BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) - ECPv6.16.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Toronto
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T162500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260201T172236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T172235Z
UID:60072-1770394200-1770395100@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Usha Kabilan
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Macrophage-Fibroblast crosstalk in lung fibrosis\nAbstract:\nBackground: Lung fibrosis is a devastating disease that can affect all organs post-injury due to inadequate repair by activated fibroblasts. These so-called myofibroblasts (MFs) accumulate collagen during fibrosis\, resulting in progressive lung stiffening and respiratory failure. Another hallmark of fibrosis is extracellular activation of transforming growth factor-β1 from latent complexes (L-TGF-β1) by fibroblast αv integrins. TGF-β1 drives fibroblast-to-MF activation and renders them resistant to apoptotic clearance. We published that contact with macrophages (Mϕ) mediates chronic TGF-β1 signalling in lung fibroblasts. How L-TGF-β1 is presented by Mϕ in the lung remains unclear.\nHypothesis: Presentation of L-TGF-β1 on the surface of Mϕ for activation by fibroblasts in direct contact results in chronic MF activation and survival.\nObjective: To elucidate how L-TGF-β1-presenting Mϕ and TGF-β1-activating MFs create a pro-fibrotic niche of active TGF-β1.\nMethods: Monocytes from mouse bone marrow and human peripheral blood were polarized using cytokine cocktails that mimic normal\, inflammatory\, and fibrotic lung conditions. Mϕ polarization and expression of L-TGF-β1 presenting membrane proteins (“tethers”) such as GARP and NRROS were assessed using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR. Mϕ expressing L-TGF-β1 tethers were co-cultured with fibroblasts\, and TGF-β1 activation was quantified using αSMA (alpha-smooth muscle actin) expression\, an MF marker\, using Immunofluorescence microscopy. Gene silencing of L-TGF-β1 tethers and inhibition of αv integrins were used to modulate TGF-β1 activation in co-cultures.\nResults: Polarization with GM-CSF and IL-13\, cytokines that are characteristic of the lung alveolar microenvironment\, produced CD163+CD200R+ alveolar-like Mϕ (ALMs). ALMs expressed high levels of TGF-β1\, and the L-TGF-β1 tethers GARP\, while no difference in NRROS gene expression. GARP loss and integrin inhibition from ALMs in co-cultures with fibroblasts disrupted TGF-β1 and MF activation that drives lung fibrosis.\nConclusion and Significance: Presentation of L-TGF-β1 by GARP on the surface of ALMs to αv integrin-expressing fibroblasts is crucial for MF activation. Specifically inhibiting GARP-TGF-β1 may represent a novel targeted approach to block MF activation in lung fibrosis.\nSupervisor Name: Boris Hinz\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-usha-kabilan/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T162500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260201T172236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260201T172236Z
UID:60073-1770394200-1770395100@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Usha Kabilan
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Macrophage-Fibroblast crosstalk in lung fibrosis\nAbstract:\nBackground: Lung fibrosis is a devastating disease that can affect all organs post-injury due to inadequate repair by activated fibroblasts. These so-called myofibroblasts (MFs) accumulate collagen during fibrosis\, resulting in progressive lung stiffening and respiratory failure. Another hallmark of fibrosis is extracellular activation of transforming growth factor-β1 from latent complexes (L-TGF-β1) by fibroblast αv integrins. TGF-β1 drives fibroblast-to-MF activation and renders them resistant to apoptotic clearance. We published that contact with macrophages (Mϕ) mediates chronic TGF-β1 signalling in lung fibroblasts. How L-TGF-β1 is presented by Mϕ in the lung remains unclear.\nHypothesis: Presentation of L-TGF-β1 on the surface of Mϕ for activation by fibroblasts in direct contact results in chronic MF activation and survival.\nObjective: To elucidate how L-TGF-β1-presenting Mϕ and TGF-β1-activating MFs create a pro-fibrotic niche of active TGF-β1.\nMethods: Monocytes from mouse bone marrow and human peripheral blood were polarized using cytokine cocktails that mimic normal\, inflammatory\, and fibrotic lung conditions. Mϕ polarization and expression of L-TGF-β1 presenting membrane proteins (“tethers”) such as GARP and NRROS were assessed using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR. Mϕ expressing L-TGF-β1 tethers were co-cultured with fibroblasts\, and TGF-β1 activation was quantified using αSMA (alpha-smooth muscle actin) expression\, an MF marker\, using Immunofluorescence microscopy. Gene silencing of L-TGF-β1 tethers and inhibition of αv integrins were used to modulate TGF-β1 activation in co-cultures.