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CSI Guest Symposium
will be held
Saturday, May 5, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
at the
Symposium Title:
Dysfunctional B Cells - From Autoimmunity to Cancer
Chair:
Dr. Aaron Marshall, Associate Professor, Dept. of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Co-Chair: Dr. Alberto Martin, Associate Professor, Dept. of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Speakers:
"B cell abnormalities in lupus"
Dr. Joan Wither, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Dr. Wither
obtained her Doctorate of Medicine degree from the University of Alberta in
1980. She completed
fellowships in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Toronto
in 1985. In 1991, she obtained a
PhD in Immunology at the University of Toronto and was appointed to active staff at the Toronto Western
Hospital. She is currently
a Professor at the University of
Toronto in the Departments of Medicine and Immunology, and Senior
Scientist in the Department of Genetics and Development at the Toronto Western
Research Institute. Dr. Wither runs an active research
program, which is predominantly focused upon the immunogenetic basis for the development of SLE, and holds a number of
grants from CIHR. She is also a member of the Board of
Directors and Director of Translational Research for the Canadian Network for
Improved Outcomes in SLE (CaNIOS).
She is the recipient of
the Dafna Gladman award for outstanding contributions to the University of
Toronto Rheumatology Program.
"PI 3-kinase pathway in B cell associated pathologies"
Dr. Aaron Marshall, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
Dr. Aaron Marshall is a Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba and is the recipient of a Canada Research Chair. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) in Microbiology from University of Saskatchewan in 1992 and Ph.D. in Immunology in 1997 from the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington, he established a research program in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba in 2000. Dr. Marshall has a long-term interest in understanding the signals that regulate B lymphocyte differentiation and activation. His Ph.D. work focused on the role of immunoglobulin receptors and cytokines in regulating early B cell differentiation in the bone marrow and fetal liver. His post-doctoral work focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating the activation of mature B lymphocytes. Work as an independent investigator at the University of Manitoba has advanced significantly within this theme, focusing on components of PI 3-kinase signalling pathway and their impact on normal and pathologic B cell biology. Current research is investigating signalling mechanisms controlling germinal centre responses, Ig isotype switch and leukemic B cell migration and interaction with stromal cells.
"CD20 and related proteins in B cell regulation"
Dr. Julie Deans, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
"Antibody diversification mechanisms and their role in humoral immunity"
Dr. Alberto Martin, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Dr. Martin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. He completed an undergraduate degree at McGill University (1990), a PhD degree in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto (1999), and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine with Dr. Matthew D. Scharff. Dr. Martin’s research focuses in three main areas. His main interest is on antibody production, with a specific focus on how high-affinity antibodies are generated, and how antibodies of different classes are produced. Both of these processes are necessary for an efficient antibody response. In addition, he has also been investigating how these processes are lined to lymphoma generation due to the now recognized link between antibody production and cancer development. Dr. Martin is also investigating the role of the gut microbiota in the etiology of colon cancer.
"Genetic mechanisms underlying immune privilege in lymphoid cancers"
Dr. Randy Gascoyne, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
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