Collaborators
Hendrik Poinar, PhD
Dr. Hendrik Poinar, a renowned evolutionary geneticist and director of McMaster University's Ancient DNA Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, specializes in extracting ancient DNA to explore the mysteries of the past. His research focuses on identifying the agents of historical pandemics like the Black Death and the Plague of Justinian, shedding light on their evolutionary dynamics and reservoirs. He's dedicated to understanding the preservation and degradation of organic residues in the fossil record, employing innovative methods to extract valuable sequence information from ancient samples.
The Dhody Research Institute will be the first place to integrate both contemporary and importantly, archival data on the history, origins, migration and genetics of vaccine production through space and time.”
Ana Duggan, PhD
Dr. Ana Duggan is the Acting Chief of Computational and Operational Genomics at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory and an adjunct assistant professor at McMaster University. Dr. Duggan’s research has centred on applying evolutionary genomic methods and theories to questions of anthropological and public health interest. Her research interests encompass Orthopoxviruses, the genus of viruses that includes Variola, Vaccinia, and Mpox viruses and their impact and effect on human populations both in the past and present.
Cat Irving
Cat Irving has been the Human Remains Conservator for Surgeons' Hall since 2015, caring for anatomical and pathological museum collections. She has spoken about the role of human remains conservators at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, including mercury, red or blue wax, and the transition from working in Edinburgh City Mortuary to training in wet tissue collections in England. She has also discussed the history of human dissection and what depictions of it in art reveal about the act.
