Medicine by Design is delighted to welcome three new investigators to the Toronto regenerative medicine community. In addition to their primary appointments, Thomas Hurd, Yun Li and Julien Muffat have also been named Medicine by Design investigators, reflecting our mandate to support the strategic recruitment of emerging researchers in the field.

Head shot of Thomas HurdThomas Hurd

  • Assistant professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto
  • Medicine by Design investigator
Where did you complete your training?

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, my PhD at the University of Cambridge (UK) and my post-doctoral training at New York University School of Medicine (USA).

 Tell us about your research.

The central focus of my research is understanding how mitochondria influence stem cell function, fate and differentiation. My research also focuses on how mitochondria are inherited from mother to offspring.

Why did you decide to come to Toronto?

I was attracted to Toronto by the world-class research community here, and also by how collaborative that community is.

What are you most looking forward to about joining the Medicine by Design community?

I am most looking forward to taking advantage of the the vast stem cell expertise of the Medicine by Design community.

What is one thing that people might not know about you from your CV?

I am very into gardening and have a particular fondness for plants from the Hoya genus.

Read more about Thomas Hurd

Head shot of Yun Li

Yun Li

  • Scientist, Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Research Program, SickKids
  • Medicine by Design investigator
Where did you complete your training?

After completing my undergraduate study at Wuhan University in China, I pursued PhD training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where I was in its neuroscience graduate program and conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Luis Parada. I then joined the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge to conduct post-doctoral research, under the tutelage of Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch.

Tell us about your research.

I have always been fascinated by the brain, how it is formed and how it works. For my PhD research, I used animal models to probe normal development and to study neural disorders like Huntington’s disease, neurofibromatosis and major depression. I started my post-doctoral research at a time when new technologies like human pluripotent stem cells, genome editing, and 3-dimensional organoid cultures put me in an exciting position to directly study human brain development and diseases in a dish. My research has been on developing and utilizing these new technologies to understand how the human brain is formed, what makes the human brain different from that of the other species, and how disorders such as autism impact its normal development and function.

Why did you decide to come to Toronto?

SickKids is a natural fit for me right away because of my interest in studying autism and other childhood disorder. From my first visit on I have been extremely impressed by the outstanding research environment, the quality of science, and most importantly the amazing colleagues around SickKids and the greater Toronto research community. I also love that Toronto is one the most multicultural cities in the world, and I look forward to exploring this vibrant and dynamic place in the years to come.

What are you most looking forward to about joining the Medicine by Design community?

The strong support from Medicine by Design for both basic and translational research in regenerative medicine was a big factor in my decision to come to Toronto. I look forward to working with colleagues from diverse disciplines toward the shared long-term goal of benefiting patients.

What is one thing that people might not know about you from your CV?

I am a big movie buff. I like all genres and my favorite is SciFi. I can’t wait to see the new Star Wars movie!

Head shot of Julien MuffatJulien Muffat

  • Scientist, Neurosciences & Mental Health Research Program, SickKids
  • Medicine by Design investigator
Where did you complete your training?

I completed my undergraduate degrees at the Biochemistry and Bioengineering department of the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (ENS) in France. The school is entirely dedicated to training future educators and researchers. The ENS gives students the opportunity to spend a year or two abroad, and I was lucky to have my first research experience in the laboratory of Rudolph Tanzi at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. This is where I cemented my interest in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. I then went to the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, to pursue my doctorate in neurobiology with a scientific hero of mine, the late Seymour Benzer. Following the advent of induced pluripotent stem cell technology, I headed to the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., for my post-doctoral work in the laboratory of Rudolf Jaenisch.

Tell us about your research.

My primary interest is the etiology of neural and glial degeneration, particularly when there is an age-related aspect to it. Eventually, all central nervous system diseases manifest themselves outwardly in neuronal dysfunction, and motor, sensory or cognitive deficits for the patient. But we now appreciate how the problem often starts in glia, the non-electrical cells of the brain. Those constitute more than half of the cells of an adult human brain, and they are not merely a structural scaffold, or a set of insulating elements. One subpopulation of glia are cousins of some white blood cells, macrophages: they are known as microglia. We managed to generate these immune cells from patient skin, via pluripotent stem cells, in the dish. Microglia owe their identity to their residence in the brain, and their biology is linked to the surrounding presence of all the other cells of the brain. For that reason, we devised 3D cultures trying to replicate the tissue-like environment, allowing the study of patient microglia as they interact with neurons and other glial cells. These cells are still very mysterious, but circumstancial evidence is mounting about their involvement in a plethora of disorders. We have a functional platform to test how modulation of their activity (be it by mutations, protein aggregates or viruses) intersects with development, maturation, and degeneration of neural networks.

Why did you decide to come to Toronto?

Living in a new city and a new country is an exciting prospect. The University of Toronto is extremely well respected in the stem cell community, with pioneers ever since James Till and Ernest McCulloch. The Hospital for Sick Children is a powerhouse of research and clinical development in pediatric medicine. I have a particular interest, since my early days working with iPS cells, in a disease called adrenoleukodystrophy, which is a devastating disorder often presenting in childhood. It is also one of the few diseases that is already benefiting from fringe therapies using autologous stem cell transplants and gene therapy combinations. And yet, more needs to be done and understood. Toronto is a perfect place to continue this work, with direct clinical input, and hopefully therapeutic outputs down the line. I felt wonderfully welcomed from the first visit on. As a French citizen, I also liked the idea of coming to country with an old mix of cultures, and bilingual signs in the airport!

What are you most looking forward to about joining the Medicine by Design community?

The existence of Medicine by Design was a strong factor in choosing Toronto. I was lucky to train at institutions where interdisciplinarity has been the modus operