News
Jan 5, 2024. Brief Recap of 2023!
My New Year’s resolution is to do a better job on lab updates! Briefly, it was a busy but good year!
In addition to the CCS-BTG Grant, we also successfully partnered with Hon Leong, Iacovos Michael, and Carol Schuurmans at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Hansen He and Ben Lok at Princess Margaret Cancer Center to obtain a Terry Fox Program Project Grant on Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung, Prostate, and Pancreas: Discovery of Molecular Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Therapies.
Huge congratulations to Jina, Tashifa and Harrison who successfully defended their PhD and MSc theses, respectively and well!!
Congratulations to Tashifa and Kathrin for publishing their magnum opus on machine-learning based classification of -omics profiles in STAR Protocols.
Many thanks to the many highly dedicated volunteer students who are helping us make a blood test for earlier diagnosis and easier monitoring of neuroendocrine tumors!
And lastly, thank you to the department for Bruce Elliot Award in Teaching and Mentoring! Marcus Aurelius said awards aren’t necessary because the action itself should be satisfying. Clearly Marcus Aurelius never got this award…
May 6, 2023. PhD Funding Available!
PhD position available for domestic (sorry international folks) BIU-eligible trainee. If interested in 4-year hybrid bench/comp project on microRNAs in neuroendocrine neoplasms, please send CV, transcript, and brief statement of interest to my email listed on lab contact page.
April 21, 2023. Isabel signs off!
Noooooo! Isabel is leaving! I wanted to add a gif with Leonardo DiCaprio yelling come back but apparently that’s unprofessional. Anyway, huge thanks for all you’ve done with our LDAP clinic project! Come back anytime.
April 14, 2023. Radhika accepted to Queen’s Master of Public Health Program!
Fantastic news! Always great to see former volunteers and trainees get to their next level! For people reading the fine print, this is a key part of our lab culture.
April 13, 2023. Renwick Lab co-receives Canadian Cancer Society Breakthrough Team Grant Funding on Transforming Low Survival Cancers
Delighted to be working with Drs. Guy Sauvageau, Anne Marinier, Vincent Quoc-Huy Trinh, Geneviève Deblois at Université de Montréal, Josee Hebert at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Vincente-Philippe Lavallée at CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, Sebastian Lemieux at Institut de Recherche en Immunologie et Cancérolog, and Yuzhou Wang at the BC Cancer Research Centre. For more: https://cancer.ca/en/research/for-researchers/funding-results/breakthrough-team-grants/killing-cancer-cells-by-stopping-them-from-using-oxygen-and-sugar
April 6, 2023. Tashifa accepted to the Queen’s MD PhD program!!
Huge congratulations to Tashifa on this phenomenal achievement!! We know you had a lot of choices and we are super excited you are joining our lab for your PhD studies! Also, a special mention to Kathrin Tyryshkin, Xiaojing Yang, and Jina Nanayakkara for all your supervision, help, and advice, getting into MD PhD takes a village!
March 28, 2023. Congratulations to Simona!
Following a stellar volunteer effort, Simona is awarded a 2023 QCRI Craig Jury Memorial Summer Studentship in Cancer Research! Simona, it’s going to be a busy summer, thanks for taking on a leadership role!
September 1, 2022. Welcome to our new lab members!
This year we’re delighted to welcome a bumper crop of students including Harrison Mayotte and Tashifa Imtiaz for MSc; Ava Penry, Isabel Wu, and Shayna Tierney for 499; and Alexis Fang, Andrew Kim, Simona Damiani, Tristan Jones, and Yousif Al-Aboosi as undergraduate research volunteers. Meanwhile Fiza Javed continues part-time in the laboratory after successfully completing her Haust Summer Studentship and returning to third year medical school.
June 7, 2022. Congratulations to Justin on the first PhD from the Renwick Lab!!!
Huge congratulations and huge thanks for all your research and teaching contributions and lab citizenship! You will be missed, come back whenever!
January 3, 2022. Welcome to our new lab members!
A very warm welcome to Chloe Talman and Molly Fleming (CISC 499)! This project is complex so one step at a time!
December 6, 2021. Emily strikes again!
Congratulations to Emily Kaczmarek and Parvin Mousavi for leading and successfully submitting our collaborative research on microRNA-guided deep cancer classification to the American Journal of Pathology. This paper can be found online at: https://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(21)00479-X/fulltext
November 9, 2021. Neil Renwick, Jina Nanayakkara, and Iacovos Michael present the first ncRNA webinar on the role of microRNA in neuroendocrine neoplasms.
Many thanks to Non-Coding RNA for helping us showcase our research to a global audience! Also, special thanks to Ana Sanchis from the Conference Team at MDPI for making this such a great experience! And, thank you Iacovos for helping us out while you are busy setting up your new lab at Sunnybrook Research Institute. Looking forward to working more with you!
September 15, 2021. Lev Goldfarb and colleagues report on the ending of the Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis epidemic in the Yakut Medical Journal.
