December 2016
Hales Group Approved for CIHR Team Grant
Dr. Barbara Hales' new CIHR team grant , entitled “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Towards Responsible Replacements”, was approved for funding in the recent “Team Grant: Environments and Health: Intersectoral Prevention Research” competition. The goal of this international, interdisciplinary project is to integrate exposure and hazard assessment studies on emerging flame retardants and plasticizers with research on legal, economic and policy issues. At McGill, team members come from the Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Management and Law. Within Medicine, team members are from the Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Pediatrics/Experimental Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology. For more info.
Congratulations, Dr Hales and Team!
Fall 2016 Trainee Fellowship Winners Announced!
Keerthana Harwalkar, MSc with Y. Yamanaka
Emilie Brule, MSc with D. Bernard
Laleh Abbassi, PhD with H. Clarke
Based on the extraordinarily high volume of high quality applications at the MSc level, the Awards Committee elected to award two MSc Fellowships, rather than one as originally planned. This did not provide sufficient funding for the PDF competition, where application pressure was quite low.
We will be holding our next Fellowship Competition in April 2017.
Congratulations Keerthana, Emilie and Laleh!
November 2016
CRRD Members Take Half the Prizes at RQR 2016!
O Albert (PDF with Dr. Robaire) won first place and L Ongario (PDF with Dr. Bernard) placed third in the Platform Presentations at the 9th Annual RQR Symposium in Quebec City, November 8-9, 2016. Meanwhile, L Currin (MSc Student with Dr. Bordignon) placed 2nd in the Poster Presentations. Congratulations Océane, Luisina and Luke!
October 2016
Bernard Robaire awarded 2016 Prix Guy Rocher
Dr. Bernard Robaire, James McGill Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, was selected by the Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université (FQPPU) to receive the 2016 Prix Guy Rocher, an award created in honour of Professor Rocher to recognize his contribution to the promotion and defense of Quebec universities. Read the full story here.
Congratulations, Dr. Robaire, from all of us at the CRRD!
CRRD T-Shirts have arrived!
The Bernard Lab models their new t-shirts.
September 2016
F Storch Receives CIHR 2016 Project Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Florian Storch, longtime member of CRRD, who received a CIHR 2016 project grant (as principal investigator), entitled "The dopaminergic ultradian oscillator and psychopathology.” While the research addressed in this grant has little relevance to reproduction, Dr. Storch reports that this might change down the road. Regardless, we wish him our heartfelt congratulations!
H Yan Receives Internal Studentship Valued at $12,000
Congratulations to Han (Aileen) Yan, recipient of an Internal Studentship from the Faculty of Medicine valued at $12,000 for September 2016 through August 2017. Aileen is a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Hales.
L Ongaro wins Fellowship from the Faculty of Medicine
Congratulations to Dr. Ongaro, Postdoctoral Fellow in Daniel Bernard's Lab, who has received the Ferring Postdoctoral fellowship in Reproductive Health!
August 2016
Top Student Joins Duggavathi Lab
Audrey St-Yves, winner of both the FRQNT and NSERC Master’s scholarships, is starting her MSc this fall under the supervision of CRRD member Dr. Raj Duggavathi. Welcome Audrey!
July 2016
J Trasler and V Papadopoulos Successful in latest CIHR Competition
We are pleased to announce that two CRRD members, Jacquetta Trasler and Vassilios Papadopoulos, were successful in the recent CIHR competition. Dr. Trasler received a 7-year Foundation Grant for “Sex-specific susceptibility windows for fetal origins of adult disease and intergenerational effects” while Dr. Papadopoulos received two 5-year Project Grants for “Fetal Origin of Endocrine Dysfunction: The Plasticizer Model” and “Regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis.”
Congratulations Vassili and Jacquetta!!
Order Your CRRD T-Shirts Today
We are now offering two styles of t-shirt, for $15 each, with a small McGill logo on the front left chest and a large CRRD logo across the back. The logos will be silk screened onto the t-shirts in white (unless your garment is white/light grey, in which case it will be done in red).
The order form, with style options, colours and sizing, can be found here.
Completed order forms, with payment (cash or cheque made out to McGill University), to be sent to Charlotte at McIntyre Medical Sciences Building, 3655 Promenade Sir William Osler, Room #1324, Montréal (Québec) H3A 2B4 by August 29th.
Sweatshirts, with embroidered logos, are also still available!
2016-17 Travel stipends now available!
Once again, $10K was earmarked for travel stipends in the latest CRRD budget. For more information or to apply, click here.
Congrats to the recent winners
Canadian Developmental Biology Meeting (March 2016)
Enrique Gamero*, MSc with A. Ryan
Allied Genetics 2016 Conference (July 2016)
Fatima Tokhmafshan*, MSc with I. Gupta
SSR Meeting (July 2016)
Yasmin Schuermann*, PhD with R. Duggavathi
Laleh Abassi*, PhD with H. Clarke
Gauthier Schang, PhD with D. Bernard
Keith Siklenka, PhD with S. Kimmins
CFAS 2016 meeting (September 2016)
Alex Yu, MSc with C. O'Flaherty
*Stipend awarded from 2015-16 budget
Nagano Elected Member, Schang and Kwong Co-Trainee Reps on CRRD Executive Committee
Makoto Nagano was elected by the faculty to replace Cristian O'Flaherty on the Executive Committee, starting July 1st, while Gauthier Schang and Aaron Kwong agreed to act as co-representatives after tying for votes by the trainees. We thank Cristian for his active service for the past three years and we look forward to Makoto’s input in the years to come! We also thank Lundi Ly who was always quick to help out and speak on behalf of the trainees and we welcome Aaron and Gauthier!
June 2016
Hope Weiler Joins CRRD Membership
We are pleased to announce Dr. Hope Weiler as the newest addition to the CRRD. Dr. Weiler has a Tier 1 CRC and is Director of the Mary Emily Clinical Nutrition Research Unit in the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at Mac campus. She actively researches development and the role of nutrients in bone health, growth and metabolism working with children, mothers, fathers and animal models for validation and characterization of molecular mechanisms. More recently she has become involved in studies on the links between vitamin D, folate, BMI and male fertility.
Welcome Dr. Weiler and team!!
Great Turnout at CRRD Research Day 2016
Thanks to our amazing guest speakers - Robert Viger, Jodi Flaws & Sally Camper - and all the presenters for making CRRD Research Day 2016 an event to remember! Special shout-out to Deepak Saini, Best MSc Poster winner; Keith Siklenka and Han (Aileen) Yan, tied for Best PhD Posters; Chirine Toufaily, Best PDF Poster; and Marc-Olivier Turgeon, Best Oral Presentation.
For the full story and pictures, follow link.
Kimmins Team receives 5 year CIHR Grant worth $1.5 million!
McGill CRRD researchers Sarah Kimmins (PI), Dan Bernard, Jacquetta Trasler and Romain Lambrot, along with other Canadian and South African researchers have received $1.5 million from CIHR for a team grant to determine how environmental factors can alter the preconception health of men. Globally the prevalence of diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases are on the rise. These increases have occurred at rates that cannot be due to changes in the genetic structure of the population and are likely caused by environmental factors that modify gene function via epigenetics. The heritable epigenetic information includes methylation of DNA, post-translational modification of chromatin associated proteins, the histones, and regulatory RNA. The overarching goal of this research is to understand how environmental exposures alter the heritable epigenetic information during child development and in adult exposures, to impact health across generations.
With this grant the focus of their research is on determining how a father's exposures to diet and toxicants alter developmental outcomes and to test intervention strategies to lead to more healthy births and children.
May 2016
Spring 2016 Trainee Fellowship Winners Announced!
Sophia Rahimi, PhD with J. Trasler
Yan (Aileen) Han, MSc with B. Hales
Congratulations Sophia and Aileen!
Kimmins elected to SSR Board of Directors
Congratulations and best of luck to CRRD Associate Director Dr. Sarah Kimmins who was elected to the Board of Directors of the Society for the Study of Reproduction!
CRRD at CWSF
A big thank you to our trainees who helped develop and staffed the CRRD booth at the Canada Wide Science Fair 2016 at Tomlinson Fieldhouse May 18-20!
April 2016
CRRD Member awarded FQRS Chercheur-Boursier
Congratulations to CRRD Executive Committee member Cristian O’Flaherty who was just awarded a Chercheur-Boursier (Junior 2) from the FQRS. Well done Cristian!
Dr. Murphy Becomes Honorary Professor of the National University of San Marcos in Peru
RQR Director Bruce Murphy was given the distinction of Honorary Professor by the National University of San Marcos in a formal ceremony presided over by the Chancellor, Dra. Antonia Castro Rodrigez, in Lima, Peru on Friday, April 15th. Full details of the award ceremony.
Dr. Murphy was recognized for his great contributions to the knowledge of animal reproduction, as well as his excellent teaching and high-level scientific research. He clearly merits this honor.
Congratulations Bruce!
2015-2016 Travel Stipends still available!!
Please note that we still have money in our 2015-2016 budget for 3-4 Travel Stipends up to $500 each. For more information or to apply, click here.
KUDOS to our winners thus far!
SSR 2015 (June 2015)
Omar Vieux, PhD with H. Clarke
Laura Whidden, MSc with J. Trasler
Keith Siklenka, PhD with S. Kimmins
World Congress on Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (January 2016)
Yassemine Khawajkie, MSc with R. Slim
Canadian Developmental Biology Meeting (March 2016)
Aaron Kwong, MSc with Y. Yamanaka
Deepak Saini, MSc with Y. Yamanaka
ASA 2016 (April 2016)
Anne Marie Downey, PhD with B. Robaire
Gurpreet Manku, PDF with M. Culty
Enrico Campioli, PDF with V. Papadopoulos
Mahmoud Arabi, PDF with J. Trasler
Daniel Lee, MSc with V. Papadopoulos
Steven Jones, PhD with M. Culty
Endo2016 (April 2016)
Luisina Ongaro, PDF with D. Bernard
Yining Li, PhD with D. Bernard
BFR2016 (May 2016)
Aileen Yan, PhD with B. Hales
European Testis Workshop (June 2016)
Oceane Albert, PDF with B. Robaire
56th Annual Teratology Meeting (June 2016)
Nazem El Husseini, PhD with B. Hales
SSR Meeting (July 2016)
Rodrigo Bohrer, PhD with V. Bordignon
March 2016
CRRD Trainee wins poster presentation prize
Kudos Enrique Gamero Estevez, MSc student with Dr. Aimee Ryan, for winning a poster presentation prize at the Canadian Society for Developmental Biology meeting in Banff!
February 2016
Dr. Sarah Kimmins recipient of 2016 SSR Young Investigator Award
We are proud to announce that CRRD Associate Director 
Dr. Sarah Kimmins is recipient of the 2016 SSR Young Investigator Award.
This award recognizes an active Regular Member of the Society for outstanding research completed and published within 12 years after receiving the Ph.D. or other equivalent professional degree.
Dr. Kimmins has made substantial contributions to the understanding of the epigenetics of reproduction. She clearly merits this honour.
Congratulations Sarah!
January 2016
Simon Wing awarded $10,000 CRRD Research Grant
Congratulations Dr. Wing for your winning grant proposal: The role of the Huwe1 ubiquitin ligase in establishment and maintenance of spermatogonia, in collaboration with Dr. Nagano.
CRRD Clothing is now available!!
Three styles of sweatshirt are being offered (crewneck, pullover hoodie, and zippered hoodie), for $40-45, with a small McGill logo on the front left chest and a large CRRD logo across the back For more information, see the order form.
New Name, New Look!
McGill’s Centre for the Study of Reproduction (CSR) has changed its name to the Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development (CRRD). The name was changed to better reflect the scope of research conducted by Centre members. The inter-departmental and interdisciplinary CRRD continues to unite McGill faculty, trainees and staff members with diverse and complementary interests in reproductive and developmental biology. More here.