https://healthsci.queensu.ca/node/3924

Congratulations to Yat Tse and Jackie Moore!

Congratulations to Dr. John Fisher:  Distinguished Service Award Recipient

Congratulations to Mandy Turner: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship 

  Dr. James Reynolds Appointed Interim Scientific Officer of Kids Brain Health Network

You are invited to a behind-the-scenes look at our world-class educational anatomy facility to learn how health professionals and other students learn about the structures of the human body.
Community Open House

Congratulations to Dr. Madhuri Koti for her recent ORF-Early Researcher Award.  Well done.

Please follow this link to view the announcements:

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/media/news-release-provincial-funding-supports-new-queens-research-teams

Science in Canada needs funding, not photo-ops

Author
Dr. Andrew Craig
Associate Professor
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences 

Dean Richard Reznick is pleased to announce that Benoit-Antoine, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen’s University, has appointed Louise M. Winn as Associate Dean, Life Sciences and Biochemistry, Faculty of Health and Sciences, for a five-year period beginning in July 1, 2018.

For the full story please see the following linkl; https://healthsci.queensu.ca/node/694 

Congratulations to Dr. Anne Croy, one of three Queen’s University professors who were granted the honour today of being elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), one of the highest honours for Canadian academics in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/society-welcomes-three-new-fellows

Sam McKegney (English Language and Literature) and Louise Winn (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) have been recognized by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) for their work with graduate students.
Click here for the full story.

Congratulations to Dr. Cynthia Pruss, who won the Post Doctoral Fellow Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation for a second consecutive time at the Canadian Hypertension Congress in Montreal (October 19-21, 2016).  

Queen’s researcher Madhuri Koti receives funding from the Movember Foundation for research in prostate cancer. 

Read the full story

Allison recently defended her PhD in Dr. Anne Croy's Lab, and her recent work is featured on the cover of the October 2016 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology! Congratulations Allison! 

Eric Carstens: new life member of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)

Congratulations to Bruno Svajger, a student in the Adam¹s lab, who was awarded the Jane Poulson Memorial Award, recognizing the graduate student with the best overall performance in the first year of graduate studies in DBMS in the field of Therapeutics, Drug Development and Human Toxicology.

Congratulations to Fiona Haxho, recipient of a 2016 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship!

Fiona Haxho (DBMS) intends to study the cell-signalling mechanisms involved in pancreatic cancer. In particular, her research is focused on a mammalian enzyme called neuraminidase-1 and its role in tumour growth, development and resistance to chemotherapy, amongst other things. Her doctoral research aims to target this enzyme and determine its functional role in models of pancreatic cancer.
http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/recognizing-outstanding-research-potential

Congratulations to Kaitlyn Tresidder, MSc candidate with Dr. Nader Ghasemlou. Kaitlyn was the recipient of the 2016 Canadian Pain Society 2016 Trainee Research Award for her project "The Chronobiology of Pain"!

The Faculty of Health Sciences is pleased to announce the launch of the new Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) degree program in September 2016. 

This degree program may be completed on a part-time or full-time basis and offers a significant amount of customization. Students choose from a variety of strategically designed courses, many of which have been created specifically for the program. Further specialization is encouraged through a series of unique learning tracks allowing for more in-depth study in specific fields of interest.

The curriculum has been designed to develop students’ competencies and skillsets in relation to careers across the health professions. These competencies have been endorsed by healthcare professional schools and have been integrated into the program so that individuals have the credentials to pursue further education in the health professions or graduate studies.

The online environment engages learners with purposeful assignments, requiring students to apply knowledge learned within courses and modules with real world applicability. In addition, a full range of support services is available to ensure student success.

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/funding-fuels-cutting-edge-research?utm_source=e-queens-gazette_staff 
Through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund, Dr. Duan will establish the Computational Genomics Laboratory (CGL) within the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences and the School of Computing.

“The funding will enable me to establish a translational, multidisciplinary research program at Queen’s, train students in high-throughput biology and informatics, and ultimately to improve disease prevention, diagnosis and help replace the current trial-and-error paradigm of drug therapy,” says Dr. Duan.

Congratulations to Shuhiba Mohammad (Experimental Medicine MSc. Candidate from Dr.Anne Croy’s lab) for receiving the Best Poster Award in the category of Microbiology and Immunology at the 16th Annual McGill Biomedical Graduate Conference on March 17th, 2016 in Montreal. Her poster was titled “Histological analysis of placental Salmonella enterica Typhimurium infection”. 

Congratulations to Kasra Khalaj, PhD Candidate in Dr. Chandra Tayade's lab, recipient of this year's Society for Reproductive Investigation's Best New Investigator Poster Award!  His poster was titled Altered ZFP36/ELAVL1 levels in endometriosis.

“I am honored to accept this award and I would like to first and foremost thank my advisor and mentor, Dr. Chandra Tayade for the ongoing support and inspiration he has provided me throughout my PhD studies.  I would also like to thank our collaborators: Dr. Bruce Lessey (Greenville, South Carolina), Dr. Steven Young (UNC, North Carolina), and Dr. Sony Singh (Ottawa, Canada) for their assistance in this and many other projects ongoing in our laboratory.  Lastly, I would like to graciously thank financial support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as well as the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (DBMS).” - K, Khalaj, PhD Candidate 

Congratulations to Christina Lamparter a PhD in the Department who was awarded the 2016 Peer Leadership Award. This award is given to a Queen’s student who has exemplified excellence in peer-to-peer assistance and outreach. 

Dr. Madhuri Koti and the Group for Research in Reproductive and Developmental Origins of Health,
Disability and Disease at Queen’s University are pleased to host the 44th Annual Southern Ontario Reproductive Biology Meeting.

Program of Events Friday, May 13th, 2016

Please visit our website for more detailed information; https://dbms.queensu.ca/home/sorb_2016 

The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Human Dissection Experience (CAM – HD Experience) is proud to announce that the Summer 2016 Dissection Experience has been scheduled! Part 1 will take place on July 8 - 12, 2016 with Part 2 to follow August 19 - 23, 2016.  This unique course offers practitioners within the complementary and alternative medicine streams the opportunity to dissect a fully intact soft embalmed cadaver in groups of 5.  Spaces are limited to 25 participants.  Please contact Craig Harness MSc, DO(Q) at camhde@queensu.ca or visit camhde.ca for full details!

Recipients of the 2014/2015 Mihran And Mary Basmajian Award

Presentation and Lectures
December 15, 2015
5:00 p.m.
Botterell Hall, Room B139

DR. JOHN ALLINGHAM, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

 “Motility mechanisms and functions of conventional and extremely non-conventional kinesin motor proteins “

Dr. Allingham is a Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University.  He received his PhD from the University of Western Ontario in 2002, where his research focused on bacterial DNA transposition systems that promote the spread of antibiotic resistance.  He then completed postdoctoral training in protein X-ray crystallography and biophysics of cytoskeletal motors as a CIHR-postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Allingham joined the Department of Biochemistry at Queen’s in 2007, and has developed a multidisciplinary research program that aims to understand the specific roles of force-generating proteins that define cell polarity and shaping, and that drive cell movement, chromosome segregation and directional cargo transport.  Dr. Allingham also has strong interest in the emerging disciple of synthetic biology, which uses defined pieces of genetic information as building blocks to create biological machines with functions that may be radically different from those found in nature.  His research program is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute.  Dr. Allingham is also the lead faculty advisor for Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine Team (QGEM).

AND

DR. GUNNAR BLOHM, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

“Computational models of healthy and impaired brain function”

The Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine team recently competed in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston, where they captured a gold medal. 

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/golden-performance

Congratulatoins Dr. Anne Croy one of 5 recipients of this years university's Prize for Excellence in Research.



Please see the link below for the article in the Queen's Gazette.
http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/celebrating-research-excellence?utm_source=e-queens-gazette_faculty

Five Queen's University professors elected as fellows to the Royal Society of Canada.
http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/royal-recognition?utm_source=e-queens-gazette_staff

Principal Daniel Woolf is pleased to announce that Qingling Duan and Keren Zaiontz are the newest Queen’s National Scholars (QNS). 

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/principal-woolf-announces-queen-s-national-scholars

Excellence in undergraduate teaching recognized

Dr. Ken Rose, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

Trained in Electrical Engineering during his undergraduate degree, Dr. Ken Rose was subsequently “bitten by the neuroscience bug”, in his words. He now has what he describes as a privilege of passing along his knowledge to undergraduate students in Life Sciences.

When attempting to qualify the secret to his success, Dr. Rose explains that it’s not the what, but the how that’s important to teach.

