Schedule at a Glance
8:00 - 9:00 am
Arrival and opening remarks
9:00 - 9:40 am
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Brian Cox
9:45 am - 12:00 pm
Session 1: Oral Presentations
12:00 - 12:30 pm
Lunch
12:30 - 1:50 pm
Poster session
2:00 - 2:30 pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Anne Croy
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Oral session 2
3:30 - 3:45 pm
Poster takedown
3:45 - 4:00 pm
Awards ceremony and closing remarks
Keynote Speakers
Brian Cox ̶ Will the Real Preeclampsia Patient Please Stand Up
Dr Brian Cox completed a Master’s in Applied Biochemistry and a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Genetics with Dr Janet Rossant at the University of Toronto. He worked in the biotechnology sector and federal government on projects spanning atmospheric chemistry, estrogen receptor biochemistry, mass spectrometry-based proteomics of pathogenic bacteria and mouse genetic models. Currently, he is an associate professor in Physiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is a past recipient of a Canada Research Chair tier II chair in fetal and maternal health. His research group is focused on trophoblast development and placental pathologies. Projects on trophoblast development use a variety of genome-wide and systems biology approaches to identify the genetic regulatory mechanisms of cell fate specification and differentiation. Projects on placental pathology use math modelling and class discovery approaches on large-scale data sets of human patient samples to understand disease heterogeneity and gene-to-phenotype relationships.
Anne Croy ̶ Amazement and Joy: the Embrace of Science
Anne Croy received her DVM degree from the University of Guelph in 1969 and her PhD in Immunology from the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto in 1974. She undertook postdoctoral studies with Dr. Janet Rossant at Brock University on a part-time basis while working as a partner with her late husband in their small animal veterinary practice in St. Catharines, ON.
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In 1985, Dr. Croy was appointed as an associate professor at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph where she taught Large Animal Gross Anatomy and began her pioneering studies on immunology in the pregnant uterus using mice and pigs.
In 2004, she was recruited to Queen’s University as the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Reproduction, Development and Sexual Function, an appointment she held until her retirement at the end of 2016. Dr. Croy is currently an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University in Kingston but has resided in Hamilton since 2018.
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Dr. Croy is widely recognized for her identification of uterine Natural Killer lymphocytes and the definition of their essential roles in initiation of gestational spiral arterial remodeling and early decidual angiogenesis. This led Dr. Croy to focus her research on pre-eclampsia, a common yet acute, hypertensive emergency of human pregnancy. She conducted pilot studies of brain function and MRI anatomy in 7 to 10 year-old children whose gestations had been complicated by maternal preeclampsia that are now considered foundational and are being pursued by others.
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Dr. Croy was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012 and of the Royal Society of Canadia in 2017. In 2019 she received the Schofield Medal from the University of Guelph for being amongst the world’s top researchers in veterinary medicine. In 2024, the “Pioneer Award “ from the Frontiers in Reproduction Training Program as am outstanding scientist who pioneered pathways of exploration in reproduction research.
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In Retirement, Dr. Croy is trying to continue being creative and to learn in the field of textile art.
Program
A downloadable PDF of the full SORB 2025 program will be available soon.