CPIN Research Day
Wednesday, June 30, starting at 12:00PM noon.
Program Booklet (New!)
Presentation Instructions
Presentation Peer Evaluation Form- all non-judge attendees may fill this out
Judges' Evaluation Form Upload
CPIN Research Day Speakers:
 Dr. Marla B. Sokolowski is a University Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is an award-winning, internationally-renowned behaviour geneticist whose ground breaking research has permanently changed the way we frame questions about individual differences in behaviour. Her comprehensive, multidisciplinary analyses of gene‐environment interactions have been instrumental in refuting longstanding ideas of genetic determinism. Professor Sokolowski’s foundational discoveries in the fruit fly and other diverse animal systems — including humans — continue to shape fundamental concepts in behavioural evolution, genetic pleiotropy, and plasticity. She has well over 200 publications, 250 invited lectures and has supervised over 20 postdoctoral fellows and 40 graduate students. She has received Distinguished Visiting Professorships in the US and Europe where she contributes regularly to graduate education. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair from 2001-2015 and a Fellow of Massey College in 2004. She received the Genetics Society of Canada’s Award of Excellence in 2007 and became a senior fellow of CIFAR in 2013. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 by the RSC. In 2014 she received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the International Behaviour and Neurogenetics Society and was also awarded a University Professorship by University of Toronto. She was the Weston Fellow co-director of CIFARs Child and Brain Development Programme from 2008-2019. She directed the Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Sciences of the RSC from 2009-2012. In 2020 she was awarded the RSC’s Flavelle Medal for research in the biological sciences. |  Dr. Xiao Yu (Shirley) Wu is a full professor in advanced pharmaceutics and drug delivery. She was trained in polymer science and engineering and earned her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University with a thesis on polyelectrolytes and stimulus-responsive nanohydrogels. After over two-year postdoctoral research in pharmaceutics and drug delivery at the University of Toronto, she joined the Faculty of Pharmacy in 1994 and progressed to Full Professor in 2006. Dr. Wu has directed a highly innovative and interdisciplinary research program and is an internationally recognized expert and leader in controlled release dosage forms and novel drug delivery strategies and systems. She has played a leading role in teaching pharmaceutics and drug delivery at both graduate and undergraduate levels and provided excellent multidisciplinary training in polymeric materials, pharmaceutics, drug delivery and drug development to ~170 graduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral researchers in her laboratory. Dr. Wu has published ~180 journal papers and book chapters, and ~300 conference proceedings and abstracts, and delivered ~130 invited presentations. She is a co-inventor of 30 issued or pending patent applications worldwide. She is a three-time recipient of Connaught Innovation Award of the University of Toronto. She has also received a number of national and international awards including Astra Pharma-AFPC New Investigator Research Award (1999), elected Fellow of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) (2014), AFPC-Pfizer Research Career Award (2016), and Killam Research Fellowship (2019-2021) |
Dr. Marla B. Sokolowski is a University Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is an award-winning, internationally-renowned behaviour geneticist whose ground breaking research has permanently changed the way we frame questions about individual differences in behaviour. Her comprehensive, multidisciplinary analyses of gene‐environment interactions have been instrumental in refuting longstanding ideas of genetic determinism. Professor Sokolowski’s foundational discoveries in the fruit fly and other diverse animal systems — including humans — continue to shape fundamental concepts in behavioural evolution, genetic pleiotropy, and plasticity. She has well over 200 publications, 250 invited lectures and has supervised over 20 postdoctoral fellows and 40 graduate students. She has received Distinguished Visiting Professorships in the US and Europe where she contributes regularly to graduate education. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair from 2001-2015 and a Fellow of Massey College in
2004. She received the Genetics Society of Canada’s Award of Excellence in 2007 and became a senior fellow of CIFAR in 2013. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 by the RSC. In 2014 she received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the International Behaviour and Neurogenetics Society and was also awarded a University Professorship by University of Toronto. She was the Weston Fellow co-director of CIFARs Child and Brain Development Programme from 2008-2019. She directed the Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Sciences of the RSC from 2009-2012. In 2020 she was awarded the RSC’s Flavelle Medal for research in the biological sciences.
