Speakers

The Keynote speaker for the First Canadian Conference on Epigenetics is Dr. Gary Felsenfeld. Dr. Felsenfeld is an NIH Distinguished Investigator in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda. He obtained his PhD in physical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology and carried out postdoctoral work at the Mathematical Institute, Oxford. Dr. Felsenfeld is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 1976. Research in Dr. Felsenfeld’s laboratory has focused on the chemistry of interactions between DNA and regulatory proteins, and especially on the relationship between chromatin structure and gene expression. In recent years, he has been particularly interested in the function of insulator elements, and the identification of factors that stabilize long-range interactions in the nucleus. His lab has now extended these studies of long-range interactions within the nucleus to human pancreatic beta cells, to better understand chromatin structure at the insulin locus and its relationship to insulin gene expression and secretion. Dr. Felsenfeld is a leader in the field with 198 publications (17 since 2005) in journals such as Genes and Development, PNAS, Nature Cell Biology and Nature Genetics.

Dr. Trevor Archer, PhD, leads the Chromatin & Gene Expression Group and is Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. His research focuses on evaluating how chromatin remodeling complexes and transcription factors function in transcription from chromatin, analyzing the ubiquitin proteasome system interface with chromatin remodeling, epigenetics and hormone signaling and exploring how chromatin and epigenetics contribute to human ES cell pluripotency. Current projects in his lab include defining the biological significance of the BRG1 chromatin remodeling complex, asking whether environmental exposures alter hESC chromatin remodeling proteins and determining how epigenetic factors regulate pluripotency in human ES cells. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in leading biomedical journals as well as several book chapters.

 Dr. Aitchison is Professor and Associate Director at ISB and a founding member of the ISB faculty. As a student, he studied biochemistry, specializing in biotechnology and genetic engineering, at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. There, in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Rachubinski, he investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for sorting proteins into peroxisomes. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Aitchison performed his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Günter Blobel at Rockefeller University. In Dr. Blobel's lab, Dr. Aitchison applied classic cell biology techniques and yeast genetics to the study of protein import into the nucleus. During this time, he began to apply large-scale proteomics to the problem, which he continued as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta until joining the ISB in 2000. Dr. Aitchison also holds affiliate appointments at the University of Washington, University of Alberta, and University of British Columbia. He is a member of the Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biomolecular Structural Design Graduate Programs at the University of Washington.

Dr. Arthur Beaudet, MD/PhD, received his M.D. degree from Yale, did pediatric residency training at Johns Hopkins, and was a research associate at the National Institutes of Health before joining Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) where he has remained to the present.  Dr. Beaudet has made diverse contributions in the field of mammalian genetics including the discovery of uniparental disomy in humans and publishing over 250 original research articles.  He has argued for the importance of epigenetics in human disease since 2002 (PMID: 12394355) and proposed a mixed epigenetic and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited model for oligogenic inheritance in autism (PMID: 15389703).  In 2004, Beaudet and a BCM team of investigators were the first in the US to introduce array comparative in genomic hybridization (array CGH) into the clinical lab, and they have gone on to play a leadership role in the transformation impact of this technology on clinical genetics.  His current work is focused on the role of genomic copy number abnormalities and epigenetic changes in neurobehavioral disabilities, and especially on the importance of the CHRNA7 gene in mental retardation, autism, and schizophrenia.  Dr. Beaudet is currently the Henry and Emma Meyer Distinguished Service Professor and Chair in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Dr. Peggy Farnham, PhD, is the William Keck Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Southern California. The Farnham laboratory has been a leader in developing the technique of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) to study mammalian transcription factors. Recently, they have extended these studies to allow a high throughput, global analysis of transcription factor target genes by combining chromatin immunoprecipitation with genomic microarray hybridization (ChIP-chip assays) and with high throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq). Current projects include the analysis of chromatin structure in embryonic stem cells and other normal and tumor cell types and the genome-wide identification of target genes of a variety of human transcription factors. In addition to bench work, the Farnham lab is also developing programs to assist in the analysis of genome-scale ChIP-chip and ChIP-seq data and to derive consensus motifs from experimentally identified binding sites. Dr. Farnham is a member of the ENCODE Consortium, whose goal is to map all the functional elements in the human genome. She is also a member of the recently funded NIH Roadmap UC Reference Epigenome Mapping Center; as part of this group, her lab analyzes histone modifications for a variety of different human cell types.

Dr. Anne Ferguson-Smith, PhD, is Professor of Developmental Genetics in the Department of Physiology Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK.  Dr. Ferguson-Smith’s research focuses on the parent-specific gene regulatory mechanism genomic imprinting. Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic mechanism causing genes to be expressed depending on their parental origin. Her research investigates the mechanism and evolution of genomic imprinting and the function of imprinted genes in development and disease. Her laboratory also uses imprinting as a model system for analyzing the epigenetic control of genome function and in particular the roles of DNA methylation and histone modifications in the regulation of gene activity and repression. Dr. Ferguson-Smith's work focuses on an imprinted domain that includes genes and non-coding RNAs that are expressed during neural development and in the adult brain, and in placental development. Her lab is taking molecular approaches using mouse genetic models to address the function of these genes.

Dr. Frank Grosveld, PhD, is the Head of the Departments of Cell Biology, Clinical Genetics and the Biomics Center at the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam. Mechanisms of gene regulation and epigenetic phenomena have been the primary focus of his research.  His group has carried out pioneering work in many aspects of gene regulation from concluding that DNA methylation inhibits gene expression via an indirect mechanism, to the first description of an LCR, visualizing the primary transcription process in the nucleus and most recently the description of 3D interactions in the nucleus. His group has filed a considerable number of patents and has closely collaborated with industrial partners. Dr. Grosveld is Chairman of the Research School MGC and board member of the top research school CBG. He is and has been on the advisory board of research councils, institutes and companies and is co-founder of four companies. He was recently appointed as an Academy Professor of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is the recipient of the Jeantet Prize in Medicine and the Spinoza Prize NWO.

Dr. Patricia Hunt, PhD, is a Meyer Distinguished Professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University. Her research focuses on female mammalian reproduction, and includes chromosome structure and function, human infertility, and the effect of environmental toxins on reproduction. In 2007, she was named one of the top 50 researchers of the year by Scientific American. Dr. Hunt’s work on human eggs has provided valuable new information about the effect of maternal age on the genetic quality of human eggs. Research in the Hunt laboratory focuses on mammalian germ cells, with a major emphasis on meiosis, the specialized cell division that gives rise to the haploid germ cells. In the human female, the incidence of pregnancy loss due to chromosome abnormalities is extraordinarily high. This is a reflection of the fact that the meiotic process is highly error-prone and the incidence of errors in women is strongly influenced by age. Thus, a major research focus is to understand the normal meiotic process in the mammalian female, the mechanisms(s) by which errors occur, and the way in which age influences female meiosis. In addition, a serendipitous finding that resulted from an inadvertent exposure of mice to the estrogen mimic bisphenol A (BPA) from damaged polycarbonate cages and water bottles, led to the realization that environmentally relevant doses of BPA cause meiotic disruption and aneuploidy in the mouse. Current studies focus on determining the reproductive effects of exposure to chemicals with estrogenic activity during different developmental time points.

Dr. Rob Martienssen, PhD is a Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Research in Dr. Martienssen's laboratory focuses on epigenetic mechanisms that shape and regulate the genome, and their impact on development and inheritance. His work on transposable elements in plants and repetitive sequences in fission yeast revealed a link between heterochromatin and RNA interference. His work, along with that of his colleagues, was awarded the “Breakthrough of the Year” by Science magazine in 2002. Dr. Martienssen was a co-recipient of the Kumho International Science Award in 2001, has received the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Award in 2003, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006.

Ali Shilatifard Ph.D., is a biochemist/molecular biologist with an immense interest in understanding the molecular mechanism of the regulation of gene expression.  As a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow, Shilatifard made a seminal contribution to the field of leukemia biology by identifying the first function of any of the MLL translocation partners.  Shilatifard identified ELL as an Pol II elongation factor.  Shilatifard started his own independent laboratory in 1997, with its central theme being the identification of the molecular properties of MLL and ELL and why their translocations result in leukemogenesis.  ELL is the first and best molecularly/biochemically characterized MLL partner in leukemia.  In addition to his studies on ELL, during the past 15 years, Shilatifard’s laboratory has identified the yeast homologueue of MLL, the Set 1 protein in a complex named COMPASS capable of methylating histone H3K4.  Based on these fundamental yeast studies, we now know that MLL is also found in a COMPASS-like complex functioning as an H3K4 methylase.  Recently, Shilatifard’s laboratory demonstrated that many of the MLL partners in leukemia are found with ELL within a Super Elongation Complex (SEC) regulating the transcription of the MLL-chimera target genes.

Dr. Paul Soloway is a professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. Dr. Soloway’s laboratory investigates the mechanisms regulating DNA and histone methylation using imprinted genes as models.  Additional efforts focus on developing single molecule fluorescent detection methods for profiling multiple epigenetic states, simultaneously and genome-wide. This work has received NIH Epigenetics Roadmap Funding.

Dr. Yi Sun, PhD. is Associate Academic Director of the UCLA Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, and Associate Professor in both the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. Dr. Yi studies molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate specification, proliferation, and differentiation of neural stem cells in mammals including humans. She discovered that DNA methylation, histone modifications, as well as small non-coding RNA-mediated epigenetic mechanisms play extremely critical roles in neuronal and glial differentiation as well as neuronal maturation, function, and plasticity. The current focus of our research covers two main areas: 1) to uncover the composition and the basic operational principles of the DNA-methylation and de-methylation-related epigenetic gene regulation machineries to address how they dynamically target specific genes within the genome during stem cell differentiation and neuronal activity-dependent cellular events. This line of study will also help to advance our understandings on how nuclear reprogramming occurs during early embryonic development, and how epigenetic state changes during tumorigenesis 2) to establish methods allowing for directed differentiation of human ES cell-derived human neural stem/progenitor cells to obtain large quantity of highly pure subtype-specific neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes for potential cell-replacement therapies as well as for building novel human ex vivo neuronal models for various neurological diseases with a special focus on Rett’s syndrome, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Dr. Cheryl Arrowsmith, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute and Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics and the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto, where she holds a Canada Research Chair in Structural Genomics.  She received a Ph. D. in chemistry from the University of Toronto and carried out postdoctoral research at Stanford University in the area of protein NMR spectroscopy.  Dr. Arrowsmith’s research focuses on the use of structural biology methods for understanding the structure-function relationships of proteins and their role in cancer.  Dr. Arrowsmith is the Chief Scientist of the Toronto Node of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), a European-Canadian public-private partnership working on hundreds of relevant human proteins and their 3D structures and place the information and related research reagents in public domain to facilitate drug discovery.

Dr. Juan Ausio, PhD, is a professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, and Biomedical Research. Dr. Juan Ausio’s research interests focus on structural characterization of biological macromolecular assemblies, and nuclear proteins. Current research includes studies on histone-histone interactions, and on histone-DNA interactions at the nucleosome level and at the higher order structure of chromatin in cancer and Rett’s Syndrome. Special attention is being paid to biologically significant chemical modifications at the histone and DNA level (acetylation, phosphorylation, methylation). Histones are not the only proteins that are associated with DNA inside the cell nucleus. These latter proteins may be displaced by a complex broad spectrum of other more basic proteins during the differentiation process of spermatogenesis. These spermatogenic proteins exhibit neither the compositional homogeneity nor the structural features of the typical histones. The current research in this area is centered on the chemistry of such proteins as well as on the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of the genes encoding these proteins.

