Pharmacology & Therapeutics - News

Congratulations to Maddison Arlen, a PhD candidate in Dr. Carolyn Baglole's laboratory.

��Թ� — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:53:53 +0000

Congratulations to Maddison Arlen, a PhD candidate in Dr.

Congratulations to ��Թ� iGEM!

��Թ� — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:41:09 +0000

We are proud to share that ��Թ� iGEM has won the 2025 Grand Prize at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. This is their second global win and another incredible achievement for ��Թ�!

The Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics is happy to have supported this outstanding team once again and congratulates all members on their remarkable success.

Hannah Derue, PhD student in Professor Ribeiro da Silva’s lab, featured on the first page of the ��Թ� Reporter

��Թ� — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:12:07 +0000

Hannah Derue is a PhD candidate in neuroscience in Dr. Ribeiro-da-Silva’s lab at the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics. She recently founded a research and development startup called PAin+ — an interdisciplinary venture that combines artificial intelligence and visual art to help individuals communicate about and manage chronic pain in novel ways.

��Թ� researcher teams up with U.S. art museum to enhance understanding of chronic pain

Congratulations to Roberto Charles, who won the 2025/26 Personnel Awards for Black Scholars from Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada

��Թ� — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 19:07:27 +0000

Roberto Charles won the 2025/26 Personnel Awards for Black Scholars (BSA).

Congratulations to Terry Hébert, who is a winner of 2025 David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching

��Թ� — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 17:01:50 +0000

Congratulations to Terry Hébert, who is a winner of 2025 David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching. The David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching acknowledges outstanding contributions to promoting graduate student excellence through supervision and teaching by a faculty member who has been supervising for 10 years or more.

Winner: Terry Hébert, Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Congratulations to Diego Loggia -PhD3 in Dr. Terry Hebert's lab, who has won a D2R Doctoral Scholar Award

��Թ� — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 20:22:31 +0000

Super proud of Diego Loggia who just won a D2R Doctoral Scholar Award! He will use our iPSC-derived disease in a dish model to explore the utility of RNA- and DNA-based drugs to modulate patient-specific disease outcomes in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Congratulations to Sabrina Romanelli/PhD3 and Tara Shomali/PhD4 in Dr. Jean-Francois Trempe's lab, who have been awarded the FRQS doctoral scholarship

��Թ� — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:23:03 +0000

Sabrina Romanelli (PhD3) and Tara Shomali (PhD 4) were awarded the FRQS doctoral scholarship ("Bourses de doctorat en recherche - volet régulier”). Both are supplemented by a contribution from Parkinson Quebec in partnership with the FRQ.

Congratulations to Danielle Simons-PhD2 in Dr. Jean-Francois Trempe's lab, who has been awarded the 2025 Max Eivaskhani Memorial Fellowship from CRBS

��Թ� — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:22:00 +0000

Danielle Simons (PhD2) has been awarded the 2025 Max Eivaskhani Memorial Fellowship from the Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale (CRBS). This fellowship was established in 2021 in remembrance of former CRBS student Max Eivaskhani and is awarded to the top ranked application among the submissions for the CRBS Scholarship competition.

Congratulations to Simran Dhir-PhD2 and Thomas Deluc - PostDoc in the lab of Dr. Alfredo Ribeiro Da Silva

��Թ� — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:05:51 +0000

Congratulations to Simran Dhir/PhD2, who received The Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation’s Edwards PhD. Studentships in Pain Research 2025. This Studentship carries with it a stipend of $25,000 per annum for three years.

Congratulations to Thomas Deluc/PostDoc, who received the Ronald Melzack Fellowship in Pain Research ($70,000 per year for three years).

Both these awards supports full-time research in chronic pain that will be conducted at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain.

Congratulations to Sabrina Romanelli, who received a prestigious Graduate Student Award from Parkinson Canada (2025-2027 cycle)

��Թ� — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:58:26 +0000

Congratulations to Sabrina Romanelli, who received a prestigious Graduate Student Award from Parkinson Canada (205-2027 cycle). This competitive 2-yr $40,000 award was given to 11 exceptional doctoral trainees across Canada working on Parkinson’s disease. Sabrina’s project aims to elucidate the mechanism of PINK1 activation on damaged mitochondria via interactions with the translocation machinery. Her work will help us understand how Parkinson-associated genetic variants impair PINK1’s function.

Adithi Sundarakrishnan won the Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation Award at a symposium held by the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN) at Concordia University

��Թ� — Thu, 16 May 2024 18:59:39 +0000

Adithi Sundarakrishnan from the Clarke lab won the Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation Award at a symposium held by the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN) at Concordia University. Additionally, she secured the Best 3-Minute Thesis Presentation Award at the recent School of Biomedical Sciences (SMBS) Grad Talks event.

Seline Vancolen is awarded 1st Place Senior Poster Presentation Award

��Թ� — Thu, 16 May 2024 17:42:10 +0000

Seline is awarded the 1^st Place Senior Poster Presentation Award at the Child Health and Human Development Research Day 2024 of the Research Institute of the ��Թ� Health Centre. Congratulations Seline!

Zixuan Li received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for her publication that appeared in the August 2023 issue of Endocrinology (doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqad119.)

��Թ� — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 20:39:32 +0000

Zixuan Li received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for her publication entitled “The Organophosphate Esters Used as Flame Retardants and Plasticizers Affect H295R Adrenal Cell Phenotypes and Functions”, in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the Faculty of Medicine at ��Թ�. The findings from this paper demonstrate that organophosphate esters have chemical-specific effects on cortisol and aldosterone production and thus the adrenal may be an important target for these endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Congratulations to Tara Shomali, who received the prestigious Graduate Student Award from Parkinson Canada (2024-2026 cycle)!

��Թ� — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:39:44 +0000

Congratulations to Tara Shomali, who received the prestigious Graduate Student Award from Parkinson Canada (2024-2026 cycle). This is a competitive 2-yr $40,000 award given to only 7 outstanding doctoral trainees doing research on Parkinson’s disease across Canada. This will help Tara works towards developing compounds targeting PINK1, a kinase implicated in early-onset familial Parkinson’s.

Parkinson Canada announces over $ 1.9 million in research competition funding

The Admin. staff of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at FMHS Community Celebration Breakfast

��Թ� — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:35:23 +0000

The Admin. staff of Pharmacology & Therapeutics department participated at the FMHS Community Celebration Breakfast, Wednesday, June 14, at the Percival Molson Stadium.

Pharmacology & Therapeutics Admin. team escaped from A/MAZE military facility

��Թ� — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 19:21:45 +0000

The admin. office team escaped from A/MAZE military facility on May 29, 2023.

Lama Iskandarani wins Best Poster or Oral Presentation Award in the Postdoctoral Fellow category

��Թ� — Wed, 17 May 2023 20:48:12 +0000

Lama won Best Poster or Oral Presentation award (Postdoctoral Fellow category) for her poster entitled "The effects of bisphenols A and its structural analogs on the expression of gene transcripts involved in the regulation of steroidogenesis in KGN human granulosa cells" at the Pharmacology Research Day on May 11, 2023. Kudos to Lama!

Braeden Giles wins Best 3-minute Flash Talk Award

��Թ� — Wed, 17 May 2023 20:46:40 +0000

Braeden won the Best 3-minute Flash Talk Award at the Pharmacology Research Day on May 11, 2023. His talk was entitled "Environmentally Relevant Mixtures of Organophosphate Esters Suppress THP-1 Macrophage phagocytosis". Congratulations Braeden!

Congratulations to Irem Ulku, received a Junior Faculty Award at the ADPD 2023

��Թ� — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:46:21 +0000

Congratulations to Irem Ulku, from Prof. Gerhard Multhaup’s lab, who received a Junior Faculty Award at the ADPD 2023, Advances in Science & Therapy. International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and related neurological disorders. The Conference was held from March 28^th – April 1^st, in Götheborg, Sweden. There were over 4000 attendees and Irem was one out of 20 recipients.

Congratulations to our Pharmacology Integrative League of Students (PILS)!

��Թ� — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 16:15:49 +0000

We are proud to announce that they won Large Departmental Council of the Year at the Science Undergraduate Society Appreciation Night (SUSANs) that was held on Tuesday, March 28^th 2023 . They were awarded this prize for bringing the department together, hosting events, and supporting their community, and they’re looking forward to an even bigger and better year in 2023-2024!

Congratulations - SOT RASS Top 10 Best Published Paper Advancing the Science of Risk Assessment Award winners

��Թ� — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 18:03:13 +0000

Xiaotong (Vicky) Wang's paper (below) was selected by The Society of Toxicology Risk Assessment Specialty Section as one of the top 10 Best Papers Advancing the Science of Risk Assessment.