Dr. Xiao Yu (Shirley) Wu is a full professor in advanced pharmaceutics and drug delivery. She was trained in polymer science and engineering and earned her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University with a thesis on polyelectrolytes and stimulus-responsive nanohydrogels. After over two-year postdoctoral research in pharmaceutics and drug delivery at the University of Toronto, she joined the Faculty of Pharmacy in 1994 and progressed to Full Professor in 2006. Dr. Wu has directed a highly innovative and interdisciplinary research program and is an internationally recognized expert and leader in controlled release dosage forms and novel drug delivery strategies and systems. She has played a leading role in teaching pharmaceutics and drug delivery at both graduate and undergraduate levels and provided excellent multidisciplinary training in polymeric materials, pharmaceutics, drug delivery and drug development to ~170 graduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral researchers in her laboratory. Dr. Wu has published ~180 journal papers and book chapters, and ~300 conference proceedings and abstracts, and delivered ~130 invited presentations. She is a co-inventor of 30 issued or pending patent applications worldwide. Her recent research projects include the design of blood-brain barrier-penetrating polymeric nanoparticles for therapy and imaging of brain cancer and CNS diseases, polymer-lipid hybrid nanoparticles of synergistic drug combination for the treatment of multidrug resistant and metastatic breast cancer, hybrid bioreactive manganese dioxide nanoparticles for remodeling tumor microenvironment and improving tumor therapies, intelligent polymer and nanotechnology-enabled hormone delivery systems for diabetes, and computer-aided design of controlled release drug delivery systems. She is a three-time recipient of Connaught Innovation Award of the University of Toronto. She has also received a number of national and international awards including Astra Pharma-AFPC New Investigator Research Award (1999), elected Fellow of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) (2014), AFPC-Pfizer Research Career Award (2016), and Killam Research Fellowship (2019-2021)
Her recent research projects include the design of blood-brain barrier-penetrating polymeric nanoparticles for therapy and imaging of brain cancer and CNS diseases, polymer-lipid hybrid nanoparticles of synergistic drug combination for the treatment of multidrug resistant and metastatic breast cancer, hybrid bioreactive manganese dioxide nanoparticles for remodeling tumor microenvironment and improving tumor therapies, intelligent polymer and nanotechnology-enabled hormone delivery systems for diabetes, and computer-aided design of controlled release drug delivery systems.
| Section I. Welcome & Opening Remarks & CPIN Faculty Lectures | |
| 12:00 p.m. - 12:20p.m. | Welcome and opening remarks Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng, Director, Collaborative Program In Neuroscience (CPIN); Professor, Department of Physiology & IMS, University of Toronto Dr. Melanie A. Woodin, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science; Professor, Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto |
| 12:20 p.m. - 1:30p.m. | Symposium “Frontiers in Neuroscience” (Co-Chairs: Dr. Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi & Dr. Jeff Henderson) Dr. Marla B. Sokolowski, University Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto; Co-Director, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Child & Brain Development Programme; Weston Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Fellow, Royal Society of Canada; Senior Fellow, Massey College “The foraging gene as a modifier of behaviour: gene regulation, pleiotropy and plasticity”
“Early Detection of Alzheimer’s CSF Pathology by MRI with Multifunctional Nanoparticles” |
| Section II. CPIN Trainee Presentations (Breakout Rooms) | |
| 1:30 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. | CPIN Trainee Presentations – Breakout Rooms & Theme of the Presentations |
| Section III. CPIN Trainee Workshops (Main Conference Room: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/85234372089) | |
| 3:40 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. | Conducting a Meta-Analysis - A Beginner’s Guide Sarah Eide, PhD Candidate (Supervisor: Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng), Department of Physiology, University of Toronto
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| Section IV. Awards Ceremony, Closing Remarks (Main Conference Room: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/85234372089) | |
| 4:40p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Awards Ceremony Closing |
To volunteer for the CPIN Research Day, please fill out the volunteer form.
We are pleased to invite you to the Winter
Removed From 2020 Winter Page
Abstract submission is now closed. Registration is still open.
Abstract submission deadline is December 11, 2020.
To volunteer for the CPIN Research Day, please fill out the volunteer form.
Due to the COVID-19 concerns we regret to announce that the CPIN Research Day events in May have been po
stponed and cancelled.
The Inauguration of the Max Plank Centre in collaboration with CPIN, which was to take place on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, has been postponed to the Fall.
The annual Southern Ontario Neuroscience Association (SONA) symposium in collaboration with CPIN, which was to take place on Friday, May 22 2020, has been cancelled.
