LMP
lmp news
INVESTIGATING DISEASE.
IMPACTING HEALTH.
VOL. 16 NO. 2 – 2014
Comments from the Chair
Into the Stratosphere
The Department of Laboratory Medicine and
Pathobiology (LMP) is incredibly diverse and
arguably the most complex academic unit at
the University of Toronto. We have a lofty and
ambitious mission to provide leadership in
academic pathology and laboratory medicine, and
to train outstanding individuals to be the next
generation of leaders in our discipline.
Our environment is characterized by exceptionally high expectations: those who fund and support us expect LMP
to attract, retain, grow and develop the very best talent, and to create,
convey, translate and apply knowledge of the causes and mechanisms of
disease at a level that achieves considerable international recognition
and impact.
Our Department has matured to such a degree that members move
comfortably in international circles and carry tremendous influence.
The University of Toronto LMP “brand” is well respected in our field
and, together with our partners in our affiliated hospitals, institutes and
agencies, our expertise is highly sought after at all levels.
One way to take stock of our departmental performance is to see
how well we fare in various competitive arenas. This year alone, the
accomplishments of the LMP Graduate Program are simply breathtaking; for example, LMP graduate students have received four new Vanier
Scholar Awards (out of a total 13 for the entire University of Toronto), a
new Trillium Award for international graduate students, and a Governor
General’s Gold Medal for outstanding PhD thesis.
Concerning LMP alumni, a recent PhD graduate ranked first out of
845 applicants for a CIHR postdoctoral award, while an alumnus from
our Undergraduate Pathobiology Specialist Program ranked third out of
approximately 750 applicants for a CIHR Training Grant.
(Cont’d on next page)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
3 | Feature Story
cancer stem cells: new insights
into the bowel, brain and breast
5 | Inspirational Alumni
6 |Research
7 |Education
The conference on the aging
population
10 11
14
17
18
19
24
| Life at LMP
| Awards & Honours
|Announcements
|Events
|Funding
|Publications
| Off the Clock at LMP
www.lmp.utoronto.ca
COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR
LMP News
Vol. 16 No. 2 –­ 2014
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
These accomplishments truly are of stratospheric proportions and speak to
the quality of individuals we attract to LMP, our ability to provide them with
an environment that allows people to thrive, and to prepare our students and
trainees for the next stage of their lives.
The findings of our recent external review show that LMP is performing
as a top tier department in all areas such as education, research, planning and
reputation. We are well positioned to leverage our expertise and address future
challenges and opportunities.
We have much to celebrate and for which to be thankful; however, the
world does not stand still. LMP must be relentless in its pursuit of everincreasing levels of quality, impact and performance. This is the virtuous cycle
that will enable LMP to fulfill our mission and achieve our vision of international prominence in our discipline. Thank you to everyone for your hard
work and for your steadfastness and dedication in these especially challenging
times. Our collective efforts are yielding outstanding results.
Wishing you all the very best for an enjoyable summer 2014.
Richard G. Hegele, MD, FRCPC, PhD
Professor and Chair
feature
CANCER STEM CELLS
New insights into the bowel, brain and breast
While there have been many advances in cancer treatment,
some patients continue to relapse with tumours that regrow
and resist therapy. Why do these tumours resist treatment and
what allows some cancer cells to endlessly divide generation
upon generation? In answer to these complex questions,
researchers from LMP are investigating cancer stem cells —
cells that some believe to be the root cause of a tumour’s
ability to self-renew.
In the mid-1990s, Professor John Dick (PhD), from U
of T’s Department of Molecular Genetics, proposed that
cells within a solid tumour or in leukemia are structured in
a hierarchy with some cells acting as stem cells which renew
and sustain the cancer. Stem cells also give rise to daughter
cells that divide and differentiate, producing a heterogeneous
population of tumour cells with distinct gene expression
profiles and biochemical functions.
As the tumour cell subpopulation critical for self-renewal,
cancer stem cells can be likened to the roots of a weed: a
gardener can cut the weed down, but the plant will simply
regrow if the roots remain. As a result, this theory proposes
that it is most important to target the self-propagating cells of
a tumour.
This cancer stem cell model differs from the traditional
and long-standing clonal evolution model where, similar to
Darwinian evolution, it is held that a cell that has a beneficial
heritable mutation generates clones (or progeny) that survive
over cells lacking this mutation. In this model, most cells in a
clone can multiply and form new tumours and thus all cancer
cells must be targeted with chemotherapy or radiation.
Although there is some controversy surrounding stem
cells, and how these two models could work together, LMP
researchers are leading the way in this evolving field and the
future of cancer treatment.
COLORECTAL CANCER
One of these researchers is LMP Professor Catherine
O’Brien (MD, PhD, FRCSC). Working with Prof.
Dick, Prof. O’Brien published groundbreaking cancer
stem cell research in Nature Medicine in December
2013. Their findings demonstrated that they could effectively
shrink colorectal tumours with an inhibitor that downregulates a
gene called BMI-1 — a driver of stem cell self-renewal.
Combined with customary treatments, targeting stem cells
could better prevent tumours from reoccurring. “This research
shows a lot of promise. In all likelihood, targeting self-renewal
may have a role in being combined with traditional chemotherapy,” said Prof. O’Brien, who is also a surgeon and scientist at
University Health Network.
Beyond colorectal cancer, there is promising evidence
that other cancers could be treated by targeting BMI-1, which
functions as an epigenetic chromatin modifier. “There’s definitely
a role for targeting BMI-1 in other cancers. Other researchers are
using this inhibitor in a subset of cells in breast cancer and there’s
a lot of evidence that there’s a role for BMI-1 for driving the
stem cell subset in glioblastoma.”
BRAIN CANCER
Also at LMP, Professor Peter Dirks (MD, PhD), is
researching heterogeneity in glioblastoma and other
brain cancers, and is trying to link genetic differences
with functional behaviours at the single clone level. His
lab is also using mouse models to better define these populations
by marking stem cells in an effort to trace their lineage.
While sequencing of the tumour genome has revolutionized our understanding of cancer growth, Prof. Dirks believes
there are limitations to this approach. “We need to do studies
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
3
FEATURE
where we try to understand tumour heterogeneity from both a
genetic and functional perspective. Deep sequencing of tumours
alone is not going to tell us what’s driving individual clone
behaviours,” said Prof. Dirks.
A neurosurgeon and senior scientist at the Hospital
for Sick Children, and Professor at U of T’s Departments
of Surgery and Molecular Genetics, Prof. Dirks has also
pioneered a way of isolating cancer stem cells to make primary
cultures from patient brain tumours. His techniques more
accurately retain the cancer’s in vivo molecular features and
can quickly identify drugs that can target a cancer’s ability to
form and renew colonies.
As a pathologist and scientist, LMP Professor Cynthia
Hawkins (PhD, MD, FRCPC), is also studying
glioblastoma and other brain cancers at the Hospital
for Sick Children. She creates primary derived cancer
stem cell lines to study Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas,
high-grade gliomas and ependymomas.
In a 2013 publication in Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences of the United States of America, Prof. Hawkins revealed
that certain stem cell populations may be more susceptible to
malignant transformation than others, with earlier progenitors
requiring fewer oncogenic changes to undergo transformation.
This could explain why there is such difference in genetic
alterations underlying pediatric and adult glioma.
Prof. Hawkins acknowledges that scientists face challenges
when identifying cancer stem cells. For example, there are
certain cancer stem cell markers such as glial fibrillary acidic
protein which also mark mature cells. “With many of these
markers it’s not black and white. They may be there in stem
cells but they can also be carried on into progenitor cells. It’s a
moving target,” said Prof. Hawkins.
LMP Professor Sunit Das (MD, PhD) is also
researching epigenetics in glioblastoma. More
specifically, he is studying cytokine signalling within
the glioblastoma microenvironment, and how this is
mediated at the level of microRNAs and long coding RNAs.
“Beyond mutations, cancer cells are very plastic and
malleable and change and react to signalling that occurs within
the environment that they live in. We’re interested in how they
adapt to their environment, how non-chromosomal elements
may be important as to how these cancers evolve over time,
and how they change and recur after therapy,” said Prof. Das, a
neurosurgeon and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital.
“The goal for most of us is to find something that has some
import for our patients. Glioblastoma is the most common
malignant brain cancer in adults and the median survival is
about 14.5 months. For me, a lot of the impetus for doing the
research that I do is because of what I feel are the limits of what
I can offer my patients as a surgeon.”
4
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
BREAST CANCER
While there are limits to surgery, there are also
limits to current chemotherapy. Professor Eldad
Zacksenhaus (PhD), a senior scientist at Toronto
General Research Institute, University Health
Network, is studying one of the most aggressive breast cancers
called HER-2 positive breast cancer. Traditionally, this cancer
is treated with chemotherapy and anti-HER-2 inhibitors;
however, many patients relapse with metastatic disease or do not
respond to treatment.
Prof. Zacksenhaus recently revealed in Cancer Research
(April 2014) that in conjunction with traditional therapy,
HER-2 positive breast cancer can be treated by targeting
cancer stem cells, using drugs that inhibit two closely related
kinases,TBK1 and IKK-epsilon. To bring such inhibitors
to the clinic, his next steps will be to screen for TBK1 and
IKK-epsilon inhibitors with the longest half-life in vivo.
Prof. Zacksenhaus believes that the clonal evolution
model and the cancer stem cell model are not mutually
exclusive but rather complement each other to increase
cancer cell complexity. “A genetic variation in a clone and
epigenetic alteration within a cell that can self-renew and
can be transmitted to other cells can occur at the same time,”
he explained. “There is also evidence in breast cancer that
non-cancer stem cells can revert or dedifferentiate back to
cancer stem cells. I believe that the best therapy should target
both compartments.”
Given the challenges that face the field of cancer stem cell
research, what does the future hold?
Prof. Dirks believes that it will be important to refine assays
to determine whether dedifferentiation happens in vivo. He
also emphasizes the importance of studying cancer stem cells in
vivo without extracting and manipulating them and potentially
changing their behaviour.
“I think the idea is long gone that treating cancer
stem cells is going to solve everything. Our view is that
you’re going to need the right drugs for the right tumour
compartments.You need some agents that suppress the rapidly
proliferating population and you need others that deal with
the residual cells.”
Prof. Das agrees. “My suspicion is that what we’re going
to find is that the truth is something much more nuanced
than can be made sense of simply with the cancer stem cell
hypothesis. We’ll probably find some truth in both the clonal
evolution theory and cancer stem cell hypothesis. I do think
that there are good data that show that the stem cell phenotype
is one mechanism for disease resistance in multiple cancers and
hopefully that means that’s something we’re able to target in a
meaningful way.” n
inspirational alumni
Alumnus Joel Watts
A Passion for Prions
Even as an undergraduate, Professor Joel Watts (PhD) knew
discovering and describing prions — at that time an entirely new
he wanted to research prions and pursue academia. This
genre of disease-causing agents.
passion extended throughout his undergraduate, graduate and
“During my postdoc it was becoming increasingly clear that
postgraduate research, while he investigated different aspects of
other more common diseases may exhibit properties that are
prions — infectious misfolded proteins that can cause a variety
similar to prions. This is one of the hottest topics in the field now
of fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob
and it will be interesting to see how prions might be related to
disease in humans.
diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said Prof. Watts.
Prof. Watts originally discovered his interest in research as
In 2013, after completing a highly successful postdoctoral
an undergraduate student at the University of Western Ontario.
fellowship, Prof. Watts returned to U of T and joined
“As an undergraduate student in biology you think that medicine
the Department of Biochemistry as Assistant Professor at the Tanz
is your only option. But I really got
Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative
“...it’s important to
bitten by the research bug and in
Diseases.
my early stages of graduate studies I
Prof. Watts’s current research focuses
identify early on what
realized I wanted to pursue academia.”
on developing animal and cell models of
you’re interested in and the prion diseases as well as neurodegen
Inspired by a challenge, he
then surround yourself erative diseases including Alzheimer’s and
decided to study prions because there
is still much to learn about these
Parkinson’s.
with the right people
rare diseases. “I find prions really
The aim of his work is to understand
and tools...”
interesting because they go against
how pathological, prion-like protein
very established biological principles
aggregates spread throughout the brain and
and the whole idea of an infectious protein is fascinating,” said
cause disease, with the ultimate goal of developing therapeutics for
Prof. Watts.
the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders in humans.
Prof. Watts pursued his PhD with former LMP Professor
When asked about advice for graduate students interested
David Westaway (PhD), and LMP Professor Gerold Schmittin pursuing a career in academia, Prof. Watts said, “I think it’s
Ulms (PhD). During his PhD, he studied two molecules that
important to identify early on what you’re interested in and then
were thought to be involved in the biology of the prion
surround yourself with the right people and tools during your
protein: Shadoo and DPP6.
training to make you an expert.”
In 2008, he began a postdoctoral fellowship at the laboratory
Since he has established his lab at the Tanz Centre for
of Nobel Laureate Dr. Stanley Prusiner at the University of
Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, his passion for prions
California, San Francisco. “I was lucky because Dave Westaway
and academia continues. “I love the pursuit of knowledge. I
was a senior scientist in the Prusiner lab before he came to
love waking up every day to find that there’s something new to
Toronto, and Gerold also came from the Prusiner lab, so I had a
investigate and some new challenge. There’s always that quest to
natural connection for doing my postdoc,” said Prof. Watts.
find the answer for something.” n
Working with Dr. Prusiner, the preeminent expert in prion
disease, was an extraordinary opportunity. In 1997, Dr. Prusiner
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
5
Research
Pawel Buczkowicz, Professor Cynthia Hawkins and Patricia Rakopoulos
NATURE GENETICS
Researchers offer hope for previously incurable
childhood brain cancer
Imagine the anguish of a parent whose
child is diagnosed with an incurable
form of childhood brain cancer. Surgery
is not an option, current chemotherapy
is ineffective and focal radiation only
provides temporary relief. Remarkably,
LMP researchers have defined potential
treatment targets for this relatively
common cancer — providing hope for
future patients.
In this groundbreaking research
published in Nature Genetics, LMP
Professor Cynthia Hawkins (PhD, MD,
FRCPC), a scientist and neuropathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children,
along with PhD candidates Pawel
Buczkowicz and Patricia Rakopoulos,
identified three subgroups of Diffuse
Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), each
having distinct molecular features.
“In the past, DIPGs were considered
one disease and were assumed to be
similar to adult brain tumours. For this
reason, the treatments that were given to
adults were also given to children — but
these treatments were ineffective,” said
Buczkowicz. By studying the differences
between these tumours, the team can
now investigate potential treatments.
DIPGs are known as one of the
most challenging tumours to treat
because cancer cells are intimately inter-
6
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
mingled with normal brain cells in a part
of the brain that cannot be surgically
resected. They are most commonly
diagnosed in children between the ages
of 5 and 9 and account for 10 to 15
percent of all pediatric central nervous
system tumours.
Previously, doctors used MRI or CT
scans to diagnose and study DIPGs, but
the information obtained was limited.
In addition, it was difficult to study
these tumours because they were rarely
biopsied and tissue samples were rare.
Prof. Hawkins began an autopsy-based
study to gain a comprehensive molecular
and histological perspective of the disease.
“I think what’s interesting about
combining whole genome analysis and
histopathology is that we can study
the tumour at multiple levels,” said
co-author Rakopoulos. “We’re able to
see at the molecular level down to a
single nucleotide and then we have the
view from the very top. It’s important to
have as many perspectives as possible.”
The team discovered that DIPGs
could be more accurately classified
into three subgroups: H3-K27M, Silent
and MYCN. They also revealed a new
recurrent activating mutation in the
activin receptor ACVR1. With these
breakthroughs, they can now investigate
potential therapeutics that will target
these subgroups.
Prof. Hawkins believes that this
discovery could lead to better treatment.
“We’re hoping that by having a better
genetic characterization of these cancers
we can try to better target these tumours
and provide a personalized approach to
treatment. The ideal is always that we’re
going to find something that will zap all
of the tumour cells and we’re going to
find a cure. But probably a more realistic
interim goal is that we can at least slow
it down.”
Phase I clinical trials for DIPG
could potentially begin within a year. n
Undergraduate
Kathleen Qu (HSSU) and Benedict Darren (LMPSU)
welcome conference attendees
Conference organizers: Alena Zelinka, Maya Deeb, Robert Guo, Thomas Lu,
Anastasia Bosc, Benedict Darren, Nancy Liu, Qingda Hu and Ariel Gershon
Keynote speaker Dr. Lynn McDonald
PHOTOs: Thomas Lu and Qingda Hu
Conference on the
aging population
On January 17 and 18, 2014, presenters and attendees gathered
scourge of aging. She explained the cost of dementia and
for the informative Conference on the Aging Population at the
how there is an intimate relation between vascular disease and
University of Toronto’s Bahen Centre.
Alzheimer pathology. At the end of her presentation, she said that
Concerned about the pressing economic, social and health
lifestyle changes, including regular physical activity, could help to
care needs of our aging population, undergraduates from the
prevent dementia.
Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Student Union (LMPSU) Amongst other wide-ranging presentations,Valerie Taylor,
and the Health Studies Students’ Union (HSSU) hosted this
first-year medical student at U of T, commented on the seminar
unique conference featuring world-renowned keynote speakers,
presented by Dr. Samir Sinha, Assistant Professor, University of
seminars, a panel discussion and a
Toronto and Johns Hopkins University,
non-profit fair.
and Director of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai
“...The value of this
“I think that the value of this
Hospital and University Health Network.
conference is that
conference is that it shows how we
“As Dr. Sinha explained, we don’t get
can approach a relevant health issue in
much exposure to geriatrics in our
it shows how we can
an interdisciplinary way, approaching
curriculum at medical school. It was a nice
approach a relevant
these issues from a biomedical, social
opportunity for me to learn more and
and political perspective,” said Benedict health issue in an interexplore more about the future
disciplinary way...”
Darren, Co-President of LMPSU.
of geriatrics.”
LMPSU Co-President Anastasia
On a practical level, students applied
Bosc added, “In our current society,
what they learned at the conference at the
the aging population is dramatically increasing in size, which
non-profit fair featuring groups including the Ontario Society
is leading to important economic and social implications. For
Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations, Canadian Association
example, a great deal of money and resources will need to be
on Gerontology and Students Against Alzheimer’s at U of T.
invested into health care. It is imperative that we look at these
“The conference was really great. I thought this was a really
issues now surrounding the aging population and try and come
good introduction to the issues and I really liked that it was
up with solutions before it’s too late.”
interdisciplinary and that all sides of the issue were presented,” said
On the Friday evening, keynote speaker Dr. Lynn McDonald, fourth-year LMP undergraduate student Mary Lee. n
Professor, Faculty of Social Work, and Director, Institute for the
Life Course and Aging, University of Toronto, discussed ageism
and how seniors are often vibrant, engaged and are contributing
to society.
The following day, keynote speaker Dr. Sandra Black, Brill
Professor of Neurology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre,
University of Toronto, described cognitive decline as the greatest
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
7
GRADUATE
LMP alumnus Jesse McLean
Organizers Marsel Lino and Meghan Feeney with Dr. Tak Mak,
Professors Richard Hegele and Harry Elsholtz
Richard Wu and Chan-Mi Lee
On Tuesday, March 11, over 200 LMP
participants enjoyed the interactive and
inspiring 17th Annual LMP Graduate
Research Conference (GRC). As one of
the major highlights of LMP’s graduate
program, the day featured 97 poster
presentations, a career planning session,
symposia and keynote speaker Dr. Tak W.
Mak (OC, PhD, MD, DSc, FRSC, FRS).
When presenting their research at
the University of Toronto’s Chestnut
Residence Conference Centre, students
received focused and valuable feedback
from a small group of judges. In addition,
students attended a career planning
session with LMP alumni and symposia
featuring LMP faculty and students. The
symposia represented the diversity of LMP
and included categories such as Brain
and Neuroscience, Cardiovascular and
Diabetes, and Cell Biology and Cancer.
Plenary speaker, Dr. Mak, Director of
the Campbell Family Institute, Princess
Margaret Hospital, and Professor,
Departments of Medical Biophysics and
Immunology, University of Toronto,
presented his groundbreaking research
in “Future Anti-Cancer Therapeutic
Targets: Put the Cart Before the
Horses?” His presentation highlighted
the importance of breadth and depth in
cancer research and reinforced the value
of LMP’s diverse research.
8
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Dr. Mak described the past, present
and future of anti-cancer therapeutics.
He emphasized the benefits of changing
the focus of cancer therapeutics from
oncogenes and tumour suppressors to
common tumour phenotypes such as
metabolic adaptations and chromosome
number variations. Dr. Mak’s preclinical
studies show promising results for these
2014 poster presentation winners.
See page 12 for the list of award winners.
therapeutics which could change the
landscape of cancer therapy.
He explained, “Cancer is now the
number one killer in the first world. It
takes 20 years and it’s very costly to make
a new drug. By the time you are my age,
cancer rates will have gone up dramatically.
My question is: Don’t you want to think
outside the box?”
This year’s event, hosted by LMP’s
graduate student association the Confederation of Laboratory Medicine and
Pathobiology Students (CLAMPS), was
organized by Meghan Feeney, CLAMPS
President, and Marsel Lino, CLAMPS
Vice-President Academic.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with how
this day went. We had a great turnout. The
faculty and the speakers were amazing and
the whole vibe of the day was excellent. I
feel like we really celebrated our research
and everyone came together,” said Feeney.
Lino added, “Working closely with
the GRC planning committee and with
CLAMPS was an excellent opportunity
to develop strong leadership skills. It was
a privilege to be part of a team of such
dedicated and hardworking individuals.”
He added, “I look forward to watching
this event grow over the next few years
and to see how future CLAMPS members
improve what I consider to be the
highlight of the year for our department.”
Declared a resounding success by
attendees, Graduate Coordinator Professor
Harry Elsholtz (PhD) summed up the day.
“I’m really impressed that the quality of
the science, as well as student presentations,
improves each year. We’re really preparing
students well for this day with our weekly
seminars and the students do a professional
job in how they present their research.” n
PHOTOS: Paul Hamel
graduate research
conference 2014
PostGRADUATE
Lorna Mirham, Carlo Hojilla, Rola Saleeb, Paula Nixon, Professor George Yousef, Diana
Diaconescu, Dr. Jesse McKenney, Sydney Card, Professor Richard Hegele
postgraduate
research day 2014
Hosted on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, at Hart House,
University of Toronto, LMP’s 8th Annual Postgraduate Research
Day was an outstanding success with over 50 attendees, 26
poster presentations and four oral presentations.
“Our Research Day is a great opportunity to listen to
residents and fellows, to address their needs and answer their
questions. It is also very important in building new collaborations
between faculty and residents, and it plays a significant role in
creating new research ideas,” said Professor George Yousef (MD,
PhD, FRCPC), Director of Postgraduate Research for LMP.
One of the highlights of the day was the keynote speech by
Dr. Jesse McKenney (MD), Section Head, Surgical Pathology, and
Program Director, Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship at the
Cleveland Clinic. During his engaging presentation, “EvidenceBased Pathology: Impact of Research in our Daily Practice,” he
described the challenges of classifying human tumours.
“The truth can be a moving target. How do we determine
the current best evidence from the published studies that are out
there today? How do we design studies to create better evidence
and how do we use that and incorporate it in our training?” Dr.
McKenney asked.
Prof.Yousef said, “Dr. McKenney’s presentation was
spectacular and created a lot of enriching discussion. He
highlighted the importance of evidence-based pathology and
how our decisions regarding classification and disease staging
should rely on patient outcome and be closely linked to their
clinical needs.”
Another highlight of the event was the introduction of
roundtable discussions which encouraged lively dialogue between
faculty and trainees. These discussions focused on how to select
a research project and find a supervisor, obtain funding and
successfully publish.
Anatomic Pathology resident Diana Diaconescu (MD) said,
“For me, the most interesting part of the Postgraduate Research
Day was meeting resident colleagues and faculty, and learning
about the ongoing research within LMP. Research Day is a great
opportunity to share new ideas and knowledge, as well as to
make new professional connections. The roundtable discussions
were extremely helpful and informative, and provided invaluable
practical research advice.” n
The winners of this year’s Research Day are:
Oral Presentation
Joshua Raizman
Poster Presentation
First Place — Herman Chui
Second Place — Raheem Peerani
Third Place — Simin Laiq
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
9
Life at LMP
Front: Julia Pasquale, Adeline Ng, Sally Hu, Felix Leung, Stephen McCarthy, Michael Nguyen, Alex Marchand-Austin, Thomas Lu
Back: Olga Brashavitskaya, Raymond Wong, Sofia Farkona, Dylan Brethour, Rama Ponda, Jesse McLean, Isabelle Aubert, Anurag Tandon, George
Charames, Nades Palaniyar, Ivan Blasutig, John Prassas and Eleftherios Diamandis
faculty reign
supreme
Faculty vs. Students Volleyball
Game 2014
Faculty team members: Professors Ivan Blasutig
and Isabelle Aubert with Rama Ponda
Student team members: Michael Nguyen, Sally Hu and
Thomas Lu
10
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Held at the University of Toronto’s Athletic Centre on April 17,
2014, this year’s Faculty vs. Students Volleyball Game proved to be a
heated competition. At the net, there was a constant battle between
John Prassas, representing the faculty team, and Alex MarchandAustin representing the student team.
The faculty set the tone of the intense game when they won
the first set with a score of 25–22.While Professor Eleftherios
Diamandis rallied his troops, providing words of encouragement
and coaching to the faculty, Stephen McCarthy and Raymond
Wong used their actions and energy to inspire the student team.
In the end, though, the faculty proved to be too good a match
for the students, achieving a very close victory and an upset with a
score of 25–22 in the second set.
“It was a great match all the way through and both teams
played extraordinarily well,” said co-organizer Dylan Brethour.
While the faculty celebrated, the students already began to
look forward to next year’s Faculty vs. Students Volleyball Game and
if this year’s game is any indication, it promises to be a great one.
Most importantly, the game will remain an excellent opportunity
for students and faculty to compete and to have fun. n
PHOTOS: Paul Hamel
By MARSEL LINO
AWARDS & HONOURS
Awards & honours
Faculty
Prof. Michelle Bendeck (PhD), along with Ohio State
University’s (OHSU) Assistant Professor Gunjan Agarwal (PhD),
has been awarded a CEOS-Connect Award for Networking.
The CEOS-Connect program supports women in STEMM
(science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) by
strengthening and broadening their networks.
The grant is designed to allow a junior faculty member
(Prof. Agarwal) to invite a senior scholar of international
reputation (Prof. Bendeck) to visit the OHSU campus and
deliver a seminar. Prof. Bendeck visited OHSU in March 2014.
In turn, Prof. Agarwal will present a seminar at the University of
Toronto in March 2015.
Prof. Sunit Das (MD, PhD) is the American College of
Surgeons’ 2014 Franklin Martin Faculty Research Fellow.
This two-year fellowship will help him develop new research
programs. Professor Das’s clinical and research interests focus on
primary cancers of the brain.
Prof. Eleftherios Diamandis (MD, PhD, FRCPC, FRSC)
has received the 2014 Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists
(CSCC) Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical
Chemistry. This award recognizes Prof. Diamandis’s many
contributions to clinical chemistry including leadership in
research, clinical service and education.
Recognized as a world-class clinical chemist, Prof.
Diamandis’s lab has been ranked highest in Canada in areas of
proteomics and protease specialty. He has published two books
on areas related to immunoassay and tumour markers, has led a
National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry committee to create
practice guidelines specifically related to the use of tumour
markers and has published more than 36 book chapters and
hundreds of research papers and scientific reviews.
Prof. Eleftherios Diamandis is also this year’s recipient of
the JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award. This award
honours active faculty members who, over a minimum of a
fifteen-year period, have demonstrated excellence in supervision
at U of T. This award recognizes Prof. Diamandis’s outstanding
performance in the multiple roles associated with doctoral
supervision. Prof. Diamandis’s research activities revolve around
discovery and validation of cancer biomarkers, proteomics, mass
spectrometry and translational research. In his 27 years at LMP,
he has supervised 38 doctoral students. The award ceremony was
held at the School of Graduate Studies Awards and Fellowships
Reception, held Wednesday, May 28, at U of T’s Faculty Club.
Prof. Daniel Drucker (MD, FRCPC) received the prestigious
Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement Award. This award for
scientific excellence recognizes significant, long-term contributions to the understanding, treatment or prevention of diabetes.
A senior scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research
Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, Prof. Drucker is known for
his translational studies identifying fundamental aspects of gut
hormone action, which supported the development of three
novel classes of medicines for treating metabolic disorders.
Prof. Frances Jamieson (MD, MHSc, FRCPC) has won a
National LEADing Practice Award from Canada Health Infoway
and Accreditation Canada. Prof. Jamieson and her team were
recognized for their web-based Geographic Information System
application, known as Ontario Universal Typing — Tuberculosis
(OUT-TB) Web.
The LEADing Practice Initiative is part of Canada Infoway’s
Clinician Education Campaign, designed to raise awareness
and understanding of the clinical benefits of interconnected
electronic health record systems. This award recognizes health
care teams who are using technology to strengthen clinical
practice and the quality of care delivered.
Prof. Jamieson and research technician Jennifer Guthrie
(MSc) received this national award at the Advancing Care:
Optimizing the Use and Value of Digital Health — Peer Leader
Symposium in Toronto on February 28, 2014.
Prof. Ozgur Mete (MD) received the Wightman-Berris
Academy Individual Teaching Performance Award in Undergraduate Medicine. This award recognizes excellence in the
ability to enhance learning, teach effectively, stimulate critical
thinking, act as a mentor and encourage scholarly activities.
Prof. Catherine O’Brien (BSc, MD, PhD, FRCSC) received
the prestigious Lap-Chee Tsui Publication Award in the
Biomedical Research Category, together with co-first author
Antonija Kreso (PhD) and senior author Prof. John Dick (PhD)
from the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University
of Toronto.
The winning paper was published in Science (Feb 2013)
and showed that apart from genetic diversity, epigenetic and
microenvironmental factors can affect functional heterogeneity
in tumours. This groundbreaking research provides new insights
into the “non-genetic determinants” of cancer cell behavior,
including tumour dormancy and metastatic potential, and
explains why some cancers recur after treatment.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research — Institute
of Genetics (CIHR-IG) established this award to recognize
outstanding trainee-conducted research within the CIHR-IG’s
mandate. This award was established to honour Dr. Lap-Chee
Tsui who discovered the gene for cystic fibrosis, a milestone in
human genetic disease research.
Prof. Michael Pollanen (MD, PhD, FRCPath, DMJ, FRCPC)
has won the 2012–2013 Interprofessional Health Care Team
Continuing Professional Development Award for his program
on suicide, an interprofessional initiative for coroners, lawyers,
pathologists and technologists. This award recognizes the
importance of innovative research in continuing education
for health professionals. Professor Pollanen is Ontario’s Chief
Forensic Pathologist and founding Program Director for the
Forensic Pathology Residency Training Program.
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
11
Awards & Honours
Prof. James Rutka (MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, FAAP) was
appointed to the Order of Ontario, the province’s highest
honour. Prof. Rutka is a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Hospital
for Sick Children, and a renowned brain cancer researcher. His
research interests are focused on the biology of brain cancer,
particularly the molecular mechanisms through which brain
tumours grow and invade. His other recent clinical interests
include the surgical treatment of epilepsy in children.
Prof. Paul Yip (PhD) is the recipient of the American
Association of Clinical Chemistry 2013 Outstanding Speaker
Award. His presentation was entitled, “Can Point-of-Care Testing
Meet the Evolving Diagnostic Role of Hemoglobin A1c?”
Students & Trainees
UNDERGRADUATE
Roland Xu, Pathobiology Specialist Program alumnus, has
won a 2014 University of Toronto Alumni Association Scholars
Award. Presented by the Division of University Advancement,
this award recognizes academic excellence, outstanding extracurricular participation and community leadership.
GRADUATE
LMP Departmental Awards
Stuart Alan Hoffman Memorial Prize
Stephen C. Mack (Prof. Michael Taylor)
Wolfgang Vogel Memorial Award
for Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. John Ussher (Prof. Daniel Drucker)
LMP Graduate Student Research Day Poster Presentation
Prizes:
MSc Student (Supervisor)
First Place
• Victoria Bevilacqua (Prof. Khosrow Adeli)
• Monique Budani (Prof. Clifford Lingwood)
• Sally Hu (Prof. Marc Grynpas)
• Julia Pasquale (Prof. Marc Grynpas)
Second Place
• Daniel Chung (Prof. Karim Mekhail)
• Qi Jiang (Prof. Jeremy Sivak)
• Brian Vadasz (Prof. Heyu Ni)
• Samantha Wala (Prof. George Yousef)
PhD Student (Supervisor)
First Place
• Helen Chiang (Prof. Janice Robertson)
• Robyn Elphinstone (Prof. Kevin Kain)
• Brian Golbourn (Prof. James Rutka)
• Tayyaba Jiwani (Prof. Norman Rosenblum)
• Patricia Rakopoulos (Prof. Cynthia Hawkins)
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
• Kasustabh Singh (Prof. Ren-Ke Li)
• Xin (Kevin) Wang (Prof. Michael Taylor)
• Ashley Weiss (Prof. Rama Khokha)
Second Place
• Sonam Dubey (Prof. Isabelle Aubert)
• Nisha Kanwar (Prof. Susan Done)
• Anna Khorshidi (Prof. Burton Yang)
• Stephen McCarthy (Prof. Donald Branch)
• Chan-Mi Lee (Prof. Jim Hu)
• Tom Leung (Prof. Rod Bremner)
• Jennifer Sacco (Prof. Khosrow Adeli)
• Jonathon Torchia (Prof. Annie Huang)
Other Awards
Governor General’s Gold Medal
Congratulations to LMP alumnus Stephen Mack (PhD) for
receiving the Governor General’s Gold Medal. The Gold Medal
is presented to three U of T graduate students who achieve
the highest academic standing. Mack received this award at the
School of Graduate Studies Awards and Fellowships Reception
on Wednesday, May 28 at U of T’s Faculty Club.
The Governor General’s Gold Medal was created in 1873
by Lord Dufferin, Canada’s third Governor General after
Confederation, to encourage academic excellence across the
nation. It has since become one of the most prestigious awards
that Canadian students can receive.
Mack completed his doctoral dissertation, “The Genetic
and Epigenetic Basis of Posterior Fossa Ependymoma” in April
2014, under the supervision of LMP Professor Michael Taylor
(MD, PhD, FRCSC).
His resulting research has set a new standard for quality
and impact in the area of translational medicine, and his
findings have already been integrated into North American and
European clinical trials. Mack identified novel biomarkers that
distinguish between two newly discovered types of childhood
ependymoma, one being a brain tumour with a very good
prognosis and the other an aggressive cancer with a dismal
clinical outcome. His research has revealed novel avenues for
drug therapy and — with unprecedented “bench-to-bedside”
turnaround time — his laboratory work was translated into the
real-time treatment of an ependymoma patient at the Hospital
for Sick Children.
During his doctoral program, Mack published 18 papers,
including two comprehensive first-author reviews, and a number
of original co-authored articles in top-tier journals such as
Cancer Cell and Nature. His external thesis examiner — a worldrenowned expert in childhood brain cancer — noted that his
dissertation research, “clearly will lead to clinical advancements
in this disease.”
In June, Mack will be moving to Cleveland where he has
accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic/
Lerner Research Institute, one of the top medical research
centres in the United States. His work will examine tumour cell
heterogeneity and hierarchies in glioblastoma, the most common
malignant brain tumour in adults.
awards & honours
Other Awards cont’d
CIHR — Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada
Graduate Scholarships (CGSM)
Dylan Brethour (Prof. Gerold Schmitt-Ulms)
Andrew Gao (Prof. Lili-Naz Hazrati)
Anthony Scalia (Prof. Maria Rozakis-Adcock)
Kaleb Shelton (Prof. David Hwang)
Patryk Skowron (Prof. Michael Taylor)
Mona Sobhani (Prof. Hong Chang)
Matthew Taylor (Prof. Jeff Lee)
Tik Nga (Cindy) Tong (Prof. Nades Palaniyar)
Tao Wang (Prof. Ming-Sound Tsao)
You (Richard) Wu (Prof. Philip Sherman)
CIHR — Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada
Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Awards (CGS-D)
Jonathan Cook (Prof. Jeffrey Lee)
Connaught International Scholarships for Doctoral
Students
Sowmya Shivanna (Prof. Maria Rozakis-Adcock)
Ivette Valencia-Sama (Profs. Michael Ohh & Meredith Irwin)
NSERC — Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate
Scholarship (CGSM)
Tiffany Asante (Prof. Khosrow Adeli)
Emily Button (supervisor TBD)
Victoria Higgins (Prof. Khosrow Adeli)
Nadiya Khyzha (Prof. Jason Fish)
NSERC — Postgraduate Scholarships — Doctoral (PGS-D)
Emily Mathieu (Prof.Yeni Yucel)
Jennifer Taher (Prof. Khosrow Adeli)
Ontario Trillium Scholarship (OTS)
Zhichang Peter Zhou (Prof. Jim Hu)
Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Awards — Master’s
(OWHS)
Maurice Pasternak (Prof. Isabelle Aubert)
POSTGRADUATE
Ghassan Allo, PGY 5 Anatomical Pathology resident, is
the winner of the 2014 F. Stephen Vogel Award. This award
recognizes an outstanding paper by a resident or fellow
published in Modern Pathology or Laboratory Investigation. His
contribution was entitled, “ARID1A Loss Correlates with
Mismatch Repair Deficiency and Intact p53 Expression in
High-Grade Endometrial Carcinomas.” He received this
prestigious award at the United States and Canadian Academy of
Pathology Annual Meeting in San Diego in March 2014.
Injury in Lung Transplant Patients with Restrictive Allograft
Syndrome (RAS).” The award was presented by the Pulmonary
Pathology Society at the United States and Canadian Academy
of Pathology Annual Meeting in San Diego in March 2014.
Hubert Tsui (MD, PhD), chief resident in Hematological
Pathology, won a Young Investigator Award from the Canadian
Conference on Lymphoproliferative Disorders (CCOLD). Tsui’s
research explains how a lymphoproliferative disorder, associated
with smoking, involves sensory neurotransmitter disturbances.
His work has future implications on the understanding of
neuronal niches in lymphoid homeostasis. Tsui was presented
with this distinguished award at the conference held in Whistler,
British Columbia, in March 2014.
In addition to the Young Investigator Award, Tsui was
selected to participate in the 2014 American Society of
Hematology (ASH) / European Hematology Association
(EHA) course in Translational Research Training in Hematology
(TRTH). TRTH selects 20 candidates each year for an intensive
training session in Europe, followed by meetings at the EHA
and ASH annual conferences. TRTH provides an opportunity to
network with other translational research trainees and develop
grant proposals alongside internationally renowned hematology
faculty. This year’s course was held in March in Milan, Italy.
Tsui also won the Dominic Pantalony Resident Award
at the Annual Hematology Research Day on April 2, 2014.
Presented by U of T’s Department of Medicine Division of
Hematology, the award is named after Dr. Dominic Pantalony
who served at the University Health Network and is considered
by many to be the founder of Canadian hematopathology.
Candidates who best represent Dr. Pantolony’s legacy, and
furthermore, demonstrate passion in hematology, education and
the utmost professionalism and collegiality are selected.
APPOINTMENTS
LMPSU Executive COUNCIL 2014–2015
Co-Presidents: Maya Deeb and Alena Zelinka
Vice-President Academic: Jelena Tanic
Vice-President Social: Michael Nguyen
Vice-President Finance: Amber Cintosun
External Affairs Officer: Charles Lee
Internal Affairs Officer: Ashley Zhang
Webmaster: Lisa Qiu
Social Committee: Stephanie Poon
Shirin Karimi, Pulmonary Pathology fellow, received Second
Place for the Trainee Presentation in Pulmonary Pathology for
her presentation entitled, “Histological Patterns of Acute Lung
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
13
announcements
CLAMPS Executive COUNCIL 2014–2015
President: Mena Abdel-Nour
Vice-President Academic: Emily Mathieu
Vice-President Social: Jessica Tsalikis
Treasurer: Yev Chornenkyy
Senior Academic: Julia Pasquale
Interdepartmental Representative: Kirk Szafranski
Graduate Student Union Representative: Kaleb Shelton
Secretary: Melissa Menard
Senior Sports Representative: Dylan Brethour
Location Director Representative: Neveena Vicic
LMP would like to thank the 2013–2014 LMPSU and CLAMPS
councils for their amazing work!
FACULTY
NEW LMP STAFF APPOINTMENTS
Darren Yuen, St. Michael’s Hospital
Rank: Assistant Professor | Effective: February 1, 2014
Lori Edwards, Trillium Health Centre
Rank: Assistant Professor | Effective: April 1, 2014
Adam Shlien, The Hospital for Sick Children
Rank: Assistant Professor | Effective: March 15, 2014
OTHER APPOINTMENTS
Prof. Sylvia Asa (MD, PhD, FRCPC, FCAP) has been
inducted as an honorary fellow of the British Royal College of
Pathologists. The College’s mission is to promote excellence in
the practice, study and research of pathology. It is also responsible
for maintaining the highest standards through assessments,
training, examinations and professional development. While most
people become members of the College by examination, Prof.
Asa was awarded a fellowship in recognition of her impressive
contributions to the field of pathology.
Prof. Tony Mazzulli (MD, FRCPC, FACP) was appointed
as the Chief of the Department of Microbiology at Mount
Sinai Hospital and University Health Network on January
23, 2014, for a five-year term, subject to renewal for a second
five-year term.
Prof. Rumina Musani (MBBS, FRCPC) has been appointed
as the new Program Director, Hematological Pathology
Residency Program, University of Toronto. Prof. Musani is
currently a Staff Pathologist at the University Health Network
and Lecturer in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and
Pathobiology. She has been the Residency Site Coordinator
for Hematological Pathology at University Health Network
since July 2012.
14
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Prof. Victor Tron (MD, PhD) has been appointed as the new
Chief, Department of Laboratory Medicine at St. Michael’s
Hospital. Prof. Tron was Professor and Head of the Department
of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University in
Kingston, Ontario. Previously, he was Professor and Chairman in
the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the
University of Alberta.
Prof. Yeni Yucel (MD, PhD) has been elected as a member
of the Annual Meeting Program Committee (Anatomical
Pathology Section) for the Association for Research in Vision
and Ophthalmology (ARVO). ARVO is the largest eye research
society in the world with members located in over 80 countries.
The organization supports research, publication and training in
ophthalmology and vision. Prof.Yucel has been appointed for a
three-year term.
senior academic promotions 2014
Four faculty members in LMP have received approval from
the Provost for promotion effective July 1, 2014. These
highly respected individuals are being recognized for their
accomplishments in scholarship, teaching and service. All
have excelled in creative professional activity relevant to
our discipline.
The LMP Promotions Committee, chaired by Ingrid
Zbieranowski and Patricia Cayetano, LMP Human Resources
Coordinator, provide support and valuable guidance to faculty. Members of the committee include: Harry Elsholtz, Frances
Jamieson, Sarah Keating, Anna Marie Mulligan, Michael
Pollanen, Alexander Romaschin, Catherine Streutker, Herman
Yeger and Li Zhang.
Special thanks are due to Dr. Zbieranowski for her
dedication in mentoring countless faculty since her appointment
in 2011. Upon Dr. Zbieranowski’s retirement, Dr. Catherine
Streutker will be the new Chair of the committee, effective
July 1, 2014.
Congratulations to the following LMP faculty members on
their promotions:
Faculty promoted to the rank of Professor
Michael Pollanen, Ontario Forensic Pathology Service
Professor Pollanen is internationally renowned for
promoting excellence in forensic pathology as a
profession, public service and academic discipline.
His contributions are wide-ranging and have had
monumental impact in the local, national and
international arenas. These accomplishments include reform of
public service and policy, advancement of education and training
in forensic pathology, and international capacity building.
announcements
Faculty promoted to the rank of Associate Professor
Oyedele Adeyi, University Health Network
Professor Adeyi is recognized as a national and
emerging international expert in liver and
transplantation pathology. His creative professional
activities in this area have led to key appointments
on several think-tank organizations which have
changed standards of practice through the development of
guidelines and standardized (synoptic) pathology reports.
Elena Kolomietz, Mount Sinai Hospital
Professor Kolomietz has made important
advances in reproductive medicine through
the development of innovative leading-edge
algorithms, tests and programs for the diagnosis of
infertility and reproductive failure. These programs
have significantly improved reproductive health in Canada.
Aaron Pollett, Mount Sinai Hospital
Professor Pollett has made significant contributions to the field of gastrointestinal pathology.
His creative professional activities include the
development and application of molecular
diagnostics, including application of biomarkers,
to gastrointestinal cancers. He has also developed and enhanced
cancer registries which have led to advances in clinical practice.
tHE IMPORTANCE OF promotions
Q&A with LMP Professor Emerita
Ingrid Zbieranowski (MD, MEd, FRCPC)
Involved in clinical service, education and
research, Prof. Ingrid Zbieranowski joined LMP
in 1989 as part of the Department of Pathology.
From 1989 to 1993, she worked as a surgical pathologist at St.
Michael’s Hospital. In 1993, she moved to Women’s College
Hospital, and then with the hospital mergers, to Sunnybrook
Health Sciences Centre.
In 2006, she joined the LMP Promotions Committee and
in 2011 she became Chair of the committee. In this capacity,
she mentored countless faculty and helped them to advance
their careers.
In this Q&A, Prof. Zbieranowski provides advice to faculty
on how to successfully be promoted.
1. What advice would you give to someone who is
considering putting a dossier forward for promotion?
It is important to take the time to develop a thoughtful and
organized promotion package (i.e. cover letter, CV, dossier(s))
which clearly summarizes one’s academic achievements in
research, teaching, creative professional activities (CPA) or
a combination thereof. The dossiers should present these
academic activities in a focused/thematic manner, highlighting impact at the national and international levels
(for Associate and Full Professors, respectively). It is important
to consult the University of Toronto promotion policies manual
for guidance in organizing one’s dossier. It can be very helpful
to speak to a colleague in LMP who has a similar academic
profile (e.g. excellence in CPA) and has been recently promoted.
Sample dossiers from successful LMP candidates are also
available for review in our Department.
2. You have been a part of the LMP Promotions
Committee since 2006 and Chair of the Committee
since 2011. Have you seen a trend in academic
promotion in the Department?
Over the last few years, documenting evidence of excellence
in creative professional activities has become a very important
factor in academic promotions in LMP. An increasing number
of LMP faculty, especially clinical faculty, have been promoted
with CPA as an area of excellence.
3. How has leading the Department’s Promotions
Committee been fulfilling?
LMP faculty have a tremendous breadth and depth of
academic achievements which have impacted and improved
health care in so many ways. It has been a privilege to work
with the Chair of our Department and other members of the
Promotions Committee to help our faculty put together the
best possible dossiers as they prepare for initial appointments,
three-year reviews, and junior and senior promotions. It has
been very rewarding to see so many LMP faculty successfully
promoted on CPA and teaching platforms, in addition to the
more traditional research pathway, which reflects the diversity
of our Department.
4. If there’s one thing you’d like faculty to know about
academic promotion, what would it be?
It is never too early to start thinking about and preparing for
academic promotion. Faculty should keep an ongoing record
of their academic activities and collect documentation of
impact from day one.
retirements
Pang Shek (MSc, PhD)
Defence Research and Development Canada
Retirement: June 30, 2014
Over his 42 years with LMP, Professor Pang
Shek’s (MSc, PhD) passion for research and
teaching has remained strong. Prof. Shek joined LMP
(previously the Department of Clinical Biochemistry) in 1972
as a graduate student. After attending Harvard Medical School
for a postdoctoral fellowship, Prof. Shek returned to LMP as a
Professor in 1982.
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
15
ANNOUNCEMENTS
His impact in the classroom was immediately apparent. “When
Clinical Biochemistry introduced a ‘modern’ core graduate
course in 1990, Pang was enlisted to provide some lectures
on immunology, and consistently ranked at the top in student
evaluations,” said Professor Douglas Templeton (PhD, MD).
With the formation of LMP, and the introduction of an Arts
and Science Pathobiology Specialist Program, Prof. Shek began
teaching Immunopathology to fourth-year students.
He remains highly dedicated to education and plans to
continue teaching that course. “Approaching retirement, Pang has
expressed an interest in continuing to teach in the course, where
his lecturing skills and commitment to providing a good student
experience will no doubt be valued for many years to come,” said
Prof. Templeton.
In recognition of his impressive contributions to teaching,
Prof. Shek was awarded the LMP Undergraduate Teaching
Award in 2010.
As senior scientist and section head at Defence Research
and Development Canada (DRDC), Prof. Shek contributed to
military medicine research for over three decades. His research
addressed severe hemorrhage associated with coagulopathy
and abnormal immunoinflammatory response that required
immediate blood loss control and fluid resuscitation.
He also explored the objective diagnosis and assessment of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain
injury, where no structural damage to the brain was detectable in
each case by conventional neuroimaging technology.
As a result of his outstanding research with DRDC, in 2012
Prof. Shek received the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Diamond
Jubilee Medal in Military Medicine Research.
When asked about his experience at LMP, Prof. Shek said,
“After 42 years, I have a tremendous emotional attachment to
LMP. It’s really nice to see how the Department continues to train
and prepare students to become well-established scientists.”
While he will be retiring in July 2014, he plans to remain
active. “In my retirement I don’t want to sit at home. I want to
continue to teach at U of T and I plan to travel and see different
parts of the world.”
IN MEMORIAM
Professor Emerita Meredith M. Silver, MBBS
(Adelaide), MSc (McGill), FRCPC, FRCPA,
pathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children,
passed away on April 25, 2014.
Professor Silver had broad interests in
pediatric and placental pathology, having made
innumerable contributions in descriptions of new clinicopathological entities and in championing innovation and
adoption of new technologies. She also pursued many eclectic
interests outside of medicine and was a role model for working
hard and enjoying life to the fullest.
In memory of Dr. Meredith Silver, please consider making
a donation to the Meredith & Malcolm Silver Scholarship in
Cardiovascular Studies — awarded to a graduate student who
has maintained or achieved honour standing during his or
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Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
her residency with LMP and with a demonstrated interest in
cardiovascular research.
Make a donation online at donate.utoronto.ca
Cheques may be mailed to: Donations Management, 21 King’s
College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3J3
Payable to: U of T, Faculty of Medicine
In memory of: Prof. Meredith M. Silver for the Meredith &
Malcolm Silver Scholarship in Cardiovascular Studies
Announcements
undergraduate
LMP would like to welcome our incoming undergraduate
students to the LMP Summer Student Research Program.
PATHOBIOLOGY SPECIALIST PROGRAM
GRADUATING CLASS OF 2014
Naushin Ali
Stanley Xiangyu Li
Anastasia Bosc
Yi Si Liu
Jian Qiao Cheng
Thomas Lu
Wei Hao Dai
Maurice Mark Pasternak
Benedict Darren
Gelareh Sharbatdar Alaei
Bingyu Hou
Bo Xi Jasmine Song
Qingda Hu
Ki Hyuk Song
Shivani Nainesh Kamdar
Tasha Isninta Stoltz
Zubeir KhanMirkamal Abliz Tolend
David Ryan Kleinman
Ali Vedadi
Tam Thanh Le
Marina Wang
Su Yeon Lee
Shuzhengrong Xu
He Qun Li
graduate
THESIS DEFENCES Winter 2014 — MSc
June Li (Prof. Heyu Ni) Anti-GPIbα mediated platelet activation
and desialylation: a novel Fc-independent platelet clearance
mechanism and potential therapeutic and diagnostic target in ITP.
Olga Luft (Prof. Gary Levy) Targeted deletion of Fgl2 enhances
anti-viral T cell responses and mediates viral clearance in a murine
model of chronic viral infection.
Mozhgan Moslemi-Naeini (Prof. Philip Marsden)
RNA interference pathways in shiga toxin-treated human
endothelial cells.
Nadia Okolowsky (Prof. Paul Hamel) Oestrogen receptoralpha regulates non-canonical Hedgehog-Signalling in the
mammary gland.
Daniel Picard (Prof. Annie Huang) Integrated genomic analyses
of childhood CNS-PNETS.
announcements
Reuben Thomas (Prof. Bradley Strauss) Impact of distal coronary
embolization in acute myocardial infarction in a porcine model.
Lily Yip (Prof. Nades Palaniyar) Airway nucleases and surfactant
protein D promote neutrophil extracellular traps clearance.
THESIS DEFENCES Winter 2014 — PhD
Stephen C. Mack (Prof. Michael Taylor) The genetic and
epigenetic basis of posterior fossa ependymoma.
Maria Pavlou (Prof. Eleftherios Diamandis) Developing a
proteomic prognostic signature for breast cancer patients.
Nikolina Radulovich (Prof. Ming-Sound Tsao) Identification
and validation of novel oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes
in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Mina Rafiei (Prof. Rod Bremner) CHAF1A regulates PRC2mediated epigenetic memory.
General Pathology: Ronald Francis
Neuropathology: Alaa Alkhotani
Forensic Pathology: Magdaleni Bellis and Adriana Krizova
Area of Focused Competency, Transfusion Medicine:
Asim Alam
CLINICAL FELLOWS
Anatomical Pathology: Rana Al-Abdulghani, Ameen
Al-Adhadh, Nadya Al-Faraidy, Sana Alsolami, Shirin Karimi,
Seema Kudsia, Belinda Lategan, Karen Naert, Farshid Siadat,
Iram Siddiqui and Raheela Siddiqui
Forensic Pathology: Welhana Rajapaksha
Hematopathology: Muna Kassim and Meagan Kennedy
RESEARCH FELLOWS
Anatomical Pathology: Adewunmi Adeoye, Lucia Kim,
Carolina Lopez-Uran and Pooja Singhal
POSTDOCTORAL TRAINEES
Adrienne Weeks (Prof. James Rutka) The role of ECT2 in the
pathogenesis of astrocytoma.
postgraduate
USCAP
LMP would like to congratulate those who presented at the
2014 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology
(USCAP) Annual Meeting.
Posters:
Adewunmi Adeoye (fellow)
Catherine Forse (resident)
Rene Gerhard (fellow)
Carlo Hojilla (resident)
David Kolin (resident)
Belinda Lategan (fellow)
Farshid Siadat (fellow)
Iram Siddiqui (fellow)
Platform Presentation:
Shirin Karimi (fellow)
Iram Siddiqui (fellow)
NEW TRAINEES
LMP would like to extend a warm welcome to our new
trainees starting on July 1, 2014:
Anatomical Pathology: Kai Duan, Nilofar Hosseini, Teddy
Nagaria, Willard Wong and Ju-Yoon Yoon
Clinical Chemistry: Joshua Raizman and Tracy Teodoro
faculty
Prof. Brian Sheridan (MNBBS, MPCP, FRCPC) travelled to
Kampala, Uganda, on a volunteer teaching mission with Health
Volunteers Overseas from March 14 to 31, 2014. He taught
first- and second-year pathology residents hematopathology
at Mulago Hospital, the largest hospital in East Africa and the
teaching hospital of Makerere University. He presented 15
lectures and 9 slide tutorials including presentations to senior
technologists on quality management in clinical laboratories.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and University
Health Network transfusion medicine laboratories attended
and made impressive contributions to the Canadian Society for
Transfusion Medicine’s Annual Meeting held in Quebec City
from May 1 to 4, 2014.
Events
LMP Summer Student Research Program Poster Day
Thursday, August 14, 2014
9:00am–3:00pm
Student Commons, Main Lobby
1 King’s College Circle, University of Toronto
Medical Microbiology: Maan Hasso
GRADUATING TRAINEES
We would also like to extend our congratulations to our
graduating trainees:
CLAMPS Summer BBQ
Friday, August 22, 2014
Centre Island
Visit www.lmp.utoronto.ca for more details.
RESIDENTS
Anatomical Pathology: Ghassan Allo, Gangyong Li, Eric
Morgen, Houman Nafisi, Reza Pour Farzi, Zaid Saeed Kamil,
Joerg Schwock, Tarren Vyas, Shawn Winer and Hannah Wu
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
17
FUNDING
funding
GRANTS awarded
Avila-Casado C. Identification of potential lupus nephritisspecific biomarkers. Alliance for Lupus Research.
$146,000 (1 year)
Bapat B., van der Kwast T. (Co-PI) Moving beyond
discovery: validation of an integrated biomarker panel for
detection of aggressive prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer
Canada, Movember Targeted Acceleration Grant Competition.
$1,500,000 (3 years)
Yousef GM. miRNAs are involved in the formation and
maintenance of a highly aggressive form of kidney cancer cells
with stem cell properties and contribute to cancer aggressiveness.
Kidney Foundation of Canada. $100,000 (2 years)
Yucel YH., Gilbert R. Tracking nanoparticles with whole
animal imaging and hyperspectral microscopy: a novel strategy
for identifying biomarkers and treating diabetes. Canadian
Foundation for Innovation. $995,219 (2 years, 6 months)
Yucel YH., Gupta N. Is there a communication between
cerebrospinal fluid in the brain and the eye? Glaucoma Research
Society of Canada. $15,000 (1 year)
Girardin SE. The role of NLRX1 in colorectal cancer
and apoptosis. Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute,
Innovation Grant. $190,000 (2 years)
Yucel YH., Karrow N., Gupta N. Lymphatics as a novel target
to treat glaucoma. Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
$579,963 (5 years)
Girardin SE. (Co-PI) Nod-like receptors: linking innate
immunity and inflammation to chronic disease. Canadian
Institutes for Health Research, Team Grant. $2,500,000 (5 years)
CIHR Open operating grants
Fall 2013 Competition
Hawkins C. The role of histones in the development of
pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Canadian Cancer
Society Research Institute, Impact Grant. $1,230,477 (5 years)
Mekhail K. Perinuclear molecular networks in genome stability
and disease states. Early Researcher Awards Program, Ontario
Ministry of Research and Innovation. $150,000 (5 years)
Bendeck MP. The Role of Discoidin Domain Receptor 1
(DDR1) in vascular calcification of atherosclerosis and diabetes.
$574,358 (5 years)
Dirks PB. Defining and targeting medulloblastoma intratumoral diversity. $754,345 (5 years)
Irwin MS. Targeting metastatic neuroblastoma. $771,485
(5 years)
Nofech-Mozes S. (Co-PI) NanoString breast cancer intrinsic
subtyping test and PAM 50 research agreement. NanoString
Technologies. $137,687 (11 months)
Lee JE. Characterization of human cellular restriction factors
that target HIV-1 replication. $602,545 (5 years)
Roehrl MH. Molecular characterization of circulating tumour
DNA in melanomas using deep NGS. Canadian Cancer Society
Research Institute Innovation Grant. $200,000 (2 years)
McGeer A. The epidemiology of the emergence of carbapenemase resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in southern Ontario.
$1,067,761 (5 years)
Semple JW., Lazarus AH., Ni H. (Co-PIs) Role of T regulatory
cells in the mechanism of action of IVIg. Canadian Blood
Services, Intramural Grant Fund. $393,000 (2 years)
Robbins CS. Local proliferation dominates lesional
macrophage accumulation in established atherosclerosis.
$626,770 (5 years)
Yousef GM. A non-conventional approach for personalized
medicine in prostate cancer: investigating the role of miRNAs
and their clinical utility in tumour progression and metastasis.
Movember Discovery Grants, Prostate Cancer Canada. $192,000
(2 years)
Rozakis-Adcock M. Role of PHIP in the hormonal control
of liver gluconeogenic networks. $444,472 (4 years)
Yousef GM. Exploring the role of miRNAs in kidney cancer
progression and metastasis. Ontario Graduate Scholarship,
University of Toronto. $10,000 (1 year)
Yousef GM., Lichner Z. miRNA therapy for metastatic
kidney cancer. Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada.
$15,000 (1 year)
18
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Zacksenhaus E. A model for Group C Medulloblastoma
induced by deletion of RB1 and p53 tumor suppressors.
$486,928 (4 years)
publications
books
Yousef GM and Jothy S: Molecular Testing in Cancer. Springer
(New York), 2014
publications
Abdel-Nour M, Tsalikis J, Kleinman D and Girardin SE. The
emerging role of mTOR signaling in antibacterial immunity.
Immunol Cell Biol. 2014 Apr; 92(4):346-53.
Ahmed N, Iu J, Brown CE, Taylor DW, Kandel RA. Serum and
growth factor free 3D culture system supports cartilage tissue
formation by promoting collagen synthesis via Sox9-Col2a1
interaction. Tissue Engineering Part A. 2014 May. [Epub ahead of
print]
Appelman HD, Streutker C,Vieth M, Neumann H, Neurath MF,
Upton MP, Sagaert X, Wang HH, El-Zimaity H, Abraham SC,
Bellizzi AM. The esophageal mucosa and submucosa: immunohistology in GERD and Barrett’s esophagus. Ann N Y Acad Sci.
2013 Oct; 1300:144-165.
Bailey D, Bevilacqua V, Colantonio DA, Pasic MD, Perumal N,
Chan MK, Adeli K. Pediatric Within-Day Biological Variation
and Quality Specifications for 38 Biochemical Markers in the
CALIPER Cohort. Clin Chem. 2014 Mar; 60(3):518-29.
Bailey D, Perumal N,Yazdanpanah M, Al Mahmud A, Baqui
AH, Adeli K, Roth DE. Maternal-fetal-infant dynamics of the
C3-epimer of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Clin Biochem. 2014 Jun.
47(9):816-22.
Bakry D, Aronson M, Durno C, Rimawi H, Farah R, Alharbi
QK, Alharbi M, Shamvil A, Ben-Shachar S, Mistry M, Constantini
S, Dvir R, Qaddoumi I, Gallinger S, Lerner-Ellis J, Pollett A,
Stephens D, Kelies S, Chao E, Malkin D, Bouffet E, Hawkins
C, Tabori U. Genetic and clinical determinants of constitutional
mismatch repair deficiency syndrome: Report from the constitutional mismatch repair deficiency consortium. Eur J Cancer. 2014
Mar; 50(5):987-96.
Bethge N, Lothe RA, Honne H, Andresen K, Trøen G, Eknæs M,
Liestøl K, Holte H, Delabie J, Smeland EB, Lind GE. Colorectal
cancer DNA methylation marker panel validated with high
performance in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Epigenetics 2014 Mar;
9(3):428-36.
Bromfield M, McQuillan R, John R, Avila-Casado C. The
significance of tubuloreticular inclusions as a marker of systemic
stimulation by interferons in a case of focal and segmental
glomerulosclerosis associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV)
infection. Exceptional case Clin Kidney J. 2014; 0: 1–5
Cappello P, Blaser H, Gorrini C, Lin DC, Elia AJ, Wakeham A,
Haider S, Boutros PC, Mason JM, Miller NA,Youngson B, Done
SJ and Mak TW. Role of Nek2 on centrosome duplication
and aneuploidy in breast cancer cells. Oncogene. 2014 May;
33(18):2375-84.
Chetty R, Bateman AC, Torlakovic E, Wang LM, Gill P, Al-Badri
A, Arends M, Biddlestone L, Burroughs S, Carey F, Cowlishaw
D, Crowther S, Da Costa P, Dada MA, d’Adhemar C, Dasgupta
K, de Cates C, Deshpande V, Feakins RM, Foria B, Foria V, Fuller
C, Green B, Greenson JK, Griffiths P, Hafezi-Bakhtiari S, Henry J,
Jaynes E, Jeffers MD, Kaye P, Landers R, Lauwers GY, Loughrey M,
Mapstone N, Novelli M, Odze R, Poller D, Rowsell C, Sanders
S, Sarsfield P, Schofield JB, Sheahan K, Shepherd N, Sherif A,
Sington J, Walsh S, Williams N, Wong N. A pathologist’s survey on
the reporting of sessile serrated adenomas/polyps. J Clin Pathol.
2014 Jan. [Epub ahead of print]
Clarke GM, Zubovits JT, Shaikh KA, Wang D, Dinn SR, Corwin
AD, Santamaria-Pang A, Li Q, Nofech-Mozes S, Liu K, Pang Z,
Filkins RJ,Yaffe MJ. A novel, automated technology for multiplex
biomarker imaging and application to breast cancer. Histopathology. 2014 Jan; 64(2):242-55.
Olkhov-Mitsel, E, Zdravic, D, Kron, K, van der Kwast, T, Fleshner,
N, Bapat, B. Novel multiplex MethyLight Protocol for detection
of DNA methylation in patient tissues and bodily fluids. Scientific
Reports. 2014 Mar; 4:4432 (pgs. 1-8).
Erek-Toprak A, Bingol-Ozakpinar O, Karaca Z, Cikrikcioglu MA,
Hursitoglu M, Uras AR, Adeli K, Uras F. Association of plasma
growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) concentrations with
albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes. Ren Fail. 2014 Jun;
36(5):737-42.
Finch A, Bacopulos S, Rosen B, Fan I, Bradley L, Risch H,
McLaughlin JR, Lerner-Ellis J, Narod SA. Preventing Ovarian
Cancer through Genetic Testing: A Population-Based Study. Clin
Genet. 2013 Nov. [Epub ahead of print]
Frirdich E,Vermeulen J, Biboy J, Soares F, Taveirne ME, Johnson
JG, Dirita VJ, Girardin SE,Vollmer W and Gaynor EC. Peptidoglycan LD-carboxypeptidase Pgp2 influences Campylobacter jejuni
helical cell shape and pathogenic properties, and provides the
substrate for the DL-carboxypeptidase Pgp1 J. Biol. Chem. 2014
Mar; 289(12):8007-18.
Furazawa-Carballeda J, Sanchez-Guerrero J, Betanzos J, Enriquez
A, Banos-Pelaez M, Avila-Casado C, Llorente L, HernandezMolina G. Differential Cytokine and regulatory Pathways in
Patients with Primary and Secondary Sjögren Syndrome.
Submitted for publication to Clinical and Experimental
Immunology.
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
19
PUBLICATIONS
George SH, Shaw P. BRCA and Early Events in the Development
of Serous Ovarian Cancer. Front Oncol. 2014 Jan; 4:5.
eCollection 2014. Review.
Ghorab Z, Hosseini N, Han G, Dube V, Wong J, Nofech-Mozes
S. GATA3 Is a Useful Marker to Identify Breast Origin in FNA
Samples. Modern Pathology. 2014 Feb; 27(Suppl 2):103A (abstract
412).
Grin A, Hsieh E, Hanna W, Henry P, Hafezi-Bahktiari S,
El-Zimaity H, Howlett C, Parfitt J, Margiean EC, Ngae MY,
Ramsay J, Aziz T, Streutker CJ. Rates of HER2 positivity at the
gastroesophageal junction vs distal stomach: Are the differences
solely due to histology? Mod Pathol. 2014. (suppl 2);27:176A.
Grin A, Messenger DE, Cook M, O’Connor BI, Hafezi S,
El-Zimaity H, Kirsch R. Peritoneal elastic lamina invasion:
limitations in its use as a prognostic marker in stage II colorectal
cancer. Hum Pathol. 2013 Dec; 44:2696-2705.
Grin A, Wang T, Hsieh ET, Henry P, Hanna W, Streutker CJ.
Matched biopsy and resection specimens of gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma show high concordance in HER2
Status. Human Pathology. 2013 Dec. (in press)
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. Thromb Res. 2014 Jan; 133(1):73-9.
Hanna WM, Ruschoff J, Bilous M, Coudry RA, Dowsett M,
Osamura RY, Penault-Llorca F, van de Vijver M, Viale G. HER2
in situ hybridization in breast cancer: clinical implications of
polysomy 17 and genetic heterogeneity. Mod Pathol. 2014 Jan;
27(1):4-18.
Helpman L, Kupets R, Covens A, Saad RS, Khalifa MA, Ismiil N,
Ghorab Z, Dube V, Nofech-Mozes S. Assessment of endometrial
sampling as a predictor of final surgical pathology in endometrial
cancer. Br J Cancer. 2014 Feb; 110(3):609-15.
Ho L, Ali SA, Al-Jazrawe M, Kandel R, Wunder JS, Alman BA.
Primary cilia attenuate hedgehog signaling in neoplastic chondrocytes. Oncogene. 2013 Nov; 32(47):5388-96.
Hosseini N, Dube V, Wong J, Raphael S, Ismiil N, Ghorab Z.
SOX10: A Novel Marker with High Sensitivity and Specificity
for Diagnosis of Melanoma in Cytology Specimens. Modern
Pathology. 2014 Feb; 27(Suppl 2):105A (abstract 419).
Hosseini N, Ghorab Z, Keith J, Slodkowska E, Lu FI, Han G,
Hanna W, Nofech-Mozes S. Expression of GATA3 in brain
metastases of breast origin. Mod Pathol. 2014 (suppl 2);27:437A.
20
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Iqbal J, Wright G, Wang C, Rosenwald A, Gascoyne RD, Weisenburger DD, Greiner TC, Smith L, Guo S,Wilcox RA,Teh BT, Lim
ST, Tan SY, Rimsza LM, Jaffe ES, Campo E, Martinez A,
Delabie J, Braziel RM, Cook JR, Tubbs RR, Ott G, Geissinger E,
Gaulard P, Piccaluga PP, Pileri SA, Au WY, Nakamura S, Seto M,
Berger F, de Leval L, Connors JM, Armitage J,Vose J,
Chan WC, Staudt LM. Gene expression signatures delineate
biologic and prognostic subgroups in peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
Blood. 2014 Mar. [Epub ahead of print]
Iu J, Santerre JP, Kandel RA. Inner and Outer Annulus Fibrosus
Cells Exhibit Differentiated Phenotypes and Yield Changes
in Extracellular Matric Protein Composition in Vitro on a
Polycarbonate Urethane Scaffold. Tissue Engineering. Accepted
for Publication 2014 Apr.
Jaworska J, Coulombe F, Downey J, Tzepelis F, Shalaby K, Tattoli
I, Berube J, Rousseau S, Martin JG, Girardin SE, McCullers JA
and Divangahi M. NLRX1 prevents mitochondrial induced
apoptosis and enhances macrophage immunity by interacting
with influenza virus PB1-F2 protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
2014 May; 111(20):E2110-9.
Kabaroff L, Gupta A, Menezes S, Babichev Y, Kandel R, Swallow
CJ, Dickson BC, Gladdy RA. Development of Genetically
Flexible Mouse Models of Sarcoma Using RCAS-TVA Mediated
Gene Delivery. PloS One. 2014 Apr; 9(4):e94817.
Keith J, Pirouzmand F, Diamandis P, Ghorab Z. Intraoperative
cytodiagnosis of progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy.
Cytopathology. 2014 Feb; 25(1):59-61.
Keith JL, Bilbao J, Croul S, Ang LC, Guiot MC, Rossiter J,
Ghorab Z, Hawkins C, Karamchandani J. Morphology and an
appropriate immunohistochemical screening panel aid in the
identification of synovial sarcoma by neuropathologists. Clin
Neuropathol. 2013 Nov-Dec; 32:461-470.
Keith JL, Bilbao J, Croul S, Ang LC, Guiot MC, Rossiter J,
Ghorab Z, Hawkins C. Karamchandi J. Clinical neuropathology
practice guide 6-2013: morphology and an appropriate immunohistochemical screening panel aid in the identification of synovial
sarcoma by neuropathology. Clin Neuropathol. 2013 Nov-Dec;
32(6):461-70.
Khoja H, Griffin A, Dickson B, Wunder J, Ferguson P, Howarth
D, Kandel R. Sampling modality influences the predictive value
of grading in adult soft tissue extremity sarcomas. Archives of
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. 2013 Dec; 137(12):1774-9.
Khoumais NA, Scaranelo AM, Moshonov H, Kulkarni SR, Miller
N, McCready DR, Crystal P, Done SJ. Incidence of breast cancer
in patients with pure flat epithelial atypia diagnosed at core needle
biopsy of the breast. Ann Surg Oncol. 2013 Jan; 20(1):133-8.
publications
Kolomietz E, Madjunkova S, Tong Li C,Vlasschaert M, Adams
M, Chitayat D, Maire G. QF-PCR rapid aneuploidy screen and
aCGH analysis of cell free fetal (cff) DNA in supernatant of
compromised amniotic fluids (AF). Prenatal Diagnosis. 2014 Jan.
(in press)
Kolstad A, Laurell A, Jerkeman M, Grønbæk K, Elonen E, Räty R,
Pedersen LB, Loft A, Bogsrud TV, Kimby E, Hansen PB, Fagerli
UM, Nilsson-Ehle H, Lauritzsen GF, Lehmann AK,
Sundstrom C, Karjalainen-Lindsberg ML, Ralfkiaer E, Ehinger M,
Delabie J, Bentzen H, Schildt J, Kostova-Aherdan K, Frederiksen H,
Brown PD, Geisler CH. Nordic MCL-3 study: BEAM/C conditioning intensified with 90Y-Ibritumomab-Tiuxetan in responding
non-CR patients followed by autologous transplant in mantle cell
lymphoma. Blood. 2014 Mar. [Epub ahead of print]
Kong I, Narod SA, Taylor C, Paszat L, Saskin R, Nofech-Moses
S, Thiruchelvam D, Hanna W, Pignol JP, Sengupta S, Elavathil L,
Jani PA, Done SJ, Metcalfe S and Rakovitch E. Age at diagnosis
predicts local recurrence in women treated with breastconserving surgery and postoperative radiation therapy for ductal
carcinoma in situ: A population-based outcomes analysis. Curr
Oncol. 2014 Feb; 21: e96-e104.
Mete O, Tischler AS, de Krijger R, McNicol AM, Eisenhofer
G, Pacak K, Ezzat S, Asa SL. Protocol for the examination
of specimens from patients with pheochromocytomas and
extra-adrenal paragangliomas. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2014 Feb;
138(2):182-8.
Millar AC, Mete O, Cusimano RJ, Fremes SE, Keshavjee
S, Morgan CD, Asa SL, Ezzat S, Gilbert J. Functional Cardiac
Paraganglioma Associated with a Rare SDHC Mutation.
Endocr Pathol. 2014 Jan. [Epub ahead of print]
Mittra E, Fan-Minogue H, Lin F, Karamchandani J, Sriram V, Han
M. Preclinical efficacy of the anti-HGF antibody ficlatuzumab in
a mouse brain orthotopic model evaluated by bioluminescence,
small-animal PET, and small-animal MRI. Clin Cancer Res. 2013
Aug; 19: 5711-5721.
Mollon B, Kandel R, Chahal J, Theodoropoulos J. The clinical
status of cartilage tissue regeneration in humans. Osteoarthritis
Cartilage. 2013 Dec; 21(12):1824-33.
Monsalves E, Larjani S, Loyola Godoy B, Juraschka K, Carvalho
F, Kucharczyk W, Kulkarni A, Mete O, Gentili F, Ezzat S, Zadeh
G. Growth patterns of pituitary adenomas and histopathological
correlates. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Apr; 99(4):1330-8.
Moreno CS, Long Q, Xu J, Sannigrahi S, Johnson BA, Zhou
W, Gillespie T, Park JY, Nam RK, Sugar L, Stanimirovic A, Seth
AK, Petros JA, Osunkoya AO. Biomarkers differentially expressed
in prostatic adenocarcinoma gleason score 3+4=7 vs Gleason
score 4+3=7 identified by global transcriptome sequencing of
formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue. Mod Pathol. 2014 (suppl
2);27:250A.
Nafisi H, Cesari M, Karamchandani J, Keith J. Clinicopathological
features of brain metastases from ovarian carcinoma: A case series
and diagnostic approach. Mod Pathol. 2014 (suppl 2);27:439A.
Neuman G, Colantonio DA, Delaney S, Szynkaruk M, Ito S.
Bupropion and escitalopram during lactation. 2014 Mar. In review,
Journal of Pediatrics.
Neuman G, Nulman I, Adeli K, Koren G, Colantonio DA,
Helldén A. Implications of serum creatinine measurements on
GFR estimation and vancomycin dosing in children. J Clin
Pharmacol. 2014 Jul; 54(7):785-91.
Nofech-Mozes S, Hosseini N, Noy S, Lu FI, Slodkowska E, Han
G, Hanna W, Ghorab Z. Limitations of breast biomarkers testing
in fine needle aspiration cytology preparation. Mod Pathol. 2014
(suppl 2);27:71A.
Nordström L, Sernbo S, Eden P, Grønbaek K, Kolstad A, Räty
R, Karjalainen ML, Geisler C, Ralfkiaer E, Sundström C, Laurell
A, Delabie J, Ehinger M, Jerkeman M, Ek S. SOX11 and TP53
add prognostic information to MIPI in a homogenously treated
cohort of mantle cell lymphoma - a Nordic Lymphoma Group
study. Br J Haematol. 2014 Jul; 166(1):98-108.
Philpott DJ, Sorbara MT, Robertson SJ, Croitoru K and Girardin
SE. NOD proteins: regulators of immunity in health and disease
Nat Rev Immunol. 2014 Feb; 14(2):131.
Prud’homme GJ, Glinka Y, Hasilo C, Paraskevas S, Li X, Wang Q.
GABA protects human islet cells against the deleterious effects
of immunosuppressive drugs and exerts immunoinhibitoryeffects
alone. Transplantation. 2013 Oct; 96:616-623.
Rabeneck L, Paszat L, Hilsden RJ, McGregor SE, Hsieh E,
Tinmouth J, Baxter NN, Saskin R, Ruco A, Stock D. Advanced
Proximal Neoplasia of the Colon in Average Risk Adults. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. 2014 Feb. (in press)
Rakovitch E, Narod SA, Nofeh-Moses S, Hanna W, Thiruchelvam
D, Saskin R, Taylor C, Tuck A,Youngson B, Miller N, Done SJ,
Sengupta S, Elavathil L, Jani PA, Bonin M, Metcalf S and Paszat
L. Impact of boost radiation in the treatment of ductal carcinoma
in situ: s population-based analysis. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
2013 Jul; 86: 491-7.
Rotondo F, Bernardo MC, Scheithauer BW, Latif S, Bogaev C,
Sav A, Kovacs K. Atypical pituitary adenoma with neurocytic
transformation. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2014 Jan;
22:72-76.
Rubino SJ, Geddes K, Magalhaes JG, Streutker C, Philpott DJ,
Girardin SE. Constitutive induction of intestinal Tc17 cells in the
absence of hematopoietic cell-specific MHC class II expression.
Eur J Immunol. 2013 Nov; 43:2896-2906.
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
21
PUBLICATIONS
Saft L, Karimi M, Ghaderi M, Matolcsy A, Mufti GJ, Kulasekararaj
A, Göhring G, Giagounidis A, Selleslag D, Muus P, Sanz G,
Mittelman M, Bowen D, Porwit A, Fu T, Backstrom J, Fenaux P,
Macbeth KJ, Hellström-Lindberg E. p53 protein expression
independently predicts outcome in patients with lower-risk
myelodysplastic syndromes with del(5q). Haematologica. 2014
Mar. [Epub ahead of print]
Sav A, Syro LV, Rotondo F, Scheithauer BW, Uribe H, Penagos
LC, Horvath E, Kovacs K. Pituitary ganglioneuroma: case report
and literature review. J Cytol Histol. 2014; 5:1-4.
Scott DW, Wright GW, Williams PM, Lih CJ, Walsh W, Jaffe ES,
Rosenwald A, Campo E, Chan WC, Connors JM, Smeland EB,
Mottok A, Braziel RM, Ott G, Delabie J, Tubbs RR, Cook JR,
Weisenburger DD, Greiner TC, Glinsmann-Gibson BJ, Fu K,
Staudt LM, Gascoyne RD, Rimsza LM. Determining cell-oforigin subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma using gene
expression in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. Blood.
2014 Feb;123(8):1214-7.
Selvanantham T, Fieve S, Tleugabulova MC, Escalante NK,
Girardin SE, Philpott DJ and Mallevaey T. Nod1 and Nod2
enhance TLR-mediated iNKT cell activation during bacterial
infection. J. Immunology. 2013 Dec; 191(11):5646-54
Shaw JL, Cohen A, Konforte D, Binesh-Marvasti T, Colantonio
DA, Adeli K.Validity of establishing pediatric reference intervals
based on hospital patient data: A comparison of the modified
Hoffmann approach to CALIPER reference intervals obtained in
healthy children. Clin Biochem. 2014 Feb; 47(3):166-72.
Siddiqui I, Chien-Hung Chen J, Hafezi-Bakhtiari S, Li Chang
H, Liu J, Serra S, Soucy G, Streuker C, Wong J, El-Zimaity H. Do
gastrointestinal pathologists miss gastric atrophy? Mod Pathol.
2014 (suppl 2);27:204A.
Simpson AN, Feigenberg T, Clarke BA, Gien LT, Ismiil N, Lamframboise S, Massey C, Ferguson SE. Fertility sparing treatment of
complex atypical hyperplasia and low grade endometrial cancer
using oral progestin. Gynecol Oncol. 2014 Feb. [Epub ahead of
print]
Sin YY, Ballantyne LL, Mukherjee K, St Amand T, Kyriakopoulou
L, Schulze A, Funk CD. Inducible arginase 1 deficiency in mice
leads to hyperargininemia and altered amino acid metabolism.
PLoS One. 2013 Nov; 8(11): e80001
Sniderman AD, Qi Y, Ma CI, Wang RH, Naples M, Baker C,
Zhang J, Adeli K, Kiss RS. Hepatic cholesterol homeostasis: is the
low-density lipoprotein pathway a regulatory or a shunt pathway?
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2013 Nov; 33(11):2481-90.
Sorbara MT, Ramjeet M, Travassos LH, Elison LK, Jones NL,
Girardin SE, Philpott DJ. An autophagy-independent role of
ATG16L1 in negatively regulating Nod-driven inflammation.
Immunity. 2013 Nov; 39(5):858-73
22
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
Taskinen M, Louhimo R, Koivula S, Chen P, Rantanen V, Holte
H, Delabie J, Karjalainen Lindsberg ML, Björkholm M, Fluge O,
Pedersen LM, Fjordén K, Jerkeman M, Eriksson M, Hautaniemi
S, Leppä S. Deregulation of COMMD1 Is Associated with Poor
Prognosis in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. PLoS One. 2014
Mar; 9(3):e91031.
Tattoli I, Sorbara MT, Philpott DJ and Girardin SE. Stalling
autophagy: a new function for Listeria phospholipases. Microbial
Cell. (in press)
Tattoli I, Sorbara MT,Yang C, Tooze SA, Philpott DJ and Girardin
SE. Listeria phospholipases subvert host autophagic defenses by
stalling pre-autophagosomal structures. EMBO Journal. 2013
Nov; 32(23):3066-78
Tobiasson M, Dybedahl I, Holm MS, Karimi M, Brandefors L,
Garelius H, Grövdal M, Högh Dufva I, Grønbæk K, Jansson M,
Marcher C, Nilsson L, Kittang AO, Porwit A, Saft L, Möllgård
L, Hellström-Lindberg E. Limited clinical efficacy of azacitidine
in transfusion-dependent, growth factor-resistant, low- and
Int-1-risk MDS: Results from the nordic NMDSG08A phase II
trial. Blood Cancer J. 2014 Mar; 4:e189
Trudel D, Downes MR, Sykes J, Kron KJ, Trachtenberg J, van
der Kwast TH. Prognostic impact of intraductal carcinoma and
large cribriform carcinoma architecture after prostatectomy in
a contemporary cohort. Eur J Cancer. 2014 Apr; pii: S09598049(14)00252-4
Turner K, Ahmed N, Santerre P, Kandel RA. Modulation of
Annulus Fibrosus Cell Alignment and Function on Oriented
Nanofibrous Polyurethane Scaffolds under Tension. The Spine
Journal. 2014 Mar; 14(3):424-34.
Wang T, Hsieh ET, Henry P, Hanna W, Streutker CJ, Grin
A. Matched biopsy and resection specimens of gastric and
gastroesophageal and adenocarcinoma show high concordance in
HER2 status. Hum Pathol. 2014 Jan. [Epub ahead of print]
Wang T, Matukas L, Streutker CJ. Histologic findings and clinical
characteristics in acutely symptomatic ulcerative colitis patients
with superimposed Clostridium difficile infection. Am J Clin
Pathol. 2013 Dec; 140:831-837.
Yang Y, Schmitz R, Mitala J, Whiting A, Xiao W, Ceribelli
M, Wright GW, Zhao H,Yang Y, Xu W, Rosenwald A, Ott
G, Gascoyne RD, Connors JM, Rimsza LM, Campo E, Jaffe
ES, Delabie J, Smeland EB, Braziel RM, Tubbs RR, Cook JR,
Weisenburger DD, Chan WC, Wiestner A, Kruhlak MJ, Iwai
K, Bernal F, Staudt LM. Essential role of the linear ubiquitin
chain assembly complex in lymphoma revealed by rare germline
polymorphisms. Cancer Discov. 2014 Apr; 4(4):480-93.
publications
Yao X, Corbett T, Gupta AA,Kandel RA,Verma S, Werier J, Ghert
M. A Systematic Review of Active Treatment Options in Patients
with Desmoid Tumours. Current Oncology. 2014. Accepted for
publication.
Yuen RK, Merkoulovitch A, Macdonald JR,Vlasschaert M, Lo
K, Grober E, Marshall CR, Jarvi KA, Kolomietz E, Scherer SW.
Development of a high-resolution Y-chromosome microarray
for improved male infertility diagnosis. Fertil Steril. 2014 Jan;
101(4):1079-1085.e3.
Zhang X, Zhang Q, Dahlström J, Tran AN,Yang B, Gu Z, Ghaderi
M, Porwit A, Jia J, Derolf A, Xu D, Björkholm M. Genomic
analysis of the clonal origin and evolution of acute promyelocytic
leukemia in a unique patient with a very late (17 years) relapse.
Leukemia. 2014 Mar; doi: 10.1038/leu.2014.113.
[Epub ahead of print]
LMP News | Vol. 16 No. 2 – 2014
23
off the clock at lmp
Roland Xu
Pathobiology Specialist
Program Alumnus
Visit www.lmp.utoronto.ca to hear Roland play violin and speak about his
experience with the Mount Sinai Minstrels.
Using music as a means of inspiration, Roland Xu organizes the Mount Sinai Minstrels, a group
of volunteer musicians that plays classical music for patients, their families and hospital staff
each week. A recent alumnus of the undergraduate Pathobiology Specialist Program, and winner
of the 2014 University of Toronto Alumni Association Scholars Award, he formed the Minstrels
in 2011 to give back to the community. In the future, Xu plans to volunteer for Doctors Without
Borders to effect positive change in his native rural China. He also wishes to pursue a career in
medicine and translational research.
What have you enjoyed most about playing with the Minstrels?
Playing music with the Minstrels has been one of my most cherished memories in my undergraduate career. Using music
as a medium, I have been able to communicate with people from various backgrounds and have witnessed its profound
healing effects. Regardless of their level of expertise, our audience enjoys our music and are greatly appreciative of our
efforts. A few of them even give us tips on how to perform with “swagger.”
What were you researching while at LMP?
While at LMP I worked with Professor Carol Swallow and we uncovered a novel role of a protein kinase called Polo-like
kinase 4 (Plk4) in regulating cell invasion. Currently, we are using a proteomic approach to identify interacting proteins of
Plk4 which may provide insights into the molecular mechanism by which Plk4 promotes cancer cell invasion.
How has music influenced your research and undergraduate studies?
Music has provided me with a medium for self-expression allowing me to foster my sense of creativity. Most importantly,
music has been the ideal distraction for me whenever I was overwhelmed by the stress of a rigorous academic
curriculum or dealing with the depression associated with a failed western blot.
What do you plan to do in the future?
I am a self-proclaimed foodie and in the future I hope to travel the world and taste the finest cuisines. In terms of
career aspirations, I wish to become a clinician-scientist and work to bridge the gap between basic science research
and clinical practice.
24
Investigating Disease. Impacting Health.
INVESTIGATING
DISEASE.
IMPACTING
HEALTH.
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