David Bazett-Jones has been a Senior Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children and a Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto since 2001. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, followed by post-doctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute. He has pioneered the development of an analytical electron microscopy technique called Electron Spectroscopic Imaging. His research interests are directed to understanding the structure and function of global chromatin organization and sub-nuclear domains. Dr. Bazett-Jones holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular and Cellular Imaging.

Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry at The University of Western Ontario, and a Scientist at the Children’s Health Research Institute.  Dr. Bérubé’s laboratory investigates chromatin structure and epigenetics in brain development. One focus of research is concerned with the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling protein ATRX, a key regulatory component of nucleosomal dynamics and higher order chromatin conformation. Mutations in the human gene cause ATR-X syndrome, a disorder characterized by severe cognitive deficits and various developmental abnormalities. Research in Dr. Bérubé’s lab is addressing the molecular and cellular functions of ATRX and other chromatin factors, such as MeCP2, cohesin and CTCF, in mouse brain development. Her lab has demonstrated that ATRX is required for normal cell division, chromosome congression and cohesion, and for the postnatal silencing of a network of imprinted genes in the postnatal brain. Through the study of epigenetic changes that underlie neurological disorders, Dr. Bérubé’s research  will significantly contribute to our understanding of brain function and ultimately, human cognition.

Dr. Marjorie Brand, PhD, is a senior scientist at the Sprott Center for Stem Cell Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. Dr Brand holds a Canada Research Chair in the Regulation of Gene Expression. Her research program focuses on deciphering the molecular mechanism of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation towards the erythroid lineage and to understand how deregulation of this process can cause leukemia. Towards this goal, the lab is using a systems biology approach including quantitative proteomics (isotope tagged methods), genomics (expression microarray, ChIP-sequencing), bioinformatics as well as molecular and cellular biology to understand the regulation of gene expression at the level of transcription, epigenetics and chromatin structure.

Dr. Carolyn Brown, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia with her laboratory in the Molecular Epigenetics Group of the Life Sciences Institute. Dr. Brown’s research focuses on X chromosome inactivation in mammalian females. X chromosome inactivation occurs early during development to transcriptionally silence one of the pair of X chromosomes in females, thereby achieving dosage equivalence with males who have a single X chromosome and the sex-determining Y chromosome. Research projects in the Brown lab are directed towards understanding both the mechanisms involved in the inactivation process and the clinical implications of X chromosome inactivation in humans. The XIST gene is the only gene that is expressed from the inactive but not from the active X chromosome. This unique gene encodes a 17 kb alternatively spliced, processed transcript which is not translated into a protein but which remains in the nucleus where it associates with the inactive X chromosome.  Lab projects explore the regulation, localization, and silencing activity of this unique RNA. The laboratory also explores how over 15% of human genes are able to escape X inactivation and be expressed from an otherwise inactive chromosome.

Dr. Jacques Côté, PhD, is a Professsor in the Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry and Pathology at Laval University and a senior investigator at the Laval University Cancer Research Centre.  Dr. Côté holds a Canada Research Chair on Chromatin Biology and Molecular Epigenetics.  His research program focuses on chromatin modifications and remodeling during transcription, replication and functional partners.  The ING family of tumor suppressors is highly conserved among eukaryotes and every members of this family are part of specific protein complexes that modulate acetylation of chromatin.  Some are recruited to regulate gene expression, others appear to sites of DNA damage to facilitate repair or follow the polymerase to allow duplication of the genetic material.  The laboratory’s research projects use the yeast model system and human cells in culture to elucidate the precise functions and mechanisms of action of these complexes in the expression and perpetuation of the genetic material.

