The 24th Canadian Connective Tissue Conference
Wednesday May 23-Friday May 25, 2018
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
Download program PDF file here
| Day 1 | Wednesday May 23, 2018 Earth Sciences Centre, University of Toronto 5 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 3J1 |
| 17:15 – 18:15 h | CCTS Board Meeting (board members only) |
| 18:00 – 21:00 h | Registration & Opening Reception |
| 18:00 – 18:30 h | Registration Location: Auditorium Lobby |
| 18:30 – 18:45 h | Opening Remarks: Lisbet Haglund – President CCTS |
| 18:45 – 19:15 h | Invited Speaker: Sandeep Kohli – McMaster University The future of health care delivery: the convergence of exponential technologies |
| 19:15 – 21:00 h | Reception: Food and Drinks |
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| Day 2 | Thursday May 24, 2018 Location: Auditorium lobby |
| 7:45 – 8:30 h | Breakfast Location: Auditorium Lobby |
| 8:30 – 8:45 h | Welcome Remarks |
| SESSION I: | Skin and Matrix Biology – Health and Disease Co-chairs: Anie Philip and Afsaneh Alavi |
| 8:45 – 9:15 h | Invited Speaker: Vincent Piguet – University of Toronto Dendritic Cells in Skin Diseases |
| 9:15 – 10:10 h | Selected abstracts for oral presentation |
| 9:15 h | Aziz Ghahary – University of British Columbia Trans-differentiation of immune cells into skin cells in large skin injuries |
| 9:30 h | Heena Kumra – McGill University Molecular interaction between elastogenic proteins impacting matrix assembly and function |
| 9:40 h | Maria Zena Miranda – University of Toronto Regulation of TAZ expression by chemical and mechanical fibrogenic stimuli |
| 9:50 h | Shruthi Venugopal – Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Sciences Pro-fibrotic cytokines induce the RhoA exchange factor GEF-H1 through a cytoskeleton-dependent self-regulatory cycle: possible role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition |
| 10:00 h | Nazihah Bakhtyar – Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center Exosomes enriched in the Wharton’s jelly of the human umbilical cord enhances skin wound healing |
| 10:10 – 10:25 h | Coffee break Location: Auditorium Lobby |
| SESSION II: | Bone and Developmental Biology – Health and Disease Co-chairs: Morris Manolson and Marc Grynpas |
| 10:25 – 10:55 h | Invited Speaker: Jeffrey Dixon – Western University Unraveling the complex network of purinergic signaling in bone |
| 10:55 – 11:35 h | Selected abstracts for oral presentation |
| 10:55 h | Lina Saad – Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal Osteoclastogenesis is modulated by the phosphatase Inpp4b through the PKCβ/GSK3β/Nfatc1 pathway |
| 11:05 h | Elie Akoury – McGill University Zoledronic acid-loaded silica nanoparticles to treat cancer-induced bone metastasis |
| 11:15 h | Iris Boraschi-Diaz – Shriners Hospital for Children-Canada Mechanisms underlying increased osteoclastogenesis in the mouse model of osteogenesis imperfecta due to mutation in collagen type I |
| 11:25 h | Garthiga Manickam – McGill University The role of SMPD3 in skeletal tissues during fracture healing |
| SESSION III: | Bridging Translational Research in Canada Chair: Svetlana Komarova |
| 11:35 – 12:05 h | Invited Speaker: James Jaquith – Zucara Therapeutics Zucara Therapeutics: Centre For Drug Research and Development/MaRS Innovation. |
| 12:05 – 13:20 h | Lunch and Poster Presentation Session 1 Lunch Location: Auditorium Lobby Poster Presentations will take place from 12:45-13:15 in the lobby |
| 12:20 – 13:20 h | CCTS Board Meeting (board members only) |
| SESSION IV: | Cartilage and Intervertebral Disc Biology – Health and Disease Co-chairs: Frank Beier and Stephane Roy |
| 13:20 – 13:50 h | Invited Speaker: Frank Barry – National University of Ireland Galway Stromal cell Therapy for arthritic diseases: Progress and obstacles |
| 13:50 – 14:30 h | Selected abstracts for oral presentation |
| 13:50 h | Fackson Mwale – Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University Link N retards disease progression in a rabbit model of osteoarthritis |
| 14:00 h | Daniel G. Bisson – McGill University Role of Toll-like receptor 2 in degenerating articular cartilage |
| 14:10 h | Mable Chan – University of Toronto Modulation of inflammation and cartilage degradation using ex vivo polarized monocytes/macrophages within a human osteoarthritic joint explant model |
| 14:20 h | Michael P. Grant – Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University Tungsten accumulation in the intervertebral disc regulates degeneration and markers of discogenic pain |
| SESSION V: | Novel Therapeutic Strategies in Connective Tissue Disease Chair: Peter Kannu |
| 14:30 – 15:00 h | Invited Speaker: Rita Kandel – University of Toronto Biological intervertebral disc replacement: advancing towards a new treatment option |
| 15:00 – 16:00 h | Coffee Break and Poster Presentations Session 2 Coffee Location: Auditorium Lobby Poster Presentation Location: Lobby |
| 3-Minute Elevator Pitch – Session A Chair: Jason Rockel |
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| 16:00 – 16:45 h | Selected abstracts for 3-minute elevator pitch |
| Boaz Wong – University of Toronto Myofibroblasts attract macrophages in fibrillar collagen |
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| Nuno M. Coelho – University of Toronto Major vault protein holds the key for DDR1-β1 integrin interaction |
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| Nina Noskovičová – University of Toronto CUB Domain Containing Protein 1 (CDCP1) is a novel negative regulator of TGFβ signaling and myofibroblast differentiation |
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| Pardis Pakshir – Institute of Biomedical and Biomaterial Engineering, University of Toronto Mechanisms of macrophage mechanosensation in collagen matrix |
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| Mohammadali Sheikholeslam – Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto Engineering and basic science meet clinic: dermal skin substitute for burn patients |
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| Jose Ramirez-GarciaLuna – McGill University Impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on mast cells during bone repair |
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| Xueting Mei – University of Toronto Microfluidic platform for investigation of mechanoregulation of breast cancer bone metastasis |
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| Sotcheadt Sim – Biomomentum Inc. BMP-2 Revealed enhanced healing in fractured mouse tibia using micro-CT and torsion test |
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| Zeeshan Sheikh – University of Toronto A new approach for reversing osteoporotic bone loss with a conjugated drug (C3) in an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model |
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| Rayan Fairag – McGill University Low-cost 3D printed biodegradable scaffolds, a potential graft substitute materials |
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| 18:00 – 21:00 h | Gala Dinner Location: BMO Education & Conference Centre, 60 Leonard Avenue, Toronto |
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| Day 3 | Friday May 25, 2018 Location: Auditorium |
| 8:00 – 8:30 h | Breakfast Location: Auditorium Lobby |
| SESSION VI: | Bioengineering Chair: Craig Simmons |
| 8:30 – 9:00 h | Invited Speaker: Cari Whyne – University of Toronto The impact of metastatic disease on vertebral bone quality |
| SESSION VII: | Artificial Intelligence and Computational Biology Co-Chairs: Dieter Reinhardt and Christopher McCulloch |
| 9:00 – 9:30 h | Invited Guest Speaker: Igor Jurisica – University of Toronto Precision medicine – from data to models to insights and treatments |
| 9:30 – 9:50 h | Selected abstracts for oral presentation |
| 9:30 h | Christie Costello – Memorial University of Newfoundland Metabolomics signature for non-responders to total joint replacement therapy in primary osteoarthritis patients |
| 9:40 h | Anne-Christin Hauschild – Krembil Research Institute Influence of subtype and gender on disease progression and treatment response in osteoarthritis |
| SESSION VIII: | High-Throughput Screening Chair: Guangju Zhai and Aziz Ghahary |
| 9:50 – 10:20 h | Invited Guest Speaker: David Andrews – University of Toronto High content analysis to redefine subcellular organization |
| 10:20 – 10:40 h | Selected abstracts for oral presentation |
| 10:20 h | Supinder Kour Bali – The University of Western Ontario RNA-Seq transcriptome profiling to investigate the role of glycogen synthase kinase 3 signaling in cartilage biology |
| 10:30 h | Shabana Amanda Ali – University Health Network Next generation sequencing as a tool for microRNA discovery in knee osteoarthritis |
| 10:40 – 10:50 h | Coffee Break Location: Auditorium Lobby |
| 3-Minute Elevator Pitch – Session B Chair: Casimiro Gerarduzzi |
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| 10:50 – 11:20 h | Selected abstracts for 3-minute elevator pitch |
| Helal Endisha – Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network microRNA-34a: Role in the development of osteoarthritis during obesity |
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| Alejandro Gómez-Aristizábal – Krembil Research Institute, Toronto Western Hospital Monocyte/macrophages in osteoarthritic synovial fluid are correlated with patient-reported outcomes |
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| Margaret Man-Ger Sun – Western University Investigating the role of retinoid X receptor in cartilage development and homeostasis |
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| Akihiro Nakamura – Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network Intra-articular injection of microRNA-181a-5p inhibitor attenuates cartilage degeneration in both facet and knee osteoarthritis animal models |
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| Abhinav Parashar – McGill University A mechanistic study to understand vascular calcification caused by MGP deficiency |
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| Rongmo Zhang – McGill University Fibrillin-1-mediated regulation of microRNA signaling and cell function |
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| Hélène Mathieu – Research Center CHU Sainte Justine Identification of candidate genes potentially involved in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis |
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| Gyu-Tae Kim – University of Toronto High-Throughput drug-screening using human cardiomyocytes in mechanically controlled environments |
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| 11:20 – 11:50 h | CCTS Business Meeting/General Assembly (ALL conference participants) |
| SESSION IX: | Tissue Fibrosis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets Chair: Carl Richards |
| 11:50 – 12:20 h | Invited Guest Speaker: David Lagares – Massachusetts General Hospital New therapeutics for fibrotic diseases: from biology to targeted therapy |
| 12:20 – 12:50 h | Invited Guest Speaker: Andras Kapus – St. Michael’s Hospital/Keenan Research Centre Mechanosensitive transcription factors: regulation and prominent roles in organ fibrosis |
| 12:50 – 13:15 h | Awards Presentation & Concluding Remarks: Robin Poole |
| End of Conference |