\nResults: Polarization with GM-CSF and IL-13\, cytokines that are characteristic of the lung alveolar microenvironment\, produced CD163+CD200R+ alveolar-like Mϕ (ALMs). ALMs expressed high levels of TGF-β1\, and the L-TGF-β1 tethers GARP\, while no difference in NRROS gene expression. GARP loss and integrin inhibition from ALMs in co-cultures with fibroblasts disrupted TGF-β1 and MF activation that drives lung fibrosis.\nConclusion and Significance: Presentation of L-TGF-β1 by GARP on the surface of ALMs to αv integrin-expressing fibroblasts is crucial for MF activation. Specifically inhibiting GARP-TGF-β1 may represent a novel targeted approach to block MF activation in lung fibrosis.\nSupervisor Name: Boris Hinz\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-usha-kabilan-2/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T164000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251220T181936Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T172235Z
UID:59825-1770395100-1770396000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Soroush Mehraban
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Efficient Video-Based Human Motion Understanding for Gait Analysis\nSupervisor Name: Babak Taati\nYear of Study: 4\nProgram of Study: PhD\nReschedule Reason: Updating seminar location\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-soroush-mehraban-2/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T165500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260109T163747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T172235Z
UID:59954-1770396000-1770396900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Zeeshan Siddiqui
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Examining Dimensionality Reduction and Clustering Techniques to Identify Neuroanatomical Subgroups Across Neurodevelopmental Conditions\nAbstract: Neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) such as autism\, ADHD\, and OCD\, are widely prevalent in children and youth\, and are marked by developmental differences that can lead to distress and disability across multiple domains of life. Current clinical research has faced challenges in identifying effective treatments and interventions for these individuals. One reason for this lies in the emerging findings that reveal high within-diagnosis diversity and high between-diagnosis similarity in NDCs across brain structure/function\, behavioural presentation\, and cause. Current literature has attempted to characterize this neurodiversity by using clustering\, an artificial intelligence (AI) technique for organizing data into groups with similar patterns. My work aims to build on existing works by leveraging novel\, deep learning AI techniques to more intelligently learn patterns in complex neuroimaging data and optimize clustering to find NDC subgroups with improved distinguishability and characterizability. This work can ultimately help inform personalized intervention to improve outcomes in neurodiverse children.\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Azadeh Kushki\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-zeeshan-siddiqui/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T165500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260109T163747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260109T163747Z
UID:59955-1770396000-1770396900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Zeeshan Siddiqui
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Examining Dimensionality Reduction and Clustering Techniques to Identify Neuroanatomical Subgroups Across Neurodevelopmental Conditions\nAbstract: Neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) such as autism\, ADHD\, and OCD\, are widely prevalent in children and youth\, and are marked by developmental differences that can lead to distress and disability across multiple domains of life. Current clinical research has faced challenges in identifying effective treatments and interventions for these individuals. One reason for this lies in the emerging findings that reveal high within-diagnosis diversity and high between-diagnosis similarity in NDCs across brain structure/function\, behavioural presentation\, and cause. Current literature has attempted to characterize this neurodiversity by using clustering\, an artificial intelligence (AI) technique for organizing data into groups with similar patterns. My work aims to build on existing works by leveraging novel\, deep learning AI techniques to more intelligently learn patterns in complex neuroimaging data and optimize clustering to find NDC subgroups with improved distinguishability and characterizability. This work can ultimately help inform personalized intervention to improve outcomes in neurodiverse children.\nSupervisor Name: Dr. Azadeh Kushki\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-zeeshan-siddiqui-2/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260206T171000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260109T163748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T172235Z
UID:59956-1770396900-1770397800@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Sara Alatrash
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Foundation Models for Mapping Neurodiversity and Predicting Individual Outcomes Using Measures of Brain Structure\nSupervisor Name: Azadeh Kushki\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-sara-alatrash-2/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260210T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260210T130000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20250408T173809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260127T170820Z
UID:49406-1770724800-1770728400@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Invited Academic Seminar Series - Aaron Schimmer
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: TBA
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/invited-academic-seminar-series-aaron-schimmer/
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-Aaron-Schimmer-2026.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T120000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251223T173741Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T145820Z
UID:59838-1770980400-1770984000@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:BME Faculty Member Search: Luka Milosevic
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/bme-faculty-member-search-luka-milosevic/
LOCATION:Haultain Building\, Room 410\, 170 College St\, Toronto\, M5S 3E3\, Canada
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T162500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T172236Z
UID:59805-1770999000-1770999900@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Lauren Baerg
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Engineered packaging of NOD2 ligands to postbiotic bacterial membrane vesicles\nSupervisor Name: Radhakrishnan Mahadevan\nYear of Study: 5\nProgram of Study: PhD\nReschedule Reason: Location update\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-lauren-baerg/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T164000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260113T170733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T172235Z
UID:59985-1770999900-1771000800@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Bolin Liu
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Manganese-Based Blood-Pool MRI Contrast Agents for Imaging Vascular Pathologies​\nSupervisor Name: Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng\nYear of Study: 3\nProgram of Study: PhD\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-bolin-liu/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T165500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260130T170731Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T172236Z
UID:60064-1771000800-1771001700@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Daniyal Mahmood
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation for Predicting Aneurysmal Degeneration After Uncomplicated Acute Type B Aortic Dissection\nSupervisor Name: Cristina Amon\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-daniyal-mahmood/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260213T171000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T172236Z
UID:59806-1771001700-1771002600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Canceled: Graduate Student Seminar Series - Yongzhi Guo
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: An Image-Based Quantitative Platform to Study Metformin-Driven Adipocyte Metabolic Remodeling\nSupervisor Name: Alison McGuigan\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nCancellation Reason:\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-yongzhi-guo/
LOCATION:MS2158
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T120000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260210T135031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260224T174321Z
UID:60202-1772190000-1772193600@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:BME Faculty Member Search- Miranda Hunter- Force of nature: mechanical regulation of cancer progression
DESCRIPTION:I am a cell biologist studying how cancer cells survive and thrive in challenging environments. My research aims to define how cancer cells sense\, respond\, and adapt to mechanical stress\, and how these mechanisms enable tumor progression. By applying spatial transcriptomics\, mechanical perturbations\, and quantitative microscopy to a zebrafish model of melanoma\, I discovered that cells at the tumor border are reprogrammed to drive tumor invasion\, adopting a novel “interface” cell state. I found that interface cells experience significant compressive stress as they escape the primary tumor. Compression triggers cytoskeletal and chromatin remodeling to reinforce cells against mechanical stress and promote invasion and drug resistance. My work reveals that mechanical force is a key driver of transcriptional\, epigenetic\, and phenotypic changes in tumor cells\, and provides a mechanism for the longstanding question of how the physical environment controls cancer behavior. 
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/bme-faculty-member-search-miranda-hunter-force-of-nature-mechanical-regulation-of-cancer-progression/
LOCATION:Haultain Building\, Room 410\, 170 College St\, Toronto\, M5S 3E3\, Canada
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T162500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:59808-1772208600-1772209500@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Joy Lai
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Developing Integrated Assistive Technologies for Dementia Care through Behavioral Anomaly Detection and Digital Reminder Systems\nAbstract: Digital reminder apps support people living with dementia (PLwD) but cannot detect behavioral anomalies that may signal safety risks or cognitive decline. This research investigates how anomaly detection can be integrated into reminder systems to improve personalization and reduce false positives\, using transfer learning and caregiver feedback. Building on the Remindful app\, we apply techniques such as synthetic data generation and recurrent autoencoders to identify deviations in daily routines. Usability testing with caregiver-PLwD dyads will evaluate impacts on autonomy\, caregiver stress\, and detection accuracy. The goal is to create a more responsive system that enhances both safety and independence in dementia care.\nSupervisor Name: Alex Mihailidis\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: MASc\nReschedule Reason: Location update\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-joy-lai/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T164000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:59807-1772209500-1772210400@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Farshad Murtada
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Capturing T Cells using DNA Nanostructures for Immunotherapy and Diagnostics\nAbstract:\nBackground: T cells are immune cells that have capability to directly kill infected or cancerous cells by binding to specific short protein molecules\, called “antigens” displayed on the surface of these cells. Each T cell has a unique T cell receptor (TCR\, i.e. they are clonal) that recognizes specific antigens as a part of a larger protein-complex\, called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). T Given the role of T cells in immune response\, identifying the antigen specificity of T cells and enumerating their quantity in clinical samples has many important benefits. These include: 1) diagnosis and monitoring the progression of diseases\, including auto-immune diseases\, infections\, and cancer; 2) assessing correlates of protection against a particular disease; and 3) develop immunotherapies\, such as adoptive cell therapies.\nProblem: The industry standard for antigen-specific T cell detection and isolation uses pMHC tetramers conjugated with a fluorophore followed by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) This technology has two limitations: (i)\, they fail to detect T cells with low affinity TCRs towards their cognate antigen\, due to the rapid fall off-rate of the pMHC tetramer; (ii) only a small fraction of different antigen-specific T cells can be detected from a single sample because the number of spectrally distinguishable fluorophores are limited. This is a major limitation because in many therapeutic applications\, antigen identity is unknown and can only be identified via screening a library of hundreds of putative antigens. The limited number of fluorescence-based tetramers make such a screen unfeasible.\nProject Objective: To use DNA origami nanostructures to develop a novel reagent for the isolation of antigen-specific T cells with enhanced binding and detection throughput (i.e. screen of hundreds of different antigen species within a single sample).\nSupervisor Name: Leo Chou\nYear of Study: 4\nProgram of Study: PhD\nReschedule Reason: Location update\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-farshad-murtada-2/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T165500
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:59809-1772210400-1772211300@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Eric Chiu
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Perturbation and mapping of the nanoscale surface interactome using a DNA origami photo-proximity labeling platform\nAbstract:\nBackground: All cells sense and respond to their environment through membrane receptors. When activated by a ligand\, these receptors reorganize into nanoscale clusters—termed protein microenvironments—that serve as hubs for signaling and decision-making. Crucially\, these microenvironments recruit a diverse set of proteins beyond the ligand-bound receptors\, and their abundance\, stoichiometry\, and spatial organization collectively shape cell signaling outcomes. Mapping these dynamic assemblies are thus essential to understand how external cues control signaling.\nProblem: Current techniques to study these microenvironments rely on proximity labeling\, where the protein of interest is fused with a “tagging molecule” which catalytically labels proximal proteins. However\, current proximity labeling platforms are unable to map bioloigcal interactions that require functional avidity or precise spatial organization.\nProject Objective: To develop modular proximity labeling platform for multiple receptor-ligand interactions with precisely controlled ligand valency\, stoichiometry\, and nanoscale spacing using a DNA origami scaffold.\nSupervisor Name: Leo Chou\nYear of Study: 2\nProgram of Study: PhD\nReschedule Reason: Location update\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-eric-chiu/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T171000
DTSTAMP:20260528T055740
CREATED:20260105T183730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:59867-1772211300-1772212200@bme.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Graduate Student Seminar Series - Jones Law
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: 2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE) – 550 University Ave\nPresentation Title: Mechanics and Design of a Follow-the-Leader Tendon-Driven Serial Robot with Variable Stiffness for Craniosynostosis Surgery\nSupervisor Name: Prof. Eric Diller\nYear of Study: 4\nProgram of Study: PhD\nReschedule Reason: Location update\nPowered by Calendly.com
URL:https://bme.utoronto.ca/event/graduate-student-seminar-series-jones-law/
LOCATION:2nd Floor Auditorium (TRI/KITE)
CATEGORIES:Graduate Seminar Series
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR