Brad S. Pickering, PhD
The Special Pathogens Unit performs both research and diagnsotic services at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease with a focus on emerging and re-emerging zoonotic agents of veterinary importance. Research activities include; pathogenesis, host-virus interaction, transmission, animal models and diagnostic assay development.
Current research and/or projects
My current research focuses on high consequence zoonotic agents of veterinary importance including; Henipaviruses, Ebolaviruses, bunyaviruses and coronaviruses.
Research and/or project statements
- Nipah virus pathogenesis, host cell interaction and correlates of protection in livestock
- Development of Ebola virus diagnostics using serological and molecular biology application
- Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus susceptibility and model development in livestock
- Rfit Valley fever virus animal models and vaccine efficacy testing
- SARS-CoV-2 rapid point-of-need diagnostics
Education and awards
- Presidents award BSL4 Znet - Best practices 2017
- Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Manitoba, NCFAD Special Pathogens unit, 2013-2014
- NSERC Visiting Fellowship, CFIA, NCFAD Special Pathogens unit, 2012-2013
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Childrens Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, 2009-2012
- Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Manitoba, 2010
- B.Sc. with Distinction, Microbiology, University of Manitoba, 2003
Key publications
Hongzhao Li, Alexander Bello, Greg Smith, Dominic M S Kielich, James E Strong, and Bradley S Pickering. (2022). Degenerate sequence-based CRISPR diagnostic for Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. PLOS Neglected tropical diseases. 16(3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010285.
Chandrika Senthilkumaran, Andrea Kroeker, Gregory Smith, Carissa Embury-Hyatt, Bradley Collignon, Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina, Paul A. Azzinaro, Bradley Pickering, Fayna Diaz-San Segundo, Hana M. Weingartl, Teresa de los Santos. (2022). Treatment with Ad5-porcine interferon-αattenuates Ebolavirus disease in pigs. Pathogens. 11: 449. http://dx.doi.org/doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11040449
Amalfitano E, Karlikow M, Norouzi M, Jaenes K, Cicek S, Masum F, Sadat Mousavi P, Guo Y, Tang L, Sydor A, Ma D, Pearson JD, Trcka D, Pinette M, Ambagala A, Babiuk S, Pickering B, Wrana J, Bremner R, Mazzulli T, Sinton D, Brumell JH, Green AA, Pardee K. (2021). A glucose meter interface for point-of-care gene circuit-based diagnostics. Nat Commun.12(1): 724.
Christine Atherstone, Sandra Diederich, Bradley Pickering, Greg Smith, Graham Casey, Kerstin Fischer, Michael P. Ward, Dickson Ndoboli, Hana Weingartl, Silvia Alonso, Navneet Dhand, Kristina Roesel, Delia Grace, Siobhan M. Mor. (2021). Investigation of Ebolavirus exposure in pigs presented for slaughter in Uganda. Transbound. Emerg. Dis.68(3): 1521-1530.
Pickering BS, Smith G, Pinette MM, Embury-Hyatt C, Moffat E, Marszal P, Lewis CE. (2021). Susceptibility of Domestic Swine to Experimental Infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Emerging Infectious diseases. 1: 104-112.
Biondi MJ, Garnett L, Bello A, Funk D, Poliquin PG, Jones S, Tierney K, Tran K, Kozak RA, Leung A, Grolla A, Nakamura C, Soule G, Ranadheera C, Hagan M, Dhaliwal A, Kobasa D, Falzarano D, Bovendo HF, Feldmann H, Kesselman M, Hansen G, Gren J, Mortimer T, Racine T, Deschambault Y, Edmonds J, Aminian S, Saurette R, Allan M, Rondeau L, Huynh J, Hadder S, Press C, DeGraff C, Kucas S, Kubay J, Azanarsky K, Cook BWM, Hancock BJ, Kumar A, Soni R, Schantz D, McKitrick J, Warner B, Griffin BD, Qiu X, Kobinger GP, Safronetz D, Wood H, R Stein D, Cutts T, Pickering B, Kenny J, Theriault S, Menec L, Vendramelli R, Higgins S, Banadyga L, Liu G, Rahim MN, Kasloff S, Sloan A, He S, Tailor N, Albietz A, Wong G, Gray M, Feldmann F, Marzi A, Risi G, Strong JE. (2021). Characterization of Ebola Virus Risk to Bedside Providers in an Intensive Care Environment. Microorganisms. 9(3): 498.
