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X-WR-CALNAME:Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
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TZID:America/Toronto
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DTSTART:20240310T070000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251212T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251212T164000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T213854Z
UID:52859-1765556700-1765557600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Rena Far
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: The effect of musical rhythms on human brain cell and circuit dynamics\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Taufik Valiante\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-rena-far/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251212T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251212T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T213854Z
UID:52858-1765555800-1765556700@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Osama Khan
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Drug delivery to lung cancer using prodrug-loaded microbubbles and endobronchial ultrasound\nSupervisor Name: Naomi Matsuura\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-osama-khan/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251209T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251209T130000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250408T173702Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251119T151633Z
UID:49402-1765281600-1765285200@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Invited Academic Seminar Series - Ross Ethier - Signalling pathways in myopia
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nMyopia (near-sightedness) is predicted to affect 50% of all people worldwide by 2050. Although near-sightedness itself can be corrected optically (glasses\, contacts)\, myopia increases the risk of blinding diseases (glaucoma\, retinal detachment\, etc.) and thus the increased incidence of myopia is predicted to be an important driver of vision loss worldwide. Most cases of myopia are due to excessive axial eye growth; unfortunately\, the signaling pathways underlying this axial growth are very poorly understood. We have found that oral administration of all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) causes myopia in mice\, implicating atRA as an important player in the myopigenic signaling cascade. In this talk\, I will describe our ongoing studies of myopigenic atRA signaling in the eye based on the use of mouse models\, atRA tracer studies and mathematical modeling. I will also describe studies of how atRA interacts with dopaminergic signaling and light levels (two known modulators of myopia).
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/invited-academic-seminar-series-ross-ethier/
LOCATION:Toronto Rehabilitation Institute\, 550 University Ave\, 2nd Floor Auditorium\, 550 University Ave\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5G 2A2\, Canada
CATEGORIES:BME Invited Academic Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Invited-speaker-series-2025-Ross-Ethier.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251120T192238Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251120T192238Z
UID:53744-1764953700-1764954600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Yinghe Sun
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Identifying generalizable features in peripheral nerve recordings for improved neuroprosthetic control\nAbstract:\nPeripheral nerve interfaces can be used to create advanced assistive technologies. Neural networks associated with multicontact nerve cuff electrodes can selectively record and discriminate neural recordings and facilitate neuroprosthetic control. Due to variations in device positioning and anatomy\, neural networks trained on one subject currently cannot generalize to others. To take advantage of available data from other subjects\, the objective was to train a neural network whose encoder portion can extract representations that generalize effectively when using transfer learning to adapt the classification to new subjects.\nThe study applied neural networks to classify naturally evoked compound action potentials corresponding to three different sensory stimuli. The datasets were obtained from the sciatic nerves of 9 Long-Evans Rats through 7×8-channel cuff electrodes. To leverage data from multiple subjects\, we pre-trained the network on either one subject or merged data from multiple subjects\, then used cross-validation to retrain and evaluate it on a separate target subject. Layer freezing was applied to identify which part of the encoder would best generalize.\nPre-training with merged datasets led to a significant increase in mean macro-F1 score compared to subject-specific models trained from scratch (0.810±0.130 vs 0.733±0.121\, p < 0.05)\, regardless of the number of frozen layers. Pre-training on a single subject did not lead to a significant improvement.\nA pre-training approach combining data from multiple subjects shows significant improvement in classification performance. The study developed an encoder that benefits classification performance on unseen subjects despite anatomical variability and device positioning differences.\nSupervisor Name: José Zariffa\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-yinghe-sun-2/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251120T192237Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251205T200737Z
UID:53743-1764953700-1764954600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Yinghe Sun
