Mario Ostrowski, MD, FRCP

Vaccines and Immunotherapies Core Co-Leader
Member, Steering Committee

Dr. Ostrowski is a full professor at the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto, an infectious disease consultant at St. Michael’s Hospital, and a scientist at the Keenen Research Centre for Biomedical Science.

Dr. Ostrowski obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Western Ontario, completing a residency-fellowship in infectious diseases. He also completed post-doctorate degrees at the Royal College of Physicians and surgeons of Canada in Anatomical Pathology, Internal Medicine, and Infectious Diseases.

His research program at the University of Toronto is investigating the mechanisms of chronic persistence of human viral infections like HIV or HCV within their hosts, from an immunologic perspective, as well as developing novel strategies to aid in vaccine design to enhance cellular immunity to persistent viruses. He is also interested in the role of new immunotherapies in HIV and HCV infection, immunodeficiency, and infectious diseases.

Dr. Ostrowski is a principal investigator for CTNPT 020, which is a pilot study evaluating the effect of a therapeutic HIV vaccine on reducing HIV viral reservoirs in infected individuals who initiated antiretroviral therapy during the acute/early phase of infection. He has contributed to two CTN research publications discussing the effects if intensifying antiretroviral therapy.