School: McGill University

Supervisors: Dr. Fackson Mwale, Dr. John Antoniou, Dr. Lisbet Haglund

Project Title: Development of an Organ Culture System for Long Term Survival of Intervertebral Disc and Evaluating Regenerative Potential of Link-N Peptide in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Brief Project Description: My Ph.D. project involves development of an organ culture system for culturing human intervertebral discs for prolonged periods. Second stage of the project involves evaluating the regenerative potential of Link-N peptide in this developed organ culture system and tries to reverse degenerative disc disease (DDD). Lastly we will load the organ culture system in a custom built bioreactor to mimic human physiological conditions and try to regenerate discs exposed to different loading regimens. This will improve the quality of life of people suffering from DDD and improve arthritis of the facet joints induced by the altered biomechanics of degenerated spine.

Technical Expertise: Intervertebral Disc Biology, Organ Culture, Cell Culture, Confocal Microscopy, 3-D Constructs, Regenerative Medicine and Gene Expression Analysis

Email Address: rahul.gawri@mail.mcgill.ca

CATA has also been busy hosting events for CATA members that includes biweekly Journal club in Vancouver, a networking event in Montreal held in December 2011. In September, CATA sponsored and supported the Student Research Group (SRG) at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto organizing their 3rd Annual Research Orientation Night.

The CATA core committee has enthusiastically also been helping to plan Canadian Arthritis Network trainee day along side CAN officials. The training day will equip trainees with skills required to excel in research while giving them an opportunity to reflect on future career prospects.

In the upcoming months, CATA plans on expanding its objectives and providing the future scientist an area to share, work, grow and advance. CATA encourage sign-ups from new members.

CATA now welcomes applications for regional CATA members who would like to organize regional events such as Journal clubs and Networking events for CATA members and CAN investigators.

For more information click here

School: University of Toronto

Project Title: Strategies to Enhance Recombinant Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Production

Brief Project Description: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) regulate bone growth by inducing progenitor cells differentiate into osteogenic cells (osteoinduction). This has led to the use of recombinant human BMPs (rhBMPs) for bone regeneration and replacement. Due to their structural complexity, mammalian cell culture systems produce rhBMPs at very low amounts compared to similar-sized proteins (0.03 vs. 1 pg/cell/day), even after inserting 100+ copies of the BMP gene. Studies have suggested that post-translational processes such as the proteolytic cleavage of BMP can affect the expression, secretion and/or stability of the mature protein. My doctoral project investigates post-translational strategies such as proteolytic cleave by overexpressing or inhibiting proprotein convertases (a family of enzymes that process precursor BMP-2) to improve the yield of recombinant mature rhBMP-2. By understanding the relationship between proteolytic cleave and BMP-2 expression, we can greatly improve the current manufacturing process of recombinant BMPs and other therapeutic proteins, making them more available for biomedical applications.

Fun Fact: Aileen has travelled to more than 10 countries in 4 continents in the past 3 years and hopes to continue visiting interesting places around the world.

Email Address: aileen.zhou@utoronto.ca

Our CATA teams in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal all took part in the 2nd Annual Walk to Fight Arthritis organized by The Arthritis Society on May 7th, to help raise money and awareness for Arthritis. We had a great turnout despite the wet weather and together we helped raise $5,000 for The Arthritis Society.

We’re currently working hard to plan for the upcoming CAN Annual Scientific Conference in Quebec City in October. We’re really looking forward to seeing everybody there. In the meantime, be sure to check out our photos from the last ASC as well as our photos from our recent events!

School: University of British Columbia

Project Title: Occupational Exposure as a Risk Factor for Knee Osteoarthritis

Brief Project Description: My MSc thesis project involves the analysis of a cohort of 255 men and women with knee pain to determine the contribution of occupational activities such as heavy lifting and kneeling to knee osteoarthritis (OA). Previous research has shown these activities are associated with OA in men, although better quality studies are still needed. The research is even less clear in women due to how occupation is defined, especially in older studies. I hope to add new insight to this area of knee OA risk factor investigation, which will be able to contribute to health promotion and injury prevention in the future.Technical Expertise: Spinal Development, Intervertebral Disc Biology, Stem Cells, Transgenic Animal Models, Embryo Manipulation, Histological Techniques, Cell Culture, and Gene Expression Analysis

Fun Fact: In August 2010, I completed the Ironman Canada triathlon in Penticton, BC!

Email Address: aezzat@arthritisresearch.ca