Presenter: Marina Noris MD
In 1986 I received a degree in Pharmacological Chemistry at the University of Rome, “La Sapienza”. Since 1987 I have been working at the Mario Negri Institute as a research fellow from 1987 to 1992, as a Researcher from 1992 to 1996, and from 1996 as the head of the Laboratory of Immunology and Genetics of Transplantation and Rare Diseases.
In February 2006 I received a PhD in Genetics at the University of Maastricht. From 2006 to 2010 I was a member of the Editorial board of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. From 2013 I am a member of the European Complement Network Board. From July 2015 I am an Associate Editor of the Journal of Immunology. From 2016 I am a member of the Research Club “Top Italian Women Scientists 2016” promoted by Onda.
I have published more than 170 articles on peer-reviewed International Journals and I have written several chapters for scientific books in fields of nephrology, pathogenesis and genetics of hemolytic uremic syndrome and related thrombotic microangiopathies and on the immunology of transplantation.
My main areas of interest are:
- Diagnosis, pathogenesis and genetics of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
- Genetics of the nephrotic syndrome
- Search for genetic causes of glomerulopathy with fibronectin deposits
- Immunology of transplantation and strategies for tolerance induction.
Presenter: Rohan John MD
Dr. Rohan John is a consultant nephropathologist with the University Health Network since 2009, and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. He graduated from medical school in Vellore, India, trained in pathology at Rush University in Chicago, and did fellowships in kidney pathology at Rush University and University of Toronto.
The UHN kidney pathology service receives approximately 1200 kidney biopsies, including both native and transplant.
Presenter: Susan Quaggin
Susan Quaggin, MD graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1988 and received her specialty degree in Internal Medicine in 1992. She completed her sub-specialty training in Nephrology in 1993 at U of T and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University where she studied the genetic basis of kidney development.
In 1997, she returned to Toronto to do a second post-doctoral fellowship in mouse genetics in the laboratory of Janet Rossant. From 1997 until 2012, she was at the University of Toronto where she was a Senior Scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, a practicing Nephrologist at St. Michael's Hospital and the Gabor-Zellerman Professor in Renal Medicine.
Quaggin has served as an elected councillor of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), is a member of the ISN Council and was elected to the American Association of Physicians (AAP) in 2013. She received the Kidney Foundation of Canada 2009 Award for Research and a Finnish Distinguished Professorship in 2012. In addition, Quaggin sits on the editorial boards of several journals, is the Deputy Editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and has organized a number of international renal and vascular meetings.
In January 2013, Quaggin joined Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as the Charles Horace Mayo Professor of Medicine, where she serves as the director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute (FCVRI) and chief of the Division of Nephrology. Quaggin's research program focuses on genetic pathways required to establish and maintain the integrity of microvascular beds including the glomerular filtration barrier – a highly selective filter that separates the blood from the urinary space. To understand the pathways and interactions between perivascular cells and the endothelium, her research team has developed a number of genetic models that permit cell and time-specific manipulation of gene expression.
Presenter: Louis Girard
Dr. Louis Girard joined the Division of Nephrology at the University of Calgary in July of 2010. He is a Nephrologist and Clinical Associate Professor. Within the Division of Nephrology, Dr. Girard focuses on clinical immunology and infectious diseases in chronic kidney disease patients. He is the medical director of the Glomerulonephritis Clinic and the Medical Co-Director of Apheresis. Furthermore, he has developed a multi-disciplinary rare diseases clinic that operates out of the Southern Alberta Renal Program. In addition to patients with GN/Vasculitis, this clinic focuses on patients with aHUS, Tuberous Sclerosis and ADPKD. Dr. Girard has a strong clinical research interest. He is currently the local primary investigator on numerous global trials in glomerulonephritis and vasculitis. Dr. Girard has a strong commitment to education and has won numerous awards for his teaching contributions at all levels of medical training.
Presenter: Dr. Martin Bitzan
Martin Bitzan is a pediatric nephrologist. He is the former Director of the Division of Nephrology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (until 2018) and the former director of the Pediatric Nephrology Training Program at McGill University.
He graduated from the University of Bonn and trained in microbiology, pediatrics and pediatric nephrology in Cologne and Hamburg, Germany and in Toronto, Canada, and worked as a pediatric nephrologist in North Carolina, USA and the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada.
He has an abiding research and clinical interest in the pathogenesis and treatment of hemolytic uremic syndromes caused by infections and complement/coagulation pathway abnormalities. His interests extend to (other) glomerular diseases and kidney transplantation.
He is engaged in national and international collaborations and nephrology teaching with partners in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.
