Student researcher brings expertise to Canada to prepare for next pandemic
By Alexander Compton
When he received the offer to fly across the world to build a universal COVID-19 vaccine with a researcher at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Cody Hird didn’t hesitate to pack his bags.
The New Zealander is now part of the research team headed by Miguel E. Quiñones-Mateu, PhD, Western Research Chair in Viral Pathogenesis.
Hird, now a PhD candidate in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Quiñones-Mateu met at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Hird was an MSc student in Quiñones-Mateu’s lab at Otago when Quiñones-Mateu received the offer to move to Canada. He invited Hird along.
Coming to Canada: Cody Hird takes in the sites during a recent visit to Alberta. (Photo supplied)
“I said yes in about a half second,” said Hird, who was thrilled at the opportunity to continue working with Quiñones-Mateu, now part of a team establishing a viral vaccine seed bank at Western that will develop and house ready-to-use vaccine candidates against future viruses. “He is at the top of his field, and it presented a great opportunity to do amazing research in a new and exciting environment.”
“I didn’t even finish my sentence before he said ‘yes’,” said Quiñones-Mateu, whose research focuses on developing vaccines and antiviral treatments.
Quiñones-Mateu has spent many years researching HIV but is no stranger to COVID-19. Back in New Zealand, he and Hird were part of the development team looking to better understand demographics and virus spreading patterns, and testing unique COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
The choice to do his research at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry has already paid off for Hird.
Cody Hird, PhD candidate (Pathology)
“I have collaborated with world-renowned researchers and worked in state-of-the-art facilities [at Western] that would be difficult to access in New Zealand,” he said.
Hird’s research goal is to develop a vaccine that provides broad immunity to current and future coronaviruses. With the tools and knowledge gathered through creation of previous COVID-19 vaccines, he hopes to create an altered version that will be more wide-ranging in scope.
“They should, in theory, be able to protect against a whole wide range of viruses,” said Hird.
The move to Ontario has been positive for Hird and he hopes it will help his research progress. “There’s a lot of very knowledgeable people in New Zealand but it’s very small. Here, there are just so many people I can talk to and get help from.”
While Ontario might be bigger than the entire country of New Zealand, there are cultural similarities, making the transition to Canada easy for Hird. In fact, infrastructure has been the biggest change — and in a good way, he said.
“In New Zealand, it takes two, three, even sometimes four weeks to get a delivery, where here, I can get it sometimes the next day,” Hird said.
With more access to resources, Hird hopes the research will be able to stay on schedule and contribute to positive results.
