For Zoom meeting ID, email elomba@cmmt.ubc.ca
Guest Speakers:
Cristina Dias
Dr Cristina Dias is a Clinician Scientist and Reader in Genomics and Neurodevelopment at King’s College London (KCL), and a Visiting Scientist at the Francis Crick Institute, UK. Qualified as a Medical Geneticist in Portugal and Canada, she is also a Consultant in Clinical Genetics at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Dias leads the Rare Disease and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Laboratory at KCL, where her team integrates clinical, multiomics, and advanced human models – including 3D cortical organoids and ex vivo human foetal brain cultures – to investigate brain development and the molecular basis of chromatin-related neurodevelopmental disorders. Her work has uncovered new rare conditions, such as Dias-Logan syndrome caused by BCL11A variants, and established novel genotype–phenotype associations. Dr Dias’ research has provided key mechanistic insights into chromatin regulation during human neurogenesis, including the discovery of a transitional progenitor cell type defined by ASCL1 and its interaction with SWI/SNF chromatin-remodelling complexes. Committed to strengthening rare disease research capacity, Dr Dias chairs the King’s Health Partners Rare Disease Network, fostering collaboration between clinicians, researchers, industry, and patient organisations.
Stuart Turvey
Stuart Turvey MBBS DPhil FRCPC is a Pediatric Clinical Immunologist, UBC Professor of Pediatrics, and holder of the Tier1 Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Precision Health. As a practising pediatric immunologist based at BC Children’s Hospital, Dr. Turvey’s research program responds to major challenges in contemporary pediatric medicine. Specifically, his research focuses on childhood immune deficiency diseases and disorders of immune dysfunction including asthma, allergies, and autoimmunity. Dr. Turvey is internationally recognized for his research in developing precision health-based strategies to address childhood asthma and pediatric immune system disorders, and he is a highly effective mentor for the next generation of child health clinician-scientists.
Chan Auditorium/Chieng Atrium
938 W 28th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V5Z 4H4