Berhane Y, Suderman M, Babiuk S, Pickering B. (2021). Susceptibility of turkeys, chickens and chicken embryos to SARS-CoV-2. Transboundary and emerging disease. 68(6): 3038-3042. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13970
Chukwunonso Onyilagha, Henna Mistry, Peter Marszal, Mathieu Pinette, Darwyn Kobasa, Nikesh Tailor, Yohannes Berhane, Charles Nfon, Bradley Pickering, Samira Mubareka, David Bulir, Sylvia Chong, Robert Kozak & Aruna Ambagala. (2021). Evaluation of mobile real-time polymerase chain reaction tests for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.Sci Rep. 11: 9387.
Brad Pickering, Charles E Lewis. (2021). Balancing Animal Welfare, Human Safety, and Research in Agriculture High Containment. ILAR. 61(1): 1-2.
Ambagala A, Schwantje H, Laurendeau S, Snyman H, Joseph T, Pickering B, Hooper-McGrevy K, Babiuk S, Moffat E, Lamboo L, Lung O, Goolia M, Pinette M, Embury-Hyatt C. (2021). Incursions of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 in Canada-Clinical, molecular and epidemiological investigation. Transbound Emerg Dis.68(4): 1711-1720.
Biondi MJ, Garnett L, Bello A, Funk D, Poliquin PG, Jones S, Tierney K, Tran K, Kozak RA, Leung A, Grolla A, Nakamura C, Soule G, Ranadheera C, Hagan M, Dhaliwal A, Kobasa D, Falzarano D, Bovendo HF, Feldmann H, Kesselman M, Hansen G, Gren J, Mortimer T, Racine T, Deschambault Y, Edmonds J, Aminian S, Saurette R, Allan M, Rondeau L, Huynh J, Hadder S, Press C, DeGraff C, Kucas S, Kubay J, Azanarsky K, Cook BWM, Hancock BJ, Kumar A, Soni R, Schantz D, McKitrick J, Warner B, Griffin BD, Qiu X, Kobinger GP, Safronetz D, Wood H, R Stein D, Cutts T, Pickering B, Kenny J, Theriault S, Menec L, Vendramelli R, Higgins S, Banadyga L, Liu G, Rahim MN, Kasloff S, Sloan A, He S, Tailor N, Albietz A, Wong G, Gray M, Feldmann F, Marzi A, Risi G, Strong JE. (2021). Characterization of Ebola Virus Risk to Bedside Providers in an Intensive Care Environment. Microorganisms. 26(3): 498.
Chan M, Leung A, Hisanaga T, Pickering B., Griffin B., Vendramelli R., Tailor N., Wong G., Bi Y., Babiuk S., Berhane Y., and Darwyn Kobasa. (2020). H7N9 Influenza VirusContaining a Polybasic HA Cleavage Site Requires Minimal Host Adaptation to Obtain a Highly Pathogenic Disease Phenotype in Mice. Viruses.12(65): 10.3390/v12010065.
Charles E Lewis, Bradley Pickering. (2020). Livestock and Risk Group 4 Pathogens: Researching Zoonotic Threats to Public Health and Agriculture in Maximum Containment. ILAR Journal. 61(1): 86-102.
Kristian M Forbes, Omu Anzala, Colin J Carlson, Alyson A Kelvin, Krutika Kuppalli, Eric M Leroy, Gael D Maganga, Moses M Masika, Illich M Mombo, Dufton M Mwaengo, Roch F Niama, Julius Nziza, Joseph Ogola, Brad S Pickering, Angela L Rasmussen, Tarja Sironen, Olli Vapalahti, Paul W Webala, Jason Kindrachuk. (2020). Towards a coordinated strategy for intercepting human disease emergence in Africa. Lancet Microbe 2020. 2: e51-e52.
Kroeker AL, Smid V, Embury-Hyatt C, Collignon B, Pinette M, Babiuk S and Pickering B. (2020). Increased Susceptibility of Cattle to Intranasal RVFV Infection. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7(137): 1-11.
Poliquin G, Funk D, Jones S, Tran K, Ranadheera C, Hagan M, Tierney K, Grolla A, Dhaliwal A, Bello A, Leung A, Nakamura C, Kobasa D, Falzarano D, Garnett L, Bovendo HF, Feldmann H, Kesselman M, Hansen G, Gren J, Risi G, Biondi M, Mortimer T, Racine T, Deschambault Y, Aminian S, Edmonds J, Saurette R, Allan M, Rondeau L, Hadder S, Press C, DeGraff C, Kucas S, Cook BWM, Hancock BJ, Kumar A, Soni R, Schantz D, McKitrick J, Warner B, Griffin BD, Qiu X, Kobinger GP, Safronetz D, Stein D, Cutts T, Kenny J, Soule G, Kozak R, Theriault S, Menec L, Vendramelli R, Higgins S, Banadyga L, Liu G, Rahim MN, Kasloff S, Sloan A, He S, Tailor N, Albietz A, Pickering B, Wong G, Gray M, Strong JE. (2019). Impact of intensive care unit supportive care on thephysiology of Ebola virus disease in a universally lethal nonhuman primatemodel. Intensive Care Medicine Experimental. 7(66): 1-13.
