April 2012 - Institute of Medical Science - University of Toronto

NEWS & VIEWS
For faculty and students
April 2012
IMS SCIENTIFIC DAY – Mark your calendar!
IMS SCIENTIFIC DAY PRESENTATIONS
LAIDLAW MANUSCRIPT COMPETITION
Top rated students were asked to submit manuscripts for the
Laidlaw competition. The following finalists were selected to give
an oral presentation at IMS Scientific Day on Tuesday, May 15,
2012 in the Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building
between 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.:
Ann Montgomery will present her talk on the Factor Associated
with Physician Agreement and Coding Choices.
Brian Ballios will present his talk on the Directed-differentiation
of Photoreceptors from Adult Retinal Stem Cells.
Christopher Tran will present his talk on A Family-based
Association Analysis, Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
of the Reading Disabilities Candidate Gen DYX1C1.
Marko Škrtić will present his talk on the Inhibition of
Mitochondrial Translation as a Therapeutic Strategy for
Human Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Nabilah Chowdhury will present her talk on the Melanocortin-4
Receptor Gene Polymorphisms are Associated with Increased
Risk of Antipsychotic Induced Weight Gain.
Nadia Sachewsky will present her talk on the Identification and
Characterization of a Novel Primitive Neural Stem Cell in the
Adult Brain.
The finalists will be competing for the following prizes:
Attention Students!
Laidlaw Prize – Clinical Science - $750
Laidlaw Prize – Basic Science - $750
Laidlaw Prize – Honourable Mention - $400
All IMS students are expected to attend IMS Scientific Day
on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Students in the MSc and PhD program must participate in the
Alan Wu Poster Competition at least once. The Laidlaw
Manuscript Competition is open to all students and everyone
is strongly encouraged to participate.
Attendance at Scientific Day counts towards completion of the
IMS seminar requirement (whether in the CIP stream or the
regular stream). If you cannot attend, your supervisor must
submit a note to the IMS office explaining your absence.
ALAN WU POSTER COMPETITION
The Alan Wu Poster Prizes are presented to the most outstanding
basic science and clinical science abstracts and poster
presentations.
All competitors are expected to prepare an abstract and poster
(work must have been completed within the last 12 months of
graduate studies), and to give a brief oral presentation at IMS
Scientific Day on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in the Student Commons
and Student Lounge, Medical Sciences Building between 12:30 –
2:30 p.m. Awards conferred at that time, will be:
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Alan Wu Poster Prize - Clinical Science - $250 + IMS
Academic Development Award
Alan Wu Poster Prize – Basic Science - $250 + IMS
Academic Development Award
An IMS Academic Development Award, valued at $500, is
awarded to each finalist. The purpose of the IMS award is to
encourage students to attend national or international conferences
by partially covering travel/academic expenses, with supervisors
covering the remainder of the cost.
These awards can be used as:
‣ Reimbursement of travel costs to attend a national or
international conference.
‣ Reimbursement for registration at a research-related
conference or workshop.
‣ Reimbursement for research-related academic books or
computer equipment.
All abstracts will be published in the Abstract Booklet, which is
distributed at Scientific Day.
Poster presentation:
All posters presented at Scientific Day will be divided into groups
of 6-10, and each group will be assigned 2 judges. Each student
will be allocated 10 minutes to give an oral presentation of his or
her work (7 minute talk + 3 minute question period). Please be at
your poster/group location at the beginning of the poster
session! The poster presentations will be held in the Student
Commons and the Student Lounge, Medical Sciences Building.
Presentations will begin at 12:30 p.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.
Judges will rank posters, abstracts, and presentations in each
group, and will select one student from each group to be
considered for the Alan Wu Poster Finalist Prize.
Poster boards (4 feet high by 6 feet wide) will be provided. If you
need more than one panel, please inform the IMS Office as soon
as possible.
Supervisors are expected to attend their students’ poster
presentation.
THE MEL SILVERMAN MENTORSHIP AWARD
In 1991, Dr. Mel Silverman took on the
Directorship of the IMS after Dr. John
Wherrett. As Director, Dr. Silverman raised the
academic standards of the IMS, expanded the
curriculum, increased student enrolment and
faculty appointments. During his tenure, the
IMS added its first professional degree
program - the Master of Science in Biomedical
Communications. He was integral in encouraging clinical chairs to
emulate the surgical scientist model and introduce their own
departmental programs. This led to the creation of clinician
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scientist streams within most clinical departments, including
Medicine, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Anesthesia, Ophthalmology,
Radiation Oncology, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Together
with Bernie Langer he helped found the University of Toronto
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Clinician Investigator
Program (CIP).
The Mel Silverman Mentorship Award is presented to an IMS
graduate faculty member who has served as an outstanding
mentor and role model for graduate students, and who has
contributed in a significant way to the IMS graduate program.
The IMS is pleased to announce that Dr. Gary Remington has
been selected to receive the 2012 Institute of Medical Science Mel
Silverman Mentorship Award.
Dr. Remington is an outstanding mentor and role model for
graduate students. Many of his students consider it a privilege to
conduct research under the supervision of such a phenomenal
scientist. Congratulations Dr. Remington!
The award will be presented to Dr. Remington at the award
presentations held at IMS Scientific Day, May 15, 2012 at 2:45
p.m. in the Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building.
SIMINOVITCH-SALTER AWARD
The Siminovitch-Salter Award was established in 1995 to honour
the contributions of Dr. Lou Siminovitch and Dr. Robert Salter to
the Institute of Medical Science. It is awarded annually to a
graduating IMS doctoral student who has made outstanding
scholarly contributions. The endowment represents contributions
by Mount Sinai Hospital, and the University of Toronto Department
of Surgery and the Institute of Medical Science. The annual award
is valued at $750.
IMS PhD graduate, Dominique McMahon has been selected for
the 2012 Siminovitch-Salter Award. Dominique McMahon will
present a lecture at IMS Scientific Day on May 15, 2012 at 2:30
p.m. in the Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building.
WHITESIDE AWARD
The Whiteside Award was established in 2003 to honour the
contributions of Dr. Catharine Whiteside to the Institute of Medical
Science. It is awarded annually to a graduating IMS Master of
Science student who has made outstanding scholarly
contributions. The award is valued at $500. It is awarded based on
the recommendation of the IMS Graduate Coordinators, Associate
Director, and Director.
IMS MSc graduate, David MacLean, has been selected for this
year’s Whiteside Award. The award will be presented at IMS
Scientific Day on May 15, 2012 at 2:45 p.m. in the Macleod
Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building.

RONCARI BOOK PRIZE
The Roncari Book Prize was established in 1995 to honour the
memory of Dr. Daniel Roncari. The prize is valued at
approximately $50. It is presented to an IMS student who has
made significant contributions to the academic experience of
graduate students, based on the recommendation of the IMS
Graduate Coordinators, Associate Director, and Director.
The IMS is very pleased to announce that MSc student, Ilyse
Darwish, has been selected to receive the 2012 Institute of
Medical Science Roncari Book Prize. Congratulations Ilyse!
The award will be presented at IMS Scientific Day on May 15,
2012 at 2:45 p.m. in the Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences
Building.
SARA AL-BADER MEMORIAL AWARD
The Sara Al-Bader Memorial Award was established by the
Institute of Medical Science to honour the memory of
Sara Al-Bader, a PhD student at the Institute of Medical Science
whose thesis was entitled: Science-Based Health Innovation in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
The award will be presented annually at Scientific Day to an
international doctoral stream student who shows exceptional
academic promise.
The award is valued at $1,000. The scholarship will be awarded
based on the recommendation of the IMS Graduate Coordinators,
Associate Director, and Director.
We are pleased to announce that PhD student, Phan Sok, has
been selected to receive the 2012 Institute of Medical Science
Sara Al-Bader Memorial Award. Congratulations Phan!
The award will be presented at IMS Scientific Day on May 15,
2012 at 2:45 p.m. in the Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences
Building.
FACULTY AWARDS
GRADUATE COURSE DIRECTOR AWARD
The IMS is pleased to announce that Dr. Jonathan Hellmann has
been selected to receive the 2012 Institute of Medical Science
Graduate Course Director Award for his leadership in the
MSC3002H – Foundations Seminar II course.
The Institute of Medical Science Graduate Course Director Award
recognizes excellence in the management of an IMS graduate
course. It is presented to an IMS course director in recognition of
sustained contributions of more than three years to excellence in
the teaching, administration, and development of an IMS graduate
course.
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The MSC3002H – Foundations Seminar II course has been
described as having breadth and depth beyond comparison. That
it is not only well conceived, but also well executed is evident from
the consistently outstanding student course reviews each year.
Many students count this as their favourite course and Dr.
Hellmann as the platonic form of a teacher.
GRADUATE COURSE LECTURER AWARD
The IMS is pleased to announce that Dr. Lili-Naz Hazrati has been
selected to receive the 2012 Institute of Medical Science Graduate
Course Lecturer Award for her leadership in the MSC1006H -
Introduction to Anatomical Organization of the Brain.
This award is presented annually for a sustained contribution of
three years or more to excellence in lecturing in an IMS graduate
course. Students in the MSC1006H - Introduction to Anatomical
Organization of the Brain, nominated Dr. Hazrati this year.
While the mixed delivery methods are clearly one reason for the
popularity of the MSC1006H - Introduction to Anatomical
Organization of the Brain course, two additional factors are the
tremendous enthusiasm Dr. Hazrati brings to teaching and her
remarkable ability to weave knowledge of structure, function and
pathology together in a coherent story that is readily grasped and
remembered. Dr. Hazrati's teaching skills are formidable. The
IMS and the collaborative program in neuroscience have greatly
benefited from her contributions.
The awards will be presented to Dr. Hellmann and Dr. Hazrati on
IMS Scientific Day held on May 15, 2012 at 2:45 p.m. in the
Macleod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Institute of Medical Science is extremely pleased to announce
a few changes in the IMS Office.
Kaki Narh Blackwood has accepted the position of Student and
Faculty Affairs Coordinator at the IMS. Kaki will be responsible for
the administration of awards, faculty appointments, and courses.
She can be reached at sf.medscience@utoronto.ca and by
telephone at 416-946-7143.
Marika Galadza has accepted the position of Program Assistant at
the IMS. Marika will be responsible for the administration of
student defense examinations and monitor student progress.
She can be reached at pa.medscience@utoronto.ca and by
telephone at 416-978-6696.
We congratulate both Kaki and Marika on their well-deserved
promotions and wish them every success in their new positions.
Recruitment efforts are underway to hire a replacement for the
Departmental Assistant position. In the interim, the IMS hired
Cassandra Wysochanskyj to temporarily assume the role of
Departmental Assistant. Cassandra will be responsible for the

eception area, general inquiries, Summer Undergraduate
Research Program, room bookings, and provide general
administrative support. She can be reached
at dir.medscience@utoronto.ca and by telephone at
416-946-8286.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Samara Carter for
doing an excellent job of filling in as the Program Assistant and we
wish her all the best in her future plans.
STUDENT AWARDS
Faculty of Medicine OSOTF and Restricted Awards
Competition 2012-2013
OSOTF and Restricted Awards provide financial support for
registered graduate students (primarily MSc and PhD) in the
Faculty of Medicine. These funds contribute towards the annual
student package. Awards are allocated on the basis of academic
excellence; however, financial need is the primary consideration
for OSOTF awards. The award holder must be a full-time student
for at least 14 weeks in any term during which they hold the award.
Preference in funding decisions will be given to students in year 1-
2 of their MSc or year 1-5 of their PhD. Students beyond these
years will only be considered under exceptional circumstances.
Applications will be by electronic submission using an online
application system. Application, competition guidelines, and
awards list (with a detailed description of the awards) are available
at: http://admin.med.utoronto.ca/graduateAwards
The application deadline is Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Further details
can be found online here:
http://www.ims.utoronto.ca/current/funding/imsawards.htm
Doctoral Completion Award 2012-2013
The aim of the Doctoral Completion Award (DCA) is to help ensure
that meritorious PhD students who are no longer receiving the
normal funding from their graduate unit can complete their degree
program within time limit. Students may receive a DCA only once
during their program and the award is competitive. Criteria include:
academic merit and quality of research, the availability of
alternative funding, and, if appropriate, special features of the
research program that require more time than usual. Please note
that personal financial emergencies does not normally carry much
weight since these may make the student eligible for Emergency
Grant support. Eligible applicants no longer receive funding and
are within their program time limit, though near the end of it.
The application deadline is Friday, April 20, 2012. Further details
can be found online here:
http://www.ims.utoronto.ca/current/funding/imsawards.htm
EUREKA INSTITUTE FOR TRANSLATIONAL
MEDICINE
The IMS has recently joined the Eureka Institute for Translational
Medicine. As part of the membership, the IMS is entitled to award
two students with a free registration to the International Certificate
Program in Translational Medicine. This intensive 7-day program
which brings together world class faculty and students will be held
this year in Siracusa, Italy from May 6 – May 12, 2012.
The award will include a €2,500 registration fee, course materials,
daily meals, and shuttle transportation from and to the Catania
Airport.
The IMS Executive Committee invited a few outstanding students,
who are currently enrolled in the PhD program, to apply for this
award.
