McMaster Platelet Immunology Laboratory Awarded the 2021 McMaster President’s Team Award for Outstanding Service

The COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges, and the McMaster Platelet Immunology Laboratory (MPIL) team recognized the national need and was able to pivot quickly to utilize their expertise and skills to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shift in research focus enabled the group to support almost all of the COVID-19 immunity related research projects, not only at McMaster, but also at a regional and national level.

Within two months of the arrival of COVID-19, the MPIL shifted its work in order to measure anti-COVID antibodies. This created unprecedented amounts of work at a time when no one really understood COVID-19, but many feared the worst. This meant evening and weekend shifts and a meticulous approach to safety as the 12-person lab team measured, for example, antibody levels in older people and in people who were immune compromised following COVID-19 infection.

Test Development

Over the last two years, the MPIL team has been involved in developing the tests that identify individuals infected with COVID-19 and determining the long-term immunity against COVID-19 following infection and vaccination.

Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Developments

Additionally, the team was instrumental in the study of Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT), writing the widely adopted guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of the condition and becoming the only testing centre for VITT in Canada.

The lab ran thousands of samples to inform the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination policies, including the optimal timing between doses of the vaccines and the need for vaccine booster shots in long-term care facilities. Despite this great increase in research activity, the lab continued to provide regular testing, reporting and patient care. Two of the lab’s studies were identified by Ontario’s Premier as two of the top five studies funded by the province in the past year.

The McMaster Platelet Immunology Laboratory team was awarded the 2021 President’s Award for Outstanding Service in the team category. They were presented with the award at the President’s Awards Ceremony on May 31, 2022.