LMP
lmp news
INVESTIGATING DISEASE.
IMPACTING HEALTH.
VOL. 17 NO. 3 – 2015
Comments from the Chair
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
3 | Feature Story
Greetings to everyone!
I trust you are enjoying an exciting summer.
When we take stock of our accomplishments over
the past year, I continue to be impressed by the
calibre of our faculty, staff, students and trainees
— our leadership and collective drive for success.
By excelling at all levels of research, education and
clinical service, LMP continues to be a leader in our field.
Our Undergraduate Pathobiology Specialist Student Union (LMPSU)
organized the highly successful undergraduate Conference on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine with more than 200 attendees. Featuring an
excellent lineup of highly accomplished speakers, a non-profit networking
fair and a panel discussion, the conference informed guests about the latest
trends in regenerative medicine research and clinical practice. LMPSU
also hosted numerous academic seminars, highlighting internationally
renowned experts who spoke about pressing issues of our time. Not only
do these events increase LMP’s profile within the U of T community, they
also foreshadow our students’ ability to ascend to future leadership roles
locally, nationally and globally.
LMP graduate students showcased their remarkable work at our
annual Graduate Research Conference. Our largest held to date, this year’s
conference represented the full breadth of study at LMP, including cancer,
cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience, blood, immunology,
infectious diseases and so much more. The event included alumni
connections seminars, where students learned from LMP alumni how to
search for careers and network.
The LMP Postgraduate Research Day focused on the future of
pathology and laboratory medicine practice. This is a future where pathologists will increasingly play a central role in genetic testing, risk prediction,
diagnosis, prognosis and treatment as we move into the era of “precision
TRAINING IN TORONTO,
TRANSFORMING GLOBAL HEALTH
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| Inspirational Alumni
|Research
|Education
| LMP History
| Life at LMP
LMP ANNUAL BANQUET
AN EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT
AND CELEBRATION
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| Awards & Honours
|Announcements
|Events
|Funding
|Publications
| Off the Clock at LMP
www.lmp.utoronto.ca
COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR
LMP News
Vol. 17 No. 3 ­– 2015
LMP News is a communication of the
Department of Laboratory Medicine and
Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto.
Please send your submissions to:
Katie Babcock, Newsletter Editor &
Web & Communications Coordinator
1 King’s College Circle, Rm 6221
Toronto, ON M5S 1A8
Tel:416-946-7707
Email:katie.babcock@utoronto.ca
medicine.” Pathologists and laboratory physicians are well suited to bridge the
gap between basic science and clinical practice, and this highlights the importance
of research for our residency-training program. This theme extended to dynamic
poster and podium presentations and a two-hour interactive genomic pathology
workshop on how molecular genomics can improve patient management.
In an exciting initiative, Professor Isabelle Aubert hosted LMP’s Inaugural
Neuroscience Research Day. Eight world-leading experts presented the latest basic,
translational and clinical neuroscience research on areas including cancer, environmental toxins, prion diseases and drug development. Opportunities like these, where
researchers come together, can lead to new collaborations and innovations.
Our faculty, students and staff continue to excel at winning awards and
raising LMP’s profile. LMP faculty have been widely recognized by numerous
scholarly and professional organizations for their impact in education, research
and clinical practice. Our students, trainees and staff were also recognized for
their leadership and research initiatives.
At no other time during the academic year is our collective success more evident
than at our Annual Banquet, an entertaining evening dedicated to celebrating LMP’s
accomplishments. This year we were honoured to welcome Dean Trevor Young to our
celebration. Guests enjoyed a highly competitive trivia game, a video compilation of
the year’s events and the LMP Dance Crew’s latest performance.
The Annual Banquet is just one of the many events LMP hosts throughout
the year, but it encapsulates all that LMP represents — a department of
distinction, in a respectful, collegial and enjoyable environment.
Going forward, LMP continues to work on implementing our five-year
strategic plan Vision 2020. There will be profound changes ahead in education
programs and curricula, research funding mechanisms and advances in clinical
practice. We are well prepared to embrace the future and continue to improve
and increase our impact.
Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I look forward to a productive
2015–2016 academic year!
Richard G. Hegele, MD, FRCPC, PhD
Professor and Chair
FEATURE
TRAINING
IN TORONTO,
TRANSFORMING
GLOBAL HEALTH
It was her first time travelling outside
of Africa, and it was an experience that
didn’t disappoint. Elizabeth Kagotho, a
clinical pathology resident from Aga Khan
University Hospital in Kenya, recently
completed a two-month observership in
hematological pathology at U of T.
She coordinated her visit through
LMP Professor Rumina Musani.While
working at the University Health Network
and St. Michael’s Hospital, Kagotho
analyzed blood samples to diagnose diseases.
Upon her arrival, Kagotho hit the
ground running and learned how to use
flow cytometry, a laser-based technology
that characterizes blood cells in different
types of diseases.This diagnostic tool is
especially useful when distinguishing
between different types of blood cancers.
Kagotho explains how her training
has helped her to become a better
clinician and how her experience will
change her work in Kenya.
What was your day-to-day
experience like?
When I arrived in Toronto, I started by
interpreting results from the flow lab, and
then I learned how to use the technology
to run the samples. Every week I was
assigned to a new pathologist.They would
create the original report, then I would
provide the diagnosis and we would then
review my interpretation. It was a great
one-on-one learning experience because
they could give me immediate feedback on
how to improve.
What have you learned from your
experience as an observer?
I’ve learned many things, but I’ve really
enjoyed learning flow cytometry. Aga Khan
is one of the few institutions in Kenya that
has a working flow cytometry machine,
but we really don’t have a lot of experience
with this technology. One of the main
issues is that when we’re troubleshooting
technical issues, we don’t really know what
to do.With my experience here, I now
know how to address these problems. Also,
in Kenya we see one sample per week and
in Toronto I saw 60 samples per day! As a
result, I had the opportunity to learn from
so many experts and when I go back home
I’ll be the expert.
What did you enjoy most about your
time in Toronto?
I was impressed with the wide variety of
cases. I’ve read books and I know what
certain diseases are supposed to look like,
but now I’ve seen these cases in real life.
Toronto has a diverse population, and it has
patients with all sorts of different diseases.
It also has an aging population — since
my country has a lower life expectancy, we
don’t get to see some of the diseases that
arise in older people.
I also enjoyed being trained by
top-quality experts. Pathologists around
the world use a manual called the WHO
Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and
Lymphoid Tissues. One of the pathologists
here is an author of this manual, and when
I met her it was like meeting a star.
How will this experience change the
way you practice medicine?
When I go back home I have a lot of
work to do. Most pathologists in Kenya
diagnose hematological malignancies, or
blood cancers, by looking at a slide under
a microscope. But this method isn’t very
accurate or specific. It’s important to
know exactly what type of cancer you’re
dealing with because that could result in a
different treatment. I’m excited to use flow
cytometry because it’s the gold standard for
diagnosis and it can differentiate between
different cancers.With the education I
have received here I can effectively manage
patients better in Kenya.
Why is this type of experience so
important?
It’s really a global exchange of ideas. Since
this program has empowered me, I will go
and empower others in Africa. At the end
of the day, patients will receive better care
and will live because of what I’ve learned at
U of T.This program also counteracts brain
drain — I’ll be going back to my country
and will be investing in its future.
What are your next steps?
After my experience in Toronto, my life
will never be the same again. Since my
life has changed, I know that my future
patients’ lives will never be the same,
either. I have a much better grasp of how
to use diagnostic tools and I owe this to
my time in this program.
In the future, I hope to join the
one-year hematological pathology
fellowship program at U of T.These past
two months have been amazing, and I
can only imagine how one year could
transform my life even more. n
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
3
INSPIRATIONAL ALUMNI
THE PERFECT FIT
Combining the power of cardiovascular
pathology and industry experience
LMP Alumnus Edward Koo
When LMP alumnus
correlate it to a cause,” he said. “Every drug company needs
Edward Koo began his
to know the toxicity profile of their drugs because they must
PhD in experimental
report that information to regulatory agencies.”
cardiovascular pathology, he Before his current position at CardioVax, Koo was the
had no idea that one day
Director of Preclinical Development for the pharmaceutical
his graduate experience
and medical device company Hospira Inc. in Illinois. In that
would directly help him
position, he designed studies to show the efficacy and safety
to become the vice-presof drugs in animal models, later submitting them for approval
ident of a biotechnology
to the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada and
company.
other global regulatory agencies.
Koo recently landed
Among other roles, his focus was on developing generic
his dream job in March 2015 at CardioVax, a California-based
drugs, cheaper alternatives to proprietary ones. “At Hospira,
company that’s developing a vaccine
my team and I brought fifteen generic
“...YOUR GRADUATE
to treat or prevent atherosclerosis, or
drugs onto the market,” said Koo. “It
hardening of the arteries. “I have an
was really rewarding because we were
EXPERIENCE AT U OF T
extensive background in experimental
helping patients by developing drugs
MAKES YOU COMPETITIVE
cardiovascular pathology, and they
that were just as effective and a lot
ON THE INTERNATIONAL
also needed someone with industry
cheaper than the innovator products.”
experience to help them bring their
Asked for advice for students, Koo
STAGE, AND IF YOU WORK
drugs to the market — it’s a perfect
said, “It’s important to focus on what
HARD, YOU CAN FIND
fit,” said Koo. “I’m lucky because I’ll be
you’re doing for your thesis but to
SUCCESS IN ANY CAREER.” also try to learn about different topics
working on something that is really dear
to my heart.”
and techniques. The more you know,
In 1986, Koo joined the Department of Pathology, later to the better chance you’ll have at getting a job. My experience
become the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobi- is proof that your graduate experience at U of T makes you
ology. “I first became interested in pathology when I attended
competitive on the international stage, and if you work hard,
Dr. Emmanuel Farber’s undergraduate courses — his lectures
you can find success in any career.” n
were really motivating and stimulating. I was also interested in
studying cardiovascular pathology because it was, and still is,
the number one killer in Western countries.”
Koo earned his PhD with Professor Avrum Gotlieb
in cardiovascular pathology and atherosclerosis, and then
completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard-MIT
Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
When he began his career in the pharmaceutical industry,
he combined his expertise in pathology with toxicology.
“Quite often, toxicology of a drug is reflected in tissue
pathology. When a drug becomes toxic to tissues, you look
under the microscope to study the pathology and then you
4
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
RESEARCH
Presenters: Professors Cindi Morshead, Michael Pollanen, Isabelle Aubert, Cynthia Hawkins, Karim Mekhail, JoAnne McLaurin and Joel Watts
INAUGURAL NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH DAY
U of T’s top scientists present leading-edge neuroscience research
BY KATIE BABCOCK AND JOEY SILBURT (PhD)
From innovative research on brain cancer and neurodegenerative Kalia, from the Department of Medicine, who presented a new
disease to neuro-regenerative strategies and drug design, LMP’s
model for testing drugs for Parkinson’s disease. LMP Professor
Inaugural Neuroscience Research
Karim Mekhail then outlined the
“WHEN YOU SEE RESEARCH
Day featured an impressive breadth of
importance of RNA-DNA hybrids in
research.
ON CANCER, ENVIRONMENTAL disease and aging, and LMP Professor
Held on May 6, 2015, eight U of T
JoAnne McLaurin identified vascular
TOXINS, PRION DISEASES
neuroscience researchers presented their
defects linked to Alzheimer’s. AND DRUG DEVELOPMENT,
leading-edge research to more than
The closing speaker, Professor
66 attendees.
Don Weaver from the Department
IT REALLY BROADENS YOUR
The day started with LMP
of Medicine, showed how computer
PERSPECTIVE...”
Professor Cynthia Hawkins, who
simulations can help design drugs for
described distinct molecular features of
Alzheimer’s disease.
a fatal pediatric brain cancer. LMP Professor Michael Pollanen
“The speakers presented compelling new research findings,
followed with a case study on an epidemic of solvent vapour
often including unpublished data, and there was a great mix of
abuse in Whitedog, Ontario. He compared the brain damage
basic science and more clinically oriented research. Audience
caused by these solvents to an environmental disaster in Japan
participation was keen,” said LMP Professor and Research
that caused severe mercury poisoning.
Director Michelle Bendeck.
Professor Joel Watts, from the Department of Biochemistry,
Isabelle Aubert, Neuroscience Research Day organizer,
explained how Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s share similarities with agreed, “As a first research day for neuroscience it was great
infectious prion diseases. In contrast to these neurodegenerative
to see how the speakers and audience interacted — these
diseases, Professor Cindi Morshead from the Institute of Medical interactions will help to develop future collaborations. It was a
Science described the neuro-regenerative potential of the
great success! n
diabetes drug metformin.
“It’s great to be aware of different areas of neuroscience
research,” said LMP alumnus Tarek Ibrahim. “When you see
research on cancer, environmental toxins, prion diseases and drug
development, it really broadens your perspective on this vast and
complex field.”
The second half of the event featured Professor Lorraine
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
5
UNDERGRADUATE
Organizers Maya Deeb and Alena Zelinka
Front row: Lisa Qiu, Ashley Zhang and Andrew Rajkumar
Back row: Michael Nguyen, Sudarshan Bala, Charles Lee, Maya Deeb, Alena Zelinka,
Amber Cintosun, Stephanie Poon and Jelena Tanic
HEALING AND THE HEART
On Saturday, January 17, more than 200 “I think that this conference has
attendees gathered at the University
highlighted the promise of regenerative
of Toronto for Healing and the
medicine,” said LMP Professor Jason
Heart: Conference on Cardiovascular
Fish. “We’re still trying to figure out
Regenerative Medicine. From worldthe basics of how the cardiovascular
renowned presenters to a non-profit
system actually regenerates. This area
networking fair and panel discussion,
of research has a lot of promise and it’s
the event informed guests about the
going to take some time to translate
latest trends in regenerative medicine
that into the clinic.”
research and clinical practice.
“MY ONE TAKE AWAY IS THE
This impressive event was
organized by fourth-year LMP unEXPONENTIAL MOMENTUM
dergraduate students Maya Deeb and
WITH WHICH CARDIAC
Alena Zelinka, and members of the
REGENERATIVE RESEARCH
LMP Undergraduate Student Union
(LMPSU). They hosted this event
IS MOVING...”
because of the impact cardiovascular
disease has had on their families’ lives.
And they’re not alone. Cardiovascular
The second half of the day linked
disease is the leading cause of death
these insights to clinical practice.
and disability, affecting more than 71
Professors Richard Weisel, Vivek
million adults in North America.
Rao, Milica Radisic and Phyllis Billia
The first part of the conference
revealed how a patient’s bone marrow
featured an exploration of the
stem cells could regenerate the heart,
mechanisms of development, repair and
how the extracellular matrix acts as
regeneration of the cardiovascular system. a scaffold for this process and how
Professors Gordon Keller, Ian Scott, Paul
bioengineering and gene therapy could
Delgado Olguín and Jason Fish discussed
transform the future of clinical practice.
how stem cells could regenerate the heart, “All of the presentations were
how the zebrafish model system performs diverse and yet were interrelated.
this critical function and how blood
I really enjoyed all of the different
vessels are formed.
perspectives,” said undergraduate
attendee Sudarshan Bala.
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
“I especially enjoyed the presentation on
tissue engineering and applied research.”
Cardiovascular research is a high
priority for U of T. On November 20,
2014, the University announced that
it would partner with the Hospital for
Sick Children and University Health
Network to create the Ted Rogers
Centre for Heart Research — funded
by an unprecedented donation of $130
million from the Rogers family.
“I feel that our conference was
very successful, bringing together
over 200 individuals, including high
school students, undergraduate and
graduate students, scientists, and
members of the community,” said
Zelinka. “My one take away is the
exponential momentum with which
cardiac regenerative research is moving,
which allows me to look forward to
an explosion of exciting new therapies
within the next decade.”
Deeb agreed. “We asked our
speakers to capture the thoughts,
stimulate the minds and inspire the
genuine souls of a future generation
of scientists. Given the overwhelming
feedback we received, I think the
conference did just that.” n
PHOTOS: LISA QIU AND ASHLEY ZHANG
Conference on Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine
GRADUATE
Ruby Xu
Organizers Emily Mathieu and Mena Abdel-Nour with Professor and Chair Richard Hegele
and Professors Kevin Kain and Harry Elsholtz
First place poster competition winners
LMP GRADUATE RESEARCH
CONFERENCE
PHOTOS: PAUL HAMEL
100 posters, 200 attendees and 1 successful day
From cancer and diabetes to cardiovascular and infectious
excited because keynote speaker Dr. Kevin Kain talked about
how his basic science can progress to a clinical setting, saving
diseases, the research at the Annual LMP Graduate Research
hundreds of thousands of lives, and at the same time saving
Conference represented the Department’s full breadth of study.
hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
With more than 100 poster presentations and 200
attendees, this year’s conference was the largest to date. Held
At the alumni connections seminars, students learned how
on April 8, LMP’s graduate student
to search for careers and network. “This
“EVERY YEAR I LOOK
association (CLAMPS) organized the
is one of the best annual events for
conference, which included a wide
engaging new faculty members in our
FORWARD TO THIS
range of symposia, alumni connections
department, and also for reconnecting
CONFERENCE BECAUSE
seminars and keynote speaker Professor
with graduate alumni,” said Professor
IT’S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY
Kevin Kain.
Elsholtz. “Our alumni did a great job
“This was a record year for
sharing their career-planning ideas with
FOR ME TO LEARN ABOUT
poster presentations. And based on
the students.”
THE RESEARCH THAT MY
the comments I received from the
Students also enjoyed a video
COLLEAGUES ARE DOING.”
judges — the science was first-rate,”
highlighting conferences they’ve
said Professor Harry Elsholtz, LMP
attended throughout the year and the
Graduate Coordinator.
humorous “CLAMPSIES” awards.
Plenary speaker Kevin Kain presented “Saving lives, saving
Conference organizer and CLAMPS Vice-President
brains, saving money.” Kain described the challenges of saving
Academic Emily Mathieu said, “GRC is a chance for LMP
lives in low-resource settings and the difficulty of identifying
graduate students to share their research, get valuable feedback,
when an infection could lead to severe disease. “Real impact
network with their peers and, most importantly, eat awesome
means preventing deaths and disabilities in young children
Greek food!” n
and limiting the waste of scarce resources,” said Kain. He also
explained how his point-of-care biomarker tests could predict
See page 15 for this year’s winners.
the outcome of infections, saving time, money and lives.
“Every year I look forward to this conference because it’s
a great opportunity for me to learn about the research that
my colleagues are doing,” said Mena Abdel-Nour, conference
organizer and CLAMPS President. “This year I was especially
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
7
POSTGRADUATE
Research Day organizing committee with
Professor Richard Haspel (right)
Research Day participants
LMP POSTGRADUATE
RESEARCH DAY 2015
Why is research essential to pathology
practice? How is research and practice
changing over time and how can our
residents and trainees best prepare for
the future?
To address these important
questions, LMP hosted the annual
Postgraduate Research Day at U of T’s
Hart House on Wednesday, May 6.
With more than 70 attendees,
the theme of the highly successful
day was molecular testing, a timely
topic that is becoming an important
part of pathology practice. This theme
extended to dynamic poster and
podium presentations and a two-hour
interactive genomic pathology
workshop on how molecular genomics
can improve patient management.
“Our annual Postgraduate
Research Day was a great success,”
said Professor George Yousef, Director
of Postgraduate Research for LMP.
“Our guest speaker, Professor Richard
Haspel, delivered a great talk on
teaching genomics to pathology
residents.”
Haspel, a professor at Harvard
University and the Chair of the
Training Residents in Genomics
8
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Working Group, presented “Genomic
Pathology Education: An Urgent Need,
a New Approach.” He argued that
molecular testing has moved pathology
into a new era. He emphasized that
pathologists will increasingly play a
central role in genetic testing, risk
“WITH THESE NEW ADVANCES,
THERE IS A GROWING NEED
TO EXCEL IN RESEARCH
AS A FOUNDATION FOR
DISCOVERY.”
prediction, diagnosis, prognosis and
treatment.
Yousef explained the importance of
research in this new era. “With these new
advances, there is a growing need to excel
in research as a foundation for discovery,”
said Professor Yousef. “Pathologists and
laboratory physicians are the best suited
to bridge the gap between basic science
and the bedside, and this highlights the
importance of research for our residencytraining program.”
Anatomic Pathology resident and
one of the Research Day organizers
Diana Diaconescu said, “We had many
members of the program presenting
great research at the LMP Postgraduate
Research Day this year, and these
presentations made today very exciting.
Also, Dr. Haspel gave an extremely
informative and helpful interactive
workshop on genomic pathology,
which helped us learn a lot about this
subject.” n
See page 16 for this year’s winners.
LMP HISTORY
Medicine and Pathobiology for the new department formed in
June 1997.
“I was delighted that some very forward-looking people
were positive about the merger,” said Silver. “For a long time I
had thought that the merger would be successful, and it was my
most important accomplishment as Chair.”
Not only was Silver a progressive departmental leader,
he was also a pioneer in cardiovascular pathology. When he
first began to practice at Toronto General Hospital in 1965,
cardiovascular surgeons were using prosthetic valves followed by
heart transplantation. These exciting developments and others
required pathologists to study heart biopsies and to track and
report on the results of surgeries.
During this time, he also worked with the Office of the
Chief Coroner on cases involving sudden deaths. He recalls
the case of a 24-year-old woman. “In those days I used to do
detailed examinations of the heart’s conducting system, which
is like following a telephone wire from Toronto to London.”
With perseverance, he found a fatal tiny tumour on her atrio
ventricular node. “This gave enormous relief to her family to
know that it wasn’t a congenital problem and that there was
nothing they could have done.”
His groundbreaking work in cardiovascular pathology had
an immense impact on his trainees. “All teachers teach, but a
great teacher is one who inspires,” said Professor Jagdish Butany.
“Malcolm’s high expectations drove everyone to work hard and
to excel. I discovered my passion for prosthetic heart valves from
working with him, and I’ve continued that work ever since.”
This impact extended internationally. The text in Cardiovascular Pathology that Silver edited through three editions from
1983 has educated countless trainees in the field.
Today, LMP occupies a unique place within the Faculty of
Currently, with professional advice, Silver manages a
Medicine at U of T, spanning clinical practice in pathology
200-acre forest near Meaford. He is Chair of the Board of the
and laboratory medicine, and the full
Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, and
spectrum of basic, translational and
“I WAS DELIGHTED THAT SOME he writes articles for the Bruce Grey
clinical research. But how was this
Woodlot Association. He is also an avid
VERY FORWARD-LOOKING
department formed? And from where
birdwatcher and goes on two to three
did the name Laboratory Medicine and
PEOPLE WERE POSITIVE
trips each year — last year he went to
Pathobiology (LMP) originate?
