Dr. Bhavjinder (Bhav) Kaur Dhillon
Bob Hancock lab

What is your main research focus?

My research focus is primarily centered around Bioinformatics and Systems Biology approaches to understand infectious disease pathogens and the host immune response. This includes using "omics" technologies to unravel the human immune response to vaccination during the first week of life. I'm also interested in better understanding the immune response to various vaccines versus naturally-acquired infections through a manual curation of published immune signatures and the development of a web-based platform for comparison of such signatures across studies. I also have an interest in better understanding the inflammatory immune response in various diseases (such as pancreatitis) and the relationship with disease severity. 

What do you love about being a scientist?

As a scientist, I love that I'm learning something new every day. The heart of scientific research is built around pushing the limits of what we understand about the natural world around us, including how we treat/prevent disease and interact with our environment. I love being able to ask new questions every day and then apply novel techniques to make discoveries that I hope will have a positive impact on the world around us.

What are some of your favourite things to do outside of being a Postdoc?

Outside of postdoc life I enjoy being a mom of two, biking, road trips, and a bit of farming!

Please share any Awards you have received or Achievements you are proud of:
I'm honestly most proud of being able to juggle grad school while becoming a new mom, and completing my PhD thesis before the second arrived! With a physically demanding schedule, competing priorities, and deteriorating mental well-being, it almost felt easier to just give up on my own goals. But I'm grateful for being able to find ways to navigate through all the changes in my life during that time and to continue to progress on my career path.