Speakers

  • Laura Arbour's picture

    Laura Arbour

    Professor, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia

    Dr. Laura Arbour is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at UBC situated at the UBC Island Medical Program in Victoria, BC. As a clinician, her research questions are informed by her patients, their families and communities. Her CIHR funded research since 2003 focuses on the genetic component of aboriginal health of all ages, such as for congenital heart defects in the Inuit of Nunavut; Long QT Syndrome in Northern British Columbia, and the association of the CPT1A P479L variant to infant mortality in northern and coastal aboriginal populations. She is also Division Head for Medical Genetics for Island Health in British Columbia and is co-Director of the BC Inherited Arrhythmia Program.

  • Christoph Borchers's picture

    Christoph Borchers

    University of Victoria

    Dr. Borchers received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Konstanz, Germany. After his post-doctoral training and employment as a staff scientist at NIEHS/NIH/RTP, in North Carolina, he became the director of the UNC-Duke Proteomics Facility and held a faculty position at the UNC Medical School in Chapel Hill, NC (2001-2006). Since then, Dr. Borchers has been employed at the University of Victoria (UVic), Canada and holds the current positions of Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and the Don and Eleanor Rix BC Leadership Chair in Biomedical and Environmental Proteomics. He is also the Director of the UVic – Genome BC Proteomics Centre, which is one out of five Genome Canada funded Science & Technology Innovation Centres and the only one devoted to proteomics.
    His research is centred around the improvement, development and application of proteomics technologies with a major focus on techniques for quantitative targeted proteomics for clinical diagnostics. Multiplexed LC-MRM-MS approaches and the immuno-MALDI (iMALDI) technique are of particular interest. Another focus of his research is on technology development and application of the combined approach of protein chemistry and mass spectrometry for structural proteomics. Dr. Borchers has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and is the founder and CSO of two companies, Creative Molecules. Inc. and MRM Proteomics Inc. He is also involved in promoting proteomic research and education through his function as HUPO International Council Member, Scientific Director of the BC Proteomics Network and Vice-President, External of the Canadian National Proteomics Network.

  • Yohan Bosse's picture

    Yohan Bosse

    Associate Professor, Molecular Medicine, Laval University
  • Angela Brooks-Wilson's picture

    Angela Brooks-Wilson

    Professor, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University

    Professor, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
    Distinguished Scientist, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency
    Professor, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia

    Angie Brooks-Wilson leads the Cancer Genetics Laboratory of the Genome Sciences Centre at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Her current work focuses on the genetics of susceptibility to cancer, particularly lymphoid cancers, in both families and populations, and the genetics of healthy aging. She leads the Genomics, Genetics and Gerontology (G3) Team for the Study of Healthy Aging, in which exceptionally healthy elderly individuals (‘Super-Seniors’) are helping to determine the genetic influences that contribute to healthy aging and protect against age-associated diseases.

  • Carolyn Brown's picture

    Carolyn Brown

    Professor, Dept. of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
  • Gregory Cairncross's picture

    Gregory Cairncross

    Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Neurosciences , University of Calgary
  • Jiahua Chen's picture

    Jiahua Chen

    Professor, Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia

    Jiahua Chen current holds a Canada Research Chair, Tier I, in the department of statistics at University of British Columbia.
    His research interests cover many specialized areas of statistics including empirical likelihood, variable selection, finite mixture models, hidden Markov model, sample survey and statistical genetics.

    His work on EM-test in the context of finite mixture models are particularly relevant to statistical genetics. His most recent paper in this respect is to test the presence of imprinting when the imprint information is contained in a mixture model.

    He developed an extended Bayesian information criterion used for variable selection when the number of variables in a regression setting is comparable or even far exceeds the sample size. It has found applications in genomic data analysis and in graphic models.

    He proposed to introduce a pseudo observation into the empirical likelihood. The resulting inference retains much of the original properties of the empirical likelihood. At the same time, the technique completely solves the empty set problem which can be an obstacle in some specialized applications.

    JIahua Chen is interested in all scientific problems that can be summarized by mathematical language. He relies on his instinct ion based on logic and his broad mathematics knowledge in his research adventures.

  • Gabriela Cohen Freue's picture

    Gabriela Cohen Freue

    Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia
  • Colin Collins's picture

    Colin Collins

    Vancouver Prostate Centre
  • Alison Cutts's picture

    Alison Cutts

    Senior Director, Genetics, Xenon Pharmaceuticals

    PhD in Genetics from Harvard University
    Lead author on Nature Genetics paper describing positional cloning of the first zebrafish mutation corresponding to a human disease (sideroblastic anemia), validating zebrafish as a model system
    5 Nature/Nature Genetics Publications
    Extensive project management experience with both CROs and corporate partners, coordinating activities of cross functional teams up to 20 FTEs
    Combined 20 years of genetics expertise both academic and industrial settings

  • Denise Daley's picture

    Denise Daley

    University of British Columbia
  • Anny Fortin's picture

    Anny Fortin

    Scientific Director, Canadian Gene Cure Foundation
  • Tenzin Gayden's picture

    Tenzin Gayden

    McGill University
  • Jinko Graham's picture

    Jinko Graham

    Associate Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University
  • Philippe Gros's picture

