Behind the science: A visit to the UBC labs shaping the future of autoimmune research.

Praespero’s founder Laurie Venning had the incredible privilege of visiting three scientists in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) that we support through our various programs: Dr. Marc Horwitz, Dr. Lisa Osborne, as well as Dr. Maria Tokuyama.

It was an unplanned, impromptu visit and we’re so glad it could happen!

The photos say it all. Laurie peering through a microscope. Laurie leaning in with rapt attention as Dr. Horwitz walks him through their most recent findings. Dr. Osborne animatedly explaining her work to our team, pointing out the epithelial cells in the intestines, her passion unmistakable. Also pictured is PhD Candidate Sarah Popple from Osborne Lab, explaining some of her research to Laurie before presenting her thesis later that same afternoon! Her experiments introduced rare bacteria and parasites (worms) to the microbiome to evaluate their impact on MS. In the photo she is demonstrating how industrialization is decreasing microbiome diversity.

And all around them — their teams, heads down, hands busy, doing the kind of careful, rigorous work that moves the needle on some of immunology’s most stubborn questions about root causes of autoimmune disease. 

What are they working on?

The hidden viral link behind autoimmune disease

2022 Praespero Innovation Award Winner Dr. Marc Horwitz and his team have spent years exploring something the mainstream scientific community wasn’t yet ready to hear: the role that common viruses like Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) play in triggering autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes.

It's painstaking, high-stakes science. Horwitz Lab developed a groundbreaking novel "humanized mouse" model that mimics the biomarkers involved in how EBV may translate into MS in humans. Today his lab is the only one in North America offering this particular model and is one out of two or three around the world with it. They've also helped produce a fundamental shift in how the field understands B cells — once thought to be relatively unimportant — and their critical role in driving autoimmune disease.

They've also helped produce a fundamental shift in how the field understands B cells — once thought to be relatively unimportant — and their critical role in driving autoimmune disease.

"The funding came at a pivotal time, allowing experiments that parlayed our work into multiple grants to better define the important cell types in MS affected by EBV and to improve the models of MS," says Dr. Horwitz. You can read more on Dr. Horwitz’s research in our Impact Report. 

Exploring the gut ecosystem and its role in autoimmunity 2024 Praespero Innovation Award Winner, Dr. Lisa Osborne moved us in a beautifully complementary direction — deep into the ecosystem that lives within us. Dr. Osborne studies how the body recognizes and responds to the diverse species that reside in our gut — from microscopic viruses to helminth worms — and how that recognition shapes immune balance. She's particularly interested in organisms we humans have lost over millennia and what their absence might mean for autoimmune activation.

She's particularly interested in organisms we humans have lost over millennia and what their absence might mean for autoimmune activation.

"With Praespero's funding, we have been given the freedom to ask and explore interesting questions about how the intestinal ecosystem shapes autoimmune susceptibility, severity, and progression. Our goal is to turn this fundamental understanding into something that could be really helpful for treating people with autoimmunity in a more effective way," says Dr. Osborne. Viral DNA meets collaboration to benefit Lupus discovery

We also had the pleasure of visiting a third lab during our time at UBC — that of Dr. Tokuyama, a viral immunologist with expertise on Lupus who has recently joined the Praespero community.

Dr. Tokuyama’s lab studies how endogenous retroviruses, fragments of viral DNA embedded within our own genome that she calls “fossils” — may influence how autoimmune diseases like lupus develop and progress. Did you know that an estimated 8% of our DNA is made up of these “fossils”?   Understanding these hidden viral fingerprints could ultimately help predict disease outcomes and open new doors for patients.

Praespero has been supporting Dr. Tokuyama by sponsoring her team’s attendance at Praespero Summits — and by her account, those connections have been transformative.

"Praespero's summits and meetings bring people together and create these connections. By talking with colleagues, I can share what I've been thinking about and hear how others approach similar questions. This has led to productive conversations that foster collaboration with translational potential," says Dr. Tokuyama.

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From individual labs to collective impact

One of the aspects of the tour that impacted Laurie Venning the most was the collaborative culture that is forming across labs, not just within a university but across Canada and across disciplines.

“One of the things we believe most deeply at Praespero is that the bioscience community — brilliant as it is — tends to be highly competitive and siloed,” says Venning.

“Real progress on autoimmune disease urgently needs collaboration. Encouraging collaboration is revolutionary in this space!”

“It’s important to define what collaboration means. Collaboration can be simply sharing ideas, and that's something that Praespero Summits facilitates.” notes Dr. Osborne.

“Praespero is curating a community of people to who are all interested in autoimmunity and immune regulation, and the willingness to freely share expertise, ideas, and insights will move all of our research programs forward.”

Most recently, we've been so excited to see how Praespero Summits inspired all three scientists to collaborate with colleagues (including Dr. May Choi, a clinician-scientist focused on Systemic Lupus Erythematosous from the University of Alberta, who they met at the 2025 Praespero Summit!), to initiate and advance a collaborative called the Autoimmune Biomedical Collaborative Research Cluster (ABC).

“We’re pleased to see this group taking the Praespero vision and running with it on their own, leveling up the urgent need for collaboration in this space.”

Inspired by the connection and open exchange that defines our Praespero Summit format, they launched the ABC with financial backing from UBC to forge the kinds of cross-disciplinary partnerships that can unlock truly innovative solutions to global autoimmune health challenges.

“The ABC cluster brings together people with diverse expertise and disease perspectives, so we can tackle that larger question together rather than in isolation,” says Dr. Tokuyama.

“At a recent ABC cluster session we discussed overlaps between diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease — we can borrow ideas from other areas to advance our own questions. Even if I’m not an expert in another disease, I can understand their approach and consider applying it to my work.” 

The cluster launched with 15 biomedical and clinical researchers in May 2025 and grew to over 60 members by September that same year. ABC is hosting their first Symposium in June 2026! You can read more about the collective at autoimmune.ubc.ca.

“We’re pleased to see this group taking the Praespero vision and running with it on their own, leveling up the urgent need for collaboration in this space,” says Venning.  “Seeing the ABC research cluster take shape is exciting evidence that our foundation is truly shifting the culture beyond the walls of our Summits.”

“The hope is to impact our knowledge of disease, develop diagnostics, treatments and possibly cures to stop autoimmune disease,” added Dr. Horwitz. “Praespero has created an environment of scientists that clearly want to share their work, discuss their ideas, and collaborate on future ideas."

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We'll be sharing much more in the coming weeks about the remarkable work these scientists and their teams have been advancing.

“I am genuinely moved and energized by what I witnessed on this visit — the discoveries, the insights, the camaraderie in those labs, and the collaboration that is now rippling outward far beyond UBC,” says Venning.

“This is exactly why Praespero exists.” 💙