In a discipline often crowded with fact memorization, Dr. Rose has found a passion for doing things differently. Two years ago, Dr. Rose decided to create his own essay-style exam in a course where all other sections were doing multiple choice. Dr. Rose likes using experiments as teaching tools wherever it is feasible.

“I’m interested in creating independent learners, critical thinkers, and great communicators”, he says. “Students are far more capable than we think they are.”

Dr. Rose’s infectious energy and unwavering dedication to his students has made him very popular within his classes. It is no coincidence that in the middle of the interview for this article, a student came into his office, visiting him years after having graduated, to say hello and give him a big hug.

“You do this because you care”, he says.

When asked what this award means to him, Dr. Rose explained that it reaffirms his faith in changing the way that science education is delivered. “It says do it again, it’s working”, he says. He hopes that it might serve as an impetus for others who might be hesitant to try something new.

Dr. Rose has a deep personal connection to an award that recognizes excellence in his life’s work, and would like to thank all who spent time nominating him.

“Students win awards for teachers.” 

Congratulations Robyn Millott, recipient of the 2015-2016 CFUW Memorial Fellowship! 

Robyn Millott
B.Sc. Specialization in Biochemistry, 2012, University of Alberta
M.Sc. Biomedical and Molecular Sciences: Experimental Medicine, 2014-2016, Queen's University
       

Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide.  Many successful therapies have been developed to fight cancer; however, cancer cells can become resistant to these therapies.  Bioflavonoids are naturally occurring compounds abundant in fruits and vegetables, which are believed to have many health benefits.  Robyn's research involves the study of bioflavonoids that cause cell death in cancer cells that are resistant to chemotherapy.  The goal of her research project is to identify the specific interaction between bioflavonoids and a particular protein that has been implicated in promoting resistance to chemotherapy.  This will give insight into the mechanisms of resistance, and hopefully lead to more effective treatments against drug resistant cancers.

Congratulations to  Nicolle Dominik and Paulina Brzezinska  for winning Silver medals at the CIHR Poster Competition at the Canadian Student Health Research Forum held June 2-4 in Winnipeg!

The title of Nicolle’s poster was:  ‘Murine Pulmonary Slowly-Adapting Receptors (SARs): Putative links to Neuroepithelial Body (NEB) hypoxia chemoreception and the Calcium Sensing Receptor (CaSR)’ and the title of Paulina’s poster was ‘Actin-based Structures in Migrating Arterial Myocytes are Dynamically Regulated by cAMP Phosphodiesterases’.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Ken Rose on being recognized for his outstanding contributions to teaching.  

Dr. Rose is one of two recipients of this year’s Frank Knox Award from the Alma Mater Society of Queen's University.  This award honours two professors who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the education of students of Queen's University through their teaching excellence. The award is the highest honour which is given to instructors of Queen's by Students.  This award serves as a reminder to all of the necessity for the strong commitment which professors must contribute through the high quality of their teaching to the students of Queen's.

Dr. Rose is also the recipient of this year’s Faculty of Health Sciences Education Award.  This award was established to recognize excellence in a range of teaching methods (small group, seminar, one on one supervision, lecture etc), course or curriculum design, course organization, development of learning resources education technology, evaluation and innovation.  The winner has demonstrated excellence in teaching, a new or innovative approach, informed by external sources e.g. literature, and evidence of an impact on student learning. In making their selection the Committee will place emphasis on innovative approaches in education and ensuring that the teaching method or innovation is clearly linked to research studies and literature concerning the methods and activities of teaching.

David Langelaan, postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Steven Smith's lab, was recently awarded Best Contributed Talk in the Symposium on Solution NMR: Biomolecular Structure, Dynamics and Function at the 98th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in Ottawa, ON for his seminar entitled "Investigating the mechanisms of E2A-PBX1 based induction of acute lymphoblastic leukemia". Congratulations David! 

Congratulations to Carly Petes for winning third place in the poster competition at the Canadian Society for Immunology Meeting held June 4-7 in Winnipeg!

The title of her poster is: 'IL-27 MODULATION OF INFLAMMASOME ACTIVATION IN HUMAN MONOCYTES'

35th Annual Meeting American Society for Reproductive Immunology
Innovations in Reproductive Immunobiology 

June  2 - 5, 2015
Program Chair: Dr. Chandra Tayade

Please visit our Facebook page or ASRI website for more information:
https://www.facebook.com/asri2015 
http://www.theasri.org/

Congratulations Hans Metz! 

http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/half-century-stellar-service?utm_source=e-queens-gazette_staff

Congratulations Kristiina Aasa and Elizabeth Purssell!