Some good news, epidemics and pandemics do eventually end. While Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis is gone, it is not forgotten. This devastating condition has much to teach us re new biology and personal resilience when faced with a fatal infection of unknown etiology.
September 15, 2021. Emily attempts a publishing three-peat!
Congratulations to Emily Kaczmarek and Parvin Mousavi for leading and successfully submitting our conference paper on multi-omic graph transformers for cancer classification and interpretation to the prestigious Pacific Symposium in Biocomputing.
September 7, 2021. Recent advances in Non-Coding RNA research.
Delighted to participate in this excellent initiative to highlight recent advances in the non-coding RNA literature. Absolute pleasure to report on the recent glycoRNA paper in Cell by Flynn et al. This and other reports can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8482151/#B1-ncrna-07-00058
September 3, 2021. Welcome and welcome back to our new and returning lab members!
A very warm welcome to Fiza Javed, Stephanie Ziolkowski, and Paul Penkul (School of Medicine Critical Inquiry Course), Ningyou Li and Melani Maheswaran (Master’s in Bioinformatics Program), Harrison Mayotte (PATH499), Diana Mirsu and Tashifa Imtiaz (NSCI499), and Alexis Fang, Dhruv Patel, and Alex Pham (undergraduate research volunteers). Be prepared for a little “creative chaos” as we get these new projects off the ground!
September 1, 2021. Renwick Lab receives Cancer Research Society Operating Grant and Steven E and Scott Drabin Research Funding.
Many thanks to the Cancer Research Society and the Steven E and Scott Drabin Research Fund for this wonderful opportunity to advance our work on microRNA-guided diagnostic for neuroendocrine neoplasms.
July 20, 2021. Justin Wong receives Dr. Robert J. Wilson Fellowship funding!
Huge congratulations to Justin on receiving fellowship funding for showing exceptional promise in making significant contributions to research in health sciences.
June 1, 2021. Neil Renwick, Kathrin Tyryshkin, and Markus Hafner receive NFRF Exploration funding.
Thrilled to receive funding from the New Frontiers Research Fund to work with Kathrin Tyryshkin (Biomedical Data Science) at Queen’s and Markus Hafner (RNA Biology) at NIH on graph neural networks in neuroendocrine neoplasms!!! Moonshot funding! https://healthsci.queensu.ca/stories/news-announcements/drs-r-david-andrew-and-neil-renwick-awarded-funding-crcc
May 26, 2021. Neil Renwick presents on “Delineating microRNA-mediated gene regulation in neuroendocrine neoplasms” in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s.
Many thanks to Sheela Abraham and DBMS for the kind invitation to present in the Research in Progress seminar series.
May 18, 2021. Congratulations to Xiaojing Yang, Jina Nanayakkara, and team on our latest publication about a miR-375/YAP axis in lung carcinoid cells in Scientific Reports!
In this paper, the Renwick Lab joined forces with Xiaolong Yang and Chris Nicol (Queen’s), Markus Hafner (NIH), and Iacovos Michael and Sadegh Saghafinia (EPFL) for helping us show that miR-375 and YAP form a molecular axis that controls neuroendocrine differentiation and tumorigenesis in lung carcinoid (H727 cells). This paper can be found online at: https://rdcu.be/ckKjy
May 3, 2021. Alex Moszczynski receives Medical Student Research Fund Scholarship funding!
Huge congratulations to Alex on receiving a Medical Student Research Fund Scholarship to continue on his critical inquiry project on the incidence and prevalence of neuroendocrine neoplasms in Canada.
May 1, 2021. Come back and visit, we look forward to hearing about your next steps!
Congratulations to Greg Eriksen, Taylor Fountain, Lang Liu, and Raymond Yiu for successfully completing their Master’s of Biomedical Informatics projects with Prof. Parvin Mousavi, Dr. Kathrin Tyryshkin, and Dr. Neil Renwick. Thank you for making it a wonderful year despite COVID!
April 15, 2021. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara on receiving a prestigious CGS Doctoral Award from CIHR!!
Was there any doubt?? Also, huge congratulations to Matt Comier (Lillicrap Lab) and Christine Ferrone (Rauh Lab) in our department for pulling off a similarly astounding academic feat!
February 16, 2021. Congratulations to Sheela Abraham and Michael Rauh on CIHR Project Grant successes!
Huge congratulations to Sheela Abraham and Michael Rauh for their respective CIHR Project Grant successes. Looking forward to working with both of you on our project to elucidate the role of extracellular vesicles in leukaemogenesis.
January 5, 2021. Neil Renwick, Kathrin Tyryshkin, Tara Baetz, and David LeBrun receive a Cancer Pathology Translational Research Grant!
Many thanks to the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network for supporting our project microRNA-guided diagnostics for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Please check out this wonderful program run through the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research at ontariomolecularpathology.ca.
November 20, 2020. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara and Xiaojing Yang on their exciting presentation at the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation Research Symposium Virtual Conference
Thank you to Dr. John Kanki and the NETRF Scientific Committee for a wonderful opportunity to share our findings on “A miR-375/YAP axis regulates neuroendocrine differentiation and tumorigenesis in lung carcinoid cells” with a global audience. Absolutely fascinating conference! To relive Jina’s presentation, please see: https://youtu.be/f161uRWXZ8E
September 15, 2020. Congratulations to Justin Wong, Paula Ginter, and co-authors on their successful manuscript submission to Cancers
Congratulations to Justin from the Renwick lab and Paula from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College on the acceptance of their manuscript outlining a novel microRNA-based approach to lung neuroendocrine neoplasm classification. Special thanks to our co-authors: Kathrin Tyryshkin, Xiaojing Yang, Jina Nanayakkara, and Zier Zhou at Queen’s, Tom Tuschl at The Rockefeller University, and Yao-Tseng Chen at Weill Cornell Medical College. Also, a hat tip to the editorial staff at Cancers, highly recommended.
August 27, 2020. Zier Zhou is heading to the University of Ottawa!
Congratulations to Zier on being accepted to the MSc program in Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa. Looking forward to hearing which lab you join but fingers crossed for Katie Rayner’s laboratory!!
August 26, 2020. Jina Nanayakkara wins CIHR Award of Excellence!
Congratulations to Jina on winning an Award of Excellence (Silver Category) at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research National Research Poster presentation. A wonderful ending to the first two years of MD PhD training. Next, clinical school!
Aug 8, 2020. Many thanks to the Translational Institute of Medicine at Queen’s for recognizing our paper!!
July 15, 2020. Interested in microRNA-based classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms? If so, please follow link below
Thank you Oxford University Press for providing a persistent link to our recent article in NAR Cancer. Please find the most up-to-date version of our article at: https://academic.oup.com/narcancer/article/doi/10.1093/narcan/zcaa009/5867117?guestAccessKey=82ddb737-d0b7-40b8-81dd-0c5ecd9c3f4e
July 1, 2020. Neil Renwick is promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine
Congratulations to me (couldn’t resist)! Many thanks to Queen’s, SEAMO, DPMM, my exceptional current and former mentors at Queen’s University and The Rockefeller University, outstanding current and former lab members, fantastic funding sources, and most importantly, our wonderful patient volunteers who have all helped to advance our research program.
May 27, 2020. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara and co-authors on their successful manuscript submission to Nucleic Acids Research Cancer
Congratulations to Jina and co-authors on the acceptance of their manuscript outlining a novel microRNA-based approach to neuroendocrine neoplasm classification. Special thanks to our co-authors: Kathrin Tyryshkin, Xiaojing Yang, Justin Wong, and Kaitlin Vanderbeck at Queen’s, Paula Ginter, Theresa Scognamiglio, and Yao-Tseng Chen at Weill Cornell Medical College, Nicole Panarelli at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Nai-Kong Cheung at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Frederike Dijk at the University of Amsterdam, Iddo Ben-Dov at the Hadassah Medical Organization, Michelle Kim at the Icahn School of Medicine, Simron Singh at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, and Pavel Morozov, Klaas Max, and Tom Tuschl at The Rockefeller University. As you might have guessed, working on rare cancers takes a village! Also, a hat tip to the editorial staff at NAR Cancer, absolutely exceptional and highly recommended.
May 26, 2020. Congratulations to Kathleen Watt and Andrew Craig on their successful manuscript submission to Translational Oncology
Congratulations to Kathleen and Andrew Craig in the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute on the acceptance of their manuscript titled “Distinguishing tumor and stromal sources of microRNAs linked to metastasis in cutaneous melanoma” in Translational Oncology. This manuscript actually started as a class project in Kathrin Tyryshkin’s data analysis course and snowballed into a well-earned publication: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S1936523320300954.
April 21, 2020. Tashifa Imtiaz receives ASIP SROPP funding
Congratulations to Tashifa on receiving funding to participate in the Summer Research Opportunity Program in Pathology. Many thanks to the American Society of Investigative Pathology for their wonderful and generous support!
April 18, 2020. Danny Jomaa receives a UGME 2020 Summer Studentship funding
Congratulations to Danny on receiving Under Graduate Medical Education funding to join our lab over summer. Many thanks to the Queen’s School of Medicine! These awards are a big deal for medical students interested in research.
March 23, 2020. Renwick Lab members working remotely due to COVID-19
Safety first! All lab members will be working remotely until further notice.
March 4, 2020. Kaitlin Vanderbeck wins the Surgical Pathology Award at USCAP 2020!
Congratulations to Kaitlin Vanderbeck, our pathology trainee funded through the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network, on winning the Surgical Pathology Award at the United States and Canadian Association of Pathology Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
December 1, 2019. The Renwick Lab and industry partner MutliplexDx secure European research funding for small RNA diagnostics
Huge congratulations to Pavol Cekan, my former bench partner at Rockefeller, for founding MultiplexDx (multiplexdx.com) and leading this joint initiative on “novel, precise, and early diagnostics of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors using miRNA signatures.”
