Department of Pathology

Adjunct Faculty

Biography

Dr. Mark Fast is a Professor at AVC-UPEI and adjunct at the University of Georgia, working on salmon health for over 20 years focusing on host-pathogen interactions, comparative immunology and vaccinology. Since 2018, Dr. Fast’s research group has been involved in over $10 Million of funded research understanding the impacts of temperature and climate change on viral, bacterial and parasitic infections and co-infections in salmon. Additionally, Dr. Fast’s group has authored over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 7 book chapters related to salmon and their interactions with different pathogens, using genomic and proteomic techniques to assess immunophysiology of fish.

Dr. Fast’s research lab has a high throughput molecular suite (qPCR, ddPCR, ELISA, etc.), next generation sequencing capacity (MiSeq on site; NovaSeq, etc pipelines) and a premier aquatic biocontainment level II facility (> 8000 ft2), for infectious disease work, enabling all aspects of disease transmission, product testing and efficacy to be completed.

Education

  • PhD, Dalhousie University, 2005
  • MSc, Atlantic Veterinary College-University of Prince Edward Island, 2001
  • BSc, Dalhousie University, 1999

Research Interests

Immunology, host-pathogen interactions, fish health and infectious disease

going beyond the expected