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The ORT Times
A monthly newsletter featuring UHN Trainees
www.uhntrainees.ca
For information on UHN
training courses, scholarships,
seminars happening around the
city and so much more, visit
www.uhntrainees.ca.
Season’s Greetings!
December 2015
It’s been another great year for The ORT Times! We want to take this
opportunity to highlight some of the past issues of 2015 as we roll
into a new year.
Some momentous commentary articles, include:
 New wave of antibiotics: is it too late to turn the tide of resistance?
 To PhD or not to PhD, that is the question
 How to improve your chances of publication success and ,minimize
the wrath of the “dreaded third reviewer”
Have you read the following highlighted Latest & Greatest papers?
 Repairing the foundation: hydrogels for heart healing
 Second-hand smoke creates a haze around quitting, even for
non–tobacco-related cancers
 Emergency granulopoiesis waits for no one...except B cells
Special Thanks
Insider
Latest & Greatest
We also want to thank our 14,186 loyal readers!
Conference Reports
We hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Dr. Linda Penn, ORT Director &
Ms. Priscilla De Luca, ORT Coordinator
CLICK HERE TO PRINT
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We want to thank the research trainees who have participated in the
newsletter by being highlighted as someone who won a scholarship;
someone who won an ORT conference travel award; or someone
who published an interesting paper.
We have some big plans for The ORT Times in 2016, but you will have
to wait until January to hear the news. Thank you for reading,
commenting on and sharing The ORT Times all year round.
Click here to access past
issues from our archive.
Inside this issue….
Upcoming Events &
Funding Opportunities
INSIDER
Sipping coffee at Le
Pré aux Clercs in
Paris.
Working day and
night in the lab.
Meeting Mr. Trudeau
himself.
Enjoying a cocktail
at Harry’s Bar in
Paris.
Café, s’il vous plait
“I don’t drink coffee too often, but when I do, I get a
double espresso or cappuccino with raw sugar, and a
croissant or Sicilian cannoli if I can get my hands on
one!”
Lauren Agro
PhD Candidate, O’Brien Lab, Princess Margaret
A third year student takes us into a day in the life
of a UHN research trainee: “People are always
surprised when I tell them I’m a cancer researcher.
I think they still have this idea that we should have
Einstein hair, zero fashion sense, and be incredibly
nerdy (though we ARE all nerdy!). I don’t think
there is a ‘typical research trainee’. We all have
hobbies outside of the lab: my hobbies are playing
soccer, cooking, and travelling.”
My mantra
“I believe there are no excuses for not achieving your
goals.”
If I were not in research...
“I would have been a lawyer or politician. I have a minor
in criminal justice and almost went to law school before
starting my PhD, but decided I liked research better.”
My favourite beverage is...
“A French 75 cocktail; named for its ability to ‘hit you
like a French 75 revolver’. Whenever I am in Paris I stop
by Harry’s Bar for the original.”
Office of Research Trainees
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LATEST & GREATEST
Low EAT-2 causes to DCs to release a cytokine feast
Identification of the SLAM Adapter Molecule EAT-2 as a Lupus-Susceptibility Gene That Acts through Impaired Negative
Regulation of Dendritic Cell Signaling. Talaei, N., Yu, T., Manion, K., Bremner, R., Wither JE. J Immunol. 2015 Nov 15; 195
(10): 4623-31.
By Shaalee Dworski, ORT Writer and UHN Trainee
The key to our immune system’s success is being able to distinguish
between self and intruders. When that ability to distinguish fails, the
immune system can attack our own bodies, leading to organ damage.
This is what happens in lupus, a poorly understood autoimmune
disease.
In the most common type of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus
(SLE), the immune system fails in various ways. Immune cells, such as T
cells, become activated when they shouldn’t be. The activated cells can
congregate in organs, leading to organ damage and even failure.
Nafiseh Talaei, in collaboration with colleagues in Dr. Joan Wither’s and
Dr. Rob Bremner’s laboratories, conducted a study to understand how
genetic changes in lupus lead to this aberrant immune cell activation.
To achieve this, they employed a mouse model of SLE that develops
lupus-like characteristics and carried out experiments to identify
associated genetic polymorphisms.
Nafiseh Talaei, PhD candidate
One lupus-related characteristic that is observed in the model is the
presence of excess activated T cells. Previously, the authors found that there is a genetic polymorphism that biases T
cell development towards the production of more pro-inflammatory T cells than usual. In this study, the authors
discovered that this is further exacerbated by functionally abnormal dendritic cells (DCs). When DCs from the lupus
mouse are cultured in the presence of T cells, the DCs produce pro-inflammatory cytokines that encourage the T cells
to become more reactive. The authors found that this lupus-specific behavior in DCs was caused by a mutation in the
promoter of the EAT-2 protein. EAT-2 is involved in SLAM signalling, which is important for proper immune regulation.
Normally, EAT-2 negatively regulates DC activation following CD40 crosslinking through SLAM stimulation. In lupus
mice, the EAT-2 promotor is mutated, which causes the levels of EAT-2 to decrease. This subsequently leads to CD40mediated hyperactivation of DCs. In addition, the authors were able to knockdown EAT-2 in non-lupus cells, causing the
DCs to attain a more stimulated, lupus phenotype.
By studying how these mutations lead to immune cell dysfunction, scientists can gain a better understanding of the
genetic causes of lupus.
Click here to download the full manuscript.
The ORT caught up with Nafiseh Talaei, who is a UHN research trainee and the first author of this publication.
ORT: How could this potentially help lupus patients?
NT: Our study shows that functionally abnormal DCs contribute to T cell activation—a process that leads to
development of lupus symptoms. In terms of patient impact, these findings suggest that the development of a drug
that is capable of regulating DC function may serve as an effective treatment for this condition.
ORT: How do you think EAT-2 downregulation in other cells could affect lupus?
NT: Current data suggests that EAT-2 is not expressed in other immune cell populations, such as T and B cells. However,
expression of EAT-2 has not been carefully examined in specific cell subpopulations and therefore it is possible that
other immune cells could also be affected.
Office of Research Trainees
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CONFERENCE REPORTS
Trainee: Hae-Ra Cho, PhD Candidate
Supervisor: Dr. Mingyao Liu, TGRI
Abstract: Loss of Xb130 causes dyshormonogenesis associated with
iodide organification defect and the development of multinodular goiter
Conference: 15th International Thyroid Congress (ITC) & 85th Annual
Meeting of the American Thyroid Association, October 18-23, 2015, Lake
Buena Vista, Florida, USA
Click here to read Hae-Ra’s conference report!
Trainee: Zhaleh Safikhani, Postdoctoral Fellow
Supervisor: Dr. Benjamin Haibe-Kains, PM Cancer Centre
Abstract: Integration of pharmacogenomic datasets enables identification of tumor--specific isoforms as expression--based biomarkers
predictive of drug response
Conference: Canadian Cancer Research Conference, November 8-10,
Montreal, QC
Click here to read Zhaleh’s conference report!
Office of Research Trainees
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CONFERENCE REPORTS
Trainee: Valerie Crowley, Postdoctoral Fellow
Supervisor: Dr. Kevin Kain, TGRI
Abstract: Inflammatory and angiogenic factors at mid-pregnancy are
associated with spontaneous preterm birth in a cohort of Tanzanian
women
Conference: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Annual Meeting (ASTMH), October 25-29, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Click here to read Valerie’s conference report!
Trainee: Marie-Andrée Coulombe, Postdoctoral fellow
Supervisor: Karen Davis, Krembil
Abstract: Intrinsic functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray
(PAG) is related to fibromyalgia clinical symptoms
Conference: Society for Neuroscience, October 17-21, 2015, Chicago, IL,
USA
Click here to read Marie-Andrée’s conference report!
Office of Research Trainees
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Honey Roasted Butternut Squash
with Cranberries & Feta
UPCOMING EVENTS &
FUNDING CALENDAR:
01/02
Parkinson Society Fellowship
The Parkinson Society is offering fellowships and
student awards in the area of Parkinson research.
Click here for details.
01/02
Personalized Cancer Medicine
The Personalized Cancer Medicine Conference will
be held on February 1-2, 2016 at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in Toronto. Click here to register.
15/02
CIHR KRESCENT Fellowship
The CIHR is offering a fellowship for those training
in kidney research. Click here for details.
15/03
International Fellowship
The Lady Tata Memorial Trust is offering an
international fellowship for those training in
leukemia. Click here for details.
15/04
Arthritis Fellowship
The Arthritis Society is offering a fellowship and
scholarship for those training in arthritis research.
Click here for details.
Food for Thought
The holiday season is fast approaching, and the ORT decided to share
a great recipe as a side dish for your holiday feast. It’s delish! Bon
appétit!
Click here for the recipe!
Visit www.uhntrainees.ca for more
events and funding information.
“Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
QUESTIONS?
Please contact:
ORT Coordinator
University Health Network
[email protected]
t. 416-634-8775
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Office of Research Trainees
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