Students graduating in November 2020 who still have an outstanding presentation requirement to fulfil, please contact the CPIN office at p.neuroscience@utoronto.ca to explore alternate options, well in advance of your Thesis defense.
Registration and abstract submission are now open:
CPIN Trainees Registration
CPIN Faculty Registration
Non-CPIN members please register through the SONA website for the Southern Ontario Neuroscience Association (SONA) symposium in collaboration with CPIN.
Information for Non-CPIN member registration for May 13 will be posted shortly.
To volunteer for the CPIN Research Day events, please fill out the volunteer form.
Southern Ontario Neuroscience Association (SONA) symposium in collaboration with CPIN, May 22, 2020
Keynote:
Eric Klann, Professor and Director of the Center for Neural Science at NYU
Speakers:
Marla Sokolowski, University Professor and Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, University of Toronto
Tim Bussey, Scientist and Western Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience, Robarts Research Institute
Nathalie Bérubé, Scientist at the Child Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario
Melissa Perreault, Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph
Caroline Menard, Assistant Professor and Sentinel North Junior Research Chair the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Universite Laval
The 2018 CPIN Research Day will be held on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at the U of T Medical Sciences Building. The event starts with a workshop on Communication featuring professional storytelling coach Sage Tyrtle, a networking session led by a UofT Career Educator, and talks by CPIN alumni/students on alternative career paths in the morning, followed by Research Poster Presentations by CPIN students and postdoctoral fellows during lunch time.
The Symposium with the theme of Mental Health will be co-organized by the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute ASR Suicide and Depression Studies Unit, St. Michael’s Hospital, in the afternoon. The event will start with TSN Radio host and mental health advocate Michael Landsberg (Canadian sports journalist and host of TSN Radio’s Landsberg in the Morning) who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and depression and is a robust supporter for mental health awareness. Three scientific talks will be delivered by U of T Professors Jeffrey Meyer, Etienne Sibille, and Kang Lee.
2018 Research Day Program Booklet 2018 Research Day Flyer
Awards Ceremony
4:00 – 4:30
Reception
4:30 – 5:30
Please register and submit your abstracts through the links below.
Note 1. Only CPIN members are eligible for poster presentation abstract submissions. (Abstract submission is closed now)
Note 2. For the CPIN faculty members who will be available to serve as the Poster Judge, please register via CPIN Faculty Registration.
Note 3. For the CPIN trainee members who will be available to volunteer at the Research Day, please register via CPIN Trainee Registration.
This event is open to everyone inside and outside U of T. Havequestions or interested in signing up? Email us at cpin.researchday2018@gmail.com or p.neuroscience@utoronto.ca
Photo credits in the Research Day Events: Hong-Shuo Sun, Isabelle Aubert, Suhail Asrar and Denis Osipov
Click here for the 2014 CPIN Research Day Report
The 2014 University of Toronto CPIN Research Day & the International Symposium on Synaptic Plasticity and Brain Disorders was held in collaboration with the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in honour of Professor John C. Roder on April 8, 2014. Dr. Graham Collingridge, Professor of Neuroscience in Anatomy in the School of Physiology & Pharmacology at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom & Fellow of the Royal Society, delivered the 2014 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture. Over 250 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty members & friends attended the CPIN Research Day.
Click here for the 2014 Research Day Program Booklet
The CPIN Research Day began with a welcome by Prof. Zhong-Ping Feng, the CPIN Director, at 9:30 a.m. at the Stone Lobby of the Medical Sciences Building. Prof. Feng also acknowledged the Research Day sponsors and the CPIN participating departments/units from 6 Faculties at the University of Toronto. Prof. Jeff Henderson, the Chair of the CPIN Poster Award committee, acknowledged the faculty judges and announced the evaluation process for Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Presentations and the Student‘s Choice Poster Presentation Awards.Poster Presentations and Evaluations 82 poster presentations were given by the CPIN trainees at the MSB Stone Lobby from 9:30 to 11:30 am. The presentations were evaluated by 25 poster judges based on visual presentation, project content, oral presentation and the ability to answer questions. 11 Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentations and 2 Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Presentations were recognized by the faculty judges. The CPIN students also voted for their favored posters, resulting in 3 Student Choice Poster Presentation Awards. This inter-faculty and inter-department interactive event was a tremendous success. The CPIN Executive Committee would like thank all participants, the poster judges, and graduate student volunteers.
