Snyder Institute member Dr. Pere Santamaria named one of Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants for his discovery of new drugs to treat autoimmune diseases

Dr. Pere Santamaria, MD, PhD, knows how difficult it can be to live with an autoimmune disease, a diagnosis he received when he was 15 years old. But his scientific discovery at the University of Calgary of a new class of drugs called Navacims has the potential to open new doors to treatment for a range of autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 diabetes, celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease.

Even with this groundbreaking discovery in the works, he wasn't expecting to be nominated as a top Canadian immigrant. “I was surprised when I was told that I had been nominated,” said Santamaria, a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease at UCalgary’s Cumming School of Medicine and a member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. “It’s rewarding, and it feels good. It’s very nice to feel recognized for your efforts.” Read more about the award.

In 2019, Santamaria made headlines around the world when his UCalgary spin-off company, Parvus Therapeutics, discovered a potentially groundbreaking investigational treatment called Navacims. Discovered through research at UCalgary, Navacims is a precision nanomedicine designed to trigger a naturally occurring regulatory mechanism within the immune system to protect against autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Learn more about Navacims.