Celebrating Our Potential at Research Day 2015

Once again, the Department hosted a successful Research Day, on Friday, May 8th, the 32nd annual event. Research Day took place at St Michael’s University in the University of Toronto. Over 325 people registered and a record 109 abstracts made up the program, with 14 orals and 91 posters. We also had 4 Collaboration Corner abstracts, highlighting and encouraging the collaborative initiatives in the Department. A maximum of 7.0 Royal College credits in continuing medical education were available for full-day attendance.

A highlight of the day was the contribution of Professor Hamish Wallace, our Henderson Lecturer. Dr. Wallace, a Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, RHSC, Edinburgh since 1992 and Honourary Professor in the School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health at the University of Edinburgh, upheld the tradition of excellence with an enlightening lecture on Oncofertility: Fertility preservation for young people with cancer -- who is at risk and what can be offered?  

Dr Wallace was very generous with his time, spending the previous day giving rounds and meeting with trainees and faculty members at Sick Kids and Mount Sinai, and even lending a hand in the judging at Research Day. We were very happy to have Vice-Dean of Research, Dr. Alison Buchan, stop by to view the posters and the Dean of Medicine, Dr. Trevor Young, join us for the reception and assist in the awards presentation. We were also delighted to have Mrs. Anne Stanfield, daughter of Dr. DN Henderson, join us for the lecture and reception.

On behalf of the Research Committee, I would like to thank everyone who participated, our administrative staff and volunteers, highly visible in their U of T blue shirts, who worked so hard to put it together, and all those faculty members who acted as Chairs and Judges. Special thanks go to the Research Committee, particularly Theodore J. Brown as Chair, and to Stephen Lye as Vice-Chair, Research, who stepped in when I was, unfortunately, unable to be there.

The 2015 JW Knox Ritchie Research Awards for best abstract/presentation by trainee category were awarded during the celebratory Wine-and-Cheese reception at the end of the day. I am pleased to announce the following recipients:

CLINICAL FELLOW:
Anat Herscu Klement (Supervisor: Robert Casper) - O14  Coagulopathy as a Predisposing Factor to Endometriosis: Evidence from a Bleeding Questionnaire
AND
Claire Jones (Supervisor: Howard Berger) - O1  The Effect of Antenatal Corticosteroids on the Fetal Thymus

Runner-up: Harry Brar (Supervisor: Allan Covens) - P-J3  Cost-Effectiveness of Sentinel Node Biopsy in Early Stage Cervical Cancer

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW:
Premalatha Shathasivam (Supervisor: Theodore J Brown) - P-J2  VEPH1 Impedes SMAD2 Release from TGF-β Receptor I to Inhibit TGF-β Signaling

RESIDENT:

Julie Nguyen (Supervisor: Lilian Gien) - O4  Uterine Clear Cell Carcinoma: Does Adjuvant Chemotherapy Improve Outcomes?

Runner-up: Maria Cusimano (Supervisor: Sarah Ferguson) - P-J5 Quality Indicators for a Sentinel Lymph Node Program for Early Stage Cervical Cancer

GRADUATE STUDENT:

Kyunga Kim (Supervisor: Andrea Jurisicova) - P-P4  Pdss2 Deficiency in Preimplanatation Embryos Leads to Developmental Arrest

Runners-up: 
Vladimir Djedovic (Supervisor: Theodore J Brown) - P-J4  BRCA1 modulation of Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) activity in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinogenesis 
AND 
Eric Neely (Supervisor: Andras Nagy) - P-M2  Development of Local-acting Biologics for Combined Cell and Gene Therapy to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

MEDICAL/UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT:

Ashley Raeside (Supervisor: Rachel Spitzer) - P-N6  Innovative Prenatal Care Partnerships for Medically Uninsured Pregnant Women 
AND 
Jennifer Power (Supervisor:  Clifford Librach) - P-H4  Presence of Luteinizing Hormone Receptor in Exosomes Isolated from Human Follicular Fluid: A Potential Mechanism to Regulate Follicular LH Signaling

Runners-up:
Vanessa Zannella (Supervisor: Joan Murphy) - A6  What’s Age Got to Do with It? Clinical Considerations for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Women Aged 21-24
AND
Joseph Fish (Supervisor:  Clifford Librach) - P-M5  Human Umbilical Cord-derived Perivascular Cells (HUCPVCs) Expanded in Xeno-free Conditions Maintain their Angiogenic Properties

This year we gave participants a chance to vote on the best poster at Research Day. The winner of the People’s Choice Award for best poster, with 15 out of 60 votes, was:

P-B6 Spontaneous Uterine Rupture and Repair at 21 Weeks Gestation: A Case Report and Literature Review. Lesley Hawkins, Deborah Robertson, Helena Frecker, Howard Berger, Abheha Satkunaratnam.

Please join me in congratulating these recipients and their supervisors and celebrating the excellent research that takes place in our Department. Research Day is the collective expression of one of the finest OBGYN Departments in the world.

To see all abstracts and details of the meeting, you may search the Apple or Google store for Research Day 2015 or go to http://m.xcdsystem.com/researchday2015 where you will find options for a PC or other mobile platform (using Chrome, Safari or a QR scan). If you would like to view Research Day photos, click here. 

Thank you to everyone who participated. If you missed it, I do hope that reading about this exciting event will encourage you to join us next year. 

Sincerely,

John C Kingdom
Gordon C. Leitch Chair
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology