Investigator Biographies
Current
Jane E. AubinUniversity of Toronto
Telephone: 416.978.4220
Lab Phone: 416.978.6917
Email: jane.aubin@utoronto.ca
Dr. Jane E. Aubin is Professor of Molecular Genetics and Director of the Bone Program in the Centre for Modeling Human Disease in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She received a B.Sc. (Hons; Chemistry and Mathematics) and the Gold Medal in Chemistry at Queen's University in Kingston, completed her Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, did postdoctoral training in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany and returned to Toronto to join the faculty. In January 2007, she became Scientific Director of the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, CIHR. Dr. Aubin has held several senior academic administrative positions, including Chair of the Graduate Dept. of Dentistry and Director of Postgraduate Dental Education; Chair of the Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Scientific Director and CEO of the Canadian Arthritis Network of Centres of Excellence. She has served on advisory boards in academia and industry and served on and chaired grants panels in Canada (CIHR, The Arthritis Society), the US (NIH) and internationally, and holds several senior editorial positions for peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Critical Reviews in Eukaryotic Gene Expression, Stem Cell Reviews and Bone, amongst others. Dr. Aubin is a Past-President of the International Bone and Mineral Society and the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, and was a member of the Board of FASEB for several years. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and chapters in books. Her current research focuses on understanding mesenchymal stem cells and the regulation of osteoblast and chondrocyte development in health and disease, and on developing new mouse models for human skeletal disease.
Steven Boyd University of Calgary
Telephone: (403) 220-4173
Fax: (403) 282-8406
Email: skboyd@ucalgary.ca
Websites:
Personal Website
Bone Lab Website
DR BOYD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering with a joint position in the Faculty of Kinesiology. He holds a Scholar position funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. DR BOYD's research is in the area of orthopaedic biomechanics, and focuses on joint injuries and disease. Specifically, his research investigates non-invasive methods to measure bone architecture in diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and he develops analysis tools based on high resolution computed tomography (micro-CT) to better understand disease progression and treatment, and to provide better detection. His research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). He has published his work in international peer reviewed journals, and served on provincial, national and international funding and conference review committees. He has received department and faculty teaching awards for undergraduate teaching, and designed and teaches a graduate course on computer methods for quantification techniques from medical image data analysis.
Neil DuncanUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.220.8553
Fax: 403.282.8406
Email:duncan@ucalgary.ca
Neil Duncan was born and grew up in Montreal. He holds a B.Eng. from McGill in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Ph.D. from McGill in Mechanical Engineering. He then ventured west to San Francisco and the University of California at San Francisco for a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery. He joined the University of Calgary in 1997 and has conducted research in the McCaig Institute on the mechanobiology of orthopaedic tissues. The fundamental goal of his basic research is to establish the role of biomechanical factors in the etiology of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. His expertise is in the areas of experimental biological materials testing at multiple scale levels (molecular to tissue), continuum mechanics and constitutive models, computational and analytical modeling, and biomechanics. Contributions to orthopaedic bioengineering research have been made in a number of areas of the spine and knee, related to intervertebral disc degeneration, scoliosis, low back pain, osteoarthritis and knee mechanics. He has twice won the International ISSLS/Volvo Award for spine bioengineering research. When not conducting research he can be found cycling, skiing, hiking, climbing, canoeing – anything outdoors!
Jeff DunnUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.210.3386
Fax: 403.210.8119
Email: dunnj@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Dunn is a comparative biochemist with an interest in tissue metabolism and imaging. He worked in Oxford with Sir G. K. Radda, studying brain and muscle metabolism in the same laboratory that developed Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) for living systems. In addition, he was a team leader with the British Antarctic Survey on an expedition to the Antarctic to study the effects of low temperature on oxygen metabolism. He is now the Director of the Experimental Imaging Centre at the University of Calgary. As the Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Imaging, he is developing and applying modern imaging methods, in combination with biochemical and genetic measurements, to study oxygen-related events, such as the growth of new blood vessels (angiogensis). He is using MR Microscopy to study joint structure and repair with MRI. This includes magic angle studies of collagen orientation and tracking of cellular infiltration using inflammatory cells labeled with MR contrast agents.