November 8, 2019. Jina Nanayakkara presents at the CSCI-CITAC Annual Meeting in Banff
Many thanks to the Queen’s MD PhD program for supporting Jina’s trip to the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation-Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada Annual Meeting where she presented on miRNA-based classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms. Clinician scientist careers are not for the faint-hearted and any support is much appreciated.
November 8, 2019. Emily Kaczmarek presents at the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing in Mississauga
Many thanks to the organizers for letting Emily share her exciting work on a “miRNA-based deep neural map for cancer diagnosis and classification.”
November 3-5, 2019. Justin Wong presents at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference in Ottawa
Many thanks to the organizers for letting Justin share his informative work on “microRNA-based classification of lung neuroendocrine neoplasms.”
October 7, 2019. Emily Kaczmarek and Justin Wong present posters and participate in panel discussions at the OMPRN Pathology Matters meeting in Ottawa
Thanks to the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network for allowing us to present our recent research titled “miRNA-based deep neural map for cancer diagnosis and classification” and “microRNA-based classification of lung neuroendocrine neoplasms.”
October 3-5, 2019. Jina Nanayakkara’s star turn at the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society Annual Symposium in Boston
Many thanks to the organizers at NANETs for allowing Jina to showcase her work on “microRNA-based classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms”. As a small laboratory, we deeply appreciate the travel and registration award, platform presentation, and poster highlight to share our research with an expert international audience.
September 18, 2019. Nicole Astzalos presents at the Medical Student Research Showcase in Kingston
After some philosophical input, I’d like to thank the organizers for ultimately letting all medical students participate in this event. Nicole presented an interesting story on “microRNAs as biomarkers in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: exploring expression profiles in tissues and cell lines. Also, hat tip to Jina, our MD PhD candidate, who was senior author on this laboratory effort.
August 2, 2019. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara and Kathrin TYRYSHKIN for being selected for a poster presentation at the 2019 Canadian Cancer Research Conference in Ottawa
Thanks to the organizing committee for providing an exciting venue to discuss “microRNA-based classification fo neuroendocrine neoplasms.”
July 30, 2019. Zier Zhou and Justin Wong present at the Toronto RNA Enthusiasts’ Day, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Many thanks to Dr. Julie Claycomb, Dr. John Calarco, and other committee members at the University of Toronto for another excellent RNA biology meeting and for providing my lab members with opportunities to present. Zier talked on “miRNA dysregulation in Alzheimer Disease” and Justin presented a poster on “microRNA-based classification of lung and gasteroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.” Also thanks to Abby for providing moral support!
July 15, 2019. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara for being selected for a platform presentation and receiving a travel grant to attend the 2019 Multidisciplinary NET Medical Symposium in Boston
Many thanks to the organizing committee for this wonderful opportunity to present our work on “microRNA-based classification of neuroendocrine tumors” in front of an expert clinical and basic science audience. My team and I will be there in full support.
June 28, 2019. The James and Renwick Labs receive TIME Incubation Grant Funding
Congratulations to Dr. Paula James in the Department of Medicine and huge thanks for suggesting we partner on a project titled “transcriptional characterization of the hemostatic stress response in blood outgrowth endothelial cells from individuals with Type I von Willebrand Disease” for the Inaugural Translational Institute of Medicine (TIME) Grant Competition. Congratulations also to our key collaborators, Dr. Charlie Hindmarch in the Department of Medicine and Dr. Kathrin Tyryshkin in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. We are all looking forward to working with Robbie Kloosterman who is the MSc candidate working on this exciting project.
June 13, 2019. Many thanks to Prof. Don Maurice from the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Science for his Keynote Address at our Pathology Research Half Day
Many thanks to Don for talking about “Good fences make good neighbors: how cells “fence in” cAMP-signals” at our annual Pathology Research Half Day. We will all remember to compartmentalize more often! Also, huge thanks to Lis Andersen for co- [mostly – Editor] organizing another successful afternoon at the Kingston Yacht Club. Also, also, thank you to the many participants, including Justin, Jina, and Tahir from my lab and inquiring faculty members.
June 4, 2019. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara on receiving the Dean’s Award for Best Oral Presentation at the Health Sciences Research Trainees Day
Many thanks to Dr. Brian Bennett and other committee members for organizing this valuable training experience.
April 15, 2019. Congratulations to Emily Kaczmarek from the Mousavi Lab for obtaining NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship_Master’s Program Funding
Congratulations also to Emily on national recognition for her outstanding academic achievement in computer sciences!! We are thrilled to be working with you and Parvin!
April 15, 2019. Congratulations to Jina Nanayakkara for obtaining CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship_Master’s Program Funding
Congratulations to Jina on national recognition for her outstanding academic achievement in biological sciences!!