CPIN Research Day Sponsorship The 2014 CPIN Research Day Organizing Committee wish to acknowledge the following sponsors: the Faculty of Medicine (Graduate and Life Sciences Education; Research and International Relations), Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (Mount Sinai Hospital), St. Michael’s Neuroscience Research Program, the Brain Sciences Research Program at the Sunnybrook Research Institute, Parkinson Society Canada, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation, and the 15 CPIN participating Departments and their faculties: Departments of Cell & System Biology, Psychology, and Computer Science from Faculty of Arts and Science; Graduate Department of Dentistry from Faculty of Dentistry; Departments of Biochemistry, Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, Medical Biophysics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Rehabilitation Science, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, and Institute of Medical Science from Faculty of Medicine; Graduate Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Faculty of Pharmacy; Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development from Ontario Institute For Studies in Education; and the Graduate Department of Music from Faculty of Music. (http://neuroscience.utoronto.ca/events/CPIN_ Research_Day.htm)
The first session of the International Symposium was chaired by Prof. Lu-Yang Wang (Professor, Dept. of Physiology). The notable speakers included Dr. Jeff Henderson (Associate Professor, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences), Dr. Robert Gerlai (Professor, Dept. of Psychology), Dr. Donglin Bai (Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, UWO), and Dr. Ana Martinez (Professor, Medicinal Chemistry Institute of Spanish National Council for Research) who delivered the CPIN Distinguished Lecture. Prof. Zhengping Jia (Professor, Dept. of Physiology) chaired the second session and introduced the notable speakers, Dr. Albert Wong (Associate Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology) , Dr. Michael Tymianski (Professor, Depts. of Surgery and Physiology) , and Dr. Michael Salter (Professor, Depts. Of Physiology and IMS). Prof. Zhong-Ping Feng introduced the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Visiting Neuroscientist at the University of Toronto Lecture Series and acknowledged the sponsorships. Prof. Michael Salter introduced the 2014 Sackler Lecturer/Symposium keynote lecturer, Dr. Graham Collingridge. Dr. Collingridge is a Professor of Neuroscience in Anatomy in the School of Physiology & Pharmacology at the University of Bristol, UK and a Fellow of The Royal Society since 2001. Dr. Collingridge is also a former Director of the MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity and former president of the British Neuroscience Association. Dr. Collingridge delivered a world-class lecture on memory mechanisms in health and disease, and highlighted the roles of different forms of synaptic plasticity in these states. The lecture was educational, informative and inspirational.
Congratulates to Awardees
Following the Sackler/Keynote Lecture, Prof. Jeff Henderson announced the winners of the Graduate Student and the Postdoctoral Fellow Outstanding Poster Presentation Awards, and the Student’s Choice Poster Presentation Winners. Prof. Zhong-Ping Feng presented the Lifetime-Achievement Award to Professor John C. Roder.
Graduate Student Outstanding Poster Presentation Awards
Marie K. Bermejo (Pharmacology; Supervisor: Ali Salahpour)Marielle Deurloo (Physiology; Supervisor: Zhong-Ping Feng)
Katie Ferguson (Physiology; Supervisor: Frances Skinner)
Sean Haffey (Physiology; Supervisor: Beverley Orser)
Celeste Leung (Physiology; Supervisor: Zhengping Jia)
Lia Mesbah-Oskui (Physiology; Supervisor: John C. Roder)
Hyemin Oh (IMS; Supervisor: Lucy Osborne)
Rageen Rajendram (IMS; Supervisor: Paul Arnold)
Morrison Steel (IMS; Supervisor: Karen Gordon)
Nikolaus Wolter (IMS; Supervisor: Karen Gordon)
Agnieszka Zurek (Physiology; Supervisor: Beverley Orser)
Student’s Choice Poster Presentation Winners
Aaron Kucyi (IMS; Supervisor: Karen Davis)
Steven Tran (CSB; Supervisor: Robert Gerlai)
Axel Guskjolen (Physiology; Supervisor: Paul Frankland)
Postdoctoral Fellow Outstanding Poster Presentation Awards
Benjamin Dunkley (Sick Kids; Supervisor: Margot J. Taylor)
Jacqueline Gleave (CSB; Supervisor: Joanne Nash)
The immense success of the 2014 CPIN Research Day and the Symposium is attributable to the enormous team effort by the CPIN faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and CPIN Research Day/Symposium Organizers, particularly the CPIN Research Day Sponsors.
The 2014 CPIN Research Day was generously sponsored by:
