Dr. Mark Loeb

Mark Loeb is somewhat of a crusader when it comes to understanding infectious diseases. From SARS to West Nile Virus to resistance to antibiotics, Dr Loeb has taken a commanding role in the endeavors to root out the causes and ultimately determine how to stop the spread of these illnesses that have only become known in the past few years. The physician, microbiologist and McMaster University associate professor is currently the principal investigator on major research studies looking at West Nile Virus as well as antibiotic use and resistance in seniors.

He's also in charge of the effort to create a blood bank of specimens from people who contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a project that resulted from the work of the Canadian SARS Research Network. Loeb was founding scientific director of that network which was set up during the 2003 SARS crisis. The blood bank is a global effort and will allow researchers from around the world to access specimens to pursue their study of the disease. Infectious diseases have piqued Dr Loeb's interest since he was a medical student at McGill University in the late 1980s. "Infectious diseases are a major global threat to health, and given their complex nature lend themselves to a variety of research approaches," he says, explaining why he decided to focus on research in this area of medicine.

At present, his largest study is a five-year project looking into why some people who contract West Nile Virus develop serious complications, while others seem to shrug it off. Funded by a $19-million grant for the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the case-control study involves West Nile virus patients from Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and across the United States. He is working with researchers, doctors and public health officials from the three provinces and many states.

"We're trying to determine if there are genes that render people more likely to have complications if they contract West Nile," says Dr Loeb, adding that such knowledge could aid in understanding how to bolster peoples' immune responses to fight off the virus, and ultimately develop new therapies for treatment. Another of his significant studies is looking into the long-term effects of severe West Nile virus infections. The project involves following patients who contracted West Nile virus to observe how the illness impacts on their day-to-day functioning.

Dr Loeb is also in the midst of two major studies involving seniors, both funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). A $1.3 million project is looking into antibiotic use and resistance, and a $2.2 million project involving 25 researchers in seven provinces aims to better understand the broader determinants and health care delivery issues of respiratory infections in older adults.

Dr Loeb earned his B.Sc. and MD degrees at McGill University, and his M.Sc. in epidemiology at McMaster. He is an associate professor in two departments at McMaster: clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and pathology and molecular medicine. He is also medical director, infection control for Hamilton Health Sciences, and is involved in a range of professional groups.

He has earned numerous awards for his research, including the 2004 Investigator Award from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, a Premier's Research Excellence Award, a CIHR New Investigator Award, and the Nicholas M. and Hedy J. Monk Geriatric Award for excellence in geriatric research. "New Orleans has shown how nature can overwhelm human engineering of its living areas," says Dr Loeb. "We know infectious diseases could have the same devastating impact if we let down our guard on ensuring they are controlled."

For further information, please contact Dr. Mark Loeb using the Email contact form or by phone at 905 525-9140 ext 26066