April 13, 2019. Congratulations to Zier Zhou for obtaining Queen’s Arts and Science Undergraduate Research Funding
Congratulations to Zier in her grant writing success and many thanks to ASURF for supporting undergraduate research!
April 9, 2019. Justin Wong and Jina Nanayakkara present at the Merkel Cell Carcinoma Round Table, Kingston
Many thanks to Dr. John Davidson for providing us with an opportunity to present our research and discuss collaborative opportunities.
April 6, 2019. Renwick Lab members attend the 2019 National NET Patient Conference – CNETS Canada, Toronto
Justin, Jina, and Neil attend the highly informative National NET patient conference. Many thanks to the organizers for supporting our attendance and to the patients and doctors for sharing their experiences and expertise!
April 4, 2019. Neil Renwick presents Genetics Grand Rounds in the Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Many thanks to Peter Kannu for the kind invitation to present on “Using microRNAs to diagnose and monitor disease” and the opportunity to teach the residents on “Advances in microRNA detection and profiling.”
February 27, 2019. The Renwick Lab receives SEAMO Innovation Award Funding
Many thanks to the Innovation Fund review and oversight committees for supporting our proposal on using advanced microRNA detection and analysis approaches in cancer clinical trial research. Many thanks also to Dr. Tara Baetz (Medical Oncology), Dr. Kathrin Tyryshkin (Biomedical Data Analysis), and Prof. Parvin Mousavi (Medical Informatics) for partnering with us on this proposal.
January 4, 2019. Blake Pyman presents at the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing, Hawaii
Congratulations to Blake and Parvin in the Queen’s School of Computing on advancing our research on classifying cancer through deep learning. Thank you for opening an exciting research direction!
January 30, 2019. The Renwick Lab receives Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network Funding
Many thanks to the OMPRN for supporting our project on microRNA biomarkers and for providing a funded training opportunity for Kaitlin Vanderbeck in our pathology residency program!
December 18, 2018. Dr. Neil Renwick and Dr. Simron Singh at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center receive Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Society_Canada 2018 Research Grant Funding
Many thanks to CNETS_Canada and the many dedicated fundraisers for helping Simron and me to develop and evaluate a microRNA-based blood test to diagnose and monitor NETs. For interested participants, we are currently arranging Material Transfer Agreements and obtaining Ethics Approvals for our proposed study and will provide updates on this website and other outlets.
November 16, 2018. Neil Renwick joins panel discussion on transitioning to scientific independence at the Yale School of Medicine
Many thanks to the organizers from the Yale Centre for Clinical Investigation for an excellent discussion on life after a career development award. Good news, there is light at the end of a very long tunnel!
November 8, 2018. Blake Pyman successfully defends MSc Thesis in Computer Science, Queen’s University
Huge congratulations to Blake for successfully defending his MSc thesis titled “Deep cancer classifier: exploring microRNA regulation of cancer with deep learning” and many thanks to Prof. Parvin Mousavi and Dr. Kathrin Tyryshkin for opening a number of new avenues in microRNA research. Blake, don’t forget celebratory dinner at Woodenheads on November 26!
October 15, 2018. Justin Wong and Jina Nanayakkara present posters at the OMPRN Pathology Matters Meeting, Vantage Venues Toronto
Many thanks to Dr. David LeBrun and co-organizers for providing opportunities for trainees to present, helping us to network, and letting us know about the impressive range of research tools and service available to pathologists through the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research.
October 13, 2018. Neil Renwick presents at the Symposium on Hidradenitis Suppurativa Advances at Women’s College Hospital, University of Toronto
Many thanks to Dr. Afsaneh Alavi and Dr. Michelle Lowes for their kind invitation to talk about “approaches for studying microRNA dysregulation and defective microRNA processing in Hidradenitis Suppurativa.” There are some surprisingly dramatic microRNA changes in diseased tissues.
October 4-6, 2018. Neil Renwick presents a poster at the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society Annual Meeting, Westin Seattle Conference Centre, Seattle
Many thanks to the organizers for the opportunity to present a poster on microRNAs in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors! Also, huge thanks to Justin for preparing the first ePoster from our laboratory. This was an excellent meeting, see you all in Boston next year.
September 29, 2018. Justin Wong presents at the CSearch Computing Conference, Queen’s University
Many thanks to the organizers for selecting Justin to present on using feature selection to identify biomarkers in neuroendocrine tumors.
July 31, 2018. Justin Wong presents at the Toronto RNA Enthusiasts’ Day, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Many thanks to the organizers for selecting Justin to present a poster on microRNAs in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors! This research day is rapidly becoming one of our lab favourites.
July 22, 2018. Tahir Kanji receives a professional development award from the Ontario Rheumatology Association Development and Education Committee
Congratulations to Tahir on receiving an ORADE award to attend the NEB Molecular Biology Summer Workshop, Northampton, MA.