Dr. Jim Davie, PhD, is the Associate Director of the Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, Leader of the Terry Fox Research Institute Prairie Node, Scientific Director of the Manitoba Health Research Council,  a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a CRC in Chromatin Dynamics. Aberrant nuclear and cellular structures are hallmarks of malignant transformation. Thus, it is not surprising that the 3D structure of the cell both affects and is affected by changes in gene expression. Dr. Davie’s research program has three research themes designed to understand the roles of chromatin dynamics and nuclear structure in gene expression in normal and cancer cells: i) to characterize histone post-translational modifications and chromatin modifying enzymes (principally histone deacetylases) associated with transcribed chromatin; ii) to investigate the mechanisms by which signal transduction pathways control chromatin dynamics, with a focus on the RAS-MAPK pathway and immediate early gene expression; iii) to explore the role of the nuclear matrix in chromatin dynamics and to identify nuclear matrix proteins informative in cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Dostie, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Biochemistry Department at McGill University. The goal of her research program is to understand the role of spatial chromatin organization in the regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells. Dr. Dostie is particularly interested in defining how epigenetic modifications affect chromatin structure and genome function in healthy and cancer cells. Her laboratory is characterizing the molecular mechanisms involved in regulating the three-dimensional chromatin architecture and expression of Hox genes in leukemia cell models.

Dr. James Ellis, PhD, is a Senior Scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program at SickKids, Full Professor in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, and Scientific Co-Director of the Ontario Human Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell Facility. The current research objective in the Ellis Lab is to use viral vectors to reprogram somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. In particular, we study the epigenetic mechanisms of retrovirus silencing and heterochromatin reorganization during the reprogramming process.  Using that basic information, we redesign viral vectors using insulator elements to avoid silencing in stem cells, and deliver novel EOS pluripotency reporter genes to select for the isolation of the highest quality mouse and human iPS cells.  We also generate reporter genes for specific somatic cell types to help optimize directed differentiation protocols into nerve, lung and heart cells.  Models to study the mechanism of disease are created by reprogramming patient fibroblasts in the Ontario Human iPS Cell Facility.  Using these approaches, we established mouse and human iPS cell models for Rett Syndrome that we are currently phenotyping.  In addition, iPS cell models for Cystic Fibrosis and Autism Spectrum Disorders are being established.  We intend to translate these discoveries into methods for drug screens and for safe use of iPS derived cells in regenerative medicine.

Dr. Michael Hendzel, PhD, is professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta. He is an AHFMR Scholar and a research scientist at the Cross Cancer Institute. Dr. Michael Hendzel’s research group studies the “packaging” of DNA within living cells and relates that to how cells respond to radiation therapy. His research group has found that the polycomb group family of proteins are required for efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are the primary toxic lesion produced in radiation therapy.  These proteins are upregulated in cancer stem cells and under conditions of hypoxia, both of which are associated with radiation resistance and treatment failure.  He and his researchers are able to study single living cells using high-magnification microscopes that capture images of the DNA inside of cells.  Since these proteins are well established regulators of epigenetic silencing, a consequence of this recruitment may be the epigenetic repression of nearby genes.  Another aspect of Dr. Hendzel’s group’s work involves using live cell imaging to observe the choreography of enzymes involved in repair of DNA damage. Because epigenetic changes leave the sequence of the genes themselves unaffected, they are an attractive target for therapy: reversing the change should also reverse that part of the cancer process. Drugs that reverse epigenetic changes have already been developed and are being used to treat some cancers. Dr. Hendzel’s group is currently involved in development and testing of several more of these drugs.

Dr. Igor Kovalchuk, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Lethbridge.  His research interests include genome stability and genome.  His research interests include genome stability and genome evolution during plant adaptation to stress.  He analyzes the influence of various internal factors, such as metabolic activity, biological clock and development and external factors, such as abiotic (UVB, heavy metals, high temperatures) and biotic (pathogens like viruses) on DNA damage and repair plants.  He looks at how plants can alter their genetic and epigenetic makeup to help them better tolerate potential threats.  The work in has lab suggests that the progeny of stressed plants exhibit profound changes in the genome rearrangement frequency, g methylation pattern and stress tolerance.  This transgenerational response to stress has an epigenetic components, as his lab showed that the mutants impaired in production of small interfering RNAs are deficient in establishment of heritable transgenerational response.  Kovalchuk’s findings could have applications to the agriculture industry, as well as the development of hardier crops.

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk, MD/PhD, is a Professor at the University of Lethbridge. She is a CIHR Chair in Gender and Health and a Board of Governors' Research Chair. Most recently, Dr. Kovalchuk became an award recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. Dr. Kovalchuk was a high-school student in Ukraine in April 1986 when the worst nuclear accident in history occurred at the Chernobyl plant, 600 kilometres from her home. Dr. Kovalchuk’s research aims to better understand the relationship between sex and radiation-induced DNA damage, stress signaling, genomic stability and cancer. It encompasses the interconnected areas of radiation epigenetics, radiation-induced oncogenic signaling and radiation-induced DNA damage, repair and recombination. Dr. Kovalchuk’s laboratory investigates the molecular etiology of secondary radiation-induced malignancies (special emphasis - hematological malignances and breast cancer). She also studies the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of transgenerational carcinogenesis and genome instability. In parallel, Dr. Kovalchuk investigates the molecular underpinnings of radiation-induced bystander effect - a negative complication in radiation oncology.

Dr. Wan Lam: Dr. Lam, PhD, is a Distinguished Scientist in Integrative Oncology at the BC Cancer Agency. He is also a Professor in Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and the Interdisciplinary Oncology Program at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Lam's primary research interest is in understanding the events leading to cancer progression. Early detection and treatment is key to a favorable prognosis in cancer. His laboratory has developed novel whole genome approaches for tracking genetic, epigenetic and gene expression changes to identify genes and pathways critical to cancer progression, and signatures for treatment response.

Dr. Lorincz, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Research in the Lorincz laboratory is directed towards understanding the interplay between transcription, DNA methylation and histone modifications in murine cells, using RNA interference and genetic knockouts to perturb chromatin structure and genome-wide approaches to analyze the consequences of such perturbations, including RNA-seq, Chip-seq, meDIP and MRE.  The Lorincz lab also employs a novel Cre/lox-based genomic targeting system to create synthetic domains of histone modifications at defined genomic sites. Ongoing projects include 1. the study of proviral silencing in ES cells, primordial germ cells and somatic cells; 2. Analysis of the “heritability” of covalent histone modifications through mitosis and 3. genome-wide analyses of expression, histone marks and DNA methylation in DNMT, chromatin remodelling and histone methyltransferase deficient embryonic stem cells.

Dr. Mellissa Mann, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Biochemistry at The University of Western Ontario, and a Scientist at the Children’s Health Research Institute. Evidence suggests that children conceived with Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) may develop genetic disorders. This may be related to the fact that the timing of ART usage coincides with crucial regulatory events during oocyte growth and early embryo development. Dr. Mann’s lab is investigating the ART of superovulation (drug-induced production of multiple eggs) and in vitro embryo culture in a mouse model system to determine their effects on genomic imprinting and development. Additional investigations focus on identifying the molecules involved in regulating genomic imprinting during embryonic and fetal development. This research will provide the biologic basis for treatment of human infertility by ARTs with the aim of minimizing affects on child health.

Dr. Michael Meaney, PhD, is a James McGill Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University and Adjunct Senior Investigator at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences.  His research focuses on the molecular basis for sustained effects of environmental signals on gene expression and development.  These studies focus on the profound influence of factors such as parental care and environmental enrichment during early life.  Studies focus on rodent and nonhuman primate models as well as with clinical samples.  Meaney’s lab actively explores the importance of epigenetic mechanisms at the interface between gene and environment.

