April 28, 2015

IN THIS ISSUE:

Message from the Interim Chair
Honours & Awards
Physiology Seminar Series
Macallum Lecture (May 13) & FIP (May 14)
Physiology Day 2015


MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM CHAIR

This will be my last PhysioLINK. It has been a privilege serving as Interim Chair for the past seven months. My term will end on April 30th and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the department for your support, encouragement and sometimes patience. Congratulations again to Dr. Graham Collingridge who will now continue to lead this great place; his vision and creativity, combined with our support, will navigate us well through all future opportunities and challenges. Please join me in welcoming Graham to Physiology!

Steffen-Sebastian Bolz, MD, PhD
Interim Chair, Department of Physiology
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

HONOURS & AWARDS

Congratulations to all of our graduate students below on their recent accomplishments.

Stephanie Baello (Matthews lab) - CIHR Doctoral Award and Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS-D)

Shakira Brathwaite (Macdonald lab) – CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

Alexandre Martchenko (Brubaker lab) - CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

Colleen Gillon (Josselyn lab) - NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

Roman Korytnikov (Nostro lab) - NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

Sepideh Sheybani Deloui (Rosenblum lab) - NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

Tina Tran (Frankland lab) - NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Award

PHYSIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES

~ Eligible for PSL1000H/PSL2000H Course Seminar Attendance ~

Speaker: Alanna J. Watt PhD
Institution: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, McGill University
Title: “Altered Purkinje cell firing precision in a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6)”
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Room 2172
Host: Physiology Neuroscience Platform

Speaker: Roger J. Hajjar, MD
Institution: Director, Cardiovascular Research Centre
Arthur & Janet Ross Professor of Medicine,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY
Title: “Genome editing and gene therapy targeting calcium cycling in heart failure”
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2015
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Room 2172
Host: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Platform

PHYSIOLOGY’S ARCHIBALD BYRON MACALLUM LECTURE

Mitchell A. Lazar, MD PhD
Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
University of Pennsylvania

“Thiazolidinediones and the Promise of Insulin Sensitization for Type 2 Diabetes”

Wednesday May 13th, 2015 - 4:00 pm

JJR Macleod Auditorium, Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto

Reception to follow – ALL WELCOME


FIP - THURSDAY, MAY 14TH, 2015

We look forward to seeing you at the 35th annual FIP!

Shane Ellis & Holly Stacey
FIP Chief Organizers

6th Annual Physiology Day

On April 14th 2015, the Department of Physiology partnered with GASP, the Division of Teaching Laboratories and Let’s Talk Science to host its 6th Annual Physiology Day. 70 grade 11 students from 9 schools across Toronto attended our event and completed three physiology labs exploring lung volume, blood pressure, and genetics. An outstanding team of eight graduate students from the Department of Physiology not only guided students through the experiments and underlying theory, but also offered them advice on making decisions about university as their high school graduation approaches. The students thoroughly enjoyed getting this unique opportunity to conduct labs in a university setting and discuss university life and research in physiology with graduate students and faculty members.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the faculty members who took the time to come talk to the students, as well as the Division of Teaching Laboratories, GASP, and all the graduate student volunteers, as without them, this event could not have been as successful as it was!

Colleen Gillon – Graduate student, Josselyn Lab
Outreach Coordinator, GASP