Current Members of the Geuking Lab

Markus Geuking, PhD
Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary

Dr. Markus Geuking is an Associate Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is a member of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases as well as of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. Dr. Geuking obtained his PhD in Immunology from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Switzerland) where he worked in the lab of Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Rolf Zinkernagel. He studied host-microbial immune interactions using germ-free and gnotobiotic models during his postdoctoral studies at McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada). He then continued this work as a research associate at the University of Bern (Switzerland) before joining the University of Calgary in 2016.

Dr. Geuking has over 30 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science and Immunity. He has received the AbbVie IBD Grant (2015), Lutz Zwillenberg Award (2012), and Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione Grant (2010).

Michael Dicay
Lab Manager

Michael manages the McCoy and Geuking labs. He investigates the role of the microbiome in many different disease states. He performs experiments and helps graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff with their projects while making sure the labs run smoothly. Michael has over 25 years of research experience with the University of Calgary; he started in Neuroscience, investigating stem cell neuroplasticity for several years working with Dr. Sam Weiss, and then worked in the field of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract with Dr. John Wallace and Dr. Wally MacNaughton before joining the McCoy and Geuking labs.

Shokouh Ahmadi,  PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Shokouh Ahmadi is a recipient of an Eyes High Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Calgary. She studies the impact of intestinal microbiota on systemic anti-viral immune responses and immune memory formation. She is also working on a novel auxotrophic species of bacteria to transiently colonize germ-free mice. She received her PhD from Isfahan University of Technology (IUT) in Isfahan, Iran in Food Microbiology and Biotechnology. During her PhD, Shokouh received a scholarship from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, USA. Her research has spanned the fields of gut microbiome, dietary fibres, prebiotics, probiotics, metabolic disease, and aging. In her spare time, Shokouh enjoys biking, reading, and making crafts. 

Isla Skalosky
PhD Student

Isla is investigating how intestinal microbiota can impact anti-viral immunity. This research utilizes germ-free and gnotobiotic mouse models to better understand how microbial composition and antigen mimicry influence T cell responses to systemic viral infection. She obtained her HBMSc from the University of Western Ontario with specializations in Physiology, Microbiology & Immunology. Isla likes to spend her free time hiking, cooking, and crafting.