Nicholas Viegas is a Medical (MD) Student at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Medical School. He previously graduated from UBC as a Wesbrook Scholar and Graduation Commencement Speaker, with an Honours Degree in Microbiology & Immunology (MBIM). In parallel with his studies, Nicholas was a competitive debater (competing Internationally at Oxford, Yale and Princeton), student advocate (leading advocacy efforts to secure an Embedded Counsellor for UBC Science students and going on to advocate for affordability and accessibility in Canada’s largest Student Union), and driven researcher.
Protection of health through preventative precautions, like immunization, has been a central theme of Nicholas’ research interests.
As part of his Honours Thesis, he evaluated antibody concentration and avidity in a cohort of vaccinated patients using dried blood spots, a relatively new mode of sample collection that is regarded for its accessible distribution, easy use, and comparability to venous blood sampling.
Currently, Nicholas is studying immunization as it pertains to autoimmune and chronic conditions. He is working at the UBC Life Sciences Institute (elucidating how vaccination against Epstein Barr Virus attenuates viral enhanced disease in a murine model of Multiple Sclerosis) and BC Cancer Research Center (identifying the most immunodominant antigens in a whole-organism vaccine against colorectal cancer-causing Fusobacterium).
Nicholas has also shared his research in International forums, amongst the world’s leading scientists – he has been invited to present at the International Pandemic Sciences Conference and Oxford’s Diagnostics for Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) Conference, as well as participate in a World Health Organization (WHO) Workshop centred upon accelerating vaccine development through Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs).
Having taught or supported 6 courses at the University level (including Foundations of Microbiology, Public Health, and Biochemistry), Nicholas has observed first-hand the power of science communication to educate, inform and empower. This inspired him to create ‘Immunity Jenneration’.
Immunity (and by extension, protection of health) extends beyond administration of medications, clinical interventions, and vaccines. Integral lifestyle changes and health-related choices depend on the information one sees and hears. Immunity Jenneration (the name inspired by Edward Jenner, who first pioneered the concept of vaccines) is meant to be a source of that information, building a generation that is empowered and informed to take steps that can protect itself from infectious disease and chronic conditions pre-emptively.