The Gairdner Foundation presents a two-day symposium entitled "Minds That Matter" at the University of Toronto featuring academic lectures by Gairdner winners past and present, and other leading medical scientists. Attendance is open to anyone and is free of charge. All lectures are given at the Medical Sciences Auditorium on the University of Toronto campus in downtown Toronto.

TORONTO - UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CAMPUS - MACLEOD AUDITORIUM
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008

9:00 a.m.
Welcome:              Dr. John Dirks, President, The Gairdner Foundation

Chair:                      Catharine Whiteside, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Vice Provost Relations with Healthcare Institutions, University of Toronto       

9:10 a.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Freda Miller, Senior Scientist, Developmental & Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto

Speaker:              Dr. Samuel Weiss, Gairdner Laureate 2008, Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy & Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Director Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CA

Lecture:                 "Adult neural stem cells:  From basic science to therapeutic applications"

9:50 a.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Howard Lipshitz, Professor & Chair, Department of Molecular Genetics, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in 
                               Developmental Biology, University of Toronto, ON, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. Victor Ambros, Gairdner Laureate 2008, Professor of Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

Lecture:                  "MicroRNA pathways in animal development"

10:30 a.m.                Break

10:45 a.m.
Introduction:       Dr. Craig Smibert, Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto

Speaker :             Dr. Gary Ruvkun, Gairdner Laureate 2008, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Lecture:              "The tiny RNA pathways of C. elegans"

11:25 a.m.
Introduction:      Dr. Tony Pawson, University Professor, University of Toronto, Programme in Molecular Biology & Cancer, Samuel Lunenfeld   Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital

Speaker:             Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, Gairdner Laureate 2008, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, CA

Lecture:               "Translational control in biology and medicine"

12:05 p.m.                 LUNCH

1:00 p.m.
Chair:                    Dr. Jack Gauldie, University Professor, Department of Pathology & Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Director, Centre for Gene Therapeautics, Hamilton

1:05 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Joan Murphy, Head of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, UHN, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Toronto

1:10 p.m.
Speaker:                Prof. Harald zur Hausen, Gairdner Laureate 2008, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

Lecture:                "Infections as cancer risk factors"

1:40 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Michael Julius, Vice President Research, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, CA

Speaker:              Dr. Ralph M. Steinman, GairdnerLaureate 2003, Henry G. Kunkel Professor & Sr. Physician,The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

Lecture:               "Dendritic cells:  A vehicle for vaccine development"               

2:20 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Janet Rossant, Chief of Research & Senior Scientist, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. Alan Bernstein, Gairdner Wightman Laureate 2008, Executive Director, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, New York, NY, USA

Lecture:                 "Global solutions for global challenges:  Progress towards an HIV vaccine"

3:00 p.m.               Dr. John Dirks
Conclusion

 

ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: MICRO RNA'S, STEM CELLS AND AGING

TORONTO - UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CAMPUS - MACLEOD AUDITORIUM
Friday, October 24, 2008                          

9:00 a.m.
Welcome:             Dr. John Dirks, President & Scientific Director, The Gairdner Foundation
                               Professor Paul Young, Vice President Research, University of Toronto, CA

Chair:                      Dr. Michael Hayden, Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B. C.

Speaker:             Dr. Sydney Brenner, Gairdner Laureate 1978 & 1991, Nobel Laureate 2002, Distinguished Professor, The Salk Institute, San Diego, CA, USA

Lecture:                   "An introduction"

9:30 a.m.               
Introduction:           Dr. Martin Simard, Laval University Cancer Research Centre, Quebec City, Montreal, CA

Speaker:              Dr. Craig Mello,  Nobel Laureate 2006, Gairdner Laureate 2005, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

Lecture:              "RNAi from mechanism to medicine"            

10:10 a.m.                Break

10:30 a.m.
Introduction:         Dr. David MacLennan, Gairdner Laureate 1991, Banting Best Department of Medical Research, University of Toronto, Charles H. Best Institute, Toronto, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. Eric Olson, Professor, Molecular Biology, Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

Lecture:                  "MicroRNa control of heart development and disease"

11:10 a.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Steve Scherer, The Center for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. George Church, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Computational Genetics,  Boston, MA, USA

Lecture                   "Reading and writing genomes"

11:50a.m.                LUNCH

12:45 p.m.
Chair:                    Dr. Michael Tyers, CH Waddington Professor of Systems Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
Introduction:         Dr. Samuel Aparicio, Professor of Breast Cancer Research, UBC/BCCA, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC

Speaker:                  Dr. Douglas Hanahan, Diabetes, and Comprehensive Cancer Centres, UCSF, San Francisco

Lecture:                  "Micro-RNA signatures of the stages in multi-step tumorigenesis"

1:25 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Brenda Andrews, Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. James S. Thomson, Professor of Anatomy, University of Wisconsin Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center, Wisconsin, USA

Lecture:                  "Exiting the pluripotent state, and back again"

2:05 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Andras Nagy, Senior Investigator, Developmental Molecular Geneticist, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. Gordon Keller, Senior Scientist, Division of Stem Cell & Developmental Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, CA

Lecture:                   "Directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells to functional tissues"

2:45 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Peter Lewis, Vice Dean, Research & International Relations, Faculty of Medicine, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA

Speaker:                 Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, Director, Hillblom Center for Biology of Aging, UCSF, San Francisco, CA

Lecture:                  "Genes and cells that regulate the lifespan of "C. elegans"

3:25 p.m.
Introduction:         Dr. Jacques Drouin, Chair in Molecular Genetics, Intitut De Recherches Cliniques De Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

Speaker:                 Dr. Leonard Guarente, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Lecture :                 "Sirtuins, aging and diseases"

4:10 p.m.
Conclusion:                Dr. John H. Dirks

Location Name MacLeod Auditorium, University of Toronto