Research: Genetics, Genomics & Proteomics, Research: Human development, aging & regenerative medicine
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Sonya MacParland has been awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Liver Immunobiology.
Dr. MacParland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a Scientist and Immunologist in the Toronto General Hospital’s Soham & Shaila Ajmera Family Transplant Centre. She also holds a cross-appointment with the Department of Immunology.
Her research program is focused on translating fundamental knowledge about the immune biology of the liver into clinical applications. Dr. MacParland and her research team are using advanced genomics including single cell RNA sequencing to describe the microenvironment of the healthy and diseased human liver.
Her team recently developed the first transcriptomic map of the human as a platform to examine how immune dysregulation drives liver diseases. Her team is also examining how the liver immune environment can be therapeutically targeted and manipulated using nanoparticles to slow or reverse ongoing damage.
Dr. MacParland commented, “I am so grateful for this CRC, the amazing team of brilliant trainees who have trusted me with their graduate training, the fantastic scientists I get to work and collaborate with, and the wonderfully translational research environment in the Ajmera Transplant Centre. This CRC-supported research program is aimed at understanding and harnessing the hepatic immune system to treat and prevent liver disease while creating rich and useful resources for the liver field”.
