January 15, 2016

IN THIS ISSUE:

 

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the first issue of 2016!  I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday.

I look forward to working with you over the coming weeks and months.

Best wishes.

Graham L. Collingridge, FRS, FMedSci, FRSB, FBPhS
Ernest B. and Leonard B. Smith Chair 
Department of Physiology

 

HONOURS & AWARDS

Congratulations to Dr. John Challis (former Chair and Professor Emeritus) on receiving the David Barker Medal of the International Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Society at the November 2015 Cape Town Meeting.

Congratulations to Andrea Constantinof (PhD candidate, Matthews lab) on receiving an inaugural Brain Canada and NeuroDevNet Research Training Award.  The Brain Canada Foundation is working to support and enhance the training of talented young scientists conducting research focused on key aspects of developmental neurosciences under the direction of leading Canadian researchers.  We are proud that Andrea is part of this new and exciting initiative.

Congratulations to Garrett Horton (MSc candidate, Horner Lab) on winning 1st place in the Microscopy Imaging Facility's Microscopy Image Contest 2015. See link for all the exciting details  http://medicine.utoronto.ca/microscopy-image-contest-2015.

 

PHYSIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES

~ Eligible for PSL1000H/PSL2000H Course Seminar Attendance ~

Speaker:  Phyllis Billia, PhD, MD, FRCPC

Institution: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, U of T; Associate Staff, Cardiology, Mount Sinai Hospital; Toronto General Research Institute (TGRI)

Title: Tumor suppressors in cardiac tissue homeostasis

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2016

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Location: Medical Sciences Building, Room 2172, St. George Campus, University of Toronto

Host: Cardiovascular & Respiratory Platform

 

PHYSIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES – Special Lunchtime Seminar

~ Eligible for PSL1000H/PSL2000H Course Seminar Attendance ~

Speaker: Professor Noelia Weisstaub

Institution: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Title: "Serotonergic modulation of the prefrontal cortex during retrieval of recognition memory in rats."

Date: Tuesday February 2, 2016

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: Physiology Seminar Room, Medical Sciences Building, Room 3231, St. George Campus, University of Toronto

Host: Neuroscience Platform

 

NEW APPOINTMENTS

A very warm welcome to David Cherney, MD, PhD, Physiology’s newest cross-appointee effective January 1, 2016.

Following his clinical training in Nephrology, Dr. Cherney completed his PhD in human renal physiology at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto in 2008.  He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto and a Clinician Scientist at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospitals, where he is director of the Renal Physiology Laboratory.

During his PhD training, Dr. Cherney was the recipient of a Kidney Foundation of Canada Scholarship and then a three-year KRESCENT Fellowship. He has also received a five-year Canadian Diabetes Association-KRESCENT Program Joint New Investigator Award and receives operating funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Dr. Cherney’s research program focuses on physiological factors that initiate renal disease in patients with diabetes, such as renal hyperfiltration and inflammation. His research program is closely aligned with his integrated and multidisciplinary cardiac-renal-endocrine clinic at the University Health Network, which maintains a strong emphasis on the prevention of diabetic nephropathy and related cardiovascular disease.

 

RETIREMENT PARTY

Please join us for

Dr. Martin Wojtowicz’s Retirement Party

Monday January 25, 2016

2:00 p.m.

Physiology Seminar Room
Medical Sciences Bldg. Room 3231
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

 

BABY NEWS

Congratulations to Dr. Christina Merkley and her husband, Pete, on the recent birth of their daughter - Marion Rose.  Marion weighed 6lbs and is doing well.

Christina is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Wojtowicz' lab, and is currently on maternity leave.

We are all excited and wish her well.

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We want to hear about the great things happening in Physiology.  Please share your accomplishments, awards….

Send news items to the Chair’s Office c/o e.katsoulakos@utoronto.ca