Olivia Lou, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

research administration partnerships alliance management biological sciences health sciences immunology and microbiology autoimmune diseases

About

I began my scientific career at the University of Alberta, working in a T-cell signaling lab in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology while completing my Bachelor of Science at the UofA. I continued my training in New York City, where I earned my Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis at Cornell University’s Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Weill Medical College.

After my time in academia, I joined Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), an international non-profit funding organization, where I spent nearly two decades in research administration and related leadership roles. My experience spans pre- and post-award grants management, peer review, research operations, and project management, with a particular understanding of the program officer and funder perspective. I also led teams responsible for international partnerships, business development, and clinical trials, and helped design and implement public-private partnerships linking government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations.

Throughout my career, my focus has been on supporting researchers: helping to facilitate resources, broker collaborations, and build the structures, relationships, and processes that allow strong research to move forward. As a Senior Research Partner, I lead the team of Research Partners supporting pre-award proposal development for the College of Natural and Applied Sciences research community. I am pleased to work with researchers as they develop and advance their research goals.

Research

My research career has spanned cellular immunology, translational research, clinical studies, and research partnerships. I began in basic science, studying how immune cells move, communicate, and contribute to inflammation. My doctoral work focused on how neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, cross blood vessel walls during immune responses.

I later worked in autoimmune disease research, with a focus on type 1 diabetes and its complications. I contributed to large national and international studies on prediction, prevention, care, and treatment, including work on diabetes technologies, pregnancy outcomes, early detection, disease progression, and therapies aimed at changing the course of disease.

Across this work, I have been especially interested in how strong research programs are built through clear evidence, well-designed studies, interdisciplinary approaches, effective partnerships, and collaboration across sectors. My current work draws on this broad research background to help connect ideas, people, resources, and structures so that research goals can move forward.

Teaching

My teaching experience includes work as an adjunct professor in the natural sciences, a graduate teaching assistant in immunology, and as an instructor in the arts. Across these roles, I have enjoyed supporting learners in both scientific and creative settings.

• Publications - Google Scholar Profile, Olivia Lou
• Research Partner Network, Office of the Vice-President (Research)