Dr. Scott Gray Owen

Biography

Professor Gray-Owen’s research group aims to understand how human-restricted bacterial and viral pathogens colonize host tissues and evade the host’s otherwise effective immune response. His work focuses on the pathogenic Neisseria species, including bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and rapidly progressing invasive meningococcal meningitis. These bacteria are highly adapted to life in humans, engaging in constant evolution of surface antigens through combination antigenic phase variation while actively suppressing innate and adaptive immune responses. His studies have led to the development of relevant in vitro and in vivo models for neisserial infection and disease; detailed descriptions of molecular processes occurring downstream of immune-activating inhibitory carcinoembryonic antigen-related cellular adhesion molecule (CEACAM)-related proteins; and the revelation of previously unrecognized 'pathogen-associated molecular patterns' (PAMPs) that facilitate innate immune detection of bacterial tissues. He has also contributed to the epidemiological synergy between sexually transmitted gonorrhea and HIV-1, and is engaged in the development of novel vaccines and a new class of antibiotics that function by activating cylindrical proteases in the bacterial cytoplasm. In addition to his own research group, Professor Gray-Owen directs the Emerging Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC), which is a key strategic initiative at the University of Toronto focused on infectious disease research, training, discovery, and policy. He is also the longstanding Director of the Toronto Combined Containment Level 3 (CL3) Unit, which is the largest facility in the greater Toronto area. In 2020, he received the Minister of Colleges and Universities’ Award for Excellence in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the COVID-19 response in Ontario.

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