University of Saskatchewan

Western College of Veterinary Medicine

Koester, Wolfgang

Adjunct Professor
Veterinary Microbiology
Office Location: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)
Phone: 306-966-7478 or 306-966-8871
Email: wolfgang.koester@usask.ca

Profile

Wolfgang Koester is a research scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) and an adjunct professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Academic Credentials

Teaching and Clinical Areas

Dr. Koester has supervised three post doctoral fellows, 10 PhD students, six Masters/Diploma students, a number of technicians and numerous undergraduate students. He is experienced in teaching lectures, seminars and practical courses at all university levels in the areas of microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology and environmental sciences with teaching duties at Universities in Germany and Switzerland, and now at the University of Saskatchewan.

Research Interests

Dr. Koester currently holds the “NSERC/Bioniche Associate Industrial Research Chair in Vaccines to Reduce Food and Water Contamination” with the long-term goal to develop effective intervention strategies in order to reduce the amount of bacterial pathogens in animals used for food production. He is interested in various aspects of food and water safety, virulence mechanisms of pathogenic bacteria and host-pathogen interactions.

As a post-doctorate fellow of the German Science Foundation (DFG), he investigated bacterial vitamin B12 uptake in the laboratory of Professor R.J. Kadner, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. As well, he worked as an assistant professor on bacterial iron transport at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

He was a visiting scientist (Cantarini Fellowship of the Institut Pasteur and Fellowship of the CNRS) at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
As a senior scientist, he was leading the group 'Drinking Water Microbiology', at the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Dübendorf, Switzerland. There he studied survival strategies of bacteria in the environment, molecular detection methods for microbes, and metal homeostasis in unicellular green algae.

From 1999-2003 he served as Swiss Delegate and “invited expert” at various events related to safe drinking water of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Publications

Desin TS, Lam PK, Koch B. Mickael C, Berberov E, Wisner AL, Townsend HG. Potter AA, Koester W. 2009. "Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis pathogenicity island 1 is not essential for but facilitates rapid systemic spread in chickens." Infection and Immunity. 2866-75.

Desin TS, Lam PK, Koch B, Mickael C, Berberov E, Wisner AL, Townsend HG, Potter AA, Koester W. 2009. "Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis pathogenicity island 1 is not essential for but facilitates rapid systemic spread in chickens." Infection and Immunity. 2866-75