Dr. Art Petronis, MD PhD, is Senior Scientist, Neuroscience Department, and Head of the Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He is also Professor and Tapscott Chair in Schizophrenia Studies, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Petronis’ research is dedicated to uncovering the epigenetic risk factors in complex diseases, primarily major psychiatric disease. He also develops new techniques and tools for large scale epigenomic studies. Epigenetic factors are believed to play a role in the manifestation of psychiatric and other illnesses, in addition to genetic and environmental influences. Dr. Petronis published over 80 original papers and book chapters.

Dr. Patrick Provost, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology-Infectiology and Immunology at the Université Laval. Discoverer of the human Dicer enzyme, which mediates the biogenesis of microRNAs, Dr. Provost’s research now focuses on the relationship between Dicer, microRNAs and human diseases. Investigating the link between microRNAs and the Fragile X Syndrome, Dr. Provost’s team has shown that fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) can act as a microRNA acceptor protein for Dicer and facilitate assembly of microRNAs on specific target RNA sequences. Suboptimal utilization of microRNAs may thus account for some of the molecular defects observed in patients with the fragile X syndrome. More recently, Dr. Provost’s lab identified two microRNAs that can regulate expression of the ß-amyloid precursor protein converting enzyme (Bace), which plays a central role in ß-amyloid plaque formation. Their results suggest a causal role between dysfunctional gene regulation mediated by microRNAs and Alzheimer’s disease, and may offer new perspectives on the etiology of this neurological disorder. Dr. Provost’s research program may provide key insights into genetic diseases possibly linked to alterations in Dicer expression and/or microRNA function.

Dr. Wendy Robinson, PhD, is a Scientist at the Children's and Family Research Institute and a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Robinson’s research focuses on the genetics and epigenetics of infertility and placental complications of pregnancy. As women delay child bearing, the risk of miscarriage, pregnancy complications and infertility increases dramatically, with an increase in chromosomal errors playing a significant role. Furthermore, environmental exposures are increasingly appreciated to play a role in modifying gene expression in development and may affect fetal growth and later fertility. The goals of Robinson laboratory are to define the role of genetic and epigenetic factors in placental function leading to complications of pregnancy.  These include chromosomal abnormalities confined to the placenta, unexplained miscarriage, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and birth defects.

Dr. Jacquetta Trasler, MD/PhD, is Scientific Director at the Montreal Children's Hospital, Associate Director of Pediatric Research at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, and James McGill Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Human Genetics, McGill University. Dr. Trasler has garnered some of the most prestigious awards in her research field, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Scientist Award and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) National Scholar award. The goal of Dr. Trasler’s research is to better understand how gene expression is regulated in developing germ cells and the implications for the resulting embryo. DNA methylation of specific gene sequences is an important component of a multi-level system that controls gene expression in mammalian cells, is first established during gametogenesis and has been implicated in genomic imprinting. Abnormalities in DNA methylation have been associated with abnormal development, genetic disease and cancer. Major differences in DNA methylation have been found between certain genes in the testis compared to those in the ovary, providing a way of marking the mother's and father's genes differently. Dr. Trasler is testing the hypothesis that the establishment and maintenance of DNA methylation patterns in the germline are essential for normal development; thus, altering these patterns is likely to interfere with cellular development and alter the function of germ cells in fertilization and early embryo development. A second interest is to determine the molecular and cellular target for drug effects on developing male germ cells. In collaboration with other investigators, Dr. Trasler is developing methods to monitor and prevent drug damage to the germ cells of patients treated with anticancer drugs.

Dr. Rosanna Weksberg, MD/PhD, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto and is Division Head of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics. Dr. Weksberg’s research focuses on the sex-specific gene regulatory mechanism genomic imprinting. Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic mechanism causing genes to be expressed depending on their parental origin. She works on the imprinting disorder, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and related conditions. Dr. Weksberg's laboratory works on the identification of epigenetic alterations associated with human disease, specifically neurobehavioural and growth-related disorders, including IUGR, preeclampsia and infertility. An important complementary research focus of the lab involves the characterization of environmental exposures (assisted reproduction, therapeutic agents) on epigenotypes.