Kevin C. Kain

Kevin C. Kain is the Director of Sandra A. Rotman Laboratories, McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Director of The Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine at the UHN-Toronto General Hospital, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Molecular Parasitology.

Dr. Kain received his medical degree (cum laude) from the University of Western Ontario, undertook his residency training at the University of British Columbia, and post-doctoral research training as a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Immunology, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington DC, working on the 1st generation of malaria vaccines. Dr. Kain has worked extensively in the topics including New Guinea, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Madagascar, Honduras, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia and the Amazon basin.  He is the recipient of the C. Woolf Award for the Excellence in Teaching from the University of Toronto, a Career Scientist Award from the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Young Investigators Award from the Canadian Infectious Disease Society, and the Bailey K Ashford Medal from the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, awarded for distinguished work in tropical medicine. Dr Kain was profiled by TIME magazine as one of "Canada's Best In Medicine". He also received the: Fred Barrett Lectureship, University of Tennessee; Distinguished Service Award, Global Health Education Consortium, University of California (2006); John Evans Lectureship in Global Health (2006); The Henry and Sylvia Wong Lectureship In Medicine, MacMaster University (2006), 2005 Forbes Lectureship, University of Melbourne, Australia (2005), Senior Investigator Award (2004) from the Clinical Research Society of Toronto (CRST); the University Health Network "Inventor of the Year" Award (2003); "In recognition of contributions to the advancement of human health through by means of a patentable invention"; and the Research Award, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto (2010). He has served as chairperson on Health Canada's Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Malaria Foundation, Board member of the Programme for Appropriate Technology (PATH) Canada, and as a consultant to many organizations including the Gates Foundation, World Health Organization, Red Cross, Canadian Blood Services, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta.

Dr. Kain's research efforts are focused on developing a translational research program that characterizes host-parasite interactions responsible for major global health threats such as malaria and HIV, particularly as they pertain to women and children. One of his primary goals has been to attempt to elucidate the molecular basis for adverse outcomes in malaria and to translate this knowledge into novel therapeutic interventions. Other specific research efforts include the development of molecular diagnostic and surveillance tools for emerging diseases especially those that threaten maternal-child health, migrants, and global health and security. Dr Kain's efforts are also focused on global equity, knowledge sharing and education, including the transfer of appropriate technologies and the training of research scientists in the developing world, enabling and empowering them to address their own problems in a sustainable fashion.

Peer-reviewed Research Awards: total over $60,000,000
Select Peer-reviewed Publications (from over 200 publications):
  1. Ryan ET, Kain KC. Health Advice for Travelers. New England Journal of Medicine. 342: 1716-1725. 2000.
  2. Serghides L, Kain KC. Mechanism of Vitamin A-mediated protection in P falciparum malaria. Lancet. 2002: 359:1404-1406.
  3. Ryan ET, Wilson M, Kain KC. Evaluation of the Ill Returned traveller. New England Journal of Medicine. 2002; 347: 505-516.
  4. Nathoo S, Serghides L, Kain KC. HIV anti-retroviral drugs impair cytoadherence and phagocytic capacity of Plasmodium falciparum-parasitized erythrocytes. Lancet 2003;362:1029-1041.
  5. Keen J, Serghides L, Ayi K, Patel S, Steketee R, Udhayakumar V, Kain KC. HIV Impairs Opsonic Phagocytic Clearance of Pregnancy-Associated Malaria Parasites. PLoS Medicine 2007; 4(5):e181.
  6. Patel SN,..Kain KC. C5 deficiency and C5a or C5aR blockade protects against cerebral malaria. Journal of Experimental Medicine 2008; 205: 1133-1143.
  7. Ayi K, Min-Oo G, Serghides L, Crockett M, Quirt I, Gros P, Kain KC. Pyruvate kinase deficiency protects against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.  New England Journal of Medicine 2008; 358:1805-10.
  8. Fan E, Soong S, Kain KC, Detsky AS. Capillariasis. New England Journal of Medicine 2008; 359:75 - 80.