Awards and recognition
Celebrating the career and retirement of Dr. Brett Finlay
We would like to extend our congratulations to Dr. Brett Finlay (Michael Smith Laboratories, Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) on his career and retirement.
Dr. Brett Finlay cuts the cake at his retirement celebration on June 17, 2026.
Brett developed an interest in the sciences early on, being raised by two biologist parents in Edmonton, Alberta. When he went to apply for school at the University of Alberta, he struggled to decide between his interests in chemistry and biology.
“I asked the biology department for their curriculum, and said, where’s the chemistry course? They said there was none, so I went to the chemistry department and asked, where’s the biology course? But their answer was the same,” shares Brett. “Then I found this thing called biochemistry, the chemistry of biology, and even though I had no idea what it was I thought it sounded really cool. So, I ended up doing my Honours Bachelor in Biochemistry there.”
He worked in different labs over the summers during his undergrad, one of which invited him to stay on to complete his PhD. His doctoral thesis work focused on pili, a hairlike structure on the outside of bacterial cells. He then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Stanley Falkow at Stanford studying disease-causing bacteria.
It was after completing his postdoc that Brett was one of the first faculty members recruited to the Michael Smith Laboratories (then the Biotechnology Laboratory) in 1989 by Dr. Michael Smith.
From left to right: Drs. Michael Smith, Terry Snutch, Brett Finlay, and Doug Kilburn in the early days of the Michael Smith Laboratories (then the Biotechnology Laboratory).
“During one of my recruitment visits, I was staying on West Broadway. Mike strategically drove me along Spanish Banks, taking the scenic route,” Brett shares, reflecting on a fun story from his recruitment to the MSL. “Until I moved here, I didn’t know any other routes existed and I thought you had to go along the beach to get to campus.”
Quite a lot has changed since the time he joined UBC – most notable to Brett being the technology behind the science. When reflecting on this, he shared that it’s become “less about what you could do, and more about what you should do,” emphasizing the importance of asking creative, interesting questions in research.
This mentality is visible in how he approached his research, and how it evolved over time.
Brett’s work for the first two thirds of his career was heavily focused on host-pathogen interactions, specifically with regards to Salmonella (which causes diarrhea and typhoid fever) and pathogenic E. coli (which can also cause diarrhea, as well as other types of infection).
One of his breakthrough papers came when the lab was studying E. coli, where they discovered that the bacteria was able to insert a molecule into the cell membrane, enter the cell, and hang onto it. This was the first time bacteria were observed to insert their own receptors onto host cells, and this finding provided a pathway for vaccinating against E. coli infection – though not in humans.
“I was out for a run and I just about tripped, it was one of those moments,” he shares. “I realized, if cows are carrying E. coli and children are getting sick from eating the meat, let’s vaccinate the cows.”
Brett has published three books about the microbiome, and how to leverage the microbiome to stay healthy.
His research shifted later on when, during a lab retreat, someone posed the question: “What about the bacteria in the gut that we know nothing about?” They then began to sequence the microbiome and explore how changes in the microbiome could impact disease outcomes. A comment from Jane, his wife and a pediatrician, about how kids were developing asthma more often when they were given antibiotics early in life steered the lab to study the role of the microbiome in asthma more specifically.
While his work always remained in the realm of host-microbe interactions, it evolved over time from only exploring pathogenic interactions, to also looking at the microbiome and how the microbes in the gut interact with us and impact health and disease.
He’s been recognized with a number of significant awards and accolades for his research, such as being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, being awarded the Order of British Columbia, and being inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. While he’s honoured by these accolades, he sees them as accomplishments belonging to the whole lab.
Brett also feels that his trainees are truly his biggest career accomplishment. He’s now trained over 120 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, many who have gone on to hold their own faculty positions around the world.
Finlay lab 30th anniversary reunion in 2019.
“That’s proud scientific parenting,” Brett reflects. “I have always said if you surround yourself with good people, good things happen. I was very blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people in the lab.”
Brett’s outstanding mentorship was recognized in 2025 by the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who awarded him the John McNeill Excellence in Health Research Mentorship Award.
Brett already knows how to play the clarinet, flute, and saxophone (pictured here playing the sax at the 2007 MSL holiday party). He is now excited to be learning to play the drums.
He is now going to be joining the ranks of our faculty emeriti in retirement.
“I’m going to miss sitting down with students and going over their data, especially when someone comes in all excited with a neat result,” he shares. “I’ll also miss the constant joy of learning new things.”
He’s excited, though, about the new opportunities he’ll have in retirement – with plans to take up a new (fourth) instrument, go rock climbing, and spend more time with his grandkids.
“I’m looking forward to just enjoying the world, because the world is an amazing place.”
We’re wishing Brett all the best as he embarks on this next chapter.
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