My name is James Rioux, and I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Physics at Dalhousie University. I am originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and I obtained my undergraduate degrees in Physics and Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick in 2004. I have been a Killam scholar since I started my Ph.D. in 2007. I live in Halifax with my wife, Kimberly Brewer, who is just completing her Ph.D. in Physics and who has also been a Killam scholar since 2006.

 

My target application involves tracking the uptake and distribution of a labeled vaccine. This vaccine, administered using a novel delivery system developed by Halifax company Immunovaccine Inc., has proven highly effective at eradicating tumors in mice, and has recently been approved for clinical trials. High-resolution MRI has already been used to illustrate the vaccine’s effect on tumors. Imaging mice that have been injected with an SPIO-labeled version of the vaccine will increase our understanding of its interactions with immune cells, potentially allowing the delivery platform to be improved.

 

This work is being conducted at the Biomedical MRI Research Lab in the IWK hospital in Halifax, a facility which is operated by the National Research Council’s Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic). Before beginning graduate studies, I worked for three years as a technical officer at NRC-IBD, giving me the opportunity to interact with researchers from a variety of backgrounds, as well as the Dalhousie students they supervise. It was this experience which introduced me to my graduate supervisor, Dr. Chris Bowen, and which convinced me to pursue my doctorate at Dalhousie while continuing to work with the energetic and multidisciplinary team at NRC-IBD.

 

It is a great honor to have received support from the Killam Trusts, and I am very proud to belong to the community of Killam scholars, both at my laboratory (where several of the graduate students are also Killam recipients) and at Dalhousie University. Through my interactions with other Killam scholars I have gained a great appreciation for the depth and breadth of the research which the Killam Trusts supports. I am glad to know that I am adding my small part to the growing legacy left behind by Izaak Walton and Dorothy Johnston Killam.