Trainee Steering Committee

Careers Column – An Interview with Keith Mewis (AbCellera Biologics)

2018-12-14T00:00:00-08:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|Tags: , , , , |

Name: Keith Mewis Job title: Scientist, Robotics and Automation Company: AbCellera Biologics Describe a typical day in your position? What are some of your day-to-day activities? Our workflow is very high-throughput, so most of our molecular biology reactions are set up massively in parallel in 96W, 384W or 1536W plates. I'm in charge of the automation and labware robotics for the Molecular Biology team, so my day-to-day activities usually involve a combination of programming and testing new protocols on the robots, as well as using the robots for production of antibodies. I'm also responsible for training my colleagues to use the [...]

Facial nerve regeneration using olfactory stem cells and hydrogels

2018-12-14T00:00:00-08:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

Olfactory stem cells (OSCs) are neural stem cells found in the olfactory mucosa which have shown promising regenerative potential in spinal cord injury models by promoting axonal growth when engrafted into the injured area. Recently in a study published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, a team from Nagoya University (Japan) set to investigate the regenerative potential of olfactory stem cells in facial nerve injury, one of the most common complications of temporal bone trauma. The research team obtained OSCs from dissected neonatal olfactory mucosa and cultured the isolated cells in ultra-low attachment plates, leading to the formation of olfactory spheres. These [...]

An interview with Dr. Connie Eaves

2018-12-14T00:00:00-08:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|Tags: , |

Earlier this year, at the meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) in Australia, I had the chance to listen to Dr. Connie Eaves, Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Distinguished Scientist at the Terry Fox Laboratory of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, as she delivered the Tobias Award Lecture, presenting the foundational work her lab has generated in the field of leukemogenesis over the last 40 years. This year alone, on top of ISSCR's Tobias Award, she was awarded the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize of the American Society of [...]

Biomedical Engineering Entrepreneurship Partnership (BEEP) Day

2018-12-14T00:00:00-08:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|Tags: , , , |

This past November 2nd 2018, the Centre for Biomedical Research (CBR) at the University of Victoria (UVic), hosted the 2nd Annual Biomedical Engineering Entrepreneurship Partnership Day, also known as BEEP Day in the Student Union Building at UVic. This event brings together startups and industry representatives with members from biomedical engineering programs across British Columbia to showcase share their work, vision, research, and goals, fostering the development of networks and partnerships between these parties. This year’s BEEP Day recruited over 160 attendees, all with very diverse backgrounds, including faculty members, students, and researchers who expressed their excitement by actively participating in [...]

UVIC Women in Science 2018 STEM Research Symposium Recap

2018-12-14T00:00:00-08:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|Tags: , , |

UVic Women in Science (UVic WIS) is a student-led initiative focused on building a supportive and engaging network for women currently involved or interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. On November 29th, UVic WIS hosted its annual research event, the UVic WIS 2018 STEM Research Symposium, at the University of Victoria. This research symposium featured educational, insightful, and thought-provoking presentations and panel discussions from women in various STEM fields, from both academia and industry. Keynote speakers included: Dr. Bari Zahedi, Senior Process Scientist at STEMCELL Technologies; Dr. Amanda Malone, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Laura Arbour, Professor [...]

The University of Victoria hosts a successful 34th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Biomaterials

2018-08-15T00:00:00-07:00August 15th, 2018|Categories: News, Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

Dr. Stephanie M. Willerth, conference chair and the 2017-18 President of the Canadian Biomaterials Society (CBS), along with her organizing committee hosted the 34th Annual Meeting of CBS at the University of Victoria during May 16th through 19th. The meeting consisted of a 4-day event attended by 135 people: 90 students, 5 researchers, 25 professors, 15 post-docs, and industry partners. During this meeting, the latest advances on research in the field of Biomaterials and Tissue engineering in Canada were shared and discussed. The event was supported by CBS and external industry funding; Aspect Biosystems as the Gold Sponsor, Rheolution as Silver [...]

Careers Column

2018-08-15T00:00:00-07:00August 15th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

Welcome to the BCRGEGMED Blog's Quarterly Career Column! Here we will feature career profiles with scientific professionals in British Columbia. In this issue, we interviewed Dr. Vincenzo Macri, Senior Scientist, Myogenic Group, STEMCELL Technologies. Describe a typical day in your position? What are your day-to-day activities like? Working in Research and Development is great because every day can be different. My role as a Senior Scientist and Team Lead of the Myogenic Group involves short and long-term planning of product development, working with a talented team of researchers, reviewing and presenting data, keeping up to date on current research, and collaborating [...]

Tackling the world’s deadliest diseases one Ab at a time: An interview with AbCellera’s CEO, Dr. Carl Hansen

2018-08-14T00:00:00-07:00August 14th, 2018|Categories: News, Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

Dr. Carl Hansen, CEO of AbCellera, a Vancouver-based biotech on the hunt for novel antibodies. Can one company simultaneously work on solving the problems of Ebola, influenza, neurodegeneration, cancer, tuberculosis, and enterotoxicogenic E. coli? If you are AbCellera, a Vancouver-based biotech on the hunt for novel antibodies that can be used to fight these diseases, the answer is yes. The company has built the world’s leading platform for the discovery of monoclonal antibodies and the profiling of natural immune responses. This proprietary platform, which uses a combination of microfluidics, genomics, microscopy, and machine learning, allows for screening millions of [...]

A look into the exciting new world of 3D bioprinting: an interview with Aspect Biosystems’ CSO Dr. Sam Wadsworth

2018-04-09T00:00:00-07:00April 9th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

"3D bioprinting" sounds like something you would see in a science fiction movie, perhaps in "The Fifth Element" where the main character's body is fully printed in a giant bioreactor - bones, muscles and all -  or else in "Starship Troopers" where, more modestly, the technology is shown repairing a wound. Yet, 3D bioprinting (which is exactly what it sounds like - the printing of tissues or organs, by analogy to the more conventional 3D printing using plastic or glass or metal), is, since 10 years or so, an existing technology that, although somewhat experimental still, holds a vast potential to revolutionize [...]

Bringing Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Culture to the Masses

2018-04-09T00:00:00-07:00April 9th, 2018|Categories: Newsletter, Trainee Steering Committee|

A major collaborative effort that brought together researchers from the Institutes for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) and Frontier Medical Sciences in Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan), the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) (Bangalore, India), led to the development of a novel low-cost growth-factor-free culture medium that supports long term propagation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) derived either from human dermal fibroblast or peripheral blood mononuclear cells, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering this month. Self-renewal and the potential to differentiate into all major lineages make hPCs excellent tools in regenerative [...]

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