Beier Laboratory Osteoarthritis Research Profiled by CIHR
September 7, 2009 9:55 PM

Ask any arthritis sufferer what they find most difficult about their illness, and they'll tell you it's the constant physical pain. According to a National Population Health Survey, 80% of people with arthritis take some type of painkiller. And yet, there has been very little research examining why arthritis hurts so much.

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Several Beier Laboratory Members Rewarded for Efforts
July 15, 2009 10:48 AM

Another season of scholarship and grant applications has arrived and the Beier Laboratory members have been recognized for their excellent research efforts again. This year, several new students have joined the lab and were also awarded recently. Among the awardees are Jen Li, MSc candidate, who won a CIHR Masters Award and Christina Fung, summer student, who received a CIHR Summer Studentship. Qian Yan and Ryan Gillespie, both PhD candiates in the lab received travel awards to attend the 2009 Gordon Research Conference 'Bones and Teeth'. A recent PhD graduate from the lab, Dr. Veronica Ulici, also received a travel award to attend the OARSI 2009 World Congress in Montreal, QC in September. Finally, Dr. Tom Appleton, a post-doctoral research associate and medical student, received a Canadian Arthritis Network Summer Studentship for Medical and Allied Health Professionals.

Leask Laboratory Efforts Recognized by Faculty of 1000 Biology
Friday, May 8, 2009 1:29 PM

Dr. Leask's work on establishing a key connection between fibroblast adhesion to matrix and fibrosis may lead to new treatments for pathologies such as scleroderma and liver cirrhosis. Three papers on this topic authored by Dr. Leask and his colleagues have been referenced by the prestigious online review service Faculty of 1000 Biology. Dr. Leask will present this data at the upcoming European Tissue Repair Society and the Wound Healing Society in Limoges, France.

Rac1 Expression by Fibroblasts Is Required for Tissue Repair in Vivo, by Liu S, Kapoor M, Leask A. Am J Pathol 2009 Apr 6 p174 was listed as a must read.

Loss of protein kinase C{epsilon} results in impaired cutaneous wound closure and myofibroblast function. Leask A, Shi-Wen X, …, Black CM, Abraham DJ. J Cell Sci 2008 Oct 15 121(Pt 20):3459-67 was also listed as a must read.

Fibroblast adhesion results in the induction of a matrix remodeling gene expression program. Kennedy L, Shi-Wen X, …, Abraham DJ, Leask A. Matrix Biol 2008 May
27(4):274-81 was listed as recommended.

This work "...significantly contributes to the understanding of fibrosis development mechanisms..." identifies a "...possible target for wound healing control..." and a key "...integrator of adhesive signaling."

Three CIHR Group Trainees Secure CIHR Doctoral Funding
Thursday, April 30, 2009 10:58 PM

CIHR Doctoral Award competitions are among the most coveted graduate scholarships in Canada and this year 3 of the doctoral students in the CIHR Group will receive Banting and Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Awards from CIHR. Shirine Usmani (currently in the second year of her PhD studies and in the UWO MD/PhD Program) and Ryan Gillespie (currently in the third year of his PhD studies) are both in the Beier laboratory and received the award. The other winning student is Matthew Grol, who is a 2nd year PhD student in the Dixon laboratory.

CIHR Group Faculty Land New NSERC Discovery Grant Funding
Thursday, April 30, 2009 10:58 PM

Canada's National Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) provides significant research funding to Canadian researchers. The results of its flagship funding program, the Discovery Grants Competition were recently announced.The budget for the Discovery Grants Program is $349.3 million. The amount of funding available per applicant in the 2009 competition was slightly higher than in 2008.

CIHR Group researchers Drs. Doug Hamilton and Cheryle Seguin received positive news when the 2009 competition results were announced. Each received funding for a 5 year period:

• Hamilton, DW: Anatomy and Cell Biology Biology of cell-surface interactions $32,000.00 per year.
• Seguin, CA: Physiology and Pharmacology Delineating the role of the notochord during intervertebral disc development $35,000.00 per year.

Gabriel Altmann Award Received by Matthew Grol
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 9:11 PM

Each year, as part of the Margaret Moffatt Research Day, the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology recognizes the top-ranked poster presented by a student in the Anatomy & Cell Biology Graduate Program. The award given to the recipient is the Gabriel Altmann Award. Matthew Grol, a member of the Dixon laboratory, is this year's winner of the Gabriel Altmann award. Congratulations to Matthew!

Dr. Beier Acknowledged as a Faculty Scholar
Sunday, April 12, 2009 1:48 PM

In recognition of outstanding contributions made by University of Western Ontario Faculty Members, the University awards several 'Faculty Scholar' Awards. One of this year's 12 recipients is Dr. Frank Beier. A designated recipient will carry the title of 'Faculty Scholar' for a two year period, during which they will receive a stipend for carrying out scholarly activities.

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Dr. Hunter Receives IADR Biological Mineralization Award
Sunday, April 12, 2009 1:48 PM

Alexandria, Va. – Dr. Graeme Hunter, University of Western Ontario, Canada, is the recipient of the 2009 Biological Mineralization Award, which will be presented by the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) at its 87th General Session & Exhibition in Miami, Florida, USA, on April 1, 2009.

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Undergraduate Student Research Achieves Award
Friday, April 10, 2009 2:25 PM

As the regular school year draws to a close, undergraduate students in the CIHR Group in Skeletal Development & Remodeling are writing up their honours theses and presenting them in various local, institution and international competitions. We are pleased to announce that Matthew McCann (Biology 4th year student) from the Leask lab won best presentation prize in the Genetics and Cell Biology section for his work entitled "Role of microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 (mPGES-1) on bleomycin-induced fibrosis" at the Biology 4999E competition. Congratulations to Matt!

Moffatt Research Day Success
Friday, April 10, 2009 2:25 PM

Each year the Margaret Moffatt Research Day is held to showcase various categories of basic and clinical research from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Poster presentations are judged and prizes awarded to the best of each scientific category. As in years past, CIHR Group in Skeletal Development & Remodeling members participated and were rewarded for their top-level research.This year's winners included two Beier lab members:

From the Cell Physiology & Cell Biology category, Qian Yan tied for first place for her poster entitled "ENDOTHELIAL NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE (ENOS) DEFICIENCY LEADS TO REDUCED CHONDROCYTE PROLIFERATION AND ENDOCHONDRAL BONE FORMATION".

Shirine Usmani also won first place for her poster entitled "ENDOTHELIN SIGNALING IN ARTICULAR CARTILAGE DEGRADATION".

Recent CIHR Grant Competition Success for CIHR Group Researchers
Thursday, February 5, 2009 5:13 PM

CIHR Group in Skeletal Development & Remodeling researchers Graeme Hunter, Harvey Goldberg and Douglas Hamilton received positive news when the results of the September 2008 CIHR operating grants competitions were released recently.

Drs. Goldberg and Hunter successfully obtained $550,272 in operating funds over 4 years for their application entitled "Functional characterization of bone sialoprotein".

The Fall 2008 CIHR Operating Grants competition received 1824 applications for funding, of which 394 were approved. A summary of the results and links to the list of specifica funding announcements can be found here:

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/38629.html

Dr. Hamilton's application entitled "Regulation and function of periostin in wound healing' also received approval and will award the Hamilton laboratory $90,400 in operating funds for 1 year. The Hamilton award is part of the Fall 2008 Priority Announcement from the Musculoskeletal Health, Arthritis, Skin and Oral Health Operating Grants competition. The results of this competition can be found here:

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/38678.html

CIHR Group Member Wins Part of $1.3 Million for Engineering Research

Dr. Douglas Hamilton is one of 5 researchers named to receive part of a $1.3 Million grant to research biomaterials in tissue engineering applications. The funds come from CFI and will be used for developing applications to arthritis, osteoporosis and other cartilage and bone diseases.

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See the article from the journal Orthopedics:

http://ryortho.com/NEWSSHORTS/volume5/Issue%201/12-23-08-NS-Canadians.html