Publications by authors named "Robert X Lao"
The 2024 Annual Joint Meeting (AJM) and Young Investigators' Forum of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (CSCI) and Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CITAC) was held on April 11, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hosted in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM), this meeting marked a significant opportunity for clinician investigator trainees to present their research and connect with national and international peers. The event included 70 trainees, consisting of 58 MD+ (MD/PhD, MD and PhD, MD-MSc, MD and MSc) and 12 Clinician Investigator Program and/or Surgeon-Scientist Training Program trainees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Despite the impact of physician-scientists on scientific discovery and translational medicine, several reports have signalled their declining workforce, reduced funding, and insufficient protected research time. Given the paucity of outcome data on Canadian MD/PhD programs, this study presents a national portrait of the sociodemographic characteristics, training trajectories, productivity, and satisfaction in trainees and alumni from Canadian MD/PhD and MD/MSc programs.
Methods: Quantitative data were collected in a national survey launched in 2021.
Fall 2023: Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CITAC).
Clin Invest Med
September 2023
This has been a great first half of the year for CITAC-ACCFC (Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada/Association des cliniciens-chercheurs en formation du Canada)! We are looking forward to our new members joining us in the fall and welcoming back our previous members after the summer.
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- This study investigates Argonaute (AGO) proteins in nematodes, an organism with 19 functional AGOs, which play a key role in interacting with small RNAs to regulate gene expression.
- Researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to tag each AGO for tracking its expression through development and to examine its small RNA interactions and the effects of losing specific AGOs.
- The findings reveal that AGOs group into distinct regulatory modules and highlight new stress-induced fertility and pathogen response issues linked to AGO loss.
Over the past two years, physician-scientist trainees have persevered in the face of evolving challenges presented by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Research and healthcare institutions across the country continue to feel the impacts of the public health emergency. As scientists and physicians generate evidence to inform the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, physician-scientist trainees in all disciplines have adapted to the changing conditions of their education.
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- The Caenorhabditis elegans genome contains nineteen Argonaute proteins that utilize various small RNAs for regulating gene expression, with CSR-1 being the only essential one under lab conditions.
- The CSR-1 locus produces two protein isoforms (CSR-1a and CSR-1b), which differ by 163 amino acids, and have distinct expression patterns; CSR-1a is expressed in specific tissues like the intestine and during spermatogenesis, while CSR-1b is found in the germline.
- Research using CRISPR-Cas9 and small RNA sequencing reveals that CSR-1a is involved in tissue-specific functions, including regulating fertility and immune responses, indicating the necessity of studying both iso
Proper regulation of germline gene expression is essential for fertility and maintaining species integrity. In the germline, a diverse repertoire of regulatory pathways promote the expression of endogenous germline genes and limit the expression of deleterious transcripts to maintain genome homeostasis. Here we show that the conserved TRIM-NHL protein, NHL-2, plays an essential role in the germline, modulating germline chromatin and meiotic chromosome organization.
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