Benedikt HallgrímssonUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.220.2060
Fax: 403.210.9747
Email: bhallgri@ucalgary.ca
Lab Website
Mike Kallos
University of Calgary
Telephone: 403.220.7447
Fax: 403.284.4852
Email: mskallos@ucalgary.ca
Michael S. Kallos was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where he lived until he was 4 years old. His family moved to Canada, and after living in Winnipeg and Toronto, settled in Calgary when he was 6, where he has lived since then. He pursued his BSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary, where he graduated with Distinction in 1995. While contemplating a job in the Oil and Gas Industry, Michael started to look into graduate school. He was interested in biochemical engineering, and did his PhD project, expanding neural stem cells in bioreactors, working with neural stem cell pioneers Sam Weiss and Brent Reynolds, and Angelo Vescovi from Italy, along with the guidance and mentorship of his supervisor Leo Behie, Michael completed his PhD in under 4 years. He was fortunate enough to obtain a faculty position as an Assistant Professor in 2000 in the now-named Schulich School of Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005 and in 2006 was named the Coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program. He strives to instil in his students the same passion for research that Leo gave to him, and he continues to develop his research program with the ultimate goal of assisting in the translation of biology to clinical applications. He is married to Amanda, and has 2 children – Anderson, who is 3 ½ and Olivia who is 1 ½.
Roman Krawetz
University of Calgary
Email: rkrawetz@ucalgary.ca
Roman Krawetz received his BSc and PhD at the University of Western Ontario under the Supervision of Dr. Greg Kelly while funded by a NSERC PGS award. In September 2006, Roman moved to the University of Calgary as a post-doctoral fellow in the labs of Dr. Derrick Rancourt and Dr. John Matyas to study embryonic stem cell development and differentiation. In January 2010, Dr. Roman Krawetz has obtained a Faculty position at the University of Calgary and continues to be an active member of the CIHR-SRMT. Roman has a developmental and cell biology background which he applies towards developing new technologies for stem cell maintenance and culture systems.
John MatyasUniversity of Calgary
Email: jmatyas@ucalgary.ca
Dr. John Robert Matyas, a native of Ithaca, NY received his Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1978 with a major in Biology. After working as a technologist in bone marrow transplantation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he returned to earn a M.Sc. in Medical Science (Orthopaedic Pathology) from Cornell University 1985 under the supervision of Dr. Peter Bullough). He had a short stint in radiopharmaceutical research at Squibb before returning to academia and earning his Ph.D. in Medical Science at the University of Calgary 1990 under the supervision of then Arthritis Society Chair, Dr. Mark Adams, before being appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary. Dr. Matyas served as a Scholar and Investigator of The Arthritis Society until 2008, and currently holds an appointment as Professor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary (2006). Dr. Matyas has been a Member of the Canadian Arthritis Network since its inception. Dr. Matyas has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of The Arthritis Society since 2005. Dr. Matyas currently holds competitive research operating support from CAN, NSERC, CIHR, NIH, and the Alberta Cancer Board. His primary research interests include: Comparative animal models of joint injury and repair; the contribution of progenitor cells to skeletal healing in arthritis and cancer; functional imaging of connective tissues (cartilage, bone, intervertebral disc), the stereology of connective tissues (NSERC).
Ken MuldrewUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.220.5976
Email: kmuldrew@ucalgary.ca
Personal Website
Born in Winnipeg, MB, Ken Muldrew earned a BSc, MSc, and PhD and currently resides in Calgary, AB. Dr. Muldrew’s principal research interest lies within his cryobiology laboratory at the Bone & Joint Institute where he explores the physical properties of cells and simple tissue systems; especially under circumstances in which the cells are challenged with a potentially lethal injury. He describes cryobiology as a field in which the boundary between living and non-living can be probed. Biological clocks can be slowed and even stopped by cooling living systems to low temperatures, but the conditions encountered during the cooling usually lead to lethal injury. The nature of this injury at all levels, from the molecular to organismal, remains unresolved and an exciting topic of current research. His laboratory’s interest lies in discovering the underlying mechanisms of injury: principally at the level of sub-cellular organelles, cells and tissues. Ken is attempting to exploit the knowledge that arises from these studies both to the practice of cryopreservation and cryotherapy (cancer treatment in which the tumor is killed by freezing). His program is connected with clinical oncologists (cryotherapy) and clinicians specializing in joint injury and arthritis treatment (cryopreservation of connective tissues for transplantation and joint repair). In his spare time, he works on 17th century furniture reproductions.
Derrick RancourtUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.220.2888
Fax: 403.283.8727
Email: rancourt@ucalgary.ca
Derrick Rancourt is an AHFMR Senior Scholar and Associate Professor in the Depts. of Oncology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics. He is the establishing director of the University of Calgary’s Embryonic Stem Cell Facility and the coordinator of the Master of Biomedical Technologies Program, a course based M.Sc. program that merges business and science. His research lab is comprised of five research associates and five trainees, all of whom have independent research funding. Previously four postdoctoral fellows, four Ph.D. students and six M.Sc. students have also trained in his laboratory. He has published over 50 peer review articles and book chapters, is the reviewer of numerous manuscripts and is on the Editorial Board of BMC Biotechnology. Derrick is currently the Chair of the Stem Cell Network Training Committee and sits on the NIH Genes, Genetics and Genomics Study Section. His research program is related to embryology where he has three major projects: (1) the functional characterization of novel implantation serine proteinases (2) recombineering and targeted mutagenesis technology, and (3) the derivation, characterization and differentiation of human mouse ES cells.
Kristina (Tina) RinkerUniversity of Calgary
Telephone: 403.210.9733
Fax: 403.210.9770 or 403.284.4852
Email: kdrinker@ucalgary.ca
Personal Website
Dr. Rinker grew up in Jacksonville Florida. She attended the University of Alabama on a gymnastics scholarship, where she was part of two NCAA National Championship teams and obtained All-American honors. She received a B.S. (1992) and a Ph.D. (1998) in chemical engineering from the University of Alabama and North Carolina State University, respectively. Following her doctorate, Dr. Rinker was employed as a Research Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Duke University until August of 2000 when she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Colorado State University. In 2005, Rinker accepted a position in the Centre for Bioengineering Research and Education and the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. She also has a joint appointment in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and is a member of the Institute of Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation and Libin Cardiovascular Institute in the Faculty of Medicine. The Rinker lab develops cell and tissue models with defined fluid forces for physiological profiling and regenerative medicine approaches. Outside of the university, Dr. Rinker enjoys a variety of activities including skiing (snow, cross-country, and water), hiking, and climbing.
Hasan UludağUniversity of Alberta
Telephone: 780.492.0988
Fax: 780.492.2881
Email: huludag@ualberta.ca
Laboratory Website Hasan Uludağ was born in a beautiful island in the middle of Mediterranean: Cyprus. He obtained dual B.Sc. degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Biology from the Brown University (Providence, USA) in 1989. He then completed his Ph.D. degree in 1993 from the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada). He spent four years at Genetics Institute Inc. (now part of Wyeth Pharma; Andover, USA) working on commercial development of a new generation of bone-inducing device based on Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) and collagen combination. He joined the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) in 1997, holding joint appointments in Departments of Chemical & Materials Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Dentistry and Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Uludağ is currently directing interdisciplinary research programs on designing bone targeting systems for protein therapeutics, and non-viral delivery systems for transgene expression in primary cells. Dr. Uludağ is actively involved in various biomaterials societies around the World and is an elected Fellow of the International Union of Society of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUS-BSA).
T. Michael UnderhillUniversity of British Columbia
Telephone: 604.822.5833
Email: tunderhi@brc.ubc.ca
Dr. T. Michael Underhill is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at The University of British Columbia (UBC). Prior to joining UBC in 2004, Michael was an Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario (1996-2004). His research is funded by The Canadian Institutes for Health Research and he currently holds an Investigator salary award from The Arthritis Society.
During his Ph.D. studies, Michael cloned the gene responsible for the active transport of methotrexate across the plasma membrane. Subsequently, he went on to carry out post-doctoral studies at Duke University where he studied the role of retinoic acid signalling in limb development. These initial studies have led to his current interests in defining the molecular mechanisms regulating skeletal development.
Ron ZernickeUniversity of Calgary – Adjunct Professor
University of Michigan – Professor
Telephone: 734.930.7070
Fax: 734.929.2846
Email: zernicke@umich.edu
Bone & Joint Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation Centre Website
Ron Zernicke is the director of the University of Michigan Bone & Joint Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation Center, and he also is a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Kinesiology, and Department of Biomedical Engineering. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute. At the University of Calgary, he was Wood Professor in Joint Injury Research in the Faculty of Medicine, professor and dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and professor in the Schulich School of Engineering. He was also professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Kinesiology. He received teaching awards from UCLA, City of Calgary, and University of Calgary, and was Alumnus of the Year at Concordia University Chicago. He has received research awards from NASA, the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine, the American, Canadian, and International Societies of Biomechanics, the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. He served as president of the Canadian, American, and International Societies of Biomechanics. His research, focusing on: (1) adaptation of bone to exercise, diet, and injury and (2) joint injury and post-traumatic osteoarthritis, has been funded by peer-review agencies in both the United States and Canada. His BA was from Concordia University Chicago, and MSc and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
