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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T120000
DTSTAMP:20260224T174321Z
CREATED:20260210T135031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260224T174321Z
UID:10000682-1772190000-1772193600@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
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T161000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T162500
DTSTAMP:20260227T192255Z
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:10000665-1772208600-1772209500@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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T162500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T164000
DTSTAMP:20260227T192255Z
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:10000664-1772209500-1772210400@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
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T164000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T165500
DTSTAMP:20260227T192255Z
CREATED:20251218T180623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:10000666-1772210400-1772211300@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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T165500
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260227T171000
DTSTAMP:20260227T192255Z
CREATED:20260105T183730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T192255Z
UID:10000672-1772211300-1772212200@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
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