News

We are pleased to announce a recent publication, “Customizable optical tissue phantom platform for characterization of fluorescence imaging device sensitivity,” in the Journal of Biomedical Optics. Link to publication: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-biomedical-optics/volume-28/issue-8/086004/Customizable-optical-tissue-phantom-platform-for-characterization-of-fluorescence-imaging/10.1117/1.JBO.28.8.086004.full Authors: Dr. Christopher Gibson, Arcturus Phoon, Dr. Ralph S. DaCosta Abstract: Optical tissue phantoms serve as inanimate and stable reference materials used to calibrate, characterize, standardize, and test biomedical imaging instruments. Although various types of solid tissue phantoms have been described in the literature, current phantom models are limited in that they do not have a depth feature that can be adjusted in real-time, they cannot be adapted to other applications, and…

Dr. Elyse Digby presented at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference 2023, hosted by the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance, in Halifax on November 12-14, 2023.  This conference aimed to showcase “the range and excellence of Canadian cancer research, featuring all areas of cancer research and highlighting emerging and relevant findings from top Canadian and international researchers.” Dr. Digby’s poster, titled “Using Intravital Fluorescence Imaging to Understand How Acute Myeloid Leukemia Remodels the Bone Marrow Microenvironment and Immune Cell Response,” garnered significant interest from a variety of fellow researchers.  She promoted the lab’s latest developments in AML research, engaged with persons affected…

The DaCosta Lab AML program was awarded the Princess Margaret Research Stimulus Grant (RSG) for the project titled, “Unlocking the Potential of AML-Targeted Treatments: Harnessing the Power of In Vivo Optical Imaging Technology.”   The RSG is designed to enable PM researchers to accelerate their programs and continue investing in bold and high-gain projects.  Its purpose is to propel innovative, fundamental and discovery cancer research and support imminent expenditure and needs of research programs. We thank the Princess Margaret Research Institute for its continued support of our programs.

The DaCosta Lab congratulates Dr. Christopher Gibson for successfully defending his PhD on October 27, 2023! His PhD thesis, entitled “Development and clinical translation of a new handheld imaging system for 5-ALA-induced fluorescence guided breast conserving surgery,” describes the work that was done to develop an intra-breast cavity imaging system to detect residual carcinoma at the surgical margins intraoperatively. Another significant portion of his thesis included the development of a new phantom model to characterize the device’s imaging performance which, for the first time, includes (1) an adjustable depth capability using thin film phantoms; (2) a refillable chip containing user-selected…

Lyndsey De Guzman, who is pursuing her Master’s degree in the DaCosta Lab, won 2 awards as part of the World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC). The first award was the ORT Conference Participation Award. The Office of Research Trainees (ORT) provides a limited number of conference participation awards that enabled graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to participate in national and international conferences and share their research in oral and/or poster presentations. The objective of the ORT Conference Participation Award is “to advance research, enable knowledge translation and contribute to the career development of UHN research trainees and postdocs.” The second…

Dr. Elyse Digby and Lyndsey De Guzman presented their poster at the World Molecular Imaging Congress in Prague, Czech Republic, on September 5-9th. The World Molecular Imaging Congress invites professionals, researchers, and industry leaders from around the world who are dedicated to advancing the field of molecular imaging and offers a unique platform for attendees to exchange ideas, present the latest findings, and engage in fruitful discussions on the most recent advancements and challenges in molecular imaging. Two members of our team, Dr. Elyse Digby and Lyndsey De Guzman, presented their poster, entitled “Using Intravital Fluorescence Imaging to Understand the…

We are pleased to announce that Maryam Naimi, who returned to the DaCosta Lab as a summer student, was awarded a UHN Summer Training and Research (STAR) Outstanding Research Presentation Award! Maryam presented her winning presentation live at the UHN STAR Research and Networking Day on August 10th at the Toronto Rehab Institute. This session provided Maryam and other summer students with the opportunity to listen to presentations of other research projects and network with UHN trainees and staff. Maryam was also presented with an award certificate and a gift card to Chapters Indigo. Congratulations again, Maryam!

Our recent publication, “Quantitative intravital imaging for real-time monitoring of pancreatic tumor cell hypoxia and stroma in an orthotopic mouse model,” which was selected for the cover of the journal Science Advances, was announced on the UHN Research News portal. “A research team led by Dr. Ralph DaCosta, Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, recently developed an innovative optical imaging platform that can monitor pancreatic tumours in real time and at the cellular level over prolonged periods in experimental models of human pancreatic cancers. The technique is shedding new light on the tissues and blood vessels that surround pancreatic tumour…

There is a pressing need to improve the ways in which the outputs from scientific research is evaluated. To date, outputs from scientific research, which include research articles, intellectual property, and trained young scientists, are being evaluated based on Journal Impact Factor. The Journal Impact Factor is calculated by Thomson Reuters and was originally created as a tool to help librarians identify journals to purchase, not as a measure of scientific quality of individuals and institutions. Using such a tool for research assessment is problematic. Citation distributions within journals are highly skewed, the properties of the Journal Impact Factor are…

Dr. DaCosta presents an oral presentation and Shirley and Arcturus present a poster at the Image-Guided Therapeutics Symposium 2023. This scientific conference, held at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, brings together scholars, students, academic, and industry researchers from the clinical and research communities to share the latest advances in the field of biomedical and diagnostic imaging, artificial intelligence, and image-guided therapeutics. Dr. DaCosta presents an oral talk while Shirley and Arcturus present a poster on the “First-in-human Phase II Trial: Intra-Cavity Imaging of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid-induced Fluorescence to Detect Subclinical Breast Cancer Intraoperatively.”  This phase II trial (n=30) is an ongoing study…