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Identifying generalizable features in peripheral nerve recordings for improved neuroprosthetic control\nAbstract:\nPeripheral nerve interfaces can be used to create advanced assistive technologies. Neural networks associated with multicontact nerve cuff electrodes can selectively record and discriminate neural recordings and facilitate neuroprosthetic control. Due to variations in device positioning and anatomy\, neural networks trained on one subject currently cannot generalize to others. To take advantage of available data from other subjects\, the objective was to train a neural network whose encoder portion can extract representations that generalize effectively when using transfer learning to adapt the classification to new subjects.\nThe study applied neural networks to classify naturally evoked compound action potentials corresponding to three different sensory stimuli. The datasets were obtained from the sciatic nerves of 9 Long-Evans Rats through 7×8-channel cuff electrodes. To leverage data from multiple subjects\, we pre-trained the network on either one subject or merged data from multiple subjects\, then used cross-validation to retrain and evaluate it on a separate target subject. Layer freezing was applied to identify which part of the encoder would best generalize.\nPre-training with merged datasets led to a significant increase in mean macro-F1 score compared to subject-specific models trained from scratch (0.810±0.130 vs 0.733±0.121\, p < 0.05)\, regardless of the number of frozen layers. Pre-training on a single subject did not lead to a significant improvement.\nA pre-training approach combining data from multiple subjects shows significant improvement in classification performance. The study developed an encoder that benefits classification performance on unseen subjects despite anatomical variability and device positioning differences.\nSupervisor Name: José Zariffa\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-yinghe-sun/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T165500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251205T200738Z
UID:52857-1764952800-1764953700@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Jathushan Kaetheeswaran
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Consumer-grade Smartwatches for Cardiovascular Monitoring\nAbstract: Consumer-grade smartwatches offer a new personalized health monitoring option for general consumers globally as cardiovascular diseases continue to prevail as the leading cause of global mortality. The development and validation of reliable cardiovascular monitoring algorithms for these consumer-grade devices requires realistic biosignal data from diverse sets of participants. However\, the availability of public consumer-grade smartwatch datasets with synchronized cardiovascular biosignals is limited\, and existing datasets do not offer rich demographic diversity in their participant cohorts\, leading to potentially biased algorithm development. This paper presents HEART-Watch\, a multimodal physiological dataset collected from temporally synchronized wrist-worn Google Pixel Watch 2 electrocardiogram (ECG)\, photoplethysmography\, and accelerometer signals from a diverse cohort of 40 healthy adults across three physical states – sitting\, standing and walking with reference chest ECG. Intermittent upper arm blood pressure measurements and concurrent biosignals were collected as an additional biomarker for future research.\nSupervisor Name: Milad Lankarany\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-jathushan-kaetheeswaran/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T164000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251205T200737Z
UID:52856-1764951900-1764952800@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Richard jiang
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Development of Customizable Biomaterials that Promote Cardiac Tissue Growth Through Mechanical and Physical Cues\nSupervisor Name: Milica Radisic\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-richard-jiang/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251205T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251205T200737Z
UID:52855-1764951000-1764951900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Jennifer Kieda
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: POMaC particles for use in tissue engineering\nSupervisor Name: Milica Radisic\nYear of Study: 5\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-jennifer-kieda/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251203T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251203T130000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251112T133546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251112T185145Z
UID:53669-1764763200-1764766800@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Open Defense - Development of Predictive Culture Models of Skeletal Muscle to Advance Muscle Stem Cell Therapeutics
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/open-defense-development-of-predictive-culture-models-of-skeletal-muscle-to-advance-muscle-stem-cell-therapeutics/
CATEGORIES:Events & Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Open-Defense-6.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251201T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251201T140000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251021T130834Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251021T131247Z
UID:52917-1764586800-1764597600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:BME Holiday Party 2025
DESCRIPTION:Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) is proud to host this year’s Institute-wide holiday celebration! Get out of your labs and offices\, socialize\, get to know one another\, and help build our community.