The following paper was third place in category of the best paper Award in 2014 in the Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Specialty Section of the journal Toxicological Sciences.

Aasa KL, Purssell E, Adams, MA, Ozolinš TRS.  (2014) In utero Dimethadione exposure causes postnatal alterations in cardiac structure and function in the rat. Toxicol Sci 142(2):350-360.

Congratulations to Nicolle Domnik, PhD Candidate in Dr. John Fisher’s lab, for placing 2^nd in the 3 minute Thesis Competition held by the School of Graduate Studies!!
Well done Nicolle! 

Congratulation Dr. Madhuri Koti!

A Cancer Research Breakthrough
Queen’s University cancer researcher Madhuri Koti has discovered a biomarker that will help lead to better predictions of the success of chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. This discovery could lead to better treatment options in the fight against ovarian cancer.

Congratulations Kristiina, Karalyn, and Vanessa!

Kristiina Aasa, PhD candidate of Drs. Adams and Ozolins who was awarded the best poster award at the Canadian National Perinatal Research Meeting, Montebello, QC Feb 24-27 2015. 
 

Aasa K, Maciver, R, Ramchandani S, Adams, MA, Ozolinš TRS. In utero exposure to a heart teratogen causes postnatal cardiovascular and hemodynamic deficits during pregnancy that are linked with effects to the F2 generation. 

Karalyn McRae, PhD Candidate of Dr. Graeme Smith was awarded the best poster award for the Medical Teaching and Neonatal Resuscitation Research Session at the Canadian National Perinatal Research Meeting, Montebello, QC, Feb 24-27 2015.

"Plastinated Placentas as a Teaching Resource in Obstetrics and Gynaecology Education". Karalyn E McRae, Gregory AL Davies, Ronald A Easteal and Graeme N Smith.

Vanessa R Kay, MD/PhD Candidate of Drs. Anne Croy and Chandrakant Tayade was awarded the best oral presentation award for the Perinatal Brain Injury Session at the Canadian National Perinatal Research Meeting, Montebello, QC, Feb 24-27 2015.

"Placenta Growth Factor is Important in Fetal Central Nervous System Vascularization". Vanessa R Kay, B Anne Croy.

Drs. Yeates, Smith and Tayade Awarded Collaboration grant with the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania

• Published Mon Feb 23rd 2015

Dr. Karen Yeates, Dr. Graeme Smith and Dr. Chandra Tayade competed in the partnered CIHR/International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grants process last fall for the Stephen Harper Initiative.   A link to the Grand challenges video can be seen here. 

The proposal is an implementation science program utilizing the mobile health technology platform being used to detect and manage hypertension in Kilimanjaro (on a project funded by Grand Challenges Canada). The same technology will be implemented in maternal and child health clinics in Tanzania to improve detection of pre-eclampsia, which is the cause of 19% of maternal deaths in Tanzania and in many other parts of Africa.

Co-PI's in this project are Dr. Godfrey Mbaruku (a Tanzanian researcher/obstetrician) who is executive director of Ifakara Health Institute, along with a number of other TZ collaborators as well as Dr. Graeme Smith and Chandra Thayade (Queen's).

Congratulations to Dr. Andrew Craig, recipient of an innovation grant from the Canadian Cancer Society! 

Stopping Cancer in its tracks

Congratulations to Dr. Vinay Singh, he has been nominated as the “Fellow of Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy”, FABAP by the executive council of Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy, India.

Dr. Singh delivered a plenary talk at the 8^th Annual meeting of Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy and the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Healthcare, Biotechnology and Environment in Indore, India, Dec 17-20, 2014 

The Faculty of Health Sciences is hosting the Graduate Studies Open House on Wednesday, January 21st from 11:00am - 1:30pm in Botterell Hall, Room 568.

...coming this Fall 2015

Congratulations to Christina Lamparter (Winn lab) and Elizabeth Lightbody (Nicol lab) for winning the Intertek Student Research Award for best PhD and MSc Poster Presentation respectively at the recent Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology of Canada.

Congratulations to Dr. Glenville Jones, he has been awarded the 2014 Queen’s University Prize for Excellence in Research.
The Prize celebrates major research contributions undertaken at Queen’s and rewards research excellence.

Dr. Jones will be presented with the award during Convocation on Wednesday, November 19th at 10am in Grant Hall.

The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Human Dissection Experience (CAM – HD Experience) is proud to announce that the Spring 2015 Dissection Experience has been scheduled! Part 1 will take place on May 8 - 12, 2015 with Part 2 to follow May 29 – June 2, 2015.  This unique course offers practitioners within the complementary and alternative medicine streams the opportunity to dissect a fully intact soft embalmed cadaver in groups of 5.  Spaces are limited to 25 participants.  Please contact Craig Harness MSc, DO(Q) at camhde@queensu.ca or visit camhde.ca for full details!

Dr. Koti has received a two-year research grant of $120,000 from the “Cancer Research Society” to study the role of tumor immune microenvironment in mediating differential response to chemotherapy in high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Epithelial ovarian cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality from gynecologic malignancies with approximately 22,000 new cases each year in North America. According to Canadian Cancer Society, in 2014, an estimated 2,700 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 1,750 women will die from it.

Dr. Koti’s research focuses on the major problem of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer management. Findings from this project will be foundational to patient stratification at the time of primary surgery and introduction of novel immunomodulatory therapies in combination with conventional chemotherapies. Details of her research can be found at https://dbms.queensu.ca/faculty/madhuri_koti.

The International Federation of Placenta Associations (IFPA) annual meeting was held in Paris, France September 9-12, 2014. Of the 164 poster presented by new investigators, one by Matthew Rätsep, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s University, titled “The Role of Placental Growth Factor in Regulating Fetal Brain Vascular Development”, was selected as the best presentation based on scientific merit, interpretation, impact of the results and clarity of the presentation. As a result, Mr. Rätsep was presented with the Elsevier Trophoblast Research New Investigator Award, which includes an invitation to present a plenary lecture at next year’s IFPA meeting in Brisbane, Australia. Mr. Rätsep’s PhD program is co-supervised by Drs. Anne Croy and Michael Adams. Congratulations Matt!

The 47th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction was held in Grand Rapids Michigan July 19-23, 2014. Of the 575 abstracts submitted by the 800 delegates, six including one by Matthew Rätsep, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s University, were selected to receive a Lalor Foundation Travel Fellowship based on scientific merit, interpretation, impact of the results and clarity. Each author was invited to participate in the Trainee Research Platform Competition. Mr. Rätsup was awarded first place in the Platform competition by the international judging for his presentation “The role of Placental Growth Factor in regulating fetal brain vascular development. A cash award was presented by Dr. Jock Findlay from Melbourne Australia, the society president. Mr. Rätsep’s PhD program is co-supervised by Drs. Anne Croy and Michael Adams. Congratulations Matt!

Queen’s University researcher Richard Oko and his co-investigators have come up with a promising method of treating male infertility using a synthetic version of the sperm-originated protein known as PAWP. They found this protein is sufficient and required to initiate the fertilization process. Dr. Oko’s research promises to diagnose and treat cases of male factor infertility where a patient’s sperm is unable to initiate or induce activation of the egg to form an early embryo.

read more .....

Chelsy Prince, a Ph.D. student in Jia lab, has won a poster prize (Bernhard Rupp Award) in the
23rd International Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography held in Montreal (Aug. 5-12, 2014).  This is the largest crystallography conference in the world, featuring more than 2000 participants and
over 1000 posters. Congratulations to Chelsy for winning the award in this major international conference!

Congratulations Zongchao Jia and Terence Ozolinš, for their individual awards from Ministry of Research and Innovation for their Leaders Opportunity Fund Projects.

Congratulations also to Doug Munoz for his award from Ministry of Research and Innovation for his Leading Edge Fund Project.

Reflecting their excellent contributions and achievements, Dr. Chandra Tayade and Dr. Gunnar Blohm have been awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, Dr. Maha Othman has been promoted to Associate Professor, and Dr. Neil Magoski has been promoted to Full Professor effective July 1, 2014.  Congratulations!

Dr. Chandra Tayade is this year’s winner of the Mihran and Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Health Science Research. It was a very competitive year and we congratulate Chandra for his exceptional contributions to health research over the last several years.

Dr. Poole is this year’s recipient of the CSM Murray Award for Career Achievement. Sponsored by NRC Research Press, publishers of the Canadian Journal of Microbiology, the Murray Award is the Society's premier award for senior researchers. According to the Society, the intent of this award is to provide national recognition to outstanding Canadian microbiologists and to maintain a historical record of the achievements of these key contributors to microbiological research. Dr. Poole will receive his award at the CSM Annual General Meeting being held in Montreal this July where he will deliver a talk on antibiotic resistance, the focus of his research for the past 20 years.

After spending much of his career conducting extensive research on vitamin D metabolism, Queen’s researcher Dr. Glenville Jones has been featured in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) “celebrating the impact of health research” series.  

read more .....

Four Queen’s researchers whose projects range from endometrial health to solar energy to animal biology have received over $500,000 in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The fund helps institutions attract and retain Canada’s top researchers. “The CFI, through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund, has provided us with an excellent mechanism for attracting and retaining top-flight researchers,” says Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss. “As a result of this competition, four Queen’s researchers will receive the funding required to develop their innovative infrastructure to enrich the Queen’s research environment and advance leading-edge research.” read more ....

Findings from an international study led by two Queen’s researchers could lead to safer food sources and provide better protection for crops.

Research emerging from the labs of David Zechel (Chemistry) and Zongchao Jia (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) has revealed the secrets of a new enzyme, PhnZ, that can degrade phosphonates, a class of compounds that includes various herbicides. This finding may lead to a new way to remove these compounds from the environment.

“Our research has revealed the molecular details behind the powerful reaction catalyzed by PhnZ. This sets the stage to engineer PhnZ to destroy compounds of concern, including herbicides on our major crops,” says Dr. Zechel.

Genetically modified plants currently resist herbicides used to control insects and weeds. With the discovery of PhnZ, the enzyme could be added to crops that, when sprayed with herbicides, would neutralize the herbicide, making it safe for human consumption.

The enzyme PhnZ was originally discovered a few years ago by a research team from MIT.

“Through extensive study and research, we have gained a good understanding of how this enzyme really works,” says Dr. Jia. David Zechel

The group’s research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research; it was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

DBMS will offer PHAR 100 and PHGY 210 during the summer  through Continuing and Distance Studies

Congratulations to Nicolle Domnik, a graduate student in Dr. Fisher’s laboratory, for winning the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section blog contest. Nicolle’s blog entry is based on the research that she will be presenting at the annual Experimental Biology conference in San Diego in April. Nicolles’ blog can be found by cutting and pasting the following link into your browser: http://scienceblogs.com/lifelines/2014/02/25/congratulations-to-nicolle-domnik-queens-university/

A team of researchers at Queen’s University led by Peter Davies has uncovered a unique protein in winter flounder called Maxi, which prevents the fish from freezing. This antifreeze protein is significantly larger than others they have studied from fish, insects, plants and microorganisms – hence the name. read more ....

Rebecca Maciver, won the STC Contox Student Award at the Annual Society of Toxicology of Canada Meeting in Ottawa in December.  The award recognises the best poster presentation at the meeting by a Masters student.  Her poster was entitled "Gene expression changes in embryonic rat hearts after exposure to dimethadione (DMO), the N-demethylated metabolite of the anticonvulsant trimethadione."  Rebecca is a student in the laboratory of Dr. Ozolinš.

Congratulations to Anne Tobin who received a Queen's University Special Recognition Award at the Principal's Reception on Tuesday, December 10th.  Please join me in congratulating her on this impressive accomplishment which recognizes her outstanding contributions to Queen’s.  We are very fortunate to have Anne as part of our staff complement.   Michael Adams.

The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Human Dissection Experience (CAM – HD Experience) is proud to announce that the Spring 2014 Dissection Experience has been scheduled! Part 1 will take place on April 25 – April 29, 2014 with Part 2 to follow May 28 – June 1, 2014.  This unique course offers practitioners within the complementary and alternative medicine streams the opportunity to dissect a fully intact soft embalmed cadaver in groups of 5.  Spaces are limited to 25 participants.  Please contact Craig Harness MSc, DO(Q) at camhde@queensu.ca or visit camhde.ca for full details!

Congratulations to Mahmoud Aarabi (Supervisor, Dr. R. Oko) and Tiziana Cotechini (Supervisor, Dr. C. Graham) for being chosen as co-recipients of the 2013 Professor’s Prize for Outstanding Graduate Work in Anatomy. 

