LMP Celebration of Excellence 2022: awardees

Quinn is a 5th year PhD Candidate in Dr. Michelle Bendeck’s laboratory, where he studies a mouse model of pulmonary hypertension and impaired lung development. During the previous academic year, Quinn supervised and trained an undergraduate LMP student who helped characterize lung abnormalities in their mouse model. The undergraduate student presented their findings at lab meetings and several local conferences, and incorporated their findings into his submitted manuscript. Quinn has also been the teaching assistant for LMP406 for the past two years, where he helps organize and facilitate course materials, trains students on class content, and lectures on pulmonary hypertension and atherosclerosis.

Read more about Quinn in our Humans of LMP feature

Ryan completed his MSc under the supervision of Dr. Samira Mubareka. Ryan investigated respiratory viral diagnostics and transmission prevention with his research focusing on addressing knowledge gaps during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect frontline healthcare workers and improve molecular diagnostic techniques.

Ryan was heavily involved with the LMP Community as the President of the Graduate Student Union (CLAMPS). He focused on transforming extracurricular activities/initiatives into virtual formats during his tenure. Moreover, Ryan stays involved with the LMP community as the President of the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Mentorship Council (LMPMC), a formalized mentorship program he co-founded with fellow student leaders and departmental staff.

Maryam completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto with a double major in Biochemistry and Health and Disease. She is currently a 3rd year PhD candidate in the Department of LMP. Her work in Dr. Ming Tsao’s lab revolves around immune-checkpoint activation after chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). She studies the underlying mechanism through which chemotherapy augments anti-PD-1/PD-L1 response in advanced NSCLC patients. She is also the Co-President of CLAMPS (Confederation of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Students) where she oversees the organization of various academic and non-academic events hosted by CLAMPS including LMP Research Conference.

U of T graduate, Frederick H. Kahan, endowed a prize supported by Merck Sharp & Dome and it was his wish that the prize be named in honour of Dr. Norman Bethune.

The aim of this award is to recognize and encourage talented researchers and medical microbiologists on the threshold of their careers. This award goes to both a top medical microbiology resident and a graduate student in LMP.

Graduate recipient: Negar Khosraviani

Negar received her MSc in 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Warren Lee and is now a second year PhD student in Dr. Jason Fish’s lab at University Health Network. Her time in Dr. Lee’s lab sparked an interest in vascular biology and the endothelium and led her to join the Fish Lab. Her PhD project involves understanding the mechanisms underlying the formation of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs). Through her work, they hope to identify potential therapeutic targets to inhibit or reverse bAVM.

Postgraduate recipient: Sandra Isabel

Sandra is a recent Medical Microbiology residency graduate who also completed her paediatric and paediatric infectious diseases residencies at the University of Toronto. Her research focusses on the use of genomics for diagnostic and epidemiology of infectious diseases. She plans on becoming a clinician scientist with a special interest for the rapid diagnostic of infectious diseases in children.

Dr. Bendeck is a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, and a Scientist in the Translational Biology and Engineering Program at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. She is recognized for her work on matrix biology in cardiovascular disease. Her research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in atherosclerosis and heart failure. She is
particularly interested in the atherosclerotic complications of plaque rupture and calcification, studying the role of extracellular matrix, discoidin-domain receptors (DDRs) and cadherins in mediating smooth muscle cell and macrophage responses.

Dr. Ferenbok is an Associate Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and Director and founder of the Translational Research Program (TRP). The TRP is a master’s program training students to use creative problem-solving to translate research towards innovation in health
sciences. He is Course Director for Projects in Translational Research, and for Methods in Practices and Contexts, and Instructor for the Translational Thinking module. He is also an Associate Director of the Health Innovation Hub, a Temerty Faculty of Medicine initiative intended to connect, align, serve, and facilitate the translation, innovation, and commercialization of ‘Health Matters’; and the Founder and Chief Ideator at the Ideation Clinic - a new initiative intended to help people from all disciplines and backgrounds generate, develop and improve the quality and potential efficacy of their innovative ideas.

His passion is bringing people together through collaborative problem-solving to understand and develop systematic approaches for mobilizing knowledge. Dr. Ferenbok aims to aid in developing more efficient and effective design of person-centric interventions (from diagnostics and therapeutics to medical procedures and behavioral change) that improve the health of individuals and the public. He is fascinated by trying to see from different perspectives and approach problems from unconventional ways.

Read more about Dr. Ferenbok in The evolution of teaching: putting more learning into student hands 

Dr. Nowak is a Gastrointestinal (GI) Pathologist at Toronto General Hospital and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. She is dedicated to improving learner outcomes by bringing innovative learning materials to the forefront of LMP by participating in resident teaching as well as the Pathologist’s Assistants (PA) field of the MHSc in Laboratory Medicine by
coordinating the PA Boot Camp and the PA Interactive GI academic half day. Dr. Nowak’s field of interest lies in pancreas transplant pathology.

Dr. Hodgson, originally from Ottawa, Ontario, is a Gynecologic Pathologist at University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.

She did her pathology training at the University of Toronto affiliated hospitals
and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is considered to be a rising star in the field of gynecologic pathology and has previously been awarded the F. Stephen Vogel Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology and the Robert E. Scully Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists. She has contributed to the literature on the topics of classification and pathogenesis of endocervical adenocarcinoma and the ever-evolving histologic and molecular landscape of uterine mesenchymal neoplasms. Dr. Hodgson is elated to receive this award and is thrilled to have the opportunity to work
with the residents training in Anatomical Pathology.

Dr. Avila-Casado is a Professor in Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. She
got her MD and PhD degrees at Anahuac University, Mexico, Pathology Residency at UNAM, Mexico, and Fellowship in Renal Pathology at Harvard University, USA. She has been awarded the International Society of Nephrology Fellowship Award. Dr. Avila-Casado is currently Staff Renal Pathologist, Director of Renal Pathology Program, serving as Director of Education at Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology - UHN. Her academic interest encompasses clinical service, research and education. She has more than 100 publications including in high profile journals as Nature and NEJM. She has supervised and mentored 56 MD, MSc, and PhD students including 14 international Renal Pathologists. As Deputy Chair and Educational Ambassador of the ISN Renal Pathology Working Group she is devoted to bringing excellence in education in Nephrology and Nephropathology worldwide.

Dr. Larissa Liontos completed the MD/PhD program at the University of Toronto in 2012. Her doctoral work, in the laboratory of Dr. Jane McGlade at the Hospital for Sick Children, involved studying the negative regulation of cytokine receptors and receptor tyrosine kinases in hematopoietic cells. In 2018, Dr. Liontos completed the Hematological Pathology Royal College Residency Program at the University Toronto prior to joining the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Molecular Diagnostics at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center as a staff Hematopathologist.

Her primary academic interest is in the education of medical students and residents in Hematological Pathology in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She teaches weekly lectures to Internal Medicine residents, coordinates rotations for the Hematopathology and Hematology residents and is involved in the organization of the academic half-days. She hopes to inspire future medical students to choose a career in Lab Medicine.

Dr. Cunningham completed his PhD at the Ohio State University in Biochemistry (2000) and his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Ottawa (2004). His preparation in Anatomical Pathology (with dedicated training in Cardiovascular and in Forensic Pathology) was completed at the University of Toronto (2009). Dr. Cunningham is an Assistant Professor within Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, has been Medical Director at the Toronto and Kingston Forensic Pathology Units and is currently the Deputy Chief Forensic Pathologist. He has spent multiple years training Forensic Pathology and Cardiovascular Pathology fellows and has taught medical students, undergraduate students and postgraduate pathology residents for many years. Dr. Cunningham is the Director of the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OFPS) Molecular Autopsy Program and oversees operational completion of over 6,200 autopsies per year at the Provincial Forensic Pathology Unit in Toronto.

Dr. Dickson completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Dalhousie University, followed by medical school and residency training at the University of Toronto. After a fellowship in Soft Tissue and Bone Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania, he returned to Toronto where he is a pathologist specializing in sarcoma in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, and Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. His research is primarily focused on developing novel diagnostic and prognostic markers in sarcoma, and characterizing the mechanisms of sarcomagenesis.

Dr. Lee is the Co-Coordinator for the Specialist Program in Pathobiology, and Co-Associate Chair Undergraduate Life Science Education in LMP. He completed his graduate studies with Dr. P. Lynne Howell at the University of Toronto/Hospital for Sick Children and followed that with a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Jeff returned to the University of Toronto to start his own lab in July 2010. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of viral-cell and cell-cell fusion. His career has been highlighted with a number of fellowships and awards, such as a Canada Research Chair, 2015 Merck Irving S. Sigal Award (American Society of Microbiology), CIHR New Investigator Award, 2010 Spicer Young Investigator Award (Stanford University/Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource). He received the LMP Award for Graduate Education in 2015 and 2021.

Dr. Kulasingam is the Division Head of Clinical Biochemistry at University Health Network and an Associate Professor and Member of the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto. Dr. Kulasingam is also the Co-Director of the University of Toronto’s Post-Doctoral Training Program in Clinical Chemistry. 

She completed her undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education within LMP. Besides her active involvement in teaching, her research interests include using high-throughput “omics” technologies to understand disease pathogenesis, with a particular emphasis on cancer and rheumatic diseases and its application to clinical practice.

Dr. Kamil is a pathologist and clinician teacher with expertise in the pathologic analysis of skin tumors and inflammatory dermatoses. He obtained his medical degree at Al-Nahrain University in Iraq then completed an Anatomic Pathology Residency and a Clinical Dermatopathology Fellowship at the University of Toronto.

As a fellowship supervisor and clinician teacher, Dr. Kamil thrives on transferring knowledge and experience to the next generation of Pathologists. He is actively involved in teaching clinical fellows, Pathology and Dermatology residents and medical students. He has supervised 6 fellows and trained over 20 Pathology and Dermatology residents since 2018.

As a Dermatopathologist, he is responsible for the interpretation of over 3,000 dermatooncology and inflammatory dermatoses cases annually. He also helped design a targeted next generation sequencing panel for the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma patients at University Health Network. His research focus is on understanding the molecular aspects of melanocytic tumors with the goal of identifying novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers that can be utilized in the development of new targeted therapies for melanoma and skin cancer patients.