BIOSKETCH

Mark attended Dalhousie University where he completed a BSc in Marine Biology, and was first exposed to aquaculture.  Mark began his MSc at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island (AVC-UPEI) under Drs. Neil Ross (IMB-NRC) and John Burka (AVC-UPEI) examining the differential susceptibility of salmon to sea lice.  This work led to a PhD with Dr. Stewart Johnson on sea lice immunomodulation and patents on one of the first sea lice vaccines with Bayotek/Microtek in 2004.  His interest in fish immunology and vaccine development led to a PDF with Dr. Laura Brown at NRC, on Aeromonas salmonicida, before being given the excellent opportunity to work at the Marine Animal Disease Lab – Stony Brook University from 2007-2009 as an Assistant Professor and work on new species and health issues in fish and shellfish.  In 2010 Mark rejoined AVC-UPEI as the Novartis/Elanco Research Chair in Fish Health, holding that position for 6 years, before his promotion to Associate Professor and then Full Professor in 2019.

The long-term focus of Mark’s research group is to better understand parasitic and other infections in fish and the evolutionary drivers that impact the host-pathogen relationship. His group identified multiple Pacific salmon species with differential susceptibility to sea lice, and initiated collaborative work with Memorial University and Cargill to examine functional feeds in Atlantic salmon to combat sea lice infection and impacts on subsequent co-infection.  Collaborations with the SLRC in Bergen, paved the way for his involvement in the formation of a global research consortium, lead by Nofima, Norway, to tackle the sea lice issue using genetic technologies.  This was funded by the Norwegian Research Council, FHF, and BBSRC, UK.  Mark has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in fish health, multiple book chapters on sea lice, and has current research projects on sea lice, salmon gill health and mRNA vaccine development in salmon.