July 17, 2018. Congratulations to Nicole Panarelli at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Kathrin Tyryshkin in the Renwick Lab
Congratulations to Nicole and Kathrin on the acceptance of their manuscript titled “Evaluating gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors through microRNA sequencing” to Endocr Relat Cancer. Thanks also to all co-authors for their contributions and to the editorial staff at ERC for an exemplary publication experience.
June 22, 2018. Dr. Mark Ormiston presents at the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine Research Half Day, Queen’s University
Many thanks to Mark from the Laboratory of Translational Cardiovascular Immunology at Queen’s for being our Keynote Speaker!! Also, many thanks to all the presenters and participants and the staff of the Kingston Yacht Club. Lastly, special thanks to Ms. Lis Andersen for co- (and by that I mean mostly) organizing this fun, fast-paced, and informative event.
June 20, 2018. Congratulations to Kathleen Watt in the Craig Laboratory, Queen’s University
Congratulations to Kathleen and Andrew on successfully submitting their manuscript titled “microRNA-206 suppresses TGF-ß signalling to limit tumor growth and metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma” to Cellular Signalling. We very much enjoyed working with you guys on this project.
June 13, 2018. Justin Wong presents at the Annual Meeting for Health Sciences Research Trainees, Queen’s University
Justin presents his poster on “microRNA-based classification of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors” to health sciences faculty and trainees.
June 6, 2018. Neil Renwick presents at the SEAMO Research and Innovation Showcase, Isabel Bader Center for the Performing Arts, Queen’s University
Many thanks to the organizers for inviting the new clinician scientists to speak at such a spectacular venue. Please do this again and soon!
June 3, 2018. Adrianna Majewski accepted to Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow
Huge congratulations to Adrianna who is on her way to medical school in Poland!! Many thanks for your contributions to our laboratory and looking forward to hearing more about your adventures.
May 30-31, 2018. Neil Renwick attends the Clinical Scholars Program Graduate Reunion Symposium, The Rockefeller University
Great to catch up with everyone!! Many thanks to Barry, Sarah, Jim, and Michelle for prepping us for a successful career in translational science. I use lessons from this program almost daily and highly recommend this program for anyone who wants to excel in biomedical science. Working side by side with scientific leaders on a daily basis is the best way to learn.
May 28, 2018. Jina Nanayakkara joins the MD PhD program, Queen’s University
Many congratulations to Jina on her successful application to the highly competitive MD PhD program!! We’re delighted you chose to join our laboratory and are looking forward to training the next generation of clinician scientist!
May 6-10, 2018. Neil Renwick attends the Keystone Symposium on Precision Medicine in Cancer, Stockholm
Spectacular week in Stockholm, which is like Amsterdam with big streets. The Swedish government clearly sees the value fo translational research and has put their money where their mouth is. Neil presents a poster titled “Evaluating gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors through microRNA sequencing.” To the folks who hung around for the entertainment on the last evening, I promise I will tell the penguin joke next time we meet…
April 19, 2018. Neil Renwick presents the Department of Oncology Grand Rounds, Queen’s University and Kingston Health Science Centre
Neil presents on “microRNA-guided diagnostics in solid and liquid clinical samples.” Many thanks to Peter Greer for the kind invitation!
March 27, 2018. Zier Zhou awarded a 2018 Craig Jury Memorial Summer Studentship in Cancer Research
Congratulations Zier!! And many thanks to the Jury family for providing a formative research opportunity for an exceptional student!
March 23-26, 2018. Neil Renwick attends the Workshop on Leadership in Biosciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
With generous support from HHMI, Neil attends the Workshop on Leadership in Biosciences at the Banbury Conference Centre on the “Gold Coast” of Long Island. Run by Carl and Suzanne Cohen, this workshop provides training in essential but frequently overlooked skills that are routinely needed by Principal Investigators. This course is an absolute must!
February 8, 2018. Abby Christi awarded the Dr. M Daria Haust Pathology Summer Studentship
Congratulations to Abby, our QuARMS student, on securing funding to work in our laboratory over summer!! Also, many thanks to Dr. Haust for her continued support of departmental academic programs!
January 4, 2018. Justin Wong promoted to the Doctoral Program in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen’s University
Justin becomes the first PhD candidate to join the Renwick Laboratory, working on microRNA-mediated gene regulation in neuroendocrine tumors.
October 5-6, 2017. Neil Renwick attends the OMPRN Pathology Matters Annual Meeting, Toronto
Neil participates in a networking and collaboration event to improve patient care through molecular diagnostics. Many thanks to the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research for supporting this critical activity.
August 29, 2017. Neil Renwick presents in the Center for Male Reproductive Medicine and Microsurgery, Weill Cornell Medical College
Neil presents “Transitioning from microRNA-guided diagnostics to gene regulatory pathomechanisms” to members of the Paduch Laboratory. Many thanks to Dr. Darius Paduch for the kind invitation.
