The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute’s 22nd annual Research Day was a great success! Designed to highlight and celebrate the outstanding work of trainees and promote scientific interaction, the event featured 115 posters, 19 oral presentations, and five finalists in the Elevator Pitch Competition.
The event also included special presentations from Dr. Sheila Singh, Dr. Deborah Cook, Dr. Taha Azad (Worton Researcher-in-Training Award), Marilyn Erdley (patient speaker) and Maddy Hill and Leah Labib from OHRI’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Prizes were awarded to the following students and postdoctoral fellows:
Oral Presentation Competition
Clinical: Elisabeth Vesnaver (Justin Presseau group) Partnering for impact: A community and health system participatory approach to support the inclusion of newly eligible gay, bisexual and all men who have sex with men in plasma donation in Canada.Co-authors: Emily Gibson, Amelia Palumbo, Gisell Castillo, Kyle Rubini, Richard MacDonagh, Andrew Rosser, Glenndl Miguel, Marco Reid, Paul MacPherson, Mindy Goldman, Terrie Butler-Foster, Nolan E Hill, Don Lapierre, Taylor Randall, William Osbourne-Sorrell, Sheila O’Brien, Joanne Otis, Mark Greaves, Taim Bilal Al-Bakri, Maximilian Labrecque, Marc Germain, Shane Orvis, Andrew Clapperton, Dana Devine, Justin Presseau
1st: Marie Marotel (Michele Ardolino group) Role of LAG3 in Natural Killer cells.Co-authors: Cynthia Chan, Maria Park, Valeria Vasilyeva, Christiano Tanese de Souza, Ayad Ali, Jonathan Hodgins, Olivia Makinson, Shaad Hasim, S.H. Lee, Stephen Waggoner, Michele Ardolino
2nd: Nicholas Cober (Duncan Stewart group) Single-cell transcriptomic analysis implicates a novel arterial endothelial cell population in development of obliterative arterial remodeling and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension.Co-authors: Emma McCourt, Rafael Soares Godoy, Yupu Deng, Ken Schlosser, David P Cook, Liyuan Wang, and Duncan J Stewart
3rd: Robert Myette (Dylan Burger group) Increased mitochondrial DNA in urinary large extracellular vesicles in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome: a new disease biomarker? Co-authors: Fengxia Xiao, Chris Kennedy & Dylan Burger
Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellow Poster Competition
Clinical: Shelley Vanderhout (Dean Fergusson group) Patient and public involvement in pragmatic trials: Online survey of corresponding authors of published trials. Co-authors: Pascale Nevins, Stuart G. Nicholls, Colin Macarthur, Jamie C Brehaut, Beth Potter, Kate Gillies, Beatriz Goulao, Maureen Smith, Alicia Hilderley, Kelly Carroll, Anne Spinewine, Charles Weijer, Dean A. Fergusson, Monica Taljaard
1st: Bahareh Hekmatnejad (Michael Rudnicki group) Single-cell transcriptional and chromatin accessibility profiling of satellite cells lacking MyoD. Co-authors: Bahareh Hekmatnejad, Michael Rudnicki
2nd: Meshach Asare-Werehene (Benjamin Tsang group) Ovarian cancer chemoresistance: biosensor detection of biological drones exporting drugs. Co-authors: Rob Hunter, Emma Gerber, Arkadiy Reunov, Isaiah Brine, Chia-Yu Chang, Chia-Ching Chang, Dar-Bin Shieh, Dylan Burger, Hanan Anis, Benjamin K. Tsang
3rd: Alex Lin (Michael Rudnicki group) A muscle stem cell subpopulation is determined by mitochondrial potential. Co-authors: Morten Ritso, Marie Esper, J. Manuel Hernández-Hernández, M.A. Rudnicki
PhD Student Poster Competition
Clinical: Alexa Keeshan (Curtis Cooper group) Immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines: Initial findings from a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Co-authors: Corey Arnold, Yannick Galipeau, Martin Pelchat, Angela Crawley, Marc-Andre Langlois, Curtis Cooper
1st (tie): Rayanna Birtch (Carolina Ilkow group) Development of an RNAi-oncolytic virotherapy for KRAS mutated cancers. Co-authors: Hoskin, V; Salama, A; Bell, J; Ilkow, C
1st (tie): Samuel Delisle (Luc Sabourin group) The accelerated initiation of HER2-positive mammary tumors in SLK-deficient mice is not driven by the loss of its kinase-dependent functions. Co-authors: Samuel Delisle, Luc Sabourin
