11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Inhibitors of the human neuraminidase enzymes as probes in glycobiology

Dr. Christopher Cairo
Associate Professor, University of Alberta

Christopher W. Cairo is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alberta. He obtained a BSc in Chemistry from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. He went on to graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with Prof. Laura L. Kiessling where he worked on multivalent carbohydrate-protein interactions. Chris then moved to an NIH-funded Postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. David E. Golan at Harvard Medical School where he studied the regulation of integrins in T cell adhesion. Chris joined the faculty of the University of Alberta in 2006 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and was promoted to Associate Professor (with tenure) in 2012. He was a principal investigator in the Alberta Glycomics Centre, and is currently a Network Investigator with GlycoNet. The Cairo research group studies the function of glycoproteins and glycolipids in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and immunity. Their work takes place at the chemistry-biology interface with major projects targeting the design of inhibitors for the human neuraminidase enzymes, the recognition of carbohydrate antigens in immune response, and bioconjugate labelling strategies for glycolipids and glycoproteins.

Simplifying conjugation: ready to conjugate CRM197 carrier protein

Dr. Andrew Lees, Founder and Scientific Director, Fina Biosolutions

Andrew Lees is founder and scientific director of Fina Biosolutions, LLC (Rockville, MD), a company focused on promoting affordable conjugate vaccines by making the technology available to emerging market vaccine manufacturers. Among his contributions in the field, Andrew developed an efficient linking chemistry which is widely used in conjugate vaccines, a class that includes vaccines for S. pneumoniae and meningococcal disease. The chemistry has helped to reduce the cost of these vaccines.

Prior to starting Fina Biosolutions in 2006, he was Director of Vaccine Development at biotech companies Virion Systems (1993-1999) and Biosynexus (1999-2006). He was also an associate research professor at the Uniformed Services University (1993-1999). Andrew is now an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development (part-time) and an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University, Dept. of Medicine and at the University of Toledo, Dept of Chemistry. He has over 70 publications and 25 patents, mainly in the area of conjugate vaccines.

He received his BS in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in chemistry (1976) and his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Johns Hopkins (1984). Honors include the Uniformed Services Meritorious Service Award , Harvey Mudd College Outstanding Alumni Award and is a Johns Hopkins University Outstanding Alumni. On graduating from Hopkins, he was on the cover of Baltimore Magazine as one of “84 people to watch in ‘84”, due to his role as a leading Baltimore area magician.

About Fina Biosolutions

Fina Biosolutions LLC is a privately held research and development company in Rockville, Maryland providing laboratory and consulting services in the field of conjugate vaccines. Fina Biosolutions’ principal focus is on affordable conjugate vaccines. Its scientists work with emerging market vaccine companies to develop technology, train scientists and assist in implementing the processes. FinaBio performs contract conjugation for companies worldwide and has worked on projects as disparate as vaccines for S. pneumoniae, for malaria, for drugs of abuse and for animal health. In addition, Fina Biosolutions has developed a patented expression system for the widely used conjugate vaccine carrier protein, CRM197, which it markets as EcoCRM®. EcoCRM® has been licensed to PATH for use in low-income countries.

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

3D models of glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 protein suggest challenges for vaccine development

Dr. Robert Woods
Professor, University of Georgia

Prof. Woods holds joint faculty appointments in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Dept. of Chemistry, the Dept. of Infectious Diseases, and the Complex Carbohydrate Research Centre at the University of Georgia. From 2008 to 2014, he was also Chair of Computational Glycosciences at the School of Chemistry at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His academic expertise is in biophysical carbohydrate chemistry. He is creator of the GLYCAM force field for modeling carbohydrates, a developer of the AMBER molecular modeling package, and integrates experimental and theoretical methods in his research. Prof. Woods guides the productization, commercialization strategy, and research.

Lectenz® and GlycoSense™: novel tools for glycan detection and analysis

Dr. Lori Yang
CEO & CSO, Lectenz Bio

Dr. Yang received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Her expertise is in protein engineering, molecular evolution, and flow cytometry. As CEO and CSO, she leads the development of Lectenz Bio’s platform technologies, corporate partnerships, and non-dilutive funding. Then known as Glycosensors and Diagnostics, she established satellite operations at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS San Diego in 2013. The company is now an alumnus and based at the San Diego Science Center.

About Lectenz Bio

Lectenz Bio is a company dedicated to providing novel, effective glyco-research and bioprocessing tools. Our mission is to empower innovation by making glycoscience simple. We accomplish this goal by employing a strong team with diverse expertise in high performance computing and wet lab science. It is through this interdisciplinary approach that we developed our patented Lectenz® and GlycoSense™ platforms—offering new, easy to use ways to study glycobiology.

Lectenz Bio (fka Glycosensors and Diagnostics) was spun-out from the research group of Prof. Robert J. Woods at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, located at the University of Georgia. We established operations in 2009 at Innovation Gateway, home to several biotechnology companies in Georgia’s Innovation Crescent. In 2013, the company established its satellite operations in San Diego, California as a resident company of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS. In 2016, we graduated from JLABS and relocated the San Diego site to the San Diego Science Center. In 2017, as part of commercialization the company rebranded as Lectenz Bio.

Since establishing operations, we formed collaborations with experts in academia and industry and secured non-dilutive funding through grants, contracts, and partnerships. We have received multiple awards, honors, and recognitions. These accomplishments were achieved by validation of key aspects of the Lectenz® platform, addition of our GlycoSenseTM platform, and led to the development of the Lectenz® product pipeline. The company was issued a patent for the Lectenz® platform technology and is expanding and protecting its intellectual property portfolio.

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Modulation of microglia by the glycan-binding protein CD33

Dr. Matt Macauley
Assistant Professor, University of Alberta

BSc – University of British Columbia, 2003.
PhD – Simon Fraser University, 2010.
Postdoctoral Fellow – The Scripps Research Institute, 2010-2014.
Assistant Professor – The Scripps Research Institute, 2014-2017.
Trained as a biochemist, Dr. Macauley carried out his PhD with Professor David Vocadlo, at Simon Frasier University, using chemical biology to tackle roles for glycosylation. This interest was further developed during his Postdoctoral research with Professor James Paulson, at The Scripps Research Institute, where Dr. Macauley developed an expertise in glycoimmunology. For the three years prior to joining the University of Alberta, Dr. Macauley has been an Assistant Professor at The Scripps Research Institute where he has been developing projects that he is excited to carry on at University of Alberta. As a primary investigator at GlycoNet, Dr. Macauley joins an exceptional group of investigators with a specialty in the glycosciences.

A guide to non-academic research

In this workshop, I discuss how employers view PhDs and postdocs. We examine how to position yourself for the non-academic job market: how to think about yourself, how to describe yourself, and how to reach out to others. We then go through the mechanics of a non-academic job search. At the end of this session, you should be able to conduct a non-academic job search on your own, whether you ever want or need to. Two hours with lots of time for Q&A PDF of slides and native excel copies of the tool reviewed in the session.

Dr. Anne Krook

Anne Krook began her career as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she taught for seven years before moving to Seattle. After a stint in restaurant bartending, she joined Amazon.com. During thirteen years at the company, she held various roles in US and international website development, program management, internal audit, and infrastructure. She then worked as VP of Operations at a startup, Mindbloom, and then as VP of Operations at Synapse, a product design engineering company in Seattle. In addition to her university consulting practice, she chairs the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV.

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Polysialic acid as a prognostic marker in breast cancer

Dr. Karla Williams
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia

Dr. Williams received her PhD from the University of Guelph in 2013. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in surgery at Western University and is now an assistant professor at UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dr. Karla Williams’ research program is focused on cancer cell dissemination and the development of evidence based medicine for cancer detection and prognostication. Dr. Williams studies small invasive structures termed invadopodia to define their role in metastasis and is investigating potential applications for targeting them to prevent, or stabilize, metastatic disease. In addition, her research is exploring the use of extracellular vesicles to help detect and diagnose cancer. She uses nano-scale flow cytometry to analyze extracellular vesicle biomarker composition for the development of evidence based tests capable of directing patient treatment.

Workshop Summary

TBA

About Institute of Gender and Health

As part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Institute of Gender and Health (IGH) is an international leader in fostering research that explores how sex and gender influence health. Through knowledge translation, IGH facilitates the application of these research findings to address pressing health challenges facing men, women, girls, boys and gender diverse people. IGH’s mandate is unique and cuts across all areas of health research. For more information, visit: https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/8673.html

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Exopolysaccharide biosynthesis

Dr. Lynne Howell
Professor, University of Toronto

Dr. Lynne Howell is a Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), where she has held administrative roles as Head of the Program in Molecular Medicine (formerly the Program in Molecular Structure & Function) from 2002-2014 and as Associate Chief, Research Integration and Communication 2014-2016. She holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology and is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto.

Dr. Howell obtained her undergraduate degree in Biophysics from the University of Leeds in 1983, and her Ph.D. from the University of London in 1986 under the direction of Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow. She spent three years as a PDF at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before moving to Paris for two years to study at the Institute Pasteur. She joined The Hospital for Sick Children in late 1991 and was cross-appointed to the University of Toronto shortly afterwards. Dr. Howell is interested in the development of novel antibiotics and is currently focused on phenomena that are critical for bacterial biofilm development. Her contributions over the past twenty years to the structural biology field range from the development and application of novel methods for routine structure determination using X-ray crystallographic techniques to the de novo structure determination of over 140 structures. Her research has resulted in over 145 publications and >200 abstracts. Her expertise, international stature, advocacy and strong commitment to the structural biology field have also resulted in her current appointments as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Light Source, the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography and the formerly Commission for Biological Macromolecules of the International Union of Crystallography (2008-2017); the governing body for the Crystallographic community worldwide. Dr. Howell is a former recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator Award.

Navigating commercial development with API

Andrew MacIsaac
CEO, Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation

Over the past decade Andrew has successfully established over $75 million in partnerships between industry, academia, government, and donors, and developed catalysts for economic investment totalling more than $200 million. With a background in economics and public sector management, Andrew has worked with UBC, and the University of Alberta, and is currently the Assistant Dean for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Andrew sits on the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Policy Committee, the Edmonton Health City Steering Committee, and the board of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Edmonton.

About API

API is a not-for-profit that works in collaboration with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as research and post-secondary institutions across Canada. API draws on an interdisciplinary network of over 30 pharmaceutical scientists, clinicians, regulatory, patent, and market experts in a variety of fields and disease areas to bring life-saving research to the real world. API provides a framework to support industry projects in a manner that keeps IP with the company, is regulatory compliant, and moves at a commercial pace.