June 13, 2017. Ivraym Barsoum receives the Donald W. Penner Award for Best Poster Presentation at the Canadian Association of Pathologists 68th Annual Scientific Meeting, Charlottetown, PEI
Ivraym, when I said put the lab on the map, this is well more than I expected!! Congratulations and much appreciated!
May 25-26, 2017. Neil Renwick attends the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshop on “Informatics on High Throughput Sequencing Data”, MaRS Center, Toronto
With generous support from a Bioinformatics Workshop Award, Neil attends a stimulating and useful course that complements his clinical research program.
May 9, 2017. Shane Mooney accepted to the University of Toronto MD Program
A stellar result for our Governor General’s Academic Silver Medalist!! We are tremendously proud of your achievements and appreciate the attention you have brought to our laboratory training style!
April 3o, 2017. Betty Li accepted to the Accelerated Nursing Program, University of Toronto
For a moment there, I thought we were going to lose you to a career in Fine Arts! Congratulations on your success and we look forward to learning how you combine your abilities in music and art with your career in health sciences!
April 21-22, 2017. Neil Renwick attends the National NET Patient Conference, Westin Harbor Castle, Toronto
Thank you CNETS for the opportunity to meet NET patients and caregivers. Their experiences help shape our research program.
March 27, 2017. Mareena Mallory accepted to the Master’s of Health Informatics Program, University of Toronto
Congratulations on a well deserved placement and many thanks for your contributions to microRNA sequence curation!!
March 1, 2017. Neil Renwick receives Queen’s University Research Leaders’ Funding
Through generous institutional support, Neil and his team receive funding to accelerate RNA-guided diagnostics for neuroendocrine tumors.
February 28, 2017. Francine Milone accepted to the Master’s Program in Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto
Francine, many thanks for taking a risk and being the first research volunteer in our laboratory!! We are delighted that you are joining the Calarco Laboratory to further your interest in cutting-edge genetics.
October 9, 2016. Justin Womg receives Jeremy Nesheim Graduate Travel Award
Justin receives a competitive travel award to analyze the expression of candidate imprinted genes in the Tuschl laboratory at The Rockefeller University.
September 8, 2016. Mona Ashrafkhorasani receives Teaching Assistant Award for 2nd Year Synthetic Laboratory
Mona recognized for her commitment to educating undergraduate students and her skills in preparing and presenting teaching materials in the Department of Chemistry.
September 7, 2016. Clinical Research Seminar, The Rockefeller University
Neil presents “Improving clinical practice through microRNA-guided diagnostics” to an audience of expert translational researchers. Neil also meets with Dr. Barry Coller, Dr. Sarah Schlesinger, and the current members of the Clinical Scholars Program. Many thanks to Dr. Gadi Lalazar (Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics) for the kind invitation.
August 2, 2016. Toronto RNA Enthusiasts Day, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto
Neil, Dakota, and Shane attend the inaugural Toronto RNA Enthusiasts Day, a wonderful initiative by Julie Claycomb’s laboratory.
June 23, 2016. Conference Presentation, North-Eastern Federal University
Neil provides a recorded presentation titled “Investigating Sakha neurological diseases through classical clinical and advanced molecular approaches” at the 5th International Scientific Conference on Viliuisk Encephalomyelitis and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders, North-Eastern Federal University, Republic of Sakha, The Russian Federation.
June 9, 2016. Shane Monney receives Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal
Since matriculating at Queen’s, Shane has maintained a phenomenal academic record, winning multiple university awards including this year’s Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal! A remarkable effort!
June 6, 2016. Dakota Gustafsson accepted to MSc Program at the University of Toronto
A budding clinician scientist, we were thrilled to hear that Dakota is extending his miRNA studies in Jason Fish’s laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto.
May 11, 2016. Lab lunch
To celebrate a successful academic year, the Renwick lab heads to Tango Nuevo for excellent tapas and a competitive chardonnay. Dr. Charlie Hindmarch from the Center of Neuroscience Studies kindly joins the festivities.
May 10, 2016. Bryony Dorrington accepted to the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario
Bryony caps her excellent Path 499 performance with a successful application to one of Canada’s leading medical schools.
May 3, 2016. High School Student Outreach Program, Queen’s University
Neil presents “Prion discovery and biology” using knowledge gained by osmosis while sharing an office with Dr. D. Carleton Gajdusek at the University of Amsterdam from 1998 to 2001! Many thanks to Mackenzie Bowman for the kind invitation!
February 12, 2016. Multiplexed intact-tissue transcriptional analysis at cellular resolution
Our EDC fixation approach for retaining small and large RNAs is successfully coupled to CLARITY; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867416300526.
January 19, 2016. DPMM Seminar, Queen’s University
Neil presents “Analyzing post-transcriptional gene regulation in health and disease” to the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
January 12, 2016. DBMS Plenary Lecture, Queen’s University
Neil presents “Analyzing post-transcriptional gene regulation in health and disease” to the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences. Many thanks to Prof. Anne Croy and Dr. Nader Ghasemlou for their kind invitation!
October 30, 2015. Gairdner Symposium. RNA Biology and The New Genetics, University of Toronto
Neil, Dakota, and Shane attend the Gairdner Symposium on “RNA Biology and the New Genetics” featuring several world-renowned RNA biologists.
October 13, 2015. QATMB Seminar, Queen’s University
Neil reprises his talk on “miRNA-based diagnostics: profiling and visualizing miRNAs in disease tissues” to members of the Queen’s Association for Technology in Medicine and Biology. Many thanks to Shane Mooney for the kind invitation!
2015. Dr. Lev Goldfarb joins the Renwick Laboratory, Queen’s University
Lev is a world-renowned neurogeneticist who has kindly agreed to join our laboratory as a guest investigator due to our shared interest in the enigmatic neurodegenerative diseases of the Yakut people of Eastern Siberia. We are also excited to have this opportunity to continue our work with Drs. Fyodor Platonov, Dr. Vsevelod Vladimirtsev, Dr. Nadezhda Maksimova, Dr. Tatiana Nikolaeva and our many colleagues at the North-Eastern Federal University in the Sakha Republic.
July-Aug 2015. Shane Mooney and Dakota Gustafsson visit the Tuschl Laboratory, The Rockefeller University
Shane and Dakota visit the HMMI_Laboratory of RNA Molecular Biology to hone their skills in RNA curation and RNA FISH. Many thanks to Dr. Tuschl and lab members for being excellent hosts!
June 2015. Tiandra Ceyhan accepted to the School of Medicine, McMaster University
Tiandra sets a high standard after being accepted into the McMaster MD program as a third year life sciences student!
June 26, 2015. Tiny RNAs, big data
http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/tiny-molecules-big-data
Neil discusses his research program with Mary Anne Beaudette from the Queen’s Gazette.
May 29-31, 2015. CIHR New Investigator Forum, Lac Delage, Quebec
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/49288.html
Neil participates in the highly informative CIHR New Investigator Forum, learning about the opportunities and challenges for new investigators in Canada. Many thanks to CIHR for hosting this helpful event!
May 27, 2015. SEAMO Innovation Showcase, Kingston
Neil describes his research initiative in translational RNA biology to the medical research community at Queen’s University/Kingston General and Hotel Dieu Hospitals.
May 5, 2015. High School Student Outreach Program, Queen’s University
Neil presents on “Prion discovery and biology” using knowledge gained by osmosis while sharing an office with Dr. D. Carleton Gajdusek at the University of Amsterdam from 1998 to 2001! Many thanks to Mackenzie Bowman for the kind invitation!
April 28, 2015. Renwick Lab receives SEAMO Innovation Funding
Many thanks to the SEAMO AFP AHSC Innovation Fund for investing in our research on “Optimizing cancer care through maximally informative molecular diagnostics.”
June 1-2, 2015. CCSRI Junior Investigator Grant Panel Travel Award, Toronto
Many thanks to the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute for the wonderful opportunity to see the grant review process in person! Highly educational and highly recommended!
Feb 2, 2015. QATMB Seminar, Queen’s University
Neil presents “miRNA-based diagnostics: profiling and visualizing miRNAs in disease tissues” to members of the Queen’s Association for Technology in Medicine and Biology. Many thanks to Shane Mooney for the kind invitation! Note added in 2018: although this seminar was given in freezing conditions, late at night, to an audience of three, please see above how key a role two of the audience members, Shane and Dakota, played in setting up my laboratory. Lesson: no audience is too small!
Jan 20, 2015. Cutting-edge technology comes to Queen’s
http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/cutting-edge-technology-comes-queens
Neil discusses his recent Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund success with Anne Craig from the Queen’s Gazette.
Jan 2, 2015. Dr. Xiaojing Yang joins the Renwick lab as Research Associate
Xiaojing is a highly experienced physician and cell biologist with postdoctoral training in signal transduction pathways (Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas) and structure and functional studies of recombinant proteins (Queen’s University). It is a great pleasure to welcome Xiaojing to our laboratory.
Oct 14, 2014. GIDRU Seminar, Queen’s University
Neil presents “miRNA-based diagnostics” to the Gastrointestinal Disease Research Unit, Queen’s University. Many thanks to Drs. Nick Dymint and Michael Blennerhasset for their kind welcome to Queen’s!
Sept 12, 2014. Renwick Lab receives CFI Funding
Many thanks to the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders’ Fund and the Ontario Research Fund!! With generous infrastructure support, we have purchased an Amersham Imager 600 UV, a Nikon Eclipse Ni-E Upright Research Microscope, and a Typhoon FLA9500 Biomolecular Imager for research and training purposes.
July 3, 2014. Neil Renwick joins the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University!
Many thanks to the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Association and Queen’s University for this terrific opportunity to establish myself as an independent clinician scientist with the generous support of the New Clinician Scientist Award!