Sri Lanka and Ethiopia, and this year he
ABOUT THE MERGER.”
Former Professor and Chair of
will travel to Spain and Iceland.
Pathology Malcolm Silver played an
As well, he has maintained his strong
integral role in initiating the merger of the Departments of
affiliation with LMP and each year the merit-based Meredith
Pathology, Clinical Biochemistry and Medical Microbiology
and Malcolm Silver Scholarship in Cardiovascular Studies is
which resulted in the creation of LMP. Silver graduated from
awarded to a graduate student in cardiovascular research.
medicine at the University of Adelaide in 1957 and trained in
Reflecting on his ongoing interest in the success of the
pathology for five years at McGill University, earning his MSc
Department, he said, “As Chair, Avrum Gotlieb was fantastic
and PhD in the process. He joined the Department of Pathology at reorganizing the governance of the new Department, and
at U of T in 1965 and served as Chair from 1985 to 1995.
getting people to work together. The Department blossomed
Working with Professor and Chair of Clinical Biochemistry with his guidance, and has continued to do so under the
Andrew Baines, Silver proposed a merger with Pathology in
leadership of Richard Hegele.”
1994. He believed that these two smaller departments could
He added, “This Department is impressive because basic
become stronger and more competitive by working together.
scientists and clinicians can work together to translate their
In 1995, a committee led by Professor Peter Pinkerton agreed
findings and tackle disease around the world.”n
that the two departments should unite and should also include
Medical Microbiology. The Faculty of Medicine’s Dean Arnold
Aberman appointed Professor Avrum Gotlieb as Acting Chair
to create a plan for a merger. At the end of the process, Gotlieb,
along with a merger committee, chose the name Laboratory
PROFESSOR EMERITUS
MALCOLM SILVER
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
9
LIFE AT LMP
John Prassas and Vicki Higgins
FACULTY VS. STUDENTS
VOLLEYBALL GAME 2015
BY JOEY SILBURT (PhD)
Wednesday, April 22, 2015, marked the annual LMP Faculty
vs. Students Volleyball Game. Pitting students against their
supervisors, this match was an all-out battle for ultimate
bragging rights. Reeling from their 2–1 loss to the faculty in
2014, the students looked for revenge.
And this year the faculty played without perennial pillar
Professor Eleftherios Diamandis, although he was present in
spirit both as an honorary coach and through the participation
of his lab of volleyball all-stars.
Led by Felix Leung, the students drew first blood and
took the first set 25–22 in a hotly contested affair. Bewildered
10
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
and looking for leadership, the faculty regrouped for the
second set. In an unusual move, the referee of the previous set,
CLAMPS Junior Sports Representative Vicki Higgins, joined
the fray.
However, set two shaped up decidedly differently. On the
back of Diamandis lab post-doctoral fellow John Prassas, the
faculty began the second set on a 10–0 run and took the set
decisively at 25–11.
The third and determining set lived up to the hype as the
students led 12–11 before making a line change. When play
resumed, Sophia Farkona took charge, leading the students
LIFE AT LMP
to seven straight points and a 19–11 lead, prompting a critical
faculty time out.
It is unclear what transpired during this meeting, and
allegations of performance enhancement could not be verified.
Emerging from the huddle, the faculty came out blazing, tying
the set at 23–23 and setting up none other than John Prassas
to serve for the game. Despite an impressive effort, the students
were unable to return the rocket serves, resulting in the faculty
winning 25–23.
When asked about the game, participant and CLAMPS
member Julia Pasquale said, “We put in a good effort, the game
was really tight and could’ve gone either way, but in the end
the faculty came out on top, and we’ll get them next year!”
Professor Isabelle Aubert of the faculty team added, “It
was a lot of fun with really good rallies and tense moments
when the scores were very close. The students were great
and they almost had the better of us. We had to take a time
out in the decisive game just to yell out ‘Winners!’ loudly to
scare the students [that’s really what happened, despite other
allegations]. And in the end we won! We did it for you, coach!
[Dr. Diamandis].”
This marks the second consecutive win for the faculty,
once again leaving the students looking for revenge. n
The faculty and student teams.
Faculty team
PHOTOS: PAUL HAMEL
Student team
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
11
LIFE AT LMP
LMP ANNUAL BANQUET
An Evening of Entertainment and Celebration
Congratulations to all LMP members for another amazing year! Truly an allencompassing event, the night featured awards and recognition for students,
alumni and faculty. Attendees also enjoyed a video compilation of the year’s
events, a hotly contested game of trivia and the LMP Dance Crew’s performance
of “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys.
Professors Danny Ghazarian, Shachar
Sade and Victor Tron
Professor Avrum Gotlieb, Amanda Mohabeer, Winnie Fung, Marsel Lino, Professor
Michelle Bendeck and Yiming Wang
Guests enjoying a competitive game of trivia
12
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Dean Trevor Young and Professor and Chair
Richard Hegele
LIFE AT LMP
Betty Poon and Kirk Szafranski
Professors Luc De Nil, Douglas Templeton, John Bohnen,
Sima Salahshor, Karim Mekhail, Richard Hegele, Hala
El-Zimaity, Dean Trevor Young, Robert Riddell and Jeffrey Lee
Michael Nguyen and Jelena Tanic
LMP Dance Crew
Jayesh Salvi, Professor and Chair Richard Hegele,
and Pawel Buczkowicz
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
13
AWARDS & HONOURS
AWARDS & HONOURS
LMP ANNUAL REUNION & BANQUET
STUART ALAN HOFFMAN MEMORIAL PRIZE
Pawel Buczkowicz
Jayesh Salvi
WOLFGANG VOGEL MEMORIAL PRIZE
Karen Siu
LINDA & AVRUM GOTLIEB AWARD
Trillium Chang
ALLAN GORNALL TESTIMONIAL AWARD
Maya Deeb
THIRD-YEAR SPECIALIST PATHOBIOLOGY AWARD
Charles Kyung Min Lee
FACULTY TEACHING AWARDS
LMP Undergraduate Teaching Award
Professor Douglas Templeton
LMP Graduate Teaching Award
Professor Jeffrey Lee
Professor Karim Mekhail
John B. Walter Prize
Professor Sima Salahshor
ALAN POLLARD POST-DOCTORAL CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
TRAVEL AWARD
Dan Lin
NORMAN BETHUNE AWARD
Aaron Campigotto
Ramzi Fattouh
DANNY GHAZARIAN RESIDENT TEACHING AWARD
Professor Brendan Dickson
STANLEY RAPHAEL AWARD
Bojana Mitrovic
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Professor Robert Riddell
HARRY GOTLIEB SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Michal Bohdanowicz 14
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
FACULTY
Professor Khosrow Adeli received the Canadian Society
of Clinical Chemists Award for Innovation in Laboratory
Medicine for 2015. This award recognizes Adeli and his team
for developing the Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric
Reference Intervals (CALIPER). It also recognizes their
success in implementing an innovative laboratory program that
promotes a positive public image for laboratory medicine.
Professor Hong Chang won the 2015 Excellence in
Linking Undergraduate Teaching to Research in Life
Sciences Award. Presented by the University of Toronto,
the award honours Chang’s contribution to the Faculty of
Medicine’s academic mission. It recognizes his sustained
mentorship, excellence and innovative initiatives that link
undergraduate teaching to research opportunities.
Professor Jeffrey Lee has won a Merck Irving S. Sigal
Memorial Award from the American Society of Microbiology.
This award recognizes excellence in basic research in medical
microbiology and infectious diseases. It is awarded in memory
of Irving S. Sigal, who was integral in the early discovery of
therapies to treat HIV/AIDS.
Professor Yulia Lin won the 2014–2015 Peters-Boyd
Academy Medical Mentorship Award. This award recognizes
Lin’s exceptional commitment to mentoring medical
students, including her availability and genuine concern for
student well-being.
Professor Allison McGeer received the 2015 May Cohen
Award for Women Mentors. Presented by the Canadian
Medical Association (CMA), this award recognizes McGeer’s
tremendous impact on the lives and careers of her mentees. A
dedicated teacher, McGeer has advised numerous trainees at
the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels. She has
also taught continuing education programs offered through U
of T’s Faculty of Medicine.
Professor Michael Pollanen received the 2015 Award
for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education in the
category of Development and Innovation.
Professor Gino Somers received the Neustein Award from
the Society for Pediatric Pathology. The award was presented
to him for his team’s work using NanoString technology for
the detection of fusion transcripts in pediatric sarcomas. It is
the second time he has won this award.
Professor Ming-Sound Tsao has been awarded the Mary
Matthews Pathology Award from the International Association
for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). This award is presented
to an IASLC member for lifetime scientific achievement in
pathology/translational research of thoracic cancers.
AWARDS & HONOURS
Professor George Yousef received the 2015 Faculty
of Medicine Graduate Teaching Award for Early Career
Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship. This award
is one of six graduate faculty teaching awards designed to
honour and celebrate outstanding contributions to education.
STUDENTS & TRAINEES
UNDERGRADUATE
Maya Deeb and Alena Zelinka have been awarded Graduate
and Life Sciences Education Undergraduate Student Leadership
Awards. Deeb and Zelinka won two out of three awards,
recognizing their leadership and scholarship in the Arts and
Science Program and in the Faculty of Medicine.
Deeb served as a peer mentor, an orientation week leader,
tutor, and helped to develop the Multi-Organ Transplant Insight,
Outreach, and Networking Society, a student organization that
raises awareness about organ failure and transplantation.
Zelinka was the Senior Editor of the student-run Journal of
Undergraduate Life Sciences, a publication featuring undergraduate
research articles and scientific reviews. She also served as a student
representative on the Academic Board of Governing Council and
on its Committee on Academic Policy and Programs.
As Co-Presidents of the LMP undergraduate student union,
Deeb and Zelinka led the highly successful 2015 Conference on
Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine.
Deeb also won a 2015 Gordon Cressy Student Leadership
Award. This award recognizes students who have made
outstanding extracurricular contributions to their college,
faculty, department or the university as a whole.
GRADUATE
External Awards
CIHR — Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada
Graduate Scholarships (CGSM)
Angela Celebre (Sunit Das)
Harsh Desai (Daniel Winer and Minna Woo)
Amanda Hall (Karim Mekhail)
Qingda Hu (JoAnne McLaurin)
Christopher Morrone (Norman Rosenblum)
Maurice Pasternak (Isabelle Aubert)
Scott Ryall (Cynthia Hawkins)
Joseph Silburt (Isabelle Aubert)
Xinzhu (Louisa) Wang (Gerold Schmitt-Ulms)
CIHR — Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada
Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Awards (CGS-D)
Farshad Azimi (Jeffrey Lee)
Madonna Peter (Bharati Bapat)
NSERC — Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate
Scholarship (CGSM)
Nathaniel Anderson (Adam Shlien)
Carlo Halnin (Michael Ohh)
NSERC — Postgraduate Scholarships — Doctoral (CGS-D)
Nadiya Khyzha (Jason Fish)
Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Awards — Master’s
(OWHS)
Maurice Pasternak (Isabelle Aubert)
U of T Awards
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
for International Students
Halil Aydin (Jeffrey Lee)
LMP Departmental Awards
LMP Graduate Student Research Day Poster Presentation
Prizes:
MSc Student (Supervisor)
First Place
• Daniel Chung (Karim Mekhail)
• Madelaine Lynch (Isabelle Aubert)
• Alex Marchand-Austin (Frances Jamieson)
• Tao Wang (Ming-Sound Tsao)
• Xiaohong Ruby Xu (Heyu Ni)
Second Place
• Nadiya Khyzha (Jason Fish)
• Elena Pasko (Ming-Sound Tsao)
• Anthony Scalia (Maria Rozakis)
• Cindy Tong (Donald Branch)
• Nevena Vicic (Jeremy Sivak and John Flanagan)
PhD Student (Supervisor)
First Place
• Halil Aydin (Jeffrey Lee)
• Tayyaba Jiwani (Norm Rosenblum)
• Joella Joseph (Ming-Sound Tsao)
• Patrick Sin-Chan (Annie Huang)
• Patryk Skowron (Michael Taylor)
• Michael Sugiyama (Warren Lee)
• Ashley Weiss (Rama Khoka)
• Richard Wu (Philip Sherman)
Second Place
• Kevin Barker (Kevin Kain)
• Monique Budani (Clifford Lingwood)
• Sonam Dubey (Isabelle Aubert)
• Brian Golbourn (James Rutka)
• Jessica Tsalikis (Stephen Girardin)
• Kevin Xin Wang (Michael Taylor)
• Miao Xu (Heyu Ni)
• Fang Zhao (Bharati Bapat)
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
15
ANNOUNCEMENTS
POSTGRADUATE
LMP Postgraduate Research Day Winners
Poster Presentation:
First Place — Ramzi Fattouh
Second Place — Sydney Card
Third Place — Zsuzsanna Lichner
Oral Presentation:
Tao Wang
Other Awards
Diana Diaconescu, Anatomical Pathology Resident, was
awarded the Donald W. Penner Award for best oral presentation
at the Canadian Association of Pathologists — Association
canadienne des pathologistes 2015 annual meeting. Her presentation was titled, “An Interactive Computer Based Model for the
Standardization of Oral Examinations in Anatomical Pathology.”
Tiffany Shao, Anatomical Pathology Resident, was awarded
the Andrew Herzenberg Award for best resident poster
presentation in nephropathology or transplant pathology at the
Canadian Association of Pathologists — Association canadienne
des pathologistes 2015 annual meeting. Her presentation was
titled, “Clear Cell Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) as
part of Histologically Discordant Multifocal RCC: Case Report
and Literature Review.”
Kona Williams, Forensic Pathologist Resident, has received an
Indspire: Building Brighter Futures Award that honours extraordinary indigenous people. This award is the highest recognition
that the indigenous community bestows upon its own achievers.
It recognizes indigenous professionals who demonstrate
outstanding career achievement.
STAFF
Christine Kreutzer has received the 2015 David Keeling
Award for Administrative Excellence. This award recognizes
her long-standing commitment and excellent leadership in
LMP and the Faculty of Medicine. Christine has worked as
LMP’s Manager of Business and Administration for 16 years.
During this time, she has led many exciting initiatives including
the Department’s relocation from the Banting Institute to the
Medical Sciences Building in 2009. As an exemplary leader and
mentor, she has encouraged her staff to pursue a wide range of
professional development activities.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
UNDERGRADUATE
PATHOBIOLOGY SPECIALIST PROGRAM
GRADUATING CLASS OF 2014
Olena Bolonna
Maya Deeb
Claudia Dziegielewski
Ariel Gershon
Chloe Gui
Robert Jie Guo
Nevraj Singh Kejiou
Samuel Killackey
Yusuk Benjamin Kim
Nancy Xiaonan Liu
Hazal Mustafa
David Hon-Man Ngai
Huong Thao Nguyen
Kristiana Xhima
Alan Xuan Tong Yu
Alena Alexandra Zelinka-Malajczuk
GRADUATE
THESIS DEFENSES SUMMER 2015 — MSC
Pedram Akbari (Herman Yeger and Walid Farhat)
Bioengineering human scaffold-free cartilage constructs using
paediatric auricular tissue.
Lee Cheng (Nades Palaniyar)
Relevance of neutrophils and NETs in BOS for patients
receiving stem cell therapy.
Tao Wang (Ming-Sound Tsao)
Senescent carcinoma associated fibroblasts up-regulate
interleukin 8 to enhance pancreatic cancer progression.
THESIS DEFENSES WINTER 2015 — PhD
Helen Yu-Shan Chiang (Janice Robertson)
Identification and characterization of a pathological TDP-43
variant in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar
degeneration.
Adeline Ng (Marc Grynpas)
A mouse model of adynamic bone disease (ABD) and its
consequences on bone quality with age.
Ekaterina Olkhov-Mitsel (Bharati Bapat)
Epigenetic analysis of the kallikrein gene family and associated
pathways as a novel panel of prostate cancer biomarkers.
Yiming Wang (Heyu Ni)
Plasma fibronectin in hemostasis and thrombosis: evidence for
fibrin-dependent and independent pathways.
THESIS DEFENSES SUMMER 2015 — PhD
Daniela Cretu (Eleftherios Diamandis)
Identification and validation of candidate soluble biomarkers for
psoriatic arthritis using quantitative proteomics.
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
APPOINTMENTS
Vijay Ramaswamy (Michael Taylor)
Translational and clinical relevance of medulloblastoma and
posterior fossa ependymoma subgroups.
GRADUATING TRAINEES
We would also like to extend our congratulations to our
graduating trainees:
POSTGRADUATE
Residents
Anatomical Pathology: Herman Chui, Brett Danielson, Carlo
Hojilla, Bojana Mitrovic, Aurfan Nasser and Ingo von Both
Forensic Pathology: Rebekah Jacques
Neuropathology: Simin Laiq and Maxime Richer
Hematopathology: Hubert Tsui
USCAP
LMP would like to congratulate those who presented at the
2015 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology
(USCAP) Annual Meeting.
Mohammad Bahmanyar Dina Bassiouny Sydney Card Elena Diana Diaconescu David Kolin Zaid Saeed Kamil Raheem Peerani
Sherine Salama
Konstantinos Sidiropoulos
Farnoosh Tayyari
Tao Wang
Howard Yang
NEW TRAINEES
LMP would like to extend a warm welcome to our new
trainees:
Residents
Anatomical Pathology: Mayada Basheer, Angelica Hodgson,
Savas Kanaroglou, Si Kei (Sandy) Lou, Sameer Shivji and
Margaret Stevenson
Clinical Chemistry: Angela Fung, Dorothy Truong and
Nicole White-Al Habeeb
Clinical Microbiology: Ana Cabrera
Clinical Fellows
Naser Al-Awadhi, Nawal Al-Mohammadi, Maryam Al-Murshed,
Hiba Al Zou’bi, Nazila Azordegan, Howaida El-Hakim, Pierre
Fiset, Carlo Hojilla, Martin Hrycza, Sangeetha Kalimuthu,
Zanobia Khan, Simin Laiq, Alexandra Lao, Philippe Martin,
Althea Neblett, Susan Prendeville, Neelam Sandhu,
Philippe Stevenson, Ami Wang and Phillip Williams
Research Fellows
Michael Cabanero, Herman Chui, Hirotsugu Notsuda and Tony
Yeung
Transfusion Medicine Area of Focused Competency
Fellow
Sophie LeMay
Clinical Fellows
Anatomical Pathology: Nayda Al-Faraidy, Zohreh Eslami,
Isabelle Lapointe, Joseph Lee, Chantale Morin, Houman Nafisi,
Aude Roussel-Jobin, Zaid Saeed-Kamil, Erica Schollenberg,
Joerg Schwock, Rory Thompson, Tuyet Nhung Ton Nu, Shawn
Winer and Hannah Wu
Clinical Chemistry: Mohamed Abou El-Hassan, Daniel
Beriault and Dan Lin
DEPARTMENT
The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto is pleased
to announce the establishment of the G. Raymond Chang
Forensic Pathology Fellow at the Department of Laboratory
Medicine and Pathobiology following a landmark $2 million
gift by the Raymond Chang Foundation.
Since 2006, the Department has trained a total of eleven
forensic pathology residents from regions around the world
where there is need for increased capacity in forensic medicine.
With the foundation’s generous investment, the Department
will now be able to train up to two international fellows from
low- and middle-income countries per academic year, ensuring
the sustainability of this important initiative.
APPOINTMENTS
LMPSU EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2015–2016
Co-Presidents: Jelena Tanic and Charles Lee
Vice-President Academic: Anne Fu
Vice-President Social: Naijin Li
Vice-President Finance: Amber Cintosun
External Affairs Officer: Frank Hyun
Internal Affairs Officer: Ashley Zhang
Webmaster: Lisa Qiu
Social Committee: Stephanie Poon
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
17
APPOINTMENTS
CLAMPS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2015–2016
President: Samih Alqawlaq
Vice-President Academic: Joey Silburt
Vice-President Social: Vicki Higgins
Treasurer: Emily Mathieu
Senior Academic: Harsh Desai
Interdepartmental Representative: Chris Morrone
Graduate Student Union Representative: Stanley Li
Secretary: Nadiya Khyzha
Senior Sports Representative: Maurice Pasternak
Location Director Representative: Angie Celebre
numerous national and international speaking invitations and
serving as a guest journal editor. Mekhail’s effective mentorship
of graduate students received considerable attention as his
students have received competitive external awards (including
prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships), presented
their original research at scientific meetings and published major
papers as first authors in high-ranking, prestigious journals.
The University, Faculty and Department congratulate Professors
Lee and Mekhail for their outstanding research and excellent
teaching activities at U of T.
SENIOR ACADEMIC PROMOTIONS 2015
LMP would like to thank the 2014–2015 LMPSU and CLAMPS
councils for their amazing work!
NEW LMP STAFF APPOINTMENTS
Raveen Basran, The Hospital for Sick Children
Rank: Assistant Professor | Effective: October 15, 2014
We are pleased to congratulate the seven faculty members in
LMP who received approval from the Provost for promotion
effective July 1, 2015. These highly respected individuals have
been recognized by peers within the University, nationally
and internationally for their accomplishments in scholarship,
teaching and service.
Abdul Noor, Mount Sinai Hospital
Rank: Assistant Professor | Effective: February 15, 2015
Faculty promoted to the rank of Professor
FACULTY
Zoya Volynskaya, University Health Network
Rank: Lecturer | Effective: May 1, 2015
OTHER APPOINTMENTS
TENURE
It is with great pleasure that we inform you that Professors
Jeffrey Lee and Karim Mekhail have been approved for
tenure, effective July 1, 2015.
Professor Jeffrey Lee’s research program focuses
on the role of enveloped retroviral glycoproteins
in pathogenesis and the innate immune response
against retroviral replication. Since starting his
independent laboratory in LMP, Lee has gained
national and international recognition for his
scholarship, as evidenced by his receiving numerous awards,
including a Canada Research Chair Tier II in Structural
Virology, CIHR New Investigator Award and the 2015 Merck
Irving S. Sigal Memorial Award from the American Society
of Microbiology. In addition, his laboratory is an excellent
training ground for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows
interested in structural virology.
Professor Karim Mekhail’s research program
concerns molecular networks involved in
chromosome stability and understanding how
these networks help to maintain genome stability
and human health. He has achieved widespread
recognition for his scholarship, including
18
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Danny Ghazarian, University Health Network
Professor Danny Ghazarian has made major
contributions in the practice of dermatopathology. He has achieved national and international
recognition for promoting excellence in dermatopathology as a professional subspecialty of
anatomical pathology, and furthering dermatopathology as an
academic discipline. He has improved clinical practice through
his seminal publications and has built a world-class consultation
service and dermatopathology training program in Canada.
Emina Torlakovic, University Health Network
Professor Emina Torlakovic’s major academic
interests have been in quality assurance and quality
control in laboratory medicine. She has been a
major player in the field of immunohistochemistry
(IHC) and is co-responsible for establishing
authoritative IHC programs nationally and internationally. In
addition, her work on sessile serrated adenomas of the colon
has revolutionized clinical practice in anatomical pathology,
gastroenterology and oncology.
George Yousef, St. Michael’s Hospital
Professor George Yousef ’s internationally
recognized research program takes two parallel
directions to improve early diagnosis and
treatment of cancer: (1) the identification of
molecular biomarkers for urological malignancies, and (2) the discovery of new molecular targets for the
development of therapies. His discoveries impact on our new
APPOINTMENTS
era of personalized medicine in kidney and prostate cancers
through the discovery of non-invasive urinary biomarkers for
the diagnosis of kidney cancer, and biomarkers that can predict
treatment efficiency. In addition,Yousef ’s contributions to the
advancement of education in LMP, nationally and internationally, have been recognized.
Faculty promoted to the rank of Associate Professor
Eleanor Latta, St. Michael’s Hospital
Professor Eleanor Latta has made significant
contributions in undergraduate and postgraduate
medical education and curriculum development.
Her distinguished record in teaching has been
recognized by the Faculty of Medicine, LMP and
St. Michael’s Hospital. Her numerous accolades include: the W.
T. Aikins Award, John B. Walter Prize for Teaching/Education,
Residents’ Best Teacher Award, Kalman Kovacs Award for
Excellence in Undergraduate Medical Training, Bernadette
Garvey Award for Excellence in Resident Teaching, and
Outstanding Tutor for Problem-Based Learning given by the
Fitzgerald Academy at St. Michael’s Hospital.
Yulia Lin, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Professor Yulia Lin is described as a rising star and
national leader in transfusion medicine and clinical
research. She has made her mark by enriching
the transfusion medicine education programs,
introducing new standards and guidelines in
transfusion medicine, and setting best practices in blood conservation that have changed medical practice and education.
Ozgur Mete, University Health Network
Professor Ozgur Mete is recognized for his contributions in endocrine pathology. In particular, he
has developed a new synoptic reporting format for
patients with pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas, defined improved diagnostic criteria for
vascular invasion in endocrine malignancies, extra-thyroidal
extension in thyroid tumours, and identified biomarkers of
parathyroid carcinoma. These advancements have led to changes
in clinical practice and professional guidelines. His contributions
to teaching and mentoring undergraduate, postgraduate and
pathology colleagues have received considerable attention.
Corwyn Rowsell, Markham Stouffville Hospital
Professor Corwyn Rowsell has contributed to
the establishment and dissemination of quality
standards in the practice of pathology, and
in advancing the practice of gastrointestinal
pathology through his work on neuroendocrine
tumours and invitations to various expert panels. In addition,
Rowsell spearheaded the adoption of a web-based system for
recording Multidisciplinary Case Conferences Discussions and
management decisions for both the gastrointestinal and hepatobililary Tumour Boards/MCC.
RETIREMENTS
Roslyn Devlin, St. Michael’s Hospital
Professor Emerita: October 31, 2014
Professor Roslyn Devlin earned her MD in 1971,
followed by a fellowship in Medical Microbiology
and a MHSc at U of T. In 1977, she became an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology,
later to become LMP.
Devlin began her career at Toronto General Hospital where
she worked as a microbiologist from 1977 to 1988. For the next
ten years, she served as the Chief of Microbiology and Infection
Prevention and Control at the Wellesley Hospital, which later
became the Wellesley Central Hospital. In 1999, she became
the Medical Director of Microbiology at St. Michael’s Hospital
and in 2003 the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and
Control.
As a researcher, she published more than 35 abstracts and
had more than 20 publications. She developed an interest in
Clostridium difficile and used DNA fingerprinting by restriction
endonuclease analysis to study its epidemiology. She also studied
the epidemiology of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
and organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and B. cepacia in
patients with cystic fibrosis.
In addition to her interest in infection prevention and
control, Devlin became interested in emergency preparedness and served as Co-Chair on both St. Michael’s Hospital
Emergency Management Planning Committee and the
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Task Force.
She especially enjoyed teaching microbiology seminars to
undergraduate students and mentoring residents. “The highlight
of my career was to see residents who were smarter than me pass
through my lab and secure staff positions in hospitals around
Toronto,” Devlin said. “I also mentored many of the current
generation of ‘infection preventionists,’ and it’s been rewarding
to see them develop careers in this growing area.”
Devlin is currently renewing her interest in Bible studies
by attending classes twice a week. She is still passionate about
microbiology and she continues to attend Medical Grand
Rounds at St. Michael’s Hospital. She has one son, who is the
delight of her life.
William Halliday, The Hospital for Sick Children
Professor Emeritus: July 31, 2015
In 1982, Professor William Halliday joined LMP,
previously known as the Department of Pathology.
He moved to the University of Manitoba in 1985,
and 13 years later, returned to LMP as a neuropathologist at
the Toronto Western Hospital. Following Dr. Laurence Becker’s
untimely death, he moved to the Hospital for Sick Children
(SickKids) in 2003.
Of his many professional accomplishments, he was particularly passionate about education. “I’ve really enjoyed teaching
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
19
APPOINTMENTS
neurology, neurosurgery, pediatric neurology and neuropathology residents, and I found that part of my job really rewarding,”
Halliday said. Recognized for his contributions to education,
he received the Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine
(DPLM) Teaching Award from SickKids in 2007.
Halliday published extensively, and in 2007 he
co-authored the book Pediatric Neuropathology: A Text-Atlas, a
tribute to Dr. Laurence Becker, the Founding Chief of DPLM
at SickKids.
From 1991 to 2000, he served as the Chair of the Royal
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Subspecialty
Committee in Neuropathology. He was also a reviewer for
several journals, including the Journal of Neuropathology and
Experimental Neurology and the Journal of Neurosurgery, Pediatrics.
Outside of work, he is an avid trout fisherman,
birdwatcher and traveller. When reflecting on his career,
Halliday said, “I’ve been lucky to have the mentorship of Drs.
Rewcastle, Bilbao and Becker, some of the best in the field.”
Frances O’Malley, St. Michael’s Hospital
Professor Emerita: July 1, 2015
A clinician, educator and researcher with a passion
for breast pathology, Professor Frances O’Malley
joined LMP in 1998.
O’Malley was a staff pathologist at London Health Sciences
Centre from 1993 to 1998. For the following 12 years, she
worked at Mount Sinai Hospital and then moved to St.
Michael’s Hospital in 2010.
Supported by U of T and external grants, she developed
a Clinical Breast Pathology Fellowship Program. Through this
program she trained numerous pathologists. “It has filled me
with such pride to see many of the pathologists who went
through the Breast Pathology Fellowship Program become
nationally and internationally recognized breast pathologists,”
O’Malley said.
Beyond publishing extensive research, she also co-edited
a book called Breast Pathology. In recognition of her efforts, she
received a book award from the Society of Authors and the
Royal Society of Medicine, United Kingdom, in 2007.
Involved in numerous research initiatives, many of which
were multinational in scope, she says that her work on familial
breast cancer and HER2 were among her career highlights.
O’Malley currently runs a breast pathology consultation
practice and travels to non-teaching hospitals to review each
lab’s complex breast pathology cases. She also continues her
research with an international group of researchers on the
accuracy of digital pathology, and she is involved in research on
the effectiveness of organized breast assessment among women
screened in the Ontario Breast Screening Program.
Over the summer, she plans to immerse herself in theatre,
music and literature in Stratford, Ontario. “Between the Theatre
Festival, Stratford Summer Music and the Stratford Forum,
which includes hundreds of talks, workshops and readings by
inspiring authors, I will be very busy!”
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Kenneth Pritzker, Mount Sinai Hospital
Professor Emeritus: July 31, 2015
Involved in clinical service, research and education,
Professor Kenneth Pritzker joined LMP in 1972 as
part of the Department of Pathology.
From 1986 to 2008, Pritzker served as Pathologist-in-Chief
at Mount Sinai Hospital and Director of the Department of
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He was also the Medical
Director, Laboratory Services at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric
Care from 1995 to 2009.
With a keen interest in aging and degeneration of
connective tissues, he studied how crystal deposits form and
possibly dissolve in joints. He also developed a grading system to
predict how osteoarthritis advances in cartilage.
Throughout his career, Pritzker supervised and mentored
countless graduate, undergraduate and postgraduate medical,
post-doctoral and continuing education students and trainees.
As an active member of the pathology community, he has
also been involved in a wide range of associations and committees.
Since 1973, he has been an active participant with the Canadian
Association of Pathologists (CAP). In 2001, he was recognized for
his accomplishments with the CAP Distinguished Award.
Currently, he’s involved in several projects, including
advanced imaging for osteoarthritis, technology that measures
chemotherapy’s effectiveness early in treatment, and technology
that can assess cancer risk accurately in patients with oral or
pharyngeal, laryngeal dysplasia.
“I’m not really the type of person to look back, but when
I do I think it’s been a great privilege to work with so many
dedicated colleagues and students,” Pritzker said. “I also find
it rewarding to see that the work I started a long time ago is
having an impact on health today.”
OTHER APPOINTMENTS
Professor Martin Chang has been appointed to the Editorial
Review Board of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Professor Natasha Crowcroft has been appointed Chief of
Applied Immunization Research at Public Health Ontario.
Professor Rita Kandel has been appointed Board Member
of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International from April
2015 to April 2019.
Kandel has also been appointed Adjunct Clinical Professor,
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Schulich
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, from
January 2015 to June 2017.
FUNDING
Professor Catherine Streutker has been appointed as an
expert panel member for the Canadian Association of Pathologists — Association canadienne des pathologistes (CAP-ACP)
and American Society of Clinical Oncology HER2 testing in
Gastric Cancer Guidelines Committee.
Kolomietz E. (Co-PI) Evaluation of non-invasive CGH
microarray technology for prenatal diagnosis by chromosomal fetal
abnormalities. Mount Sinai Hosptial-University Health Network
Academic Medical Organization Innovation Fund. Accelerator
Grant in Genomic Medicine 2014. $142,567 (2 years)
Professor George Yousef has been appointed Editor-inChief of the Canadian Journal of Pathology, which is the official
publication of the CAP-ACP. The journal publishes peerreviewed articles relevant to practice of pathology and laboratory
medicine.
Kandel RA. Substrate stiffness and the role of actin in regulating
the dedifferentiated articular chondrocyte phenotype. Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery
Grant. $60,000 (2 years)
Yousef has also been appointed Vice-President of the International Society for Enzymology. The society provides a forum
for all aspects related to the study of enzymes including their
mechanism of action, function, structure, genetic and metabolic
regulations and how enzymes are used in diagnosing and
treating patients.
EVENTS
LMP Summer Student Research Program Poster Day
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Student Commons, Main Lobby
1 King’s College Circle, University of Toronto
CLAMPS Summer Island BBQ
Friday, August 28, 2015
Centre Island
Visit www.lmp.utoronto.ca for more details
FUNDING
GRANTS AWARDED
Mubareka S. (Co-PI) Characterization and mitigation of
experimental and natural viral bioaerosols. Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada/Canadian Institutes of
Health Research partnered Collaborative Health Research Projects.