2nd: Marlena Scaffidi (Rebecca Auer group) Characterizing the relationship between natural killer cell function and metabolism in the postoperative period. Co-authors: Marisa Market, Gayashan Tennakoon, Leonard Angka, David Cook, Christiano Tanese de Souza, Rebecca Auer
3rd: Henna Mistry (Rebecca Auer group) Evidence of surgery-induced epigenetic modifications to explain postoperative natural killer cell dysfunction. Co-authors: Taylor Dion, Rafeah Alam, Rebecca C. Auer
4th: Edward (Yiren) Sun (Jing Wang group) Monoacylglycerol lipase from hypothalamic appetite control neurons regulate regionally distinct subventricular zone neural stem cell development to modulate olfactory function. Co-authors: Nina Chen, Nazia Hassan, Robert Zimmermann, Jing Wang
Master’s Student and Poster Competition
Clinical: Sanghamithra Ramani (Lisa Walker group) Social cognition and information processing speed in individuals with multiple sclerosis and co-morbid diabetes: An interim analysis. Co-authors: Pumphrey, J.D., Berard, J.A., Wang, J., Walker, L.A.S
1st: Andre Raffla (Edward Lemaire group) Development of Transtibial Prosthesis Inserts to Accommodate Residual Limb Volume Change. Co-authors: Natalie Baddour, Edward Lemaire
2nd: Eva Kuhar (Manoj Lalu group) Investigating Biological Sex Differences in a Preclinical Acute Lung Injury Model of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Co-authors: Damian Chwastek, Doreen Engelberts, Duncan J Stewart, Manoj Lalu
3rd: Skyra Cheng (Catherine Tsilfidis group) Assessment of Visual Function in a Snf2h Knockout Mouse Model of Retinal Degeneration.Co-authors: Pamela Lagali, Adam Baker, Catherine Tsilfidis
4th: Sydney Vallati (John Bell group) Development of novel oncolytic viruses encoding therapeutic payloads for the treatment of RET-positive pancreatic cancers. Co-authors: Mathieu J. F. Crupi, Zaid Taha, Taylor Jamieson-Datzwik, Jack Whelan, Emily Lee, Betty Huang, John C. Bell
Undergraduate poster competition
Stephanie Lofaro (Michael Rudnicki group) Investigating the role of regulatory factor Myf5 during muscle regeneration.Co-authors: Bahareh Hekmatnejad, Michael A. Rudnicki
Elevator Pitch Competition
1st: Rebecca Lau (Donna Maziak group) This cut or that cut? --> choosing the right surgery
2nd: Ragav Chona (Jing Wang group) A regeneration sensation! Helping the brain repair itself
People’s Choice Poster Awards
Skyra Cheng (Catherine Tsilfidis group) Assessment of Visual Function in a Snf2h Knockout Mouse Model of Retinal Degeneration, Co-authors: Pamela Lagali, Adam Baker, Catherine Tsilfidis
Yvonne Lunn (Nongnuj Tanphaichitr group) Development of delivery system of an engineered cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, 17BIPHE2, into a vaginal multipurpose prevention technology agent: Selection of an appropriate excipient. Co-authors: Seung Gee Lee, Jonathan B. Angel, Nongnuj Tanphaichitr
Rachel Friesen (Jing Wang group) Retrograde tracing using modified rabies virus to track distinct brain regions innervating distinct SVZ subdomains. Co-authors: Edward (Yiren) Sun, Jing Wang
Goodman Cohen Summer Student Awards
Senior: Rebecca Lau (Donna Maziak group) Comparing the safety and effectiveness of different surgical approaches in thymectomy: subxiphoid VATS, lateral Intercostal VATS, open median sternotomy or thoracotomy. Co-authors: Katherine Aw, Sami Aftab Abdul, Caitlin Anstee, Sebastien Gilbert, Susan D. Moffatt-Bruce, Andrew J.E. Seely, Sudhir R. Sundaresan, Patrick J. Villeneuve, Donna E. Maziak
Junior: Valeria Vasilyeva (Michele Ardolino group) LAG3 marks a subset of exhausted Natural Killer cells in cancer. Co-authors: Marie Marotel, Michele Ardolino
Research Day Committee
Dr. Paul Albert (Co-chair), Dr. Justin Presseau (Co-chair), Dr. Jay Baltz, Amelia Buchanan, Dr. Angela Crawley, Chanèle Cyr Depauw, Jaahnavi Dave, Jenn Ganton, Leah Labib, Dr. Ian Lorimer, Dr. Tim Ramsay, Dr. Luc Sabourin, Dr. Duncan Stewart, Jennifer Valentino
Volunteers: Nicol Lum, Lucy Sangani
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