Dr. Antonio Facciuolo specializes in Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, intestinal mucosal immunity, and vaccine development for Johne’s disease. Dr. Facciuolo completed his BSc and MSc in Biology at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), and earned his PhD from the University of Guelph (Guelph, Ontario, Canada). His doctoral research focused on the proteomic and immunological characterization of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis secreted proteins. During his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at VIDO he refined the use of intestinal segments (“gut loops”) in calves as a novel model to investigate mucosal immunity during an enteric mycobacterial infection and established the use of intestinal segments as a new vaccine screening platform for Johne’s disease. Dr. Facciuolo joined VIDO as Research Scientist & Principal Investigator in April 2022 and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

• Mycobacterium paratuberculosis infections in beef & dairy cattle (Johne’s disease) including:
  • Host-pathogen interaction between M. paratuberculosis and tissue-resident macrophages/dendritic cells in the small intestine.
  • Intestinal mucosal immune responses to M. paratuberculosis and elucidating mechanisms used by the pathogen to evade immunity and deciphering the host immune responses that can provide protection.
  • Development of a bovine Johne’s disease vaccine including antigen discovery, evaluating vaccine delivery routes (enteric vs parenteral) and formulations, and identifying immune correlates of protection.

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