Wang X, Luu T, Beal MA, Barton-Maclaren TS, Robaire B, Hales BF. The Effects of Organophosphate Esters Used as Flame Retardants and Plasticizers on Granulosa, Leydig, and Spermatogonial Cells Analyzed Using High-Content Imaging. Toxicol Sci. 2022 Mar 28;186(2):269-287. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfac012. PMID: 35135005; PMCID: PMC8963303.

Vicky is a PhD trainee in Drs. Robaire and Hales labs.

Congratulations to the PHAR 562 recipients of the top three video presentations

��Թ� — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:40:08 +0000

Congratulations to the PHAR 562 recipients of the top three video presentations. The event was held on Nov. 23^rd2022 during the PHAR 562 poster and video presentations.

The recipients are:

Professor emerita Dusica Maysinger talks about the future of neuromedicine

��Թ� — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 19:02:43 +0000

Dusica Maysinger, PhD, Professor Emerita in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, reflects on her journey to Canada and ��Թ�, her research on nanotechnology and her thoughts on the future of biomedical research.

Best wishes to Prof. Multhaup and Prof. McKinney!

��Թ� — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 17:43:34 +0000

Gerhard Multhaup, PhD  - Former Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2011-2021) and Anne McKinney, PhD - Former Associate Dean, Academic Affairs (2019-2022) were honoured by Dr. David Eidelman, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Outgoing Faculty Leaders Reception recognizing their outstanding contributions to the Faculty of Medicine and to ��Թ�. The event was held on Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at Holmes Hall.

Jennifer Chen received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for her publication

��Թ� — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:36:02 +0000

Jennifer Chen received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for her publication entitled “Spt5 phosphorylation and the Rtf1 Plus3 domain promote Rtf1 function through distinct mechanisms “, in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the Faculty of Medicine at ��Թ�. The submitted papers demonstrates the breadth and excellence of research being accomplished by the graduate student, postdoctoral and resident trainees.

Jace Jones-Tabah received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for his publication

��Թ� — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:38:10 +0000

Jace Jones-Tabah received the ��Թ� MedStar Award for his publication entitled “Dopamine D1 receptor signalling in dyskinetic Parkinsonian rats revealed by fiber photometry using FRET‑based biosensors “, in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the Faculty of Medicine at ��Թ�. The submitted papers demonstrates the breadth and excellence of research being accomplished by the graduate student, postdoctoral and resident trainees.

Vicky Wang receives the first place graduate student award for her poster presentation

��Թ� — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 19:59:53 +0000

March 2021

Vicky Wang, PhD trainee in Professor Hales' and Robaire's labs, received the first place graduate student award for her poster presentation on “Benchmark Concentration (BMC) Analyses of the Effects of Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) on the Phenotype and Function of KGN Human Granulosa Cells”.

Aileen Yan won the second place prize for her paper in Toxicological Sciences

��Թ� — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 20:01:42 +0000

March 2021

Aileen Yan won the second place prize for her paper in Toxicological Sciences entitled “Exposure to tert-Butylphenyl Diphenyl Phosphate, an Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardant and Plasticizer, Alters Hedgehog Signaling in Murine Limb Bud Cultures” (Toxicol Sci. 2020; 178:251-263. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfaa145). This is two years in a row for Aileen since she received the first prize last year for her 2019 paper.

Braeden Giles, MSc trainee, is the recipient of a Trainee Fellowship

��Թ� — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:44:53 +0000

Braeden Giles, MSc trainee, is the recipient of a Trainee Fellowship

Vicky Wang receives STC/INTERTEK

��Թ� — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 20:35:25 +0000

December 2020

Vicky Wang receives STC/INTERTEK GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD. Congratulations to Vicky Wang, PhD Candidate in Professor Barbara Hales’ lab and co-supervised by Professor Bernard Robaire, for receiving the STC/INTERTEK GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD for the best PhD student poster presentation from the Society of Toxicology of Canada at the 52nd Annual Symposium of the Society of Toxicology of Canada - Virtual Learning Event.

Prof. Terry Hébert appointed as the Canadian Pacific Chair in Biotechnology

��Թ� — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 21:21:38 +0000

November 2020

Congratulations to Prof. Terry Hébert for being appointed as the Canadian Pacific Chair in Biotechnology.