Kasloff SB, Leung A, Pickering B, Moffat E, Embury-Hyatt C, Kobasa D, Weingartl HM. (2019). Pathogenicityof Nipah henipavirus Bangladesh in a swine host.Scientific Reports. 9(5230): 1.
Poliquin G., Funk D., Jones S., et al. (2019). Impact of intensive care unit supportive care on the physiology of Ebola virus disease in a universally lethal non-human primate model. Intensive Care Med Exp.7: 54.
Brad S Pickering, Jessica R Spengler, Elnaz Shadabi, Antonia E Dalziel, Elizabeth A Lautner, Primal Silva. (2019). The Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network (BSL4ZNet): Report of a workshop on Live animal Handling. Antiviral Research. 172: 104640.
Vijayakumares V, Vanhove A, Pickering B, Szu Yu.L, Tierney B, jasara, Bronson R, Watnick P. (2018). Removal of a membraneanchor reveals the opposing regulatory functions of Vibrio choleraeglucosespecific enzyme llA. mBio. 1: 1.
Liao J, Gibson JA, Pickering BS, and Watnick PI. (2018). Sublingual adjuvant delivery by a live attenuated Vibrio cholerae-based antigen presentation platform. mSphere. 3: 1.
Xu W, Hole K, Goolia M, Pickering B, Salo T, Lung O, et al. (2017) Genome wide analysis of the evolution of Senecavirus A from swine clinical material and assembly yard environmental samples. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0176964
B.S. Pickering, B. Collignon, G. Smith, P. Marszal, G. Kobinger, and H.M. Weingartl, 2017. Detection of ZEBOV in swine: Assay development and optimization. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2017 Mar 27. doi: 10.1111
Brad S. Pickering, John M. Hardham, Greg Smith, Eva Weingartl, Paul Dominowski, Dennis Foss, Duncan Mwangi, Christopher C. Broder, James A. Roth, Hana M. Weingartl, 2016. Protection against henipaviruses in swine requires both, cell-mediated and humoral immune response. Vaccine. 14;34(40):4777-86. Doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.08.028.
Yohannes Berhane, Darwyn Kobasa, Carissa Embury-Hyatt, Brad Pickering, Shawn Babiuk, et al., 2015. Molecular and Pathobiological Characterization of a Novel Reassortant Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Virus Isolate from British Columbia, 2015. Sci Rep. 2016; 6: 23380.
Leng Y., Vakulskas CA., Zere TR., Pickering BS., Watnick PI., Babitzke P., Romeo T., 2015. Regulation of CsrB/C sRNA decay by EIIAGlc of the phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase system. Molecular Microbiology. DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13259.
Pickering BS, Tyler S, Smith G, Burton L, Li M, Dallaire A, et al. 2015. Identification of a Novel Afipia Species Isolated from an Indian Flying Fox. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0121274. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121274
Pickering, B., Lopilato J., Smith D.R., and Watnick P.I., 2014. The Transcription Factor Mlc Promotes Vibrio cholerae Biofilm Formation through Repression of Phosphotransferase System Components. Journal of Bacteriology, 196(13): 2423-2430.
Pickering B.S., Smith D.R., and Watnick P.I., 2012. Glucose-Specific Enzyme IIA Has Unique Binding Partners in the Vibrio cholerae Biofilm. MBio, e00228-12.
Pickering, B.S., Yudistira H and Oresnik, I.J., 2012. Characterization of the Twin-Arginine Transport Secretome in Sinorhizobium meliloti and Evidence for Host-Dependent Phenotypes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79(19): 7141-7144.
Houot L, Chang S, Pickering BS, Absalon C., Watnick, PI. 2010. The phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system regulates Vibrio Cholerae biofilm formation through multiple independent pathways. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(16):4083-5.
Pickering, B.S., and Oresnik, I.J., 2010. The Twin Arginine Transport System Appears To Be Essential for Viability in Sinorhizobium meliloti. Journal of Bacteriology, 192(19):5173-80
Barney A. Geddes., Brad S. Pickering., Nathan J. Poysti, Heather Collins, Harry Yudistira and Ivan J. Oresnik, 2010. A Locus Necessary for the Transport and Catabolism of erythritol in Sinorhizobium meliloti. Microbiology, Oct;156 (Pt 10): 2970-81.
Pickering, B.S. and Oresnik, I.J., 2008. Formate-dependent autotrophic growth in Sinorhizobium meliloti. Journal of Bacteriology, 190(19): 6409-18.
Contact
Research facility
Expertise
Affiliations
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA