Dr. Shirin Kalyan – Adjunct Professor (Medicine, University of British Columbia), Lead Scientist (Clinical Research Development Laboratory, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute), Chief Scientific Officer (Rare Disease Foundation), and Director of Scientific Innovation (Qu Biologics)

Dr. Shirin Kalyan is an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, the Scientist leading the Clinical Research Development Laboratory at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Chief Scientific Officer of the Rare Disease Foundation and the Director of Scientific Innovation at Qu Biologics, a clinical-stage Canadian biotech with an innovative immunotherapy platform that uses bugs as drugs to treat immune-related diseases and cancer. She earned her PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia investigating the pivotal innate immune mediators of inflammation in the context of toxic shock syndrome. Dr. Kalyan was awarded a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany, where she spent three years at the Institute of Immunology in Kiel studying how to optimally support immune function in the context of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases and investigating how drug therapies used to treat chronic degenerative disorders affect immune integrity. Her research interests encompass developing innovative treatment approaches that are personalized and integrative to optimize efficacy and minimize adverse effects.