CSMB updates – May 2021

Recent news and opportunities from the CSMB

Meeting updates

June 14-17 2021 – 2021 CSMB Annual Conference: Protein Homeostasis

The abstract deadline for oral and poster presentations has been extended until May 21, 2021.

Waiting for that last piece of data? Here’s your chance to get it and still submit in time to present at our national conference! Abstract deadline has been extended to May 21!

Conference registration open until June 4, 2021

Register today:

For any questions about the event, please contact csmb2021@ualberta.ca

To get the latest updates on the conference follow us on Twitter!

2021 CSMB Award winners

The Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences is proud to announce the names of the winners of the 2021 CSMB awards.

Award winners will present their research at the CSMB annual meeting. View the full meeting program here. These open sessions will take place June 15 and 16, 11AM to noon.

CSMB New Investigator Award: Jean-Philippe Julien, Ph.D. 

The CSMB New Investigator Award recognizes meritorious research in one or more of the fields of biochemistry, molecular or cellular biology in Canada. Recipients have ten years or less of independent research experience, and demonstrate outstanding research accomplishments.

Jean-Philippe Julien, Ph.D. 

Canada Research Chair in Structural Immunology
Member, College of the Royal Society of Canada
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, Molecular Architecture of Life
Senior Scientist, Program in Molecular Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute
Associate Professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Immunology, University of Toronto

Jean-Philippe Julien received his B.Sc. from McGill University, obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. In Fall 2014, he joined the Molecular Medicine Program at the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute and the Departments of Biochemistry and Immunology at the University of Toronto where he leads a team of multi-disciplinary researchers. His laboratory focuses on the molecular characterization of antibodies by studies of their interactions with a variety of viral, bacterial, parasitic and cell-surface antigens, providing the atomic blueprints for the development of next-generation therapeutics and vaccines. Notably, he is a Canada Research Chair in Structural Immunology, a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar and a Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada.

Learn more on his webpage: https://lab.research.sickkids.ca/julien/research/

 

Canadian Science Publishing Senior Investigator Award: Peter L. Davies, Ph.D., FRSC

This award recognizes a record of outstanding achievement in research in one or more of the fields of biochemistry, molecular or cellular biology, undertaken in Canada by a Canadian scientist.

Peter L. Davies, Ph.D., FRSC

Canada Research Chair in Protein Engineering
Professor, School of Medicine, Queen’s University

Peter Davies grew up in Liverpool, UK, and obtained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Soil Science from the University of Wales. His Ph.D. research on the ATPase of oxidative phosphorylation in E. coli was done in Phil Bragg’s lab at UBC in the Department of Biochemistry. After post-doctoral training in Lund, Sweden, with Professor Klaus Mosbach on affinity chromatography, and in Calgary, AB, with Gordon Dixon on protamine mRNA, Peter joined the Department of Biochemistry at Queen’s University, Kingston, as an MRC Scholar. Some of his early work was on the cloning and sequencing of fish antifreeze protein genes. A timely sabbatical leave in Michael Smith’s lab helped redirect some of this research effort towards protein structure-function relationships. This has been a consistent research theme over the years that he has also applied to calpains, the intracellular cysteine proteases of calcium signaling, and more recently to bacterial adhesins that help their hosts colonize various surfaces. Peter is currently the Canada Research Chair in Protein Engineering in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s with a cross-appointment in the Department of Biology.

Learn more on his website: https://www.peterldavies.com/

Jeanne Manery-Fisher Memorial Award: Trang Hoang, O.Q., C.M., PhD

This award is given in honour of the late Jeanne Manery Fisher, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Toronto. Dr. Fisher was not only an outstanding biochemist, but a remarkable teacher. She was instrumental in creating the Society’s Equal Opportunity Committee and fought diligently for the position of women in science. This award recognizes an eminent Canadian woman scientist who has a distinguished career in the fields of biochemistry, molecular or cellular biology or genetics, resulting from her outstanding contributions to research, teaching or society.

Trang Hoang, O.Q., C.M., PhD

Officer, Ordre National du Québec
Commander, Ordre de Montréal
Principal Investigator, Hematopoiesis and Leukemia Research Unit, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC)
Full Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal

Trang Hoang completed her PhD at the Swiss Cancer Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland, and her postdoctoral trainings in the Department of Immunology, Cambridge University, UK, and in Medical Genetics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto. In 1986, she was recruited to the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal. She became Chair of the graduate program of Molecular Biology at UdeM for fifteen years, before assuming a position as Chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) for five years, until 2017.

Trang Hoang has been a tireless advocate of interdisciplinary research, and instilled this distinctive character to the Graduate program of Molecular Biology of UdeM in the nineties. In 2003, she contributed with several other colleagues to the creation of IRIC, a cutting-edge research institute that integrates systems biology and translational research. In 2006, she implemented with her colleagues at IRIC the new graduate curriculum in Systems biology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal, which later received the Award of excellence in graduate training from the Faculty of Medicine.  She has trained 92 students and postdoctoral fellows who later held leadership positions in academia, in biotech companies or in governmental agencies, including funding agencies. Throughout her career as mentor, she has fostered creativity in women and encouraged them to pursue careers in STEM fields. She has served on Canadian and international grant review panels, and on advisory boards of the Québec Health Research Funds (Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé) and of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.

Dr. Hoang’s research has provided decisive insights into the molecular mechanism of leukemogenesis, initiated by the oncogenic reprogramming of normal precursors into aberrantly self-renewing pre-leukemic stem cells. Replicative stress in these cells leads to the accumulation of additional mutations and converts pre-LSCs into hypercompetitive leukemia propagating cells.  Her current research involves quantitative analysis of chemical-genetic interactions in mammalian cells, using high throughput functional assays for the systematic identification of pre-LSC vulnerabilities.

Learn more on her webpage: https://www.iric.ca/en/research/principal-investigators/trang-hoang

 

Science Advocacy

Support Motion M-38 to create a Standing Committee on Science and Research

May 18, 7:30PM – Pint of Science on Science advocacy

Join a Pint Of Science Policy! We’ll hear from Dr Aerin Jacob, Toronto Science Policy Network’s Sivani Baskaran & Dr Tara Narwani on how scientists can approach policy and politics differently!

Registration:

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/science-policy/register?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=profile_web&utm_campaign=profile

Opportunities

Multiple opportunities available from the IUBMB

Read the latest IUBMB newsletter to view these opportunities, and visit their website for more information: iubmb.org

Recent job postings

• 2021 – 04 – 30 Two full-time probationary (tenure-track) faculty positions at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor – Western University
• 2021 – 03 – 30 Research coordinator – CoVaRR-Net Immunology and Functional Genomics Pillars coordinator
• 2021 – 03 – 30 Research Associate – Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Specialist
• 2021 – 03 – 24 Three Tenure-Track Positions in the Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
• 2021 – 03 – 23 Assistant Professor (Host-Pathogen Interactions) – University of Saskatchewan
• 2021 – 03 – 23 Assistant Professor (Immunology) – University of Saskatchewan

Don’t forget to renew your CSMB membership