Shirin Kalyan
Scientist, PHD
Dr. Shirin Kalyan is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and the Director of Scientific Innovation at Qu Biologics, a clinical-stage Vancouver-based biotech company focused on restoring innate immune function in the context of chronic inflammatory disorders and cancer.
Research Interests
- Innate immune function and Host-Microbiome interactions
- Immunotherapy
- Osteoimmunology and treatment of bone degenerative diseases
- Inflammation and aging
- Sex differences in disease pathophysiology
She earned her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in Experimental Medicine investigating the pivotal innate immune mediators of inflammation in the context of toxic shock syndrome.
Dr. Kalyan was subsequently awarded a 3-year fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research at the Institute of Immunology in Kiel, Germany. Her research interests include determining how to restore immune function in the context of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases and understanding how drug therapies commonly used to treat chronic degenerative disorders affect immunity.
Additional Affiliations
- Adjunct Professor, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Medicine, UBC
- Co-Director, BC site, Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study
- Vice President, Scientific Innovation, Qu Biologics
- Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR)
- Infection and Immunity Research Centre (IIRC)
- Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI)
Media Coverage
- Was COVID-19 research funding well spent? (University Affairs, August 2021)
- Qu Biologics Initiates Phase 2 Study to Assess Activation of Anti-cancer Immune Response in Colon Cancer (Financial Post, August 2020)
- Qu Biologics publishes potentially paradigm-shifting results of their first randomized-placebo controlled trial for the treatment of Crohn’s disease (Yahoo! Finance, July 2019)
