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- 2024
- Dr. Lynne Quarmby, cool new discoveries about Watermelon Snow
- Dr. Valentin Jaumouillé and Dr. Amy Lee, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry researchers receive Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar awards
- Dr. Ryan Morin has been honored with the Bernard and Francine Dorval Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society
- Royal Society of Canada bestows Dr. Vocadlo with country’s highest academic honour
- Verheyen Lab breakthrough identifies gene that may reverse Parkinson’s disease
- MBB researchers awarded $2 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Dr. Glen Tibbits honoured as Distinguished SFU Professor
- Decoding the genome to predict the clinical course of lymphomas
- Reflecting on barriers and progress towards equity in science
- 2023 Award for Excellence in Supervision: Esther Verheyen
- In a recent Nature Communications paper, the Audas lab demonstrates that proteins can act as microscopic thermometers to sense and respond to changing environmental conditions
- 2023
- Dr. Dustin King speaks to Molecular Cell about sustainability and molecular biology
- Science Advances paper by new MBB PhD, Casey Engstrom and Professor Lynne Quarmby uses satellites to study the impact of Watermelon Snow on glacier loss in North America
- Dr. Sathiyaseelan and team explore the expression and therapeutic target potential of cysteine protease ATG4 in pancreatic cancer
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Braid lab
A translational research program focused on developing next-generation cell therapies by characterizing the elusive identity and function of mesenchymal stem and stromal cells (MSC) in physiological maintenance and regeneration, their evolution in response to stressors, and their role in auto-immune disease and wound healing.
The Braid MSC Discovery and Innovation Lab is working to design the next generation of mesenchymal stem and stromal cell (MSCs) therapies. Through strategic partnerships across disciplines, government, industry and academia, we are also developing new technologies to fill current gaps in MSC manufacturing and release testing and ease-of-administration to better enable clinical adoption and regulatory approval of MSC therapies worldwide.
Our research program focuses on the enigmatic and functionally profound mesenchymal stem and stromal cell (MSC) populations. Our team characterizes the transcriptional, molecular, metabolic and functional phenotypes of tissue-resident and culture expanded human MSCs using cellomics (high content and live cell imaging), next-generation sequencing and metabolomics. Our aim is to understand how MSCs respond, adapt and evolve in response to environmental and pathogenic stresses, and to identify new markers of MSC subpopulations. We use this information to generate new research tools and technologies to study endogenous MSCs, to model MSC interactions in physiological and pathological states, to develop biomarkers and functional assays to support clinical translation of consistent (batch-to-batch) and efficacious MSC products, and to discover next generation therapeutics that rejuvenate or eliminate tissue-resident MSCs that may underlie auto-immune and aging-related diseases.
Email:
LORENA BRAID
rbraid@sfu.ca
Office Room:
SSB 7153
Lab Room:
SSB 6150
Lab Phone:
(778) 782-5879
Selected Publications
- Wiese, D.W., Wood, C.A. and Braid, L.R. (2022). From Vial to Vein: Crucial Gaps in Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Clinical Trial Reporting. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Stem Cell Research, research topic "Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: Preclinical and Clinical Challenges". In Press
- Wiese and Braid (2020). Transcriptome profiles acquired during cell expansion and licensing validate mesenchymal stromal cell lineage genes. Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 11:357.
- Braid et al. (2019). Human umbilical cord perivascular cells: a novel source of the organophosphate antidote butyrylcholinesterase. Chemico-Biological Interactions. (305) 66-78.
- Wiese et al. (2019). Accumulating transcriptome drift precedes cell aging in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells serially cultured to replicative senescence. Stem Cells TranslationalMedicine. (08) 945-958.
- Braid et al. (2018). Intramuscular administration potentiates extended dwell time of mesenchymal stromal cells compared to other routes. Cytotherapy (20) 232-244.
- Braid et al. (2016). Engineered mesenchymal cells improve passive immune protection against lethal exposure to Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus exposure. Stem Cells Translational Medicine (5) 1-10
Courses
Fall 2024
Spring 2025
Future courses may be subject to change.