News

We would like to congratulate our alumni Dr. Kathryn Ottolino-Perry and Dr. Anam Shahid on their many accomplishments in the DaCosta Lab and we wish them success in their future careers. Thank you both for all of your hard work!

At the Terry Fox Node Symposium presented by the Terry Fox Research institute, Dr. Sara Rapic gave a rapid-fire talk on her work: Investigating radiation response of pancreatic tumors and their micro-environment using in-vivo optical imaging to identify new treatment strategies. She was selected as one of ten post-docs to showcase her research at the symposium on December 12th 2019.

The DaCosta Lab attended the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) Ontario Node Symposium on December 12th, 2019. Several members of the lab presented their research at the poster session, including Brigida DiMatteo: Investigating the Effects of Metformin and Radiation on Pancreatic Tumour Burden and Spread In Vivo Helen Jin: Intravital Imaging of Acute Myeloid Leukemia within the Living Bone Marrow as a Preclinical Model for Evaluating Novel Therapies Dr. Sara Rapic: Investigating Radiation Response of Pancreatic Tumours and Their Microenvironment Using In Vivo Optical Imaging to Identify New Treatment Strategies Timothy Samuel: Overcoming challenges in longitudinal mouse intravital imaging Congratulations…

MSc student Helen Jin attended the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) on behalf of the DaCosta Lab this December 7-10th in Orlando, Florida. This is the largest and most comprehensive hematology event of the year, with discussions spanning the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of all disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems. Helen will be translating her newfound knowledge on cutting edge research technologies and drug development programs into her thesis project, which uses intravital imaging to study AML cell interaction with the bone marrow microenvironment on mouse femurs.

Christopher Gibson presented a poster outlining an upcoming breast cancer clinical trial at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference in Ottawa. This conference was an excellent experience for scientists, trainees, clinicians, and patients to learn about the state and future of cancer research, specifically in Canada. This year’s conference highlighted the importance of patient involvement in the design of research studies and real-world evidence as a tool for decision making, and hence included a number of talks from patient advocates which motivated the themes of many of the conference’s sessions.

Dr. Sara Rapic received a travel award from UHN’s Office of Research Trainees (ORT) to attend the World Molecular Imaging Conference in Montreal. She will be giving an oral presentation on her research on radiation oncology.

PhD candidate Christopher Gibson recently received a travel award from UHN’s Office of Research Trainees (ORT) to attend the Canadian Cancer Research Conference in Ottawa from November 3-5. Christopher will be presenting a poster outlining an upcoming breast cancer clinical trial at this conference.

The DaCosta lab attended the World Molecular Imaging Conference in Montreal from September 4-7 2019. Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Sara Rapic, was asked to give an oral presentation of her work and was highlighted as one of the top abstracts at the WMIC opening ceremonies: “Investigating radiation response of pancreatic tumors and their microenvironment using in-vivo optical imaging to identify new treatment strategies“. Sara’s abstract was selected as one of the “top abstracts” of the conference. Pictures include Jason Lewis (former President of WMIS) highlighting Sara’s talk in the WMIC Opening Ceremony. Several members presented at the poster sessions including: Helen Jin…

On Friday August 30th, 2019 Niloufar Khosravi successfully defended her PhD dissertation.  Dr. Khosravi extends her gratitude to her supervisors Dr. John Davies and Dr. Ralph DaCosta as well as all others who supported her in her academic and personal life. She would also like to thank her external examinator, Dr Ali Khademhosseini, for helpful insights and stimulating conversation. On the subject of receiving her PhD, she says: “I’d say the experience was unique. I never in a million years thought I’d be a scientist one day, now my enthusiasm for science has spilled into my personal life.”

This summer, the DaCosta lab welcomed 5 wonderful highschool and undergraduate students to assist with the ongoing projects in the lab. Each of these students exceeded our expectations with their scientific inquiry, diligent lab work, and presentation skills. On August 16th, 2019 we celebrated their hard work with a luncheon, and presentation of certificates of achievement. We wish to thank Mara, Sarah, William, Zuha, and Brigida for their help this summer and we wish them luck in the coming academic year.