News
July 2024:
1) Our primary research paper on the discovery of heart-brain connection in a rare neurodevelopmental KBG syndrome was published in Nature Communications! X/Tweetorial can be found here. We are very grateful for a seed grant from KBG Foundation and an innovation grant from Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI). Dr. Voronova was supported by the Sloan Research Fellowship in Neuroscience and CRC in Neural Stem Cell Biology. This paper was featured in a Folio article.
2) We were awarded a CIHR operating grant on developmental determinants of multiple sclerosis progression!
April 2024:
1) Our primary research paper on the discovery of novel olfactory bulb phenotype in a mouse model and human patients with KBG syndrome was published today in BMC Medicine! X/Tweetorial can be found here. We are very grateful for a seed grant from KBG Foundation and an operating grant from Scottish Rite Canada! Kara was supported by graduate studentships from NSERC and Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI). Dr. Voronova was supported by the Sloan Research Fellowship in Neuroscience and CRC in Neural Stem Cell Biology.
2) We received two grants to study the role of genetics in MS:
a) MS Canada Discovery Grant "Role of MS genetic variants in myelination"
b) MS Canada Catalyst Grant with Dr. Marc Horwitz "Intersection of genetics and EBV in MS disease mechanisms"
3) Leenah Qureshi, our undergraduate student, has received Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentship (SRS) "Investigating the Contribution of Genetic Mutations to Pathobiological and Regenerative Mechanisms in Multiple Sclerosis"
4) Lauren Chen, our summer student, has received Office of the Provost and VP (Academic) Summer Studentship Award "Developing a high throughput in vitro method for testing pro- regenerative molecules"
September 2023:
1) Kara Goodkey passed her candidacy exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
2) We received two grants to study the pathobiological origins of KBG syndrome:
a) Women and Children's Health Research Institute Innovation Grant "Role of Ankrd11, a KBG syndrome risk gene, in heart development”; and
b) Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada operating grant "Contribution of aberrant myelination to neurodevelopmental disorders"
June 2023:
1) Our first graduate student, Sana Bibi, defended her MSc thesis. Congratulations Sana, we are so proud of you!
2) Yana Kibalnyk passed her candidacy exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
3) Nicole Dittmann, our PhD candidate, won a 1st place poster award at the MS Centre research symposium. Congratulations!
4) Adrianne Watson, our PhD candidate, received travel fellowship to deliver an oral presentation at the International Society for Neurochemistry meeting in Porto in August 2023. Congratulations!
5) Dr. Anastassia Voronova was awarded Young Scientist Lectureship (oustanding investigator award) by the International Society for Neurochemistry. Congratulations!
March 2023:
Our review on how neural stem cells regulate microglia function and neuroinflammation was published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. Congratulations to 1st author Dr. Monique de Almeida and co-author Kara Goodkey!
February 2023:
Dr. Anastassia Voronova was named a 2023 Sloan Research Fellow in Neuroscience! Thank you Sloan Foundation for this incredible honour and recognition! Special thanks to Dr. Voronova's mentors, the Voronova lab members and our wonderful collaborators for their support.
January 2023:
1) Kara Goodkey has transferred from M.Sc. to a PhD program. Congratulations!
2) We published two original research papers:
a) Our primary research paper on the role of fractalkine in remyelination is now published in Stem Cell Reports! Tweetorial can be found here. We are very grateful for operating grants from MS Society of Canada and CIHR, and for graduate studentships from MS Society of Canada, CIHR, Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) awarded to co-first author Adrianne Watson.
b) Our primary research paper on the culture protocol of neural stem and oligodendrocyte precursor cells, as well as database of their transcriptomic profiles is now published in Stem Cell Reviews and Reports! Tweetorial can be found here. We are very grateful for an operating grant funding from NSERC and for graduate studentships from NSERC and Brad E Mates Fund and the Neurosciences and Mental Health Institute (NMHI) awarded to first author Nicole Dittmann.
May - October 2022:
1) Dr. Monique Marylin de Almeida and Adrianne Watson won best oral and poster presentations at the 2022 Medical Genetics Research Day at the University of Alberta. Congratulations!
2) Imre Papp, our undergraduate research student, won 2022 Eureka and Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Summer Student symposium best oral presentation awards. Congratulations!
3) Nicole Dittmann has passed candidacy exam and is now a Ph.D. candidate
4) Yana Kibalnyk transferred to Ph.D. program and received University of Alberta PhD recruitment award! Congratulations!
5) Kara Goodkey, our M.Sc. student, received Women and Children's Health Research Institute graduate studentship award to investigate brain development in KBG syndrome mouse model. Congratulations!
March - May 2022:
1) Our primary research paper on the role of Hepatoma-Derived Growth Factor (HDGF) on neural stem cells is now published in ASN Neuro! Tweetorial can be found here. It was also featured here. We are very grateful for an operating grant funding from NSERC, and for graduate and summer studentships from NSERC, Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI), MS Society of Canada, Brad E Mates Fund and the Neurosciences and Mental Health Institute (NMHI) awarded to co-first authors Yutong (Jessica) Li and Nicole Dittmann as well as co-author Adrianne Watson.
2) Our PI, Dr. Anastassia Voronova, was awarded Jordi Folch-Pi outstanding young investigator award from the American Society for Neurochemistry. Congratulations!
3) Our PhD students were awarded graduate scholarships from NSERC (to Nicole Dittmann to investigate neuron-neural stem cell communication) and CIHR (to Adrianne Watson to investigate how deficient fractalkine signalling participates in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis). Congratulations!
4) Our summer students were awarded NSERC USRA (to Pouria Torabi to investigate how oligodendrocytes are formed by neural stem cells) and Alberta Innovates Summer Studentship (to Imre Papp to investigate hippocampal development in KBG syndrome mouse model). Congratulations!
5) Finally, we have shared a short video on our KBG syndrome research in the lab.
February 2022:
Dr. Monique de Almeida (PDF), Nicole Dittmann (PhD student) and Pouria Torabi (undergraduate student) received best oral talk presentations at ISNI International Society for Neuroimmunology conference (Monique) and University of Alberta Cell Biology Research Day (Nicole and Pouria). Congratulations!
October 2021:
1) Dr. Anastassia Voronova has received the University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Tier II Basic Science Award for Excellence in Mentoring Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows.
2) Nicole Dittmann, Yana Kibalnyk, Kara Goodkey and Dr. Monique Marylin de Almeida received Stem Cell Network abstract awards to present their work at the leading national stem cell Till & McCulloch meeting. Monique's abstract was one of the top entries and she will present her work as a plenary session talk!
July 2021:
We have several great news to share!
1) Adrianne Watson passed her candidacy exam and became our first Ph.D. candidate in the lab!
2) Our research paper "Fractalkine signaling regulates oligodendroglial cell genesis from SVZ precursor cells" is published in Stem Cell Reports (open access). It is featured on MS Society of Canada, University of Alberta Folio magazine, Multiple Sclerosis News Today and Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) web-pages. It was also highlighted in Damian Washington's Youtube Video.
3) Our research paper "The chromatin regulator Ankrd11 controls palate and cranial bone development" is published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (open access)
June 2021:
2021 Spring and Summer have arrived with good news:
1) Kara Goodkey, our M.Sc. student, has received Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's Level (CGSM) to study the role of Ankrd11 in brain development;
2) Yana Kibalnyk, our M.Sc. student, has received Univ. of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Motyl Graduate Scholarship in Cardiac Sciences to study the role of Ankrd11 in cardiovascular development;
3) Sana Bibi, our M.Sc. student has received endMS MS Society of Canada scholarship to investigate the role of multiple sclerosis genetic variants in developmental myelination;
4) Adrianne Watson, our Ph.D. student, has renewed her endMS MS Society of Canada scholarship to study how fractalkine signalling engages neural stem cells for (re)myelination;
5) Nicole Dittmann, our Ph.D. student, has received Brad E Mates Drive Studentship in Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders to study the role of cell-cell communication in neural stem cell niche;
6) Yutong (Jessica) Li and Pouria Torabi, our summer students, have received summer studentships from NSERC and WCHRI (top-up; Jessica) and NMHI (Pouria);
7) Yutong (Jessica) Li was awarded gold medal for her undergraduate CELL499 project, in which she discovered a novel in vivo role for HDGF (hepatoma derived growth factor) in brain precursor cells!
January 2021:
Despite the pandemic-related restrictions in 2020, our lab and research program have flourished and grown. Below are some of the highlights as we are moving into 2021.
1) Adrianne Watson and Nicole Dittmann have transferred to PhD programs;
2) Nicole Dittmann has received AGES (Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship) as well as University of Alberta PhD recruitment scholarship;
3) Sana Bibi and Kara Goodkey started their M.Sc. projects in our lab. Sana and Kara are joining us after MatCH rotation and are supported by AGES (both), AHS recruitment (Sana) and 75th Anniversary award (Kara). Welcome!
4) Pouria Torabi, our undergraduate student, is staying with us for Winter 2021 semester through an internship program funded by the Biotalent Canada.
August 2020:
Our graduate students, Nicole Dittmann and Adrianne Watson, have received abstract awards from the Stem Cell Network to present their work at the Till & McCulloch 2020 meeting!
May - July 2020:
1) Adrianne Watson, our graduate student, was awarded MS Society of Canada and WCHRI graduate studentships to investigate how immunological molecule fractalkine affects oligodendrocyte formation from postnatal neural stem cells;
2) Nicole Dittmann, our graduate student, was accepted to participate in RNA-seq analysis workshop organized by the Stem Cell Network;
3) Our lab has collectively raised over $2000 for MS Society of Canada!
March & April 2020:
1) Yana Kibalnyk, our alumni and now M.Sc. candidate, received CGSM scholarship to study neural crest origins of KBG syndrome!
2) Kara Goodkey, our undergraduate student, was awarded WCHRI (Women and Children's Health Research Institute) summer student award to investigate how brain white matter deficiencies contribute to the development of KBG syndrome;
3) Jessica Li, our summer student, was awarded NSERC USRA to investigate the role of HDGF in neural stem cells;
4) Pouria Torabi, our summer student, was awarded URI award by the University of Alberta to investigate neural stem cell niche;
5) Fajar Khan, our summer student, was awarded Alberta Innovates summer student award (SRS) to study how fractalkine affects brain-wide myelination in Multiple Sclerosis mouse model;
6) Monique Marylin, our postdoctoral fellow, was accepted into the SPRINT program organized by MS Society of Canada;
January & February 2020:
1) Adrianne Watson, our graduate student, was awarded Alberta Graduate Excellence (AGES) and Medical Sciences Graduate (MSGP) Scholarships;
2) Nicole Dittmann, our graduate student, was awarded NMHI travel fellowship to present at the 2020 Canadian Association for Neuroscience meeting!
December 2019:
Nicole Dittmann, our M.Sc. student, was awarded 75th Anniversary Award from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (UAlberta)!
November 2019:
Monique Marylin, our postdoctoral fellow, has won a travel award to participate in the ACTRIMS (Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) Young Scientist Summit 2019!
October 2019:
1) Our first lab manuscript (review) entitled "Regulation of CNS precursor function by neuronal chemokines" was published in Neuroscience Letters Journal: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31629772
2) Adrianne Watson, our graduate student, received a travel award from the Stem Cell Network to participate in the UBC Flow Course 2019!
July 2019:
1) Adrianne Watson, our graduate student, received 2nd place poster award for her work presented at the Medical Genetics Research Day at the University of Alberta!
2) Voronova lab was awarded CIHR Project Grant "The role of fractalkine signalling during remyelination" (PI - Dr. Voronova, co-I: Dr. Kerr): http://webapps.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/decisions/p/project_details.html?applId=401547&lang=en
June 2019:
Dr. Anastassia Voronova was awarded Canada Research Chair Tier II in Neural Stem Cell Biology: www.canada.ca/en/research-chairs/news/2019/06/government-of-canada-announces-talented-and-diverse-group-of-new-and-renewed-canada-research-chairs.html!
May 2019:
Dr. Anastassia Voronova became a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the KBG Foundation: http://www.kbgfoundation.com/dr.-anastassia-voronova.html.
April 2019:
1) Our summer students were awarded the following studentships: Kara Goodkey received URI (accepted) and UAlberta Office of the Provost and VP Academic (declined) stipends; Yana Kibalnyk received AIHS and WCHRI (top-up) stipends; and Yutong (Jessica) Li received NSERC USRA stipend!
2) Voronova lab was awarded Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada operating grant "FKN as a novel remyelination agent: at the interface of cell-to-cell interactions": mssociety.ca/library/document/BHxFUW4GLJQtnKf21lewV79uEoRNAT05/original.pdf
March 2019:
1) Adrianne Watson, our M.Sc. candidate, was accepted to participate in endMS summer school 2019 (organized by MS Society of Canada) and in 2019 ISN Advanced School “Building and rebuilding the nervous system: lessons from development and disease”!
2) Voronova lab was awarded CFI and EDT equipment grant: https://www.innovation.ca/about/nouvelles/government-canada-investing-canadian-researchers-make-world-class-discoveries
December 2018:
1) Adrianne Watson, our M.Sc. candidate, was awarded Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry 75th Anniversary Award (accepted) and Medical Sciences Graduate Scholarship (declined).
2) Voronova lab was awarded:
a) Team grant from the European Research Area Networks (ERA-NET) NEURON program (Network of European Funding for Neuroscience) with Drs. Steven Kushner (Netherlands) and Maria Cecilia Angulo (France, project leader) entitled "Oligodendrocyte precursor cell dysfunction linked to schizophrenia: from mechanisms towards new therapeutic strategies". Funds to Dr. Voronova are provided by CIHR (24%, role: Canadian partner);
b) Operating grant from the University of Alberta Hospital Foundation entitled "The role of fractalkine signalling in phagocytosis by human macrophages and microglia" (PI; co-PI is Dr. Fabrizio Giuliani).
August 2018:
Dr. Voronova was interviewed by the Unversity of Alberta for their "Fresh Faces" program: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2018/august/fresh-faces-ii-anastassia-voronova
April 2018:
1) Voronova lab was awarded NSERC Discovery Grant entitled "Extrinsic versus intrinsic regulation of oligodendrocyte genesis in the developing and adult brain".
2) Dr. Voronova shared her tips on academic career success through Live Twitter Event in her interview with Dr. Freda Miller (organized by the Stem Cell Network): https://twitter.com/WillemseLA/status/984503401156366336
March 2018:
Beatrix Wang, our 2018 summer student, was awarded WCHRI studentship! Beatrix is coming from the University of Toronto and will join our lab in May 2018.
January 2018:
Voronova lab was awarded Gilbert Winter K. Foundation Grant entitled "The role of autism-risk gene Ankrd11 in cranial neural crest development ".