    Philippe Gros

    Professor, Department of Biochemistry, McGill University
  • Samantha Gruenheid's picture

    Samantha Gruenheid

    Associate Professor, Microbiology, McGill University
  • Phil Hieter's picture

    Phil Hieter

    Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia
  • Martin HIrst's picture

    Martin HIrst

    Epigenomics, Head, Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency
  • Rayjean Hung's picture

    Rayjean Hung

    Principal Investigator, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Jo Knight's picture

    Jo Knight

    Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
  • Aurelie Labbe's picture

    Aurelie Labbe

    Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health, McGill University

    Aurélie Labbe is a biostatistician who specializes in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology. She is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health and in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. More specifically, she devotes her efforts to developing a methodology for analysis of methylation data, gene expression and genotype data.

  • Scot Leary's picture

    Scot Leary

    Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, University of Saskatchewan
  • Jordan Lerner-Ellis's picture

    Jordan Lerner-Ellis

    Advanced Molecular Diagnostics, Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Alex Mackenzie's picture

    Alex Mackenzie

    Principal Investigator, Apoptosis Research Centre, CHEO Research Institute

    Dr. Alex MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D, is a Full Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa with a cross appointment to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. He received his MD in 1983 and his PhD in Medical Biophysics in 1986, both from the University of Toronto. He received his pediatric certification in 1989 from the University of Ottawa and is a member of the attending staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa. From 2000 to 2010 he served as the CEO and Science Director of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute as well as Vice President of Research for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. He also served in 2003/2004 as Vice President of Research, Genome Canada. Dr. MacKenzie works on the molecular genetics of pediatric disease with current research focus on the molecular genetics of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Dr. MacKenzie has been the recipient of Medial Research Council Scientist and Burroughs Wellcome Clinical Scientist Awards. He has been awarded the Researcher of the Year award by the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada and a Champions of Genetics award by the Canadian GeneCure Foundation.

  • Ryan Morin's picture

    Ryan Morin

    Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University
  • William Noble's picture

    William Noble

    Professor, Genome Sciences and of Computer Science, University of Washington
  • David S. Rosenblatt's picture

    David S. Rosenblatt

    Professor, Human Genetics, McGill University-MUHC
  • Cenk Sahinalp's picture

    Cenk Sahinalp

    Simon Fraser University
  • Marlis Schroeder's picture

    Marlis Schroeder

    Professor, Dept of Pediatrics & Child Health, CancerCare Manitoba
  • Christian Steidl's picture

    Christian Steidl

    Assistant Professor, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, BC Cancer Agency

    Dr Steidl is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology (University of British Columbia) and Experimental Therapeutics (BC Cancer Agency). He is holding an MD degree from the University of Muenster, Germany, and a PhD equivalent degree from University of Witten-Herdecke, Germany. Dr Steidl has expertise in clinical malignant hematology, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, next generation sequencing and functional genomics. Dr Steidl joined the Centre for Lymphoid Cancer at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in 2006. He is currently supervising a translational research laboratory focusing on the pathogenesis of B cell lymphomas. Dr Steidl is most known for his work on biomarkers in Hodgkin lymphoma and discovery of somatic mutations and novel gene fusions in B cell lymphomas. He has authored 47 refereed articles in the field of hematological malignanices and has been an invited speaker at many conferences. He also serves as a member of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Panel of Scientific Advisors and the Medical Expert Committee of the Cancer Research Society. Dr Steidl holds research funding as the principle investigator by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC), the Canadian Hematology Society (CHS), the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI) and is co-investigator on a Genome Canada grant to advance personalized treatments of lymphoid cancer patients. Dr Steidl also holds a career investigator award by the Michael-Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) and a New Investigator Award by CIHR.

  • Jacquetta Trasler's picture

    Jacquetta Trasler

    James McGill Professor, Pediatrics, Human Genetics, and Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University and Research Institute- McGill University Health Centre
  • Stuart Turvey's picture

    Stuart Turvey

    Associate Professor, Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Director of Clinical Research & Senior Clinician Scientist, Child & Family Research Institute

    Stuart Turvey, MBBS, DPhil, FRCPC is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia where he holds the Aubrey J. Tingle Professorship in Pediatric Immunology. He is a Pediatric Immunologist based at BC Children’s Hospital, and Director of Clinical Research at the Child & Family Research Institute. Prior to coming to Vancouver, Dr Turvey completed both his Pediatric Residency and Allergy/Immunology Fellowship at Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. He holds a medical degree (MB BS) from the University of Sydney, Australia and a doctorate (DPhil) in Immunology from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Dr Turvey is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics.

    Dr Turvey provides clinical care in the specialties of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, while his research program focuses on pediatric infectious and inflammatory diseases. Specifically, Dr Turvey is interested in the role of innate immunity in protecting infants and young children from infectious agents, and how abnormalities of the innate immune system contribute to inflammatory diseases of childhood.

  • Terry-Lynn Young's picture

    Terry-Lynn Young

    Associate Professor, Human Genetics, Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Qian Zhou's picture

    Qian Zhou

    Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University