Two exceptional trainees have been nominated for the Certificate
Program in Translational Medicine by the members of the IMS
Executive Committee. They are PhD students David Piccin and
Jeff Wilson. Congratulations David and Jeff!
As part of the acceptance of this award; David Piccin and Jeff
Wilson will deliver a formal presentation on the academic product
at the Ori Rotstein Lectureship in Translational Research held in
the fall of 2012.
For information about the certificate program, please access the
following link: http://www.eurekainstitute.org/index.php/certificateprogram
NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
Isabelle Caniggia, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology,
Mount Sinai Hospital
Yaping Jin, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Vision
Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Paul Nathan, Associate Professor of Pediatrics,
Hospital for Sick Children
Richard Swartz, Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Sunnybrook Health Science Centre
Robert Wu, Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Toronto General Hospital
Yana Yunusova, Assistant Professor of Speech Language
Pathology, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre
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STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Akram,A.; Inman,R.D.Immunodominance: A pivotal principle in
host response to viral infections.Clin.Immunol., 2012, Elsevier Inc
Giuliani ME, Atallah S, Sun A, Bezjak A, Le LW, Brade A, Cho J,
Leighl NB, Shepherd FA, Hope AJ.
(2011) Clinical outcomes of extensive stage small cell lung
carcinoma patients treated with consolidative thoracic
radiotherapy. Clin Lung Cancer. 2011 Nov;12(6):375-9.
Bjerregaard, P, Chatwood S, Denning B, Joseph L, Young K. Sex
Ratios in the Arctic – Do Man-Made Chemicals Matter? American
Journal of Human Biology 24:165–169
Young K, Chatwood S, Bjerregaard P. (2012) Global Health – A
Circumpolar Perspective. American Journal for Public Health
Accepted October 2011 (in press)
Chatwood S, Johnson R., Parkinson A. (2011) Circumpolar
Health Collaborations: A Description of Players and Call for
Further Dialogue. International Journal for Circumpolar Health 70
(5)
Young K, Chatwood S. Circumpolar Health: What Canada Can
Learn from its Neighbours (2011). Canadian Medical Association
Journal 183:209-214
Nabilah Chowdhury, Arun Tiwari, Renan Souza, Clement Zai,
Sajid Shaikh, S. Chen, Fang Liu, Jeffrey Lieberman, Herbert
Meltzer, James Kennedy*, Daniel Müller.* (2012). Genetic
association study between antipsychotic-induced weight gain and
the melanocortin-4 receptor gene. The Pharmacogenomics
Journal (In Press).
Anil Malhotra, Christoph Correll,Nabilah Chowdhury, Daniel
Müller,Peter Gregersen, Annette Lee, Arun Tiwari, John Kane,
Wolfgang Fleischhacker, Rene Kahn, Roel Ophoff, Jeffrey
Lieberman, Herbert Meltzer, Todd Lencz**, James Kennedy**. The
Archives of General Psychiatry (In Press).
Renan Souza, Arun Tiwari, Nabilah Chowdhury, Rolando
Ceddia, Jeffrey Lieberman, Herbert Meltzer, James Kennedy,
Daniel Müller (2012). Association study between variants of AMPactivated
protein kinase catalytic and regulatory subunit genes
with antipsychotic-induced weight gain. The Journal of Psychiatric
Research. 46(4):462-8.
Juarez Rosso de Braga, Italo Sousa Santos, Michael McDonald,
Prakesh Shah, Heather Ross.
(2011) Factors associated with the development of cardiac
allograft vasculopathy – a systematic review of observational
studies. Clinical Transplantation 13 Dec 2011. [epub ahead of
print]
Urquia M, Glazier RH, Berger H, Ying I, De Souza L, Ray JG.
Gestational diabetes among immigrant women. Epidemiology
2011;22:879-880.
Grace KP, Liu H, Horner RL(2012). 5-HT1A receptor-responsive
pedunculopontine tegmental neurons suppress REM sleep and
respiratory motor activity.
The Journal of Neuroscience 32(5):1622-33.
Grieder TE, George O, Tan H, George SR, Le Foll B, Laviolette
SR, van der Kooy D.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 20. [Epub ahead of print]
Justin Hicks, Alan Wilson, Elizabeth Rubie, James Woodgett,
Sylvain Houle, Neil Vasdev (2012). Towards the preparation of
radiolabeled 1-aryl-3-benzyl ureas: Radiosynthesis of [ 11 C-
carbonyl]AR-A014418 by [ 11 C]CO 2 fixation. Bioorganic & Medicinal
Chemistry Letters 22: 2099-2101.
Heba W. Z. Khella, Nicole M. A. White, Hala Faragalla, Manal
Gabril, Mina Boazak, David Dorian, Bishoy Khalil, Hany Antonios,
Tian Tian Bao, Maria D. Pasic, R. John Honey, Robert Stewart,
Kenneth T. Pace, Georg A. Bjarnason, Michael A. S. Jewett,
George M. Yousef (2012). Title: Exploring the role of miRNAs in
renal cell carcinoma progression and metastasis through
bioinformatic and experimental analyses. Tumour Biology 33:131–
140
Aaron Kucyi, Massieh Moayedi, Irit Weissman-Fogel, Mojgan
Hodaie, Karen D. Davis (2012). Hemispheric asymmetry in white
matter connectivity of the temporoparietal junction with the insula
and prefrontal cortex. PLoS One [forthcoming].
Ann L. Montgomery, Shaun K. Morris, Diego G. Bassani, Rajesh
Kumar, Raju Jotkar, Prabhat Jha (2012)Factors Associated with
Physician Agreement and Coding Choices of Cause of Death
Using Verbal Autopsies for 1130 Maternal Deaths in India. PLoS
ONE 7(3): e33075. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033075
Shariq Mujib, R. Brad Jones, Calvin Lo, Nasra Aidarus, Kiera
Clayton, Ali Sakhdari, Erika Benko, Colin Kovacs, Mario A
Ostrowski (2012) Antigen-Independent Induction of Tim-3
Expression on Human T Cells by the Common γ-Chain Cytokines
IL-2, IL-7, IL-15, and IL-21 Is Associated with Proliferation and Is
Dependent on the Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Pathway. Journal of
Immunoloy [ePub, ahead of print - 14March2012]
Natasha Radhu, Lakshmi N Ravindran, Andrea J Levinson, Zafiris
J Daskalakis. Inhibition of the Cortex in Psychiatric Disorders using
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Current and Future
Directions. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, In press,
Accepted March 28 2012.
Shield K, Kehoe T, Taylor B, Patra J, Rehm J. (2012) Alcoholattributable
deaths and potential years of life lost in Canada,
2005. BMC Public Health.12 (91)
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Shield K, Rehm J. (2012) Difficulties with telephone-based
surveys on alcohol in high-income countries: the Canadian
example. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric
Research.21(1): 17
Sornpaisarn B, Shield K, Rehm J. (2012) Alcohol taxation policy in
Thailand: implications for other low- to middle-income countries.
Addiction. [Epub ahead of print]
Škrtić M, Sriskanthadevan S, Jhas B, Gebbia M, Wang X, Wang
Z, Hurren R, Jitkova Y, Gronda M, Maclean N, Lai CK, Eberhard
Y, Bartoszko J, Spagnuolo P, Rutledge AC, Datti A, Ketela T,
Moffat J, Robinson BH, Cameron JH, Wranna J, Eaves CJ,
Minden MD, Wang JCY, Dick JE, Humphries K, Nislow C, Giaever
G, Schimmer AD. Inhibition of mitochondrial translation as a
therapeutic strategy for human acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer
Cell. 2011 20(5): 674-88. (featured on Cover of issue)
Wilcox JT, Cadotte D, Fehlings MG (2012). Spinal cord clinical
trials and the role for bioengineering (2012). Neuroscience Letters
[Epub ahead of print] Feb 16.
IMS STUDENT ASSOCIATION - Updates
To find out more about IMSSA/IMSSA-related events, please
visit: http://imssa.sa.utoronto.ca
Facebook
http://utoronto.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4830277137
IMS Magazine – Winter 2012 edition:
http://issuu.com/imsmagazine/docs/imswinter2012
Feedback:
Please send your comments and suggestions to
theimsmagazine@gmail.com
Don’t forget to let us know of any Email or mailing address changes!
Contact the IMS Office at hazel.pollard@utoronto.ca or at 416-978-5012.
Your contact information on ROSI (http://www.rosi.utoronto.ca) must also
be kept up to date!
John Anthony Zawadzki; Todd Stephen Woodward; Helen
Moriah Sokolowski; Heather Shirley Boon; Albert Hung Choy
Wong; Mahesh Menon (2012).
Cognitive factors associated with subclinical delusional ideation in
the general population. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.01.004
Published recently in a peer-reviewed journal? Email the citation
to pa.medscience@utoronto.ca we will announce it in the next
News and Views.
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