2016 PaLM Research Day

We held yet another very successful Research Day on April 7, 2016 to celebrate our research and our researchers. The day began with the Paterson Lecture by Dr. Andrew Fire. To an audience of over 400, Dr. Fire presented his groundbreaking work for which he shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Craig Mello. To hear about Dr. Fire’s continuing pioneering work in understanding RNA interference machinery was truly inspirational. The Paterson Lecture was followed by an array of basic and clinical science oral presentations by graduate students and pathology residents. The topics presented covered a range of our research expertise including cancer pathogenesis, neuropathology, and stem cell biology among others. The lively scientific discussions continued over lunch and the poster sessions. Our researchers, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and postgraduate trainees, presented their key discoveries in health research. We set a new record with 62 presentations this year which is remarkable for any department. The day concluded with the presentation of the Research Day awards. Perhaps the most difficult task for our 22 judges this year was selecting the awardees among so many talented young researchers. We are proud of all of our researchers and congratulate the awardees on their exceptional performance.

2016 PaLM Research Day Award Winners

Niamh Richmond, Dr. Matthew Kubica, Dr. William Stecho, Xusheng Zhang, Derek Kleinsteuber, Rebecca Sullivan and Alice Tan.

Platform Presentation Awards

The Chair's Award for Best Clinical Science Presentation
Awardee: Dr. William Stecho, PGY4
Presentation: The role of the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway in cancer

The M. Daria Haust Award Best Basic Science Presentation
This award is given in recognition of Dr. M. Daria Haust’s many achievements in the Department of Pathology at Western and LHSC
Awardee: Niamh Richmond, MSc Candidate
Presentation: Transforming growth factor-β induces pluripotency genes in hemangioma stem cells through repressing T-box 2

Poster Presentation Awards

The Best Clinical Science Poster Presentation
Awardee: Dr. Matthew Kubica, PGY3
Presentation: Comparative utility of distal and mid esophageal biopsies in the diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis: a retrospective analysis

Best Basic Science Poster Presentation
Awardee: Anu Thomas, PhD Candidate
Presentation: Long noncoding RNA ANRIL regulates VEGF mediated angiogenesis in diabetic complications

Best Basic/Clinical Science Collaborative Poster Presentation
Awardee: Rebecca Sullivan, MSc Candidate
Presentation: Expression of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a and ghrelin in human heart failure

Best Undergraduate Basic Science Poster Presentation
Awardee: Alice Tan, BMSc
Presentation: Expression levels of growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a and ghrelin in early diabetes

Other Awards

Master of Clinical Science-Pathologists' Assistant Graduate Research Award
Awardee: Derek Kleinsteuber, MClSc Candidate
Presentation: Pathologic resolution based on treatment of Grade II/III arteritis in post renal transplant biopsies
Awardee: Xusheng Zhang, MClSc Candidate
Presentation: Prevention of allograft rejection in heart transplantation through concurrent gene silencing of TLR and kinase signaling pathways

The Cameron Wallace Graduate Student Award in Pathology
This award recognizes a graduate student's achievement in both pathology research and course work. This award is given in recognition of Dr. Cameron Wallace who was the head of the Department of Pathology from 1965 - 1974.
Awardee: Niamh Richmond, MSc Candidate

Welcome Dr. Jeff Fuller

We are pleased to announce Dr. Jeff Fuller has joined our department as an Associate Professor and Clinical Microbiologist effective April 18, 2016. Read more

Grant-in-Aid award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Congratulations to Dr. Subrata Chakrabarti on his Grant-in-Aid award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Read more

In Memoriam - Dr. Colette Guiraudon

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Emerita Professor, Dr. Colette M. Guiraudon, on March 23rd, 2016, at University Hospital in London, Ontario. Read more

News Stories

NSERC Grants

Congratulations to Drs. Martin Duennwald and Joan Knoll on their successful NSERC Discovery grants. Read more

Your Western email is getting an upgrade!

On May 12th Western University is moving its email platform to the new cloud-based system called Microsoft Office 365. Read more

Scholarship for Research in Ophthalmology

Nikoleta Tellios has been awarded the Dr. Wm. P. McGrath Scholarship for Research in Ophthalmology. The award is given to a full-time Masters or Doctoral graduate student who is conducting research in the area of Ophthalmology.

Upcoming Events

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Zhong Seminar - May

"Paleopathology - pathology; the ancient - modern interface as experienced in the analysis of human remains from the Inca period site of Farfán Peru"

Speaker: Dr. Andrew Nelson
Thursday, May 12, 2016 @ 12:00 pm - LHSC UH Auditorium A | Click here

Publications

Beamish CA, Strutt BJ, Arany EJ, Hill DJ. Insulin-positive, Glut2-low cells present within mouse pancreas exhibit lineage plasticity and are enriched within extra-islet endocrine cell clusters. Islets. 2016 Mar 24:e1162367. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 27010375
Carroll CS, Amankwa LN, Pinto LJ, Fuller JD, Moore MM. Detection of a Serum Siderophore by LC-MS/MS as a Potential Biomarker of Invasive Aspergillosis. PLoS One 2016 Mar 14;11(3):e0151260 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151260 PMID: 26974544
Charles MK, Berenger BM, Turnbull L, Rennie R, Fuller J. Variability of β-lactam susceptibility testing for Streptococcus pneumoniae using 4 commercial test methods and broth microdilution. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2016 Mar;84(3):240-5 DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2015.11.014 PMID: 26707068
Martin PE, Gaed M, Gomez JA, Moussa M, Gibson E, Cool DW, Chin JL, Pautler S, Fenster A, Ward AD. How does prostate biopsy guidance error impact pathologic cancer risk assessment? Proc. SPIE9786, Medical Imaging 2016: Image Guided Procedure, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling. 9786. DOI: 10.1117/12.2217334
Shrum B, Costello P, McDonald W, Howlett C, Donnelly M, McAlister V In-vitro three dimensional culture of hepatocellular carcinoma to measure prognosis and responsiveness to chemotherapeutic agents Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition Vol 5, No 3 (June 2016) 204-8 doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2304-3881.2016.01.01
Zhang Q, Pocrnich C, Kurian A, Hahn AF, Howlett C, Shepherd J, Rizkalla K. Amyloid deposition in extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue: A clinicopathologic study of 5 cases. Pathol Res Pract 2015 Sep 5. [epub ahead of print] DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2015.08.007 PMID: 26847730
Ghavidel S, Iman F, Khallaghi S, Gibson E, Khojaste A, Gaed M, Moussa M, Gomez JA, D. Siemens DR, Leveridge M, Chang S, Fenster A, Ward AD, Abolmaesumi P, Mousavi P Classification of Prostate Cancer Grade Using Temporal Ultrasound: in vivo Feasibility Study. Proc. SPIE9786, Medical Imaging 2016: Image Guided Procedure, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling. 9786. DOI: 10.1117/12.2216922
Kubica MG, Sangle NA. Iatrogenic immunodeficiency-associated lymphoproliferative disorders in transplant and nontransplant settings. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2016 Jan-Mar;59 ( 1 ) pp. 6 – 15 DOI: 10.4103/0377-4929.178215 PMID: 26960627
Kirstein, JM, Hague NM, McGowan PM, Tuck AB, Chambers AF. Primary melanoma tumor inhibits metastasis through alterations in systemic hemostasis. J Mol Med (Berl). Top of Form2016 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 27048169
Schaeffer DF, Walsh JC, Tyler AD, Ben-Bassat O, Silverberg MS, Riddell RH, Kirsch R. Intra-epithelial lymphocytosis is a frequent finding in biopsies from ileal pouch-anal anastomoses (IPAA). Hum Pathol 2016 Apr 7. 1753-1772 [epub ahead of print] DOI: 10.1016/j.humpath.2016.03.007 PMID: 27063473

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