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/bme-holiday-party-2025/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Holiday-Party-2-2.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251016T172232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251121T192229Z
UID:52873-1763744100-1763745000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Rachel Leung
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Fracture Prediction using Deep Learning: Pre-Clinical application in Spinal µCT Imaging\nSupervisor Name: Michael Hardisty\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-rachel-leung-2/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T165500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251031T182228Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251121T192229Z
UID:53611-1763743200-1763744100@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Carolina Chavez Madero
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Using extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 signalling to predict muscle cells fate outcomes\nSupervisor Name: Penney Gilbert\nYear of Study: 6\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-carolina-chavez-madero-3/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T164000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251121T192229Z
UID:52854-1763742300-1763743200@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Nayana Menon
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Functional MRI in the White Matter: The Roles of Fibre Orientation and Hemodynamics\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Jean Chen\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-nayana-menon/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251121T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251015T172230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251121T192229Z
UID:52853-1763741400-1763742300@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Atoosa Ziyaeyan
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Investigating the interplay between gut microbiome\, monocytes/macrophages\, and osteoarthritis\nSupervisor Name: Sowmya Viswanathan\nYear of Study: 4\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-atoosa-ziyaeyan-2/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251118T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251118T150000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250918T144707Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251112T185056Z
UID:52548-1763474400-1763478000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Open Defense - The mechano-dynamics of actin in embryonic wound repair
DESCRIPTION:Committee: Tony Harris\, Alison McGuigan \n\n\n\nExternal examiners: Dorothea Godt (CSB)\, Amy Maddox (University of North Carolina)
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/open-defense-the-mechano-dynamics-of-actin-in-embryonic-wound-repair/
CATEGORIES:Events & Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Open-Defense-4.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251114T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251114T173000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251111T210441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251111T210534Z
UID:53665-1763136000-1763141400@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:BME 3-Minute Thesis Semifinals
DESCRIPTION:The 3MT competition takes place during the Graduate Student Seminar Time slot. All attendees will be given a credit for attendance counted towards their seminar attendance requirements.  \n\n\n\nHosted by BESA
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/3-minute-thesis-semifinals/
LOCATION:MS2158
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251113T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251113T140000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251016T183759Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251016T183953Z
UID:52885-1763038800-1763042400@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Probing pediatric cancer protein interactions at single-cell and single molecule scales
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/probing-pediatric-cancer-protein-interactions-at-single-cell-and-single-molecule-scales/
CATEGORIES:External Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/External-Speaker-2025-Freeman-Lan.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251111T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251111T130000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250408T173629Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T154706Z
UID:49400-1762862400-1762866000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Evaluating Real-World Hand Function after Neurological Injuries
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: The recovery of hand function is a key priority after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) and stroke. Evaluating hand function is essential to measuring the outcomes of new therapies as well as to supporting clinical care\, but observations in the clinic do not fully capture how the hands are being used in a person’s usual home and community environments. Video from wearable cameras (egocentric video) is a form of wearable technology that can provide both detailed information about hand movements as well as valuable contextual information. By leveraging deep learning for the automated analysis of egocentric video\, together with detailed consultations with clinicians and individuals living with SCI and stroke\, we propose novel solutions for how hand function is evaluated in research and clinical care.
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/evaluating-real-world-hand-function-after-neurological-injuries/
LOCATION:Toronto Rehabilitation Institute\, 550 University Ave\, 2nd Floor Auditorium\, 550 University Ave\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5G 2A2\, Canada
CATEGORIES:BME Invited Academic Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bme.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Invited-speaker-series-2025-4.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251107T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251107T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180504Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251107T190741Z
UID:52276-1762531800-1762532700@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - David Koivisto
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Investigating the Extent of Spinal Cord Involvement from Induced Central Sensitization at a Single Cervical Level\nAbstract:\nRepeated exposure to painful stimuli leads to neuroplastic changes in the central nervous system\, increasing pain sensitivity and separating pain from the original stimulus. Across chronic pain conditions\, these changes are referred to as central sensitization (CS). Current identification of CS is heavily influenced by patient bias and an objective biomarker for CS is needed to refine treatment strategies and improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of induced CS on motor units (MUs) across spinal levels through electromyography (EMG) and the sensory changes experienced by participants across dermatomes. This study aimed to recruit 24 (N=24) healthy male participants between 18-35 years of age. EMG and clinical sensory assessment measurements are taken at baseline and after the application of the heat/capsaicin model\, used to induce CS. The intervention is applied to the C3/C4 spinal level\, with subsequent testing at myotome and dermatome locations down to the C7 spinal level. Participants performed isometric ramp contractions of 10%\, 35%\, and 55% of their maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) for each muscle. An additional EMG measurement is taken from the level of intervention at 35% MVC following a brief painful stimulus. All EMG data is decomposed to evaluate firing characteristics from the same population of individual MU spike trains\, identified through MU tracking. Sensory testing showed a significant difference to the control group at the C3/C4 level. Early spike train feature results display a decrease in discharge rate across most muscles groups at each MVC level. The sensory results support the use of the modality used to induce CS. EMG may have the potential to be used as a biomarker for CS but\, further analysis is needed to identify\nEMG differences between healthy\, induced pain and CS conditions.\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Dinesh Kumbhare\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-david-koivisto/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251030
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20251101
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250730T140719Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250730T140719Z
UID:52130-1761782400-1761955199@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:CRANIA 2025 Conference
DESCRIPTION:The 4th annual CRANIA Conference will be held at the BMO Conference Centre at the Toronto Western Hospital located in downtown Toronto on October 30 and 31\, 2025. The conference features keynotes\, workshops\, and panel discussions on comprehensive topics pertaining to the emerging field of neuromodulation. Our goal is to provide a highly-interactive environment which will foster learning and networking for all those who are interested in neuromodulation. \nThe annual CRANIA Conference is a forum of students\, scientists\, clinicians\, engineers\, neurosurgeons\, mathematicians\, psychologists and others involved in the development of neuromodulation procedures and device creation who have come together to shape the future of the industry. \nCRANIA Conference Website\n\nSpeakers\nSchedule\nSponsors & Partners\nRegister\n\nPlease be aware that photography and video may be taken during the event and used on our websites\, social media\, and other promotional materials.
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/crania-2025-conference/
LOCATION:BMO Conference Centre\, Toronto Western Hospital\, 60 Leonard Ave\, Toronto\, ON M5T 2R1
CATEGORIES:Lectures, seminars and workshops
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T180735Z
UID:52306-1761324900-1761325800@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Dianoosh Kalhory
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: In Vitro Model for Screening RNA/Drug Delivery by Lipid Nanoparticles for Treatment of Lung Diseases\nAbstract:\nThe goal of my research is to create a medium- or high-throughput LOC model for screening RNA-based drugs encapsulated in LNPs by using a bioprinting-on-chip technique. To reach this goal\, my thesis will be structured around three specific aims that will develop into a MF platform for in vitro lung disease modeling and screening RNA-based drugs for the treatment of lung diseases.\nAim 1: Formation of a gel-embedded bi-layer lung epithelial cells and microvascular endothelial cells at the air-liquid interface\nAim 2: Design\, fabrication\, and development of a lung-on-chip platform\nAim 3: Encapsulation of micro-ribonucleic acids in lipid nanoparticles and their delivery to lung cells\nSupervisor Name: Eugenia Kumacheva & Gilbert Walker\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-dianoosh-kalhory/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T165500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20251007T165244Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T180735Z
UID:52732-1761324000-1761324900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Barry Bytensky
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Simulating Focused Ultrasound Therapies for Paediatric Retinoblastoma\nAbstract: Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children and has a high survival rate due to the removal of eyes with large tumours. In most cases\, chemotherapy is used to reduce the size of tumours\, which may fail to prevent the cancer from coming back and can damage surrounding tissues in the eye. New treatments seek to precisely target tumours without harming healthy tissues. Focused ultrasound is a non-invasive therapeutic tool that concentrates sound waves within a volume the size of a grain of rice. This may be used for burning eye tumours directly\, or to improve the delivery of chemotherapy drugs. This\, in turn\, may enable improved eye tumour treatment. To investigate potential ultrasound therapies\, a computer program was developed that can simulate the ultrasound and thermal properties of the eye in 3D. Using paediatric eye models from patient MRI scans\, simulations have suggested focused ultrasound can be used to heat retinoblastoma tumours without damaging surrounding structures such as the lens. In this research project\, tissue-mimicking eye models will be developed\, and their ultrasound and thermal properties will be measured. Simulated and experimentally measured temperatures in these models will be compared to ensure the computer program can accurately predict treatment results. Furthermore\, this computer program will be developed into a comprehensive treatment planning tool to determine ideal treatment configurations and design new ultrasound systems. Finally\, this tool will be used in animal studies investigating the use of ultrasound to treat eye cancers. This will result in a simulation platform which can be used to predict the outcomes of a wide range of ultrasound treatments.\nSupervisor Name: George Ibrahim\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-barry-bytensky/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T165500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T180735Z
UID:52307-1761324000-1761324900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Canceled: Graduate Student Seminar Series - Fanglin Gong
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Engineering of Amino Acid-Derived Ionizable Lipids Enables Inhaled Base Editing for Therapeutic Gene Correction in the Lung\nAbstract: CRISPR-based gene editing holds promise for treating genetic diseases\, yet its application to lung disorders has been hindered by the challenges of pulmonary delivery. Inspired by the modularity and biocompatibility of amino acid-derived chemistries\, we report the combinatorial synthesis of 960 ionizable lipids incorporating chemically diverse backbones from both proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic α-amino acids. Through high-throughput screening and structure-function analysis\, we identify CHCha-10\, a cyclohexyl amino acid-derived lipid that forms biodegradable nanoparticles capable of efficiently delivering mRNA-based gene editors to lung epithelial cells. Following intratracheal administration\, CHCha-10 nanoparticles exhibit enhanced mucus penetration\, and epithelial-specific transfection in both mice and ferrets. As a functional application\, we demonstrate the first instance of in vivo base editing in the lung via inhalation. Delivery of adenine base editor mRNA and guide RNA targeting the CFTR G542X mutation restores CFTR expression and chloride channel function in G542X human airway epithelial cells\, mouse-derived intestinal organoids\, and the lungs of cystic fibrosis mice. This work establishes a chemically modular design framework for ionizable lipids and a translatable platform for RNA-based pulmonary gene correction.\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Bowen Li\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nCancellation Reason:\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-fanglin-gong/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T164000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T180735Z
UID:52305-1761323100-1761324000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Matthew Jenkins
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Ultrasound Guided Histotripsy for IVH Clot Lysis\nSupervisor Name: Adam Waspe and George Ibrahim\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-matthew-jenkins/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251024T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251024T180735Z
UID:52304-1761322200-1761323100@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Canceled: Graduate Student Seminar Series - Madhumitha Ramamurthy
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Understanding the roles of resident macrophages in osteoarthritis progression\nSupervisor Name: Sowmya Viswanathan\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nCancellation Reason:\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-madhumitha-ramamurthy/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251017T173749Z
UID:52302-1760720100-1760721000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Shaurya Gupta
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Robot-assisted Hydrogel Injection for Spinal Cord Injury Repair\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Albert Yee\nYear of Study: 5\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-shaurya-gupta/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T165500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251017T173749Z
UID:52303-1760719200-1760720100@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Kate MacQuarrie
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Selecting the optimal support cell type for the autologous endothelialization of a vascular graft\nAbstract:\nThe endothelialization of vascular scaffolds\, such as small-diameter vascular grafts\, has been a long-standing goal in the tissue engineering field. To date\, there has been a lack of suitable sources of endothelial cells\, and even when endothelial cells are available\, they have taken too long to confluently endothelialize the scaffolds\, limiting clinical adoption.\nOur group has shown that there is a suitable source of endothelial cells within fat tissue\, termed human adipose-derived microvascular endothelial cells (HAMVECs). Further\, our group has shown that when HAMVECs are cultured across from adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) on a porous\, electrospun scaffold\, the scaffold can be confluently endothelialized in 2 days.\nSeparately\, our lab has shown that these ASCs can be differentiated to produce contractile\, smooth muscle cell (SMC)-like cells (VSMCs). Further\, VSMCs’ extracellular matrix (ECM) production can be stimulated by the direct co-culture of VSMCs with monocytes.\nMy project has involved assessing the phenotype of the co-cultured endothelia\, determining which support cell type (ASCs\, VSMCs\, or VSMC+monocytes) is best for producing a confluent endothelium\, and ultimately\, producing autologously endothelialized grafts.\nIn studying the effects of co-culture on the resulting endothelia\, my work thus far has demonstrated that co-culturing HAMVECs with ASCs significantly increases endothelialization as early as two hours after seeding compared to monocultured HAMVECs. Using an array that detects over 50 proteins produced in the culture media\, I found that HAMVEC+ASC co-culture promotes a less angiogenic character. Furthermore\, I showed via immunostaining that co-culture increases junctional linearity and HAMVEC elongation\, increases vasodilator-related protein production\, and decreases inflammatory protein production and white blood cell adhesion.\nIn assessing which type of support cells are best suited for scaffold endothelialization\, I found that ASCs\, VSMCs\, or VSMC+monocytes could all support 70-80% endothelialization within 24 hours\, compared to <25% with HAMVECs alone. I performed mass spectrometry\, which validated that any type of co-culture reduced the expression of inflammatory endothelial markers relative to monoculture. However\, in the proteomic assessment\, and through immunostaining\, we saw that using VSMCs or VSMC+monocytes increased the expression of proteins involved in contraction and of SMC character. Furthermore\, via histological staining and a biochemical assay\, we saw that including monocytes in the co-culture system with VSMCs increased elastin production.\nThus far\, we have shown that in addition to accelerating endothelialization\, co-culturing HAMVECs with any of the three support cell types produces a healthier and less thrombogenic endothelium\, but differentiated VSMCs are needed for the support cells to have a biomimetic\, contractile phenotype in co-culture. Furthermore\, including monocytes increases elastin deposition\, which is important for both compliance and support cell maturity.\nCurrent and future work involves further assessing the hemocompatibility of the endothelia and producing tubular grafts seeded with VSMC+monocytes and endothelialized with HAMVECs in a perfusion bioreactor.\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Paul Santerre\nYear of Study: 4\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-kate-macquarrie-3/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T164000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251017T173749Z
UID:52301-1760718300-1760719200@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Dana Brinson
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: The effects of biophysical cues on directed differentiation of hiPSCs into distal lung cells\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Thomas Waddell and Dr. Golnaz Karoubi\nYear of Study: 5\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-dana-brinson/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251017T162500
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251017T173749Z
UID:52300-1760717400-1760718300@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Lachlan Greechan
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Towards Renal Autonomic Control via​ a Neurovascular interface for treating Hypotensive Disorders\nAbstract: This presentation will entail the work to date on developing a closed-loop system for regulating blood pressure via renal nerve stimulation\, including background\, methods\, preliminary results\, and discussion on continuing research.\nSupervisor Name: Paul Yoo\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-lachlan-greechan/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251010T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251010T171000
DTSTAMP:20260529T154333
CREATED:20250905T180505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251010T172240Z
UID:52297-1760115300-1760116200@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Julia Takimoto
DESCRIPTION:Graduate Student Seminar Series\nPlease ensure you invite your Principal Investigator by adding their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.\nLocation: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle\nPresentation Title: Quantifying the Rotational Stiffness of 3D Printed Ankle Foot Orthotics\nAbstract:\nBackground and Rationale: Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) are assistive devices designed to improve gait biomechanics and/or correct structural abnormalities. AFOs are commonly prescribed in a multitude of cases\, including stroke\, osteoarthritis\, cerebral palsy\, spinal cord injury\, foot drop\, and clubfoot. Their use has been found to improve dorsiflexion angle\, gait speed\, stride length\, and reduce energy cost. Recent improvements to 3D printing technology have made it a commercially viable manufacturing method for custom orthoses. To 3D print an orthotic\, a scan of the lower limb is taken and digitally manipulated to achieve the desired AFO characteristics. Key characteristics of AFOs are rotational stiffness and shape\, affecting safety\, comfort and function\, which are fine-tuned during the post-processing phase of manufacturing. While it is not a common part of clinical practice\, the prediction of these characteristics can be assisted using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the computer-aided design (CAD) models or empirical testing. Current testing methods to verify the predicted characteristics are modelled after lower-limb prosthetics\, but no ISO standards for AFO testing have been established and methods presented in research are not commercially available. Furthermore\, it is not feasible for many orthotic clinics to develop a custom testing machine\, so this project seeks solutions that can potentially be applied in clinical practice.\nObjectives and aims: The main goal of this project is to develop and assess techniques for assessing the strength and stiffness of AFOs.\nTo achieve this\, I aim to: (1) Develop a testing apparatus and procedure to quantify the material properties and behaviour of 3D printed AFOs under static and dynamic loading conditions and determine the apparatus reliability within testing cycles and across testing sessions. This procedure will serve as a gold standard that other methods will be compared to. (2) Use said apparatus to test key aspects of AFO post-processing. (3) Develop and evaluate a low-technology\, clinically-viable process for AFO stiffness testing.\nMethodology: (1) A custom apparatus will be designed for attaching AFOs to mimic walking within a universal tensile machine (UTM). The apparatus will apply loading to a surrogate shank\, with the AFO footplate fixed (in a non-destructive manner) to isolate motion to the ankle joint. The primary measure will be rotational stiffness in the sagittal plane\, which is the key characteristic in the design and prescription of AFOs\, but also a common cause of structural failure in long-term AFO use. (2) Measure the effects of heat treatment for shape modification and dyeing the AFOs and compare to FEA predictions of AFO behaviour. (3) Analyse current benchtop stiffness testing and develop a methodology optimised for clinical use\, prioritising low cost and ease of use.\nSignificance & Contribution to Advancement of Knowledge: The rotational stiffness of custom and pre-made AFOs is typically unknown. Traditional plaster casting methods for custom AFOs rely on an orthotist to visually determine when an appropriate stiffness has been achieved\, without quantification. Pre-made AFOs are sold with their stiffness on an arbitrary range from low to high. 3D printing provides the opportunity for orthotists to manufacture AFOs with specific stiffnesses; however\, many orthotists are unfamiliar with prescribing a numerical stiffness value. Creating a standard quantification method enables further study of the impact of specific AFO design characteristics on users’ gaits. This leads to better AFO prescriptions and aids the development of AFO standards.\nSupervisor Name: Jan Andrysek\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-julia-takimoto/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR