Siobhan Leir
Dana Lightburn
Hannah Lishsman
Candace Marsters
Sarah Mustafa
Angie Qi
Steven Quon
Nina Radisavljevic
Eddie Rekart
Ryan Ritkes
Alanna Roberts
Anna von Rossum
Mathew (Matt) Shortill
Brendan “Tony Bennett” Snarr
Jesse Spooner
Nick Tang
Benjamin Vanderkruk
Anita Weng

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