The Professors’ Prize Award was established in 1992.  An interest generating capital account was made possible by faculty donations to the Queen’s Challenge Campaign.  The Professors’ Prize is awarded to a graduate student in their second or subsequent years of study in the Anatomy and Cell Biology Graduate Program.  The recipient must demonstrate outstanding performance in research and course work along with teaching and extra-curricular activities.  The recipient must be nominated by their supervisor.

Congratulations go out to Ahmad J.H. Albaghdadi who won a Lalor Foundation Merit Award at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction held July 22-26, 2013 at the Montreal Convention Center attended by 1,400 participants from all over the world. His award winning abstract was among the ones selected out of 910 abstracts for oral presentation. Ahmad has also been awarded with a Y.W. (Charlie) Loke Travel Award for Early Career Researchers to present a poster at the International Federation of Placenta Associations (IFPA 2013) to be held Sept. 11-14, 2013 in Whistler, B.C.

Congratulation go out to Sarah Siu for winning a poster award at the Gordon Research Conference on Archaea: Ecology, Metabolism & Molecular Biology held July 28 - August 2, 2013 at the Renaissance Tuscany II Ciocco Resort Lucca (Barga), Italy.

Sarah Siu, Shin-Ichi Aiwaza, Anna Robotham, Susan Logan, John Kelly, Ken F. Jarrell.  Identification of genes involved in the biosynthesis of the Methanococcus maripaludis archaellar glycan.
(Sarah is third from the left.)

Stephen Vanner and Alan Lomax (School of Medicine) have been awarded $370,000 from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada to help them and their colleagues continue their cutting edge research in this often debilitating illness.

Dr. Vanner is the director of the Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Unit at Queen’s University and Kingston General Hospital and a leading researcher in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

“We believe the new findings of our research will help patients better understand how pain medications and the chronic stress related to their illness can interact to generate pain,” says Dr. Vanner. “We hope to provide new approaches for patients and doctors to better treat this pain.”

The abdominal pain is associated with IBD is often a debilitating symptom for patients and can result in emotional suffering and physical disability. The pain can be difficult to treat because the underlying cause is often unknown.

Drs. Vanner and Lomax’s study not only examines what factors can decrease pain, but also how, in certain situations, these same factors can worsen pain. This knowledge can help doctors in understanding the pain mechanisms in IBD and guide them through treatment options.

“We are very grateful to the CCFC for providing this opportunity to pursue these important questions and we are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of IBD patients,” adds Dr. Vanner.

Ten Queen’s University researchers were awarded over $5.35 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) during the 2012/13 fiscal term. The funding is being used to support the creation of new scientific knowledge that could lead to better understanding of illnesses and disorders and, ultimately, better health of Canadians. “The support of the CIHR is vital to our researchers,” says Steven Liss, Vice-Principal (Research). “Queen’s is a leader in health research and this funding will help our researchers remain on the leading edge of those breakthroughs.”

The following DBMS researchers have received funding:

Sameh Basta (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) – Dr. Basta is investigating how viral infections influence our immune response to other stimuli. This will help in the development of new therapeutic approaches to alleviate ill health.

Martin Petkovich (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences; Cancer Research Institute) – Dr. Petkovich is examining whether inhibiting or removing retinoic acid can prevent or reverse the formation of bone in soft tissues, called ectopic bone formation, which can lead to cardiovascular disease and death. Currently there are few treatments for this type of bone formation.

Visit the CIHR website for more information about the most recent grant announcements.

Full story at https://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/queens-health-researchers-awarded-535-million

The MOOT XXVI NMR Symposium will be held over the October 25th weekend in the new medical school building. More information can be obtained on our website, www.mootnmr.org.

Dr. Donald Maurice recognized as a world leader in vascular disease research. read more....

Queen’s University biochemist Peter Davies has been awarded a Lady Davis Visiting Professorship to undertake research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Rehovot, Israel. read more....

Chelsy Prince, a Ph.D. student in Dr. Z. Jia’s lab has been awarded CIHR Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship.

Research conducted by Dr. Donald Maurice, Director of CCR research group, was recently featured in International Innovation magazine (www.international-innovation-healthcare.com/magazines/HC19/index.html). For his complete interview, please click here

Congratulations to Dr. Shetuan Zhang for his success in the recent Career Investigator Award competition with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.  Dr. Zhang also received a stellar rating in a very difficult competition for his project entitled "Molecular Mechanisms of Ion Channel Function in Heart Health and Disease".