$506,
064 (3 years)
Ni, H. Apolipoprotein A-IV and platelet function: Novel links with
thrombosis, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. Heart and Stroke
Foundation of Canada. $242,335 (3 years)
Tsao, MS. Development of a monoclonal antibody for integrin
alpha-11 to treat lung cancer. CIHR Proof of Principle — Phase I.
$160,000 (1 year)
Yousef, GM., Krylov, S. and Yang, B.Technology for analysis of
miRNA signatures (TAmiRS) a novel tool for personalized cancer
medicine. Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Collaborative Health Research Projects. $808,119 (4 years)
Zhang L. A new cellular immunotherapy to treat acute myeloid
leukemia. CIHR Proof of Principle Program-phase II. $219,170
(1 year)
Zhang L., Zuniga-Pflucker J.C., Zhong T. Establishing donorspecific transplantation tolerance by harnessing DN Regulatory T
cells. CIHR operating grant. $675,395 (5 years)
Diamandis EP., Drabovich A. Changing the paradigm for male
fertility treatment — standardized automated platform for sperm
retrieval. Academic Health Science Centres Alternative Funding
Plan Innovation Fund. $166,718 (2 years)
Drabovich A. Bridging genomics and proteomics to identify
protein biomarkers for stratification of prostate cancer aggressiveness. Prostate Cancer Canada — Movember Rising Star in Prostate
Cancer Research 2014. $450,000 (3 years)
Girardin, SE. Epithelial-intrinsic role of NOD2 in ileitis: implications for Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Grant-in-Aid.
$375,000 (3 years)
Kolomietz E. (Co-PI) Ascertaining the genetic etiologies of
stillbirth via whole exome sequencing. McLaughlin Centre
for Molecular Medicine. 2014 Accelerator Grant in Genomic
Medicine. $40,000 (1 year)
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
21
PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS
Alturkustani M, Keith J, Hazrati LN, Rademakers R, Ang
LC. Pathologist staging of white matter lesions in adult-onset
leukoencephalopathy/leukodystrophy with axonal spheroids. J
Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2015 Mar;74(3):233-40.
Amemiya Y, Bacopulos S, Al-Shawarby M, Al-Tamimi D, Naser W,
Khalifa M, Slodkowska E, Seth A. A comparative analysis of breast
and ovarian cancer related gene mutations in Canadian and Saudi
Arabian breast cancer patients. [In Press]
Balasubramaniam G, Ramirez J, McNeely A, Gao F, Berezuk C,
Scott C, Black S, Keith J. Neuropathological correlates of perventricular infarcts. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):171; 428A.
Bassiouny D, Naeim M, Ismiil N, Dube V, Han G, Cesari M, Lu
F-I, Slodkowska E, Salama S, Chiu HF, Li N, Khalifa M, NofechMozes S. Primary versus metastatic ovarian tumors: Challenging
the validity of common diagnostic features. Mod Path 2015
Feb;28 (Supp 2):1098; 275A.
Berinstein NL, Bhella S, Pennell NM, Cheung MC, Imrie KR,
Spaner DE, Milliken V, Zhang L, Hewitt K, Boudreau A, Reis MD,
Chesney A, Good D, Ghorab Z, Hicks LK, Piliotis E, Buckstein
R. Prolonged clinical remissions in patients with relapsed or
refractory follicular lymphoma treated with autologous stem cell
transplantation incorporating rituximab. Ann Hematol. 2015
May:94(5):813-23.
Connelly, P : Baril-Gravel L, Labonte ME, Couture P et al.
Docosahexaenoic acid-enriched canola oil increases adiponectin
concentrations: a randomized crossover controlled intervention
trial. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2015;25:52-59.
Connelly, P : Dash S, Xiao C, Morgantini C, Connelly PW,
Patterson BW, Lewis GF. Glucagon-like peptide-2 regulates
release of chylomicrons from the intestine. Gastroenterology
2014;147:1275-1284.
Connelly, P : Dube JB, Wang J, Cao H et al. Common
low-density lipoprotein receptor p.G116S variant has a
large effect on plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
in circumpolar inuit populations. Circ Cardiovasc Genet
2015;8:100-105.
Connelly, P : Hussain Y, Ding Q, Connelly PW et al. G-protein
estrogen receptor as a regulator of low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol metabolism: cellular and population genetic studies.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2015;35:213-221.
Connelly, P : Jones PJ, MacKay DS, Senanayake VK et al.
High-oleic canola oil consumption enriches LDL particle
cholesteryl oleate content and reduces LDL proteoglycan binding
in humans. Atherosclerosis 2015;238:231-238.
22
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Connelly, P : Kew S, Swaminathan B, Hanley AJ et al. Postpartum
microalbuminuria after gestational diabetes: the impact of current
glucose tolerance status. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2015;100:11301136.
Connelly, P : Kramer CK, Swaminathan B, Hanley AJ et al. Each
degree of glucose intolerance in pregnancy predicts distinct
trajectories of beta-cell function, insulin sensitivity, and glycemia
in the first 3 years postpartum. Diabetes Care 2014;37:3262-3269.
Connelly, P : Kramer CK, Swaminathan B, Hanley AJ et al.
Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone status in pregnancy: effect
on insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function, and gestational diabetes
mellitus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2014;99:4506-4513.
Connelly, P : Shah R,Ye C, Woo M et al. Erythropoietin and
glucose homeostasis in women at varying degrees of future
diabetic risk. J Diabetes Complications 2015;29:26-31.
Connor AA, Katzov-Eckert H, Whelan T, Aronson M, Lau L,
Marshall C, Charames GS, Pollett A, Gallinger S, Lerner-Ellis
J. Identification of a novel MSH6 germline variant in a family
with multiple gastro-intestinal malignancies by next generation
sequencing. Fam Cancer. 2015 Mar 1;14(1):69-75.
Cretu D, Liang K, Saraon P, Batruch I, Diamandis EP, Chandran
V. Quantitative tandem mass-spectrometry of skin tissue reveals
putative psoriatic arthritis biomarkers. Clin Proteomics 2015;12:1.
Da Rosa MR, Milot L, Sugar L,Vesprini D, Chung H, Loblaw
A, Pond GR, Klotz L, Haider MA. A prospective comparison of
MRI-US fused targeted biopsy versus systemic ultrasound-guided
biopsy for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer in
patients on active surveillance. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2015
Jan;41(1):220-5
Diaconescu E, Lu F-I. Pathological features of atypical ductal
hyperplasia diagnosed on core needle biopsy predictive for
upgrade on excision. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):155;41A
Dorn J, Bronger H, Kates R, Slotta Huspenina J, Schmalfeldt B,
Kiechle M, Diamandis EP, Soosaipillai A, Schmitt M, Harbeck N.
OVSCORE a validated score to identify ovarian cancer patients
not suitable for primary surgery. Oncol Letters 2015; 9: 418-424.
Finch A, Metcalfe K, Fine A, Atri L, Pupavac M, Khalouei S, Eisen
A, Rosen B, Elser C, Charames G, Narod S, Lerner-Ellis J. Genetic
testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the province of Ontario.
Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2015.
Florentinus-Mefailoski A, Soosaipillai A, Dufresne J, Diamandis EP,
Marshall JG. An enzyme-linked immuno-mass spectrometric assay
with the substrate adenosine monophosphate. Anal Bioanal Chem
2015;407:1119-30.
PUBLICATIONS
Freedman J: The ONTraC Ontario program in blood conservation. Transfus Apheres Sci, 50:32-36, 2014.
Freedman J: Transfusion: Whence and why. Transfus Apheres Sci,
50:5-9, 2014.
Freedman, J : Gyulkhandanyan AV, Mutlu A, Allen DJ, Freedman
J, Leytin V: BH3-mimetic ABT-737 induces strong mitochondrial
membrane depolarization in platelets but only weakly stimulates
apoptotic morphological changes, platelet shrinkage and microparticle formation. Thrombosis Research, 133:73–79, 2014.
Freedman, J : Gyulkhandanyan AV, Mutlu A, Freedman J, Leytin
V: MPTP-dependent and MPTP-independent pathways of
mitochondrial membrane depolarization, cell shrinkage and
microparticle formation during platelet apoptosis. Br J Haematol,
169:142-145, 2015.
Freedman, J : Karkouti K, McCluskey SA, Callum J, Freedman
J, Selby R, Timoumi T, Roy D, Rao V: Evaluation of a novel
transfusion algorithm employing point-of-care coagulation assays
in cardiac surgery: a retrospective cohort study with interrupted
time-series analysis. Anaesthesiology, 122:560-570, 2015.
Freedman, J : McKenzie CGJ, Kim M, Singh TK, Milev Y,
Freedman J, Semple JW: Peripheral blood monocyte-derived
chemokine blockade prevents murine antibody-mediated
transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Blood, 123:34963503, 2014.
Freedman, J : Wang Y, Reheman A, Spring C, Kalantari J, Marshall
A, Wolberg A, Gross P, Weitz JI, Rand M, Mosher D, Freedman
J, Ni H: Plasma fibronectin supports hemostasis and regulates
thrombosis. J Clin Invest, 124(10):4281-4293, 2014.
Grant RC, Selander I, Connor AA, Selvarajah S, Borgida A,
Briollais L, Petersen GM, Lerner-Ellis J, Holter S, Gallinger S.
Prevalence of germline mutations in cancer predisposition genes
in patients with pancreatic cancer. Gastroenterology. 2015 Mar
1;148(3):556-64.
Jones CA, Kolomietz E, Maire G,Vlasschaert M, Joseph-George
AM, Myles-Reid D, Chong K, Chitayat D, Arthur R. PGD for a
carrier of an intrachromosomal insertion using aCGH. Syst Biol
Reprod Med. 2014 Dec 1;60(6):377-82.
Karagiannis GS, Musrap N, Saraon P, Treacy A, Schaeffer DF,
Kirsch R, Riddell RH, Diamandis EP. Bone morphogenetic
protein antagonist gremlin-1 regulates colon cancer progression.
Biol Chem 2015;396:163-83.
Kolomietz E. Egg Donor Pregnancy: A potential pitfall in the
diagnosis of placental molar disease. Carden Jennings Publishing
(CJP14-MS16). 2015. [In Press]
Kolomietz E. Placental Molar Disease - What are the benefits
and barriers to adopting a comprehensive diagnostic service? The
International Journal of Gynecological Pathology. 2014. [In Press]
Korbakis D, Prassas I, Brinc D, Batruch I, Krastins B, Lopez MF,
Diamandis EP. Delineating monoclonal antibody specificity by
mass spectrometry. J Proteomics 2015;114:115-24.
Kovacs K, Rotondo F, Horvath E, Syro LV, Di Ieva A, Cusimano
MD, Munoz DG. Letter to the Editor. Endocr Pathol 26: 93-94,
2014.
Kovacs, K: Al-Bazzaz S, Karamchandani J, Mocarski E, Horvath
E, Rotondo F, Kovacs K. Ectopic prolactin-producing pituitary
adenoma in benign ovarian cystic teratoma. Endocr Pathol
25:321-323, 2014.
Kovacs, K: Berczi I, Quintanar Stephano A, Campos R. Kovacs,
K. New aspects of immunoregulation by growth and lactogenic
hormones. Advances in Neuroimmune Biology. 5:43-60, 2014.
Kovacs, K: Butz H, Szabo PM, Nofech-Mozes R, Rotondo
F, Kovacs K, Mirham L, Girgis H, Boles D, Patocs A,Yousef
GM. Integrative bioinformatics analysis reveals new prognostic
biomarkers of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Clin Chem 60:13141326, 2014.
