Pascal Lavoie

My research focuses on understanding why newborn babies are more vulnerable to infections, and how we can better protect them, especially from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and sepsis. I study both how common and severe these infections are (epidemiology), and how the newborn immune system responds to germs. To answer these questions, I combine lab-based science and clinical research. This includes studying the immune system at a molecular level, using tools like "-omics" technologies, as well as working with patients and families through large clinical and population health studies. As a clinician-scientist and neonatologist, I also provide hands-on care to critically ill newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at BC Women’s Hospital. I am also the Medical Director of the infant RSV immunization program in British Columbia. These multiple roles ensure that my research remains grounded in the real-world challenges faced by newborns and their families, and directly informs the development of evidence-based interventions to reduce the global burden of infections in neonates and young infants.