Dr. Yossef Av-Gay is a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Faculty of Medicine. He is also an associate member of the department of microbiology and immunology and holds an adjunct professorship at the medical school of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
A microbiologist by training, his research interests lie with chronic lung diseases, primarily tuberculosis (TB), followed by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) diseases . He explores molecular events that govern host-pathogen interactions and the ability of mycobacteria to block the immune response to infection. Dr. Av-Gay’s research is geared towards the identification and characterization of novel drugs and drug targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Dr. Av-Gay’s most significant discovery was the identification and characterization of PtpA, a protein phosphatase in Mtb which inhibits the normal macrophage response to infection.
Prof. Av-Gay received his BSc in Biology, MSc in Microbiology, and PhD in Microbial Genetics – all from Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, and advanced training at John Innes Institute, Norwich, UK, Albert Einstein Collage of Medicine, New York and UBC department of Microbiology.
Prof. Av-Gay authored over 100 peer review scientific publications, review articles, book chapters and 15 patents. Prof. Av-Gay served as an editor for the Journal of Biological Chemistry (2010-2015), and on scientific advisory boards of several biotechnology companies. Prof. Av-Gay is a member of the scientific review panels of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (Microbiology and Infectious Disease (2009-2016) and Foundation and Project Grants (2016-) , the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Innovative Medicine Innovations, The UK welcome Trust, US National Institute of Health, and the European Commission FP6, FP7 and Horizon 2020 programs.
Awards
2017-2018 Robbie Award – $279,000 CAD
Cystic Fibrosis Canada – Prize/Award
2001/9-2006/8
CIHR – BC Lung New Investigator Award – $250,000 CAD
University of British Columbia – Prize/Award
2000/7-2003/7
VHHSC Scientist – $180,000 CAD
University of British Columbia – Distinction
ORCID Record
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9547-0237
