Who and What

The Organ Injury & Repair Scientific Pillar at the Keenan Research Centre of Biomedical Sciences of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario is hosting a Unity Health Toronto Symposium on Organ Injury and Fibrosis: Keen-On Healing Fibrosis.

Significance

Fibrosis is a threat for the healing heart and there is a need to consider the right fibroblasts for heart regeneration. The symposium will feature a panel of world-leading experts, studying the mechanisms of tissue repair with the aim to develop new treatments for patients with fibrotic diseases. In four sessions plus the keynote address, we will focus on mechanisms and clinical impact of fibrosis in various organ systems.

Registration is now open!

About

Deregulation of normal tissue repair dramatically impairs life quality and reduces lifespan for hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. Together, insufficient healing (chronic wounds) and excessive repair after injury (scarring/fibrosis) cause healthcare costs reaching tens of billions of dollars per year in the US alone. Chronic and fibrotic healing occur when the body's own repair capacity is either impaired or overwhelmed. One approach in regenerative medicine is to replace injured, diseased or aged tissues with functional tissue equivalents. This approach is challenged by adverse host reactions that are part of the body repair program, e.g., immune, inflammatory, and fibrotic responses. Thus, regenerative medicine increasingly considers to supporting the adult's body's own regenerative capacities to promote closure of wounds and resolution of scars that never heal, and to keep excessive repair at bay.

The overarching aim of the Keen-on Healing Fibrosis Symposium at the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of Unity Health Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital is to assemble the greatest minds in organ repair biology under one roof. They will present and discuss the latest findings in the field in one day, with an eye on the most relevant outstanding questions and emerging ideas to solve them. We have planned six scientific sessions focusing on several topics relevant to regenerative medicine and healing of injured tissues. It is anticipated that exposure to this very diverse group of scientists will foster stimulating discussions and lead to productive collaborations. The interaction is poised facilitate the development of the next generation of novel therapeutics in regenerative medicine to tackle many of the greatest health concerns and needs of the 21st century.

Meet the Chairs

Co-Chair

Dr. Andras Kapus

Dr. Kapus is a cell biologist/physiologist, who obtained his MD and PhD at the Semmewleis University, Budapest, Hungary, and then performed postdoctoral training at the Division of Cell Biology of the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, Canada. Currenly, he is a full professor of Surgery and Biochemistry at the University of Toronto’s Temetry faculty of Medicine, and the Thor Eaton Professor of Fibrosis Research at U of T and the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science (KRC). He was the Director of the Trauma, Inflammation and Injury Platform of the KRC years and the (inaugural) director of the Research Training Centre between 2008 and 2018. In 2022 he was appointed to be the director of the Organ Injury and Repair Pillar in the KRC. His research primarily focuses on cellular stress signaling, cytoskeleton remodeling and nuclear transport, particularly as it pertains to organ fibrosis.

More information on Dr. Kapus' research interests can be found here

Co-Chair

Dr. Boris Hinz

Dr. Hinz is the Keenan Research Chair in Fibrosis Research at St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto Distinguished Professor in Tissue Repair and Regeneration. Dr. Hinz holds a PhD degree (1998) in Cell Biology and Theoretical Biology from the University of Bonn, Germany. From 1999 to 2002, he was postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Giulio Gabbiani, University of Geneva, Switzerland and then lead a research group at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). In 2009, he joined the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto and is cross-appointed with the institutes of Medical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Hinz is secretary and inaugural board member of the Canadian Connective Tissue Society since 2012. He studies the role of contractile myofibroblasts in physiological tissue repair and in causing pathological tissue fibrosis. His translational research led to the creation of two startup companies specialized in anti-fibrotic coatings for silicone implants and novel “soft” cell culture devices.

More information on Dr. Hinz's research interests can be found here and the Laboratory of Tissue Repair and Regeneration here.