Dr. Mélanie Laurin

 Assistant professor, Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval; Principal Investigator,   CHU de Québec - Université Laval Research Center; Centre de recherche sur le cancer Université Laval LOEX - Université Laval; SRGC board member;   SkIN Canada member

 Dr. Anie Philip

 Professor, Department of Surgery, McGill University; Director, Plastic Surgery Research, McGill University; Senior Scientist, Research Institute of the   McGill University Health Center; SRGC board member; SkIN Canada chair of the training committee

Dr. An-Wen Chan

Phelan Senior Scientist, Women's College Research Institute;
Professor, Dept of Medicine, University of Toronto;
Skin Canada executive committee    

                                                     Prof. Lucie Germain

    President Skin Research Group;
    Full Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval;
    Director, LOEX Tissue Engineering Laboratory;
    Canada Research Chair on Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering

Dr. Jan Dutz

University of British Columbia; 
SkIN Canada executive committee

Dr. Youwen Zhou

University of British Columbia 

Kenneth Finnson

SkIN Canada coordinator

Josephine Salib

SkIN Canada coordinator

Mbarka Bchetnia

SRGC coordinator

Dr. Ian Watson
McGill University

Dr. Ian Watson is a member of the Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI), an investigator at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University. He is a Canadian Research Chair II in functional genomics of melanoma, the Co-Chair for the melanoma disease working group for the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) and the former Co-Chair for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) melanoma project. In 2018, he co-led a successful Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) Marathon of Hope Cancer Centre Network (MoHCCN) pilot project that brought together investigators from seven research institutes in Montreal to study mechanisms of immune therapy resistance. The TFRI MoHCCN program has since expanded into a national initiative bringing together clinicians and scientists across the country with the goal of leveraging big data breakthroughs to advance our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer to significantly impact patient outcomes. Dr. Watson’s research program focuses on understanding targeted and immune therapy response mechanisms in melanoma. His lab utilizes an inter-disciplinary approach combining molecular characterization of melanomas and circulating immune cells, functional genomics, and bioinformatic approaches.

Dr. Cristopher McCulloch, DDS, PhD, FRCD (C), FCAHS; 
Professor University of Toronto

Chris McCulloch is professor of dentistry at the University of Toronto and since 1984 has contributed 335 papers, 150 presentations and 4 patents that relate to matrix biology and associated diseases of matrix disorders that affect human health. He uses animal models and cultured cells to examine and define fundamental regulatory circuits that define the function and mechanics of connective tissue matrices, particularly in the context of periodontal diseases. As a principal investigator on >25 MRC/CIHR research grants, he has developed and employed high resolution tools to define the contribution of fibroblasts in matrix remodeling in soft connective tissues. He has established a network of collaborators and trainees along with industrial partners to provide optimal support, know-how and reagents for the conduct of research focusing on how cell-matrix interactions help to define how inflammatory diseases contribute to matrix pathology.

Katie received her PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Toronto and did her postdoc with Dr. Valentina Greco at Yale University, where she developed intravital imaging approaches track cell fate decisions in epidermal stem cells. In 2022, she started her independent group in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill. The Cockburn lab aims to understand how epidermal stem cells balance and pattern their fates during homeostatic tissue turnover and in response to environmental stress and injury.

Dr. Laurent Bozec, DUT, BSc(Hons), Ph.D., FRMS
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto

Dr. Laurent Bozec, a distinguished biophysicist, is a full professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto. He runs the Matrix Functionalization and Phenotyping Lab [MFP-Lab (or Bozec-lab)], which explores the relationship between collagen's structural and biomechanical properties at the nanoscale in health and diseases. The MFP-Lab has developed unique expertise worldwide to study the biophysics of connective tissue disorders and collagen engineering using primarily atomic force microscopy (AFM). The lab is currently leading an effort to define nanoscale structural biomarkers for collagen-specific connective tissue such as Ehlers-Danlos but has prior expertise in skin aging and glycation. Early in his career, he was the first microscopist to resolve the collagen triple helical structure with an AFM. From modeling the collagen fibrils as a nanoscale rope to exploring the advantageous role of glycation for tissue engineering, Dr. Bozec has managed to bridge the biophysics of collagen with clinical and tissue engineering applications for over 20 years. Among his more peculiar research interests is his long-standing expertise in parchment-based research (animal skin) for Cultural Heritage applications, for which the MFP-Lab is developing the field of conservation histology.Dr. Laurent Bozec earned his Ph.D. from Lancaster University, UK, with a pioneering thesis on "Near-field Photothermal Fourier-Transform Micro-spectroscopy,” where he combined an Atomic Force Microscope with an Infrared Spectrometer for the first time. 

(Laurent Bozec Profile | University of Toronto (utoronto.ca))

Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis, MD MS(HS) FRCPC FAAD;
Origins Dermatology Centre

Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis is a dermatologist and early career clinician researcher based in western Canada (her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan). She is the founder of Origins Dermatology Centre, a combined multidisciplinary model that services both the general population and provides outreach clinics (in-person and virtual care) for underserviced remote and rural Indigenous (First Nations and Metis) communities. Rachel is of Plains Cree, Saulteaux and English background. She carries a Master’s of Science in Health Sciences in clinical and translational research, and has special interest in common inflammatory dermatoses (atopic dermatitis, psoriasis), virtual care, underserviced areas, holistic impact of skin disease, medical education, and translational interpretation and implementation of research with the ultimate goal of tangible health outcomes. She currently has active educational and research projects ongoing in the areas of inflammatory skin disease, virtual care, and Indigenous and rural health in western Canada.

Dr. Reetesh Bose, MD FRCPC
University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital, Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Dr. Reetesh Bose is a Canadian, Board certified dermatologist. He is an active faculty member with the division of Dermatology, University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital. He completed his Dermatology residency at the University of Ottawa. He is the director and founder of the Ottawa Skin of Colour Dermatology Clinic, one of the first in Canada, which runs out of the Civic Hospital in Ottawa and has been servicing the greater Ottawa community since December 2021. He has a special interest in Skin of Colour Dermatology and Vitiligo. He is a committee member for the Canadian Dermatology Association and The Ottawa Hospital, EDI committees.