John Aitchison

Dr. John Aitchison is Professor, President and Director at the Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR). As a student, he studied biochemistry, ializing in biotechnology and genetic engineering at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. There, in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Rachubinski, he investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for sorting proteins into peroxisomes. After receiving his PhD, Dr. Aitchison performed his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Günter Blobel at Rockefeller University. In Dr. Blobel’s lab, Dr. Aitchison applied classic cell biology techniques and yeast genetics to the study of protein import into the nucleus. During this time, he began to apply large-scale proteomics to the problem, which he continued as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta until joining the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) as a founding faculty member in 2000.

Dr. Aitchison’s laboratory exploits systems-based assays and analyses to reveal and understand complex biological phenomena. For much of his career, his lab has focused on yeast as a model for developing systems biology approaches. He joined the Center for Infectious Disease Research in 2011 in order to bring systems biology to infectious disease research and use the challenges of infectious diseases to develop systems biology. Dr. Aitchison maintains a joint position at ISB and CIDR, building a partnership between the two organizations and remaining at the cutting-edge of systems biology while bringing new developments to infectious disease research.

Dr. Aitchison also holds affiliate appointments at the University of Washington, University of Alberta, and University of British Columbia and Rockefeller University. He is a member of the Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biomolecular Structural Design Graduate Programs at the University of Washington.