Kovacs, K: Di Ieva A, Davidson JM, Syro LV, Rotondo F,
Montoya JF, Horvath E, Cusimano MD, Kovacs K. Crooke’s cell
tumors of the pituitary. Neurosurgery. January 29,2015. [Epub
ahead of print]
Kovacs, K: Di Meo A, Rotondo F, Kovacs K, Cusimano MD, Syro
LV, Di Ieva A, Diamandis EP,Yousef GM. Human kallikrein 10
expression in surgically removed human pituitary corticotroph
adenomas: an immunohistochemical study. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol Dec 16, 2014 [Epub ahead of print]
Kovacs, K: Fathalla H, Cusimano M, Di Ieva A, Karamchandani
J, Fung R, Kovacs K. Osteomalacia inducing tumors of the brain;
a case report, review and a hypothesis. World Neurosurg March 3,
2015. [Epub ahead of print]
Kovacs, K: Ghazi AA, Rotondo F, Kovacs K, Amirbaigloo A, Syro
LV, Fathalla H, Di Ieva A, Cusimano MD. Treatment of invasive
silent somatotroph pituitary adenoma with temozolomide.
Report of a case and review of the literatura. Endocr Pathol Feb,
2015. [Epub ahead of print]
Kovacs, K: Grin A, Samaan S, Tripathi M, Rotondo F, Kovacs K,
Bassily MN,Yousef GM. Evaluation of human tissue kallikreinrelated peptidases 6 and 10 expression in early gastroesophageal
adenocarcinoma. Huma Pathol 46:541-548, 2015.
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
23
PUBLICATIONS
Kovacs, K: Rotondo F, Di Ieva A, Kovacs K, Cusimano MD, Syro
LV, Diamandis EP,Yousef GM. Human kallikrein 10 in surgically
removed human pituitary adenomas. Hormones Dec 29, 2014.
[Epub ahead of print]
Munoz, D: Schneider R, Tsai JP, Munoz DG and Selchen DH.
Eosinophilic CNS vasculitis can mimic demyelinating disease
of the brain and spinal cord. Neurology. 2015 Feb 3. 2015
3;84(5):543-4.
Kovacs, K: Syro LV, Rotondo F, Kovacs K. Editorial- Biomarkers
of acromegaly. Endocrine March 18, 2015. [Epub ahead of print]
Nafisi H, Rowsell C, Boulianne P, Han G, Lu F-I, Slodkowska
E, Hanna W, Nofech-Mozes S.Validation of breast biomarker
assays for an automated microwave-assisted rapid tissue processing
method. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):2032; 506A.
Kovacs, K: Kolin DL, Sy K, Rotondo F, Bassily MN, Kovacs K,
Brezden- Masley C, Streutker CJ,Yousef GM. Prognostic significance of human kallikrein-related pepitases 6 and 10 in gastric
cancer. Biol Chem 395:1087-1093, 2014.
Kovacs, K: Sav A, Rotondo F, Syro LV, Di Ieva A, Cusimano MD,
Kovacs K. Invasive, atypical and aggressive pituitary adenomas and
carcinomas. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Amer 44:99-104, 2015.
Kovacs, K: Syro LV, Rotondo F, Cusimano MD, Di Ieva A,
Horvath E, Restrepo LM, Wong M, Killinger DW, Smyth H,
Kovacs K. Current status on histological classification in Cushing’s
disease. Pituitary 18:217-224, 2014.
Lerner-Ellis J, Lebo M, The Canadian Open Genetics Repository
working groups. The Canadian Open Genetics Repository.
Journal of Medical Genetics. 2015. [In Press]
Leung F, Diamandis EP, Kulasingam V. Ovarian cancer biomarkers:
current state and future implications from high-throughput
technologies. Adv Clin Chem. 2014;66:25-77.
Madjunkova S, Tong Li C,Vlasschaert M, Adams M, Chitayat
D, Maire G, Kolomietz E. QF-PCR rapid aneuploidy screen
and aCGH analysis of cell free fetal (cff) DNA in supernatant
of compromised amniotic fluids (AF). Prenat Diagn. 2014 Oct
1;34(10):970-6.
Ratjen A,Yau Y, Wettlaufer J, Matukas L, Zlosnik JE, Speert
DP, LiPuma JJ, Tullis E, Waters V. In vitro efficacy of high-dose
tobramycin against Burkholderia cepacia complex and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates from cystic fibrosis patients.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Jan;59(1):711-3.
Metcalfe K, Lerner-Ellis J, Eisen A, Narod S. Is it time to offer
BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing to all Jewish women? Current
Oncology. 2015 Feb 17. [In Press]
Munoz, D: Di Ieva A, Laiq S, Nejad R, Schmitz EM, Fathalla
H, Karamchandani J, Munoz DG and Cusimano MD. Chordoid
meningiomas: Incidence and clinicopathological features of a case
series over 18 years. Neuropathology. 2015 Apr. 2015 ;35(2):13747.
Munoz, D: Ng J, Celebre A, Munoz DG, Keith JL and Karamchandani JR. Sox10 is superior to S100 in the diagnosis of
meningioma. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2015 Mar.
2015 ;23(3):215-9.
24
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Ni, H : Chen Y, Ge J, Ruan M, Zhu L, Xie Y, Xia R, Ni H, Zeng
Q. [Study on the relationship of platelet specific-autoantibodies
with therapeutic outcomes by dexamethasone in immune
thrombocytopenia purpura]. Zhonghua Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi 2015
Mar;36(3):202-5.
Ni, H : H Zhou,Y Hou, X Liu, J Qiu, Q Feng,Y Wang, X Zhang,
Y Min, L Shao, G Li, L Li, L Yang, S Xu, H Ni, J Peng, and M
Hou. Low-dose decitabine promotes megakaryocyte maturation
and platelet production in healthy controls and immune thrombocytopenia. Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2015 Jan 8;113(4).
[Epub ahead of print]
Ni, H : Jansen AJ, Peng J, Zhao HG, Hou M, Ni H. Sialidase
inhibition to increase platelet counts: A new treatment option for
thrombocytopenia. American Journal of Hematology 2015 Jan 23.
[Epub ahead of print]
Marshall AH, Wang Y, Reheman A, Chen P, Zhu G, and Ni
H. Chapter 6206: The platelet as a physiological object in the
circulation. Pathobiology of Human Disease: A dynamic encyclopedia of disease mechanisms. Elsevier 2014; 3101-3114.
Vadasz B, Chen P,Yougbare I, Zdravic D, Li J, Li C, Carrim N, Ni
H. Platelets and platelet alloantigens: Lessons from human patients
and animal models of fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia. Genes and Diseases 2015 Feb 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Yougbare I, Lang S,Yang H, Boyd S, Chen P, Zhao X, Tai W-S,
Zdravic D,Vadasz B, Li C, Piran S, Marshall AH, Zhu G, Tiller
H, Killie MK, Leong-Poi H, Wen X-Y, Skogen B, Adamson SL,
Freedman J, Ni H. Maternal anti-platelet β3 integrins impair
angiogenesis and cause intracranial hemorrhage. Journal of
Clinical Investigation 2015 Apr 1;125(4):1545-56.
Nofech-Mozes S, Rakovitch E, Baehner F, Saskin R, Butler
S, Tuck A, SenGupta S, Elavathil L, Jani P, Bonin M, Chang M,
Slodkowska E, Shak S, Paszat L, Hanna W. Prediction of local
recurrence in ductal carcinoma in situ: Clinical validation of
DCIS Score. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):221;58A.
Nofech-Mozes S, Sui Y, Pang Z, Wang D, Liu K, Shaikh K, Murray
M, Cheung A, Clarke G, Filkins R,Yaffe M. Intratumoural
heterogeneity assessed by biomarker multiplexing and cluster
analysis. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):220;58A.
PUBLICATIONS
Lacroix J, Hébert PC, Fergusson DA, Tinmouth A, Cook DJ,
Marshall JC, Clayton L, McIntyre L, Callum J, Turgeon AF,
Blajchman MA, Walsh TS, Stanworth SJ, Campbell H, Capellier
G, Tiberghien P, Bardiaux L, van de Watering L, van der Meer NJ,
Sabri E,Vo D; ABLE Investigators; Canadian Critical Care Trials
Group. Age of transfused blood in critically ill adults. N Engl J
Med. 2015 Apr 9;372(15):1410-8. Epub 2015 Mar 17.
Bawazeer M, Ahmed N, Izadi H, McFarlan A, Nathens A, Pavenski
K. Compliance with a massive transfusion protocol (MTP)
impacts patient outcome. Injury. 2015 Jan;46(1):21-8.
Nahirniak S, Slichter SJ, Tanael S, Rebulla P, Pavenski K,Vassallo
R, Fung M, Duquesnoy R, Saw CL, Stanworth S, Tinmouth
A, Hume H, Ponnampalam A, Moltzan C, Berry B, Shehata N;
International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines.
Guidance on platelet transfusion for patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia. Transfus Med Rev. 2015 Jan;29(1):3-13.
Epub 2014 Nov 27.
Lee J, Krajden S, Graham C, Boggild AK, Pavenski K, Keystone
JS, Kain KC. Severe delayed hemolysis associated with
regulated parenteral antimalarial drug. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015
Jan;21(1):164-6.
Bloch EM, Sakac D, Branch HA, Cserti-Gazdewich C,
Pendergrast J, Pavenski K, Branch DR. Western immunoblotting
as a new tool for investigating direct antiglobulin test-negative
autoimmune hemolytic anemias. Transfusion. 2015 Mar 24. [Epub
ahead of print]
Prassas I, Azza E, Diamandis EP. Unleashing the therapeutic
potential of human kallikrein-related serine peptidases. Nat Rev
Drug Discov 2015;14:183-202.
Ratjen A,Yau Y, Wettlaufer J, Matukas L, Zlosnik JE, Speert
DP, LiPuma JJ, Tullis E, Waters V. In vitro efficacy of high-dose
tobramycin against Burkholderia cepacia complex and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates from cystic fibrosis patients.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 59(1):711-3. 2015 Jan.
Sadeghi-Naini A, Sofroni E, Papanicolau N, Falou O, Sugar L,
Morton G,Yaffe MJ, Nam R, Sadeghian A, Lolios MC, Chung
HT, Czarnota GJ. Quantitative ultrasounds spectroscopic imaging
for characterization of disease extent in prostate cancer patients.
Transl Oncol. 2015 Feb;8(1):25-34.
Schully SD, Carrick DM, Mechanic LE, Srivastava S, Anderson
GL, Baron JA, Berg CD, Cullen J, Diamandis EP, Doria-Rose VP,
Goddard KAB, Hankinson SE, Kushi LH, Larson EB, McShane
LM, Schilsky RL, Shak S, Skates SJ, Urban N, Kramer BS,
Khoury MJ, Ransohoff DF. Leveraging biospecimen resources
for discovery or validation of markers for early cancer detection. J
Nat Clin Inst 2015;107 pii: djv012. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djv012
Sermer C, Devitt B, Chahal J, Kandel R, Theodoropoulos J. The
Addition of Platelet-Rich Plasma to Scaffolds Used for Cartilage
Repair: A Review of Human and Animal Studies. Arthroscopy.
2015 Mar 27. [Epub ahead of print]
Shlien A, Campbell BB, de Borja R, Alexandrov LB, Merico D,
Wedge D,Van Loo P, Tarpey PS, Coupland P, Behjati S, Pollett A,
Lipman T, Heidari A, Deshmukh S, Avitzur N, Meier B, Gerstung
M, Hong Y, Merino DM, Ramakrishna M, Remke M, Arnold R,
Panigrahi GB, Thakkar NP, Hodel KP, Henninger EE, Göksenin
AY, Bakry D, Charames GS, Druker H, Lerner-Ellis J, Mistry M,
Dvir R, Grant R, Elhasid R, Farah R, Taylor GP, Nathan PC,
Alexander S, Ben-Shachar S, Ling SC, Gallinger S, Constantini S,
Dirks P, Huang A, Scherer SW, Grundy RG, Durno C, Aronson
M, Gartner A, Meyn MS, Taylor MD, Pursell ZF, Pearson CE,
Malkin D, Futreal PA, Stratton MR, Bouffet E, Hawkins C,
Campbell PJ, Tabori U, Biallelic Mismatch Repair Deficiency
Consortium. Combined hereditary and somatic mutations
of replication error repair genes result in rapid onset of ultrahypermutated cancers. Nat Genet. 2015 Mar 1;47(3):257-62.
Siemieniuk RA, MacFadden DR, Matukas LM. Disseminated
blastomycosis with cutaneous involvement in a Canadian railroad
worker. Lancet. 2015 Mar 7;385(9971):883.
Slodkowska E, Abdalahad N, Lu F-I, Han G, Hanna W, NofechMozes S. Biomarker profile in metastatic breast cancer. Mod Path
2015 Feb;28 (Supp 2):257; 67A.
Slodkowska E, Hanna W, Han G, Lu F-I, Nofech-Mozes S.
Mitotic activity in fibroepithelial lesions. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28
(Supp 2):259;68A.
Slodkowska E, Nofech-Mozes S, Han G, Lu F-I, Hanna W.
Fibroepithelial lesions revisted. Mod Path 2015 Feb;28 (Supp
2):258; 67A.
Carrigan S, Grin A, Al-Haddad S, Iakovlev V, Streutker C, Moore
T, Karamchandani J. Emphysematous oesophagitis associated with
Sarcina organisms in a patient receiving anti-inflammatory therapy.
Histopathology. 2014 Nov 19. doi: 10.1111/his.12599. [Epub
ahead of print]
Kolin DL, Sy K, Rotondo F, Bassily MN, Kovacs K, BrezdenMasley C, Streutker CJ,Yousef GM. Prognostic significance of
human tissue kallikrein-related peptidases 6 and 10 in gastric
cancer. Biol Chem. 2014 Sep;395(9):1087-93. doi: 10.1515/
hsz-2014-0143.
Kotha VK,Yan AT, Prabhudesai V, Kirpalani A, Connelly K,
Peerani R, Hill SJ, Streutker CJ, Latter DA, Pinter A, Deva DP.
Benign intramyocardial mesothelial cyst in the right ventricular
outflow tract: computed tomography and cardiovascular
magnetic resonance imaging appearances. Circulation. 2014 Dec
9;130(24):e275-7.
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
25
PUBLICATIONS
Streutker, CJ : Kumarasinghe MP, Brown I, Raftopoulos S, Bourke
MJ, Charlton A, de Boer WB, Eckstein R, Epari K, Gill AJ, Lam
AK, Price T, Streutker C, Lauwers GY. Standardised reporting
protocol for endoscopic resection for Barrett oesophagus
associated neoplasia: expert consensus recommendations.
Pathology. 2014 Oct; 46(6):473-80.
Sy K, Parfitt J, Marginean C, Riddell RH, Streutker CJ. Inflammatory pseudotumours of the oesophagus - histological and
immunohistochemical findings. Histopathology. 2014 Nov 13.
[Epub ahead of print]
Tseng E, Alhusayen R, Sade S, Buckstein R, Prica A. Pyoderma
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H, Fleshner NE, Klotz LH,Venkateswaran V. Capsaicin: a novel
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Feb;75(2)2:113-25.
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exacerbations in cystic fibrosis patients. J Cyst Fibros. 2015 Feb 14.
Streutker, CJ : Al-Haddad S, Chang AC, De Hertogh G, Grin A,
Langer R, Sagaert X, Salemme M, Streutker CJ, Soucy G, Tripathi
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troesophageal junction. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014. Sep;1325:211-25. Bilous M, Fitzgibbons P, Hanna W, Jenkins RB, Mangu PB, Paik
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2014 Mar 9 [Epub ahead of print]
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JM, Sweeney MG, Mudanohwo E, Nacmias B, Sorbi S, Tartaglia
Streutker, CJ : Khadaroo RG, Fortis S, Salim SY, Streutker C,
MC, Rainero I, Rubino E, Pinessi L, Galimberti D, Surace EI,
Churchill TA, Zhang H. I-FABP as biomarker for the early
McGoldrick P, McKeever P, Moreno D, Sato C, Liang Y, Keith J,
diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia and resultant lung injury.
Zinman L, Robertson J, Rogaeva E. The c9orf72 repeat expansion
PLoS One. 2014 Dec 26;9(12):e115242.
itself is methylated in ALS and FTLD patients. Acta Neuropathol.
2015 Feb 26 [Epub ahead of print].
Streutker, CJ : Samaan S, Lichner Z, Ding Q, Saleh C, Samuel J,
Streutker C,Yousef GM. Kallikreins are involved in an miRNA
Xiao S, Sanelli T, Chiang H, Sun Y, Chakrabartty A, Keith
network that contributes to prostate cancer progression. Biol
J, Rogaeva E, Zinman L, Robertson J. Low molecular weight
Chem. 2014 Sep;395(9):991-1001.
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
PUBLICATIONS
Yousef, George: Iakovleva G, Iakovlev V, Ordon M, Srigley J,
Yousef GM. Tubulocystic carcinoma of kidney: a challenging
diagnostic entity mimicking multicystic kidney and presenting
with bone metastasis. Histopathology. 2015 May;66(6):892-4.
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R, Scorilas A, Filter E, Finelli A, Lee JY, Ordon M, Pasic M,
Romaschin AD,Yousef GM. Profilin-1 expression is associated
with high grade and stage and decreased disease-free survival in
renal cell carcinoma. Hum Pathol. 2014 Nov 26.
Zhang M, Xi Z, Zinman L, Bruni AC, Maletta RG, Curcio SA,
Rainero I, Rubino E, Pinessi L, Nacmias B, Sorbi S, Galimberti
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Mutation analysis of CHCHD10 in different neurodegenerative
diseases. Brain. 2015 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]
Yousef, George: Khella HW, Scorilas A, Mozes R, Mirham L,
Lianidou E, Krylov SN, Lee JY, Ordon M, Stewart R, Jewett MA,
Yousef GM. Low expression of miR-126 is a prognostic marker
for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Am J Pathol. 2015
Mar;185(3):693-703. Epub 2015 Jan 5.
Yousef, George: Papadopoulos EI,Yousef GM, Scorilas A.
Cytotoxic activity of sunitinib and everolimus in Caki-1 renal
cancer cells is accompanied by modulations in the expression of
apoptosis-related microRNA clusters and BCL2 family genes.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2015 Mar;70:33-40. Epub 2015 Jan 9.
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Gemcitabine impacts differentially on bladder and kidney cancer
cells: distinct modulations in the expression patterns of apoptosisrelated microRNAs and BCL2 family genes. Tumour Biol. 2015
Apr 2.
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Yousef, George: Rotondo F, Di Ieva A, Kovacs K, Cusimano
MD, Syro LV, Diamandis EP,Yousef GM. Human kallikrein 10
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(Athens). 2014 Dec 29.
Yousef, George: Wegman DW, Ghasemi F, Khorshidi A,Yang BB,
Liu SK,Yousef GM, Krylov SN. Highly-sensitive amplificationfree analysis of multiple miRNAs by capillary electrophoresis.
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Yousef, George:Yousef GM. miRSNP-Based approach identifies
a miRNA that regulates prostate-specific antigen in an allelespecific manner. Cancer Discov. 2015 Apr;5(4):351-2.
Yucel,Y : Clark A, Alkhotani A,Yucel YH, Sylvester C, Kertes
P, Birt C. Electron microscopic evidence of photreceptor
outer-segments in the trabecular meshwork in a case of SchwartzMatsuo syndrome. 2015 Mar 15.
Yucel,Y : McKetton L, Williams J,Yucel YH, Gupta N, Schneider
K. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging of the
human subcortex in vivo and postmortem. Journal of Visualized
Experiments. 2015 Mar 12. [In Press]
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
27
OFF THE CLOCK AT LMP
LMP Dance Crew
Yoshihito Kano, Annoj Thavalingam, Kirk Zafranski, Jana Neiman-Zenevich, Betty Poon
Jonathan Cook, Ferzeen Sammy and Farshad Azimi
So you think you can dance? Then you might want to check out the LMP Dance Crew. The
energetic dance group formed in 2012, and since then have “locked” and “popped” their way
to success.
Created by LMP graduate students Jana Neiman-Zenevich and Farshad Azimi, the group has
performed at many LMP events including the last three LMP Annual Banquets. They’ve danced
to “Footloose,” “U Can’t Touch This,” “Single Ladies,” “Gangnam Style,” “The Fox” and even
inspired a surprise flashmob to “Happy.” They recently performed “Everybody (Backstreet’s
Back)” at this year’s celebration.
Neiman is a fourth-year PhD student working with Professor Jeremy Mogridge. She’s studying
the molecular mechanism of inflammation during metabolic stress. Outside the lab she leads
and choreographs the Crew. Her passion for dance began when she was six years old and she
continues to take ballet classes at Canada’s National Ballet School.
Neiman explains how the group got started and how dance has helped to balance an
intense workload.
What do you find most interesting about your research?
My research exposes me to both the microbiology and the immunology fields. I get to learn about the molecular and
cellular biology of bacteria and the molecular biology of how the immune system responds to these pathogens.
Why did you decide to create the LMP Dance Crew?
Farshad Azimi came up with the idea to do a surprise dance for our 2012 holiday party, and we thought it would be
fun to dance to “Gangnam Style.” I learned the choreography and then we got a group of students and staff together
and started to practice. We had a ton of fun with that first dance, and we’ve continued to get together every week to
practice new routines — for fun and exercise.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of leading the group?
I enjoy it because it’s challenging. Different people learn in different ways so I’ve had to learn how to adjust my
teaching style. Also, some people don’t have a dance background, so I’ve figured out how to break the moves down
28
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
OFF THE CLOCK AT LMP
2012 Holiday Party
2015 Annual Banquet
into smaller steps. It’s really rewarding to see people
having fun dancing and improving with each practice.
How does dance influence your research and
your life at LMP?
As graduate students we spend a lot of time in the lab.
It’s great to have a group activity where we can get
together and do something active and creative. A lot of
us have intense research projects, and dance practice
serves as a mental and physical break. When we go
back to the lab we’re re-energized and ready to look at
research problems in new ways. I’ve also made some
lasting connections, and it’s been fun to interact with
other students outside the lab.
2014 Holiday Party
What are your future plans?
Teaching choreography has been a really great experience
because I want to pursue a career in teaching. I would
like to teach biology at a college or university level after I
graduate. While I finish my PhD, I plan to continue to host
dance practice every week. We have a core group, and
we’re always welcoming new people!
What’s your favourite thing about LMP?
My favourite thing about LMP is the people. Their skills
and talents go well beyond research and can be seen
through their passion for music, singing and dance.
2013 Annual Banquet
LMP News | Vol. 17 No. 3 – 2015
29
INVESTIGATING
DISEASE.
IMPACTING
HEALTH.
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