Alex Wong, Carleton University

Research

Antimicrobial Resistance Infectious Disease Metagenomics Stewardship Surveillance Targeted Metagenomics Antibiotic Resistance Evolutionary Theory

Latest papers

Processing of lysophosphatidylcholines by ExoU secreted by P. aeruginosa leads to inflammasome activation and cell death.
Cell reports · 2026
Persistence of non-typhoidal Salmonella across hosts and environments: a One Health perspective.
Frontiers in microbiology · 2026
Targeted metatranscriptomic detection of viruses from floors for simultaneous evaluation of respiratory disease burden and viral variant identification.
mSphere · 2026 · senior author

All 68 publications

Latest funding

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)
CIHR · 2025 · Nominated PI
$604,351
Evolutionary Panoramas - Fitness Landscapes in Deep Time
NSERC · 2024 · Principal investigator
$54,000
Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)
CIHR · 2024 · Nominated PI
$100,000

All 12 grants and awards

68 publications.

01

Processing of lysophosphatidylcholines by ExoU secreted by P. aeruginosa leads to inflammasome activation and cell death.

Phuong MS, Mahdi A, Cai D, Noah K, Rijal D, Kaul R, Bhan A, Yadav S, Ariana A, El Hamra R, Chen W, Kassen R, Hernandez R, Wong A, Frank DW, Pier GB, Cheng Z, Cuperlovic-Culf M, Bennett SAL, Sad S

Cell reports2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.118037 PMID: 42771524

02

Persistence of non-typhoidal Salmonella across hosts and environments: a One Health perspective.

Abdelgany A, Wong A, Guan J

Frontiers in microbiology2026

DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1830232 PMID: 42553265

03

Targeted metatranscriptomic detection of viruses from floors for simultaneous evaluation of respiratory disease burden and viral variant identification.

Carroll AC, Hinz A, Hicks AMA, Khov E, Van Bakel T, Doukhanine E, Fralick M, Nott C, Kassen R, Thampi N, Hug LA, MacFadden D, Wong A

mSphere2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00086-26 PMID: 42007699

04

Mutational basis of ceftazidime-borrelidin A collateral sensitivity in Escherichia coli.

Phillips LL, Carrasco A, Weiss J, Liu DY, Linington RG, Wong A

G3 (Bethesda, Md.)2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkag046 PMID: 41773311

05

Comment on: Distinct population structure and genomic context of NarAB between broiler and human clinical Enterococcus isolates.

Wong A

The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2026First author

DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkag134 PMID: 41982053

06

Gulls as reservoirs and vectors of high-risk, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Atlantic Canada: emergence of CMY-2-producing ST648.

Sallem R, Bouallegue O, Quinlan T, Theriault M, Kaouass M, Craik S, Wong A

Canadian journal of microbiology2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1139/cjm-2025-0240 PMID: 42013572

07

SARS-CoV-2 detection is independent of microbiome composition on surfaces in a major Ontario hospital.

George NA, Bradford L, Hinz A, El Kadi M, Xing L, Doukhanine E, MacFadden DR, Nott C, Fralick M, Kassen R, Wong A, Hug LA

PloS one2025

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326403 PMID: 41343559

08

Sequencing and variant calling of SARS-CoV-2 from floor swabs: a potential tool for identifying emergent lineages.

Hodzic-Santor B, Hinz A, Kassen R, Liu JL, Djambazian H, Lee S, Hicks A, Sjaarda C, Wong H, Sheth PM, Nott C, MacFadden DR, Roy AM, Ragoussis J, Castellani L, Fralick M, Wong A

Microbial genomics2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.001575 PMID: 41417279

09

Nearly a century of discoveries in bacterial genetics and their continuing impact on the field.

Baltrus DA, Merrikh H, Uecker H, Wong A

G3 (Bethesda, Md.)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkaf225 PMID: 41223131

10

Nearly a century of discoveries in bacterial genetics and their continuing impact on the field.

Baltrus DA, Merrikh H, Uecker H, Wong A

Genetics2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyaf205 PMID: 41222158

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Nominated PICIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex; Fralick, Michael P; Hug, Laura A; Kassen, Rees; MacFadden, Derek R; Nott, Caroline

Keywords: Antimicrobial Resistance; Infectious Disease; Metagenomics; Stewardship; Surveillance; Targeted Metagenomics

$604,351

Evolutionary Panoramas - Fitness Landscapes in Deep Time

Principal investigatorNSERC2024Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

Keywords: evolutionary genetics; experimental evolution; epistasis; genetic interactions; phylogenetic comparative methods

$54,000

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant - PA: Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies Research

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex; Fralick, Michael P; Hug, Laura A; Kassen, Rees; MacFadden, Derek R; Nott, Caroline

Keywords: Antimicrobial Resistance; Infectious Disease; Metagenomics; Stewardship; Surveillance; Targeted Metagenomics

$100,000

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant - PA - Pandemics/Health Emergencies Res. - Multi-Year Funding

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex; Fralick, Michael P; Hug, Laura A; Kassen, Rees; MacFadden, Derek R; Nott, Caroline

Keywords: Antimicrobial Resistance; Infectious Disease; Metagenomics; Stewardship; Surveillance; Targeted Metagenomics

$200,000

Evaluation of ultraviolet-C decontamination of medical masks during the COVID-19 crisis_x000d_ _x000d_

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

$50,000

COVID-19 in the urban built environment (CUBE): SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in high traffic hospital settings_x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_

Co-investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Kassen, Rees

$50,000

Population size and the limits of natural selection

Principal investigatorNSERC2018Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

$193,510

Platform for the analysis of microbial growth, competition, and interaction

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

$88,745

Predicting the Persistence of Resistance Across Environments (PREPARE)

Nominated PICIHR2016Team Grant: Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR)

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

Keywords: Antibiotic Resistance; Evolutionary Theory; Genomics; Microbiology

$202,500

Workstation for high throughput genetic and phenotypic assays

Principal investigatorNSERC2014Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Principal investigators: Wong, Alex

$108,868

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Co-authors at Carleton University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Mohan Babu

Chemistry and Biochemistry

3 shared papers, latest 2019

Subash Sad

Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology

2 shared papers, latest 2026

Allison McGeer

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

2 shared papers, latest 2024

Henry Wong

School of Kinesiology and Health Studies

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Marie-Claude Audet

Nutrition Sciences

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Thien-Fah Mah

Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology

1 shared papers, latest 2016

Kumanan Wilson

Department of Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2020

David Patrick

School of Population and Public Health

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Suzanne Hindmarch

Community Health and Epidemiology

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Zhenyu Cheng

Microbiology and Immunology

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Miroslava Cuperlovic-Culf

Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Jennie Johnstone

Clinical Public Health Division

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Scott Weese

Pathobiology

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Antimicrobial Resistance Dear Professor Wong, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Processing of lysophosphatidylcholines by ExoU secreted by P. aeruginosa leads to inflammasome activation and cell death." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Alex Wong

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Processing of lysophosphatidylcholines by ExoU secreted by P. aeruginosa leads to inflammasome activation and cell death.

Persistence of non-typhoidal Salmonella across hosts and environments: a One Health perspective.

Targeted metatranscriptomic detection of viruses from floors for simultaneous evaluation of respiratory disease burden and viral variant identification.

Mutational basis of ceftazidime-borrelidin A collateral sensitivity in Escherichia coli.

Comment on: Distinct population structure and genomic context of NarAB between broiler and human clinical Enterococcus isolates.

Gulls as reservoirs and vectors of high-risk, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Atlantic Canada: emergence of CMY-2-producing ST648.

SARS-CoV-2 detection is independent of microbiome composition on surfaces in a major Ontario hospital.

Sequencing and variant calling of SARS-CoV-2 from floor swabs: a potential tool for identifying emergent lineages.

Nearly a century of discoveries in bacterial genetics and their continuing impact on the field.

Nearly a century of discoveries in bacterial genetics and their continuing impact on the field.

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Evolutionary Panoramas - Fitness Landscapes in Deep Time

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP)

Evaluation of ultraviolet-C decontamination of medical masks during the COVID-19 crisis_x000d_ _x000d_

COVID-19 in the urban built environment (CUBE): SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in high traffic hospital settings_x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_

Population size and the limits of natural selection

Platform for the analysis of microbial growth, competition, and interaction

Predicting the Persistence of Resistance Across Environments (PREPARE)

Workstation for high throughput genetic and phenotypic assays

Frequent collaborators

Alex Wong

Rees Kassen

Rees Kassen

Caroline Nott

Caroline Nott

Michael Fralick

Nisha Thampi

Mohan Babu

Derek MacFadden

Derek MacFadden

Subash Sad

Allison McGeer

Francesco Marchetti

Henry Wong

Marie-Claude Audet

Patrick Fafard

Thien-Fah Mah

Kumanan Wilson

David Patrick

Suzanne Hindmarch

Zhenyu Cheng

Miroslava Cuperlovic-Culf

Jennie Johnstone

Andrew Morris

Andrew Morris

Scott Weese