About us

Andrew Potter
CEO and President, Director, University of Saskatchewan VIDO/InterVac International Vaccine Centre

Portrait of Andrew Potter

In addition to his VIDO/InterVac responsibilities, Dr. Andrew Potter is also the PREVENT team leader and Senior NSERC/Bioniche Industrial Research Chair in Food Safety.

"The inability to create vaccines for all infectious diseases of medical significance costs the Canadian health care system more than $3 billion a year – a figure that will increase as the population ages. PREVENT will help Canada rise to this challenge by creating an efficient system of vaccine development that will also strengthen Canada's vaccine industry and promote growth, investment and improved global competitiveness."

Dr. Andrew Potter is an internationally recognized authority on vaccine development. He is renowned for his visionary research into how bacteria cause disease and for his groundbreaking projects at VIDO that have generated “world firsts” in disease prevention, and more than 50 patents for animal vaccine development and therapeutics.

He initiated VIDO's partnership with the University of British Columbia in developing the world's first vaccine to protect food and water from E. coli O157:H7, and was the first to develop a licensed animal vaccine through the use of biotechnology.

Dr. Potter is skilled at maintaining an effective team culture in a complex environment, bridging the academic and commercial arenas, and ensuring that investments in research benefit society. He will lead VIDO/InterVac's participation in the University of Saskatchewan School of Public Health and has fostered linkages with researchers in other Canadian universities and with industry.

He joined VIDO in 1985 as a research scientist after recruitment from Health Canada in Ottawa, and was appointed Associate Director (Research) in 1994. His initial interest was in how pathogens cause respiratory disease in animals.

Dr. Potter currently runs a successful research program, well funded by competitive grants at the national level. Recently, he has been working on the application of genomics to the animal health field, as well as forging links between the animal and human infectious disease research communities to ensure that technologies common to both fields can be leveraged to their greatest benefit.

He has served on public and private sector committees, and has been instrumental in transferring VIDO technology from the laboratory to the private sector, as evidenced by numerous license agreements negotiated over the years.


Did you know?
image of E. coli bacteria

Escherichia coli (E. coli), is a bacterium commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded animals. Most E. coli strains are harmless and are part of the normal beneficial flora of the gut, but some, such as serotype O157:H7, can cause serious food poisoning in humans. Ingestion of contaminated water or food is the usual causes of illness from E. coli.

BACKGROUNDER

Immunization:
Inoculation and Vaccination

Inoculation (also known as variolation) was introduced to the west by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), who witnessed inoculation being
portrait of lady
practiced by physicians in Constantinople,[12] and was greatly impressed:[13] she had lost a brother to smallpox and bore facial scars from the disease herself. In 1718 she had the embassy surgeon inoculate her son, and in 1721, after returning to England, had her daughter inoculated[14]. In 1722 the Prince of Wales' daughters received inoculations[16].

The practice of inoculation slowly spread amongst the royal families of Europe, followed by general adoption amongst the rest of the population. Given the severe consequences of smallpox in Europe in the 18th century, many parents felt that the benefits outweighed the risks and so inoculated their children.[21] [22]

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