The Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada (AMMI Canada) has named McMaster University Professor Mark Loeb the recipient of its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award recognizes an AMMI Canada member who has made outstanding contributions to the fields of infectious disease or medical microbiology, and celebrates excellence in clinical care, research, education, administration, and/or advocacy.
Loeb has been recognized for leading numerous randomized controlled trials over the past two decades, focusing on the prevention of viral respiratory infections. His work includes cluster randomized trials investigating the impact of influenza vaccination on herd immunity, studies exploring the role of influenza vaccination in reducing adverse vascular events, and research into West Nile, dengue, and other infectious diseases.
“I’m very honoured to have been selected for this award,” says Loeb, a member of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster. “AMMI Canada has always been a very important organization but is especially so now, on the heels of a pandemic, and as infectious diseases like measles and H5N1 continue to threaten public health. To be recognized by this organization is extremely validating.”
Loeb says he is most proud of his studies into herd effect in Hutterites, a communal ethnoreligious group based in the Canadian prairies. These trials showed that vaccinating children against influenza had significant protective benefits for community members who were not vaccinated. This work, he says, influenced policy decisions in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere.
While the lifetime achievement award has provided him an opportunity to pause and reflect, Loeb says he’s even more excited about what’s ahead.
In addition to his ongoing mpox trials in Africa and his work on antibiotic prescribing protocols for the Government of Canada, he is hoping to conduct more randomized controlled trials for influenza in Hutterite communities to inform the global response to H5N1. He is also exploring research into Lyme disease and how vaccination could help prevent it.
Loeb cites dozens of collaborators as being pivotal to the success of his research program, including McMaster Professor Emeritus Stephen Walter, SickKids Senior Scientist Eleanor Pullenayegum, as well as fellow IIDR members Marek Smieja, Fiona Smaill, Dominik Mertz, Zain Chagla, and Deb Yamamura, among others.
Loeb accepted his award at the 2025 AMMI Canada – CACMID Annual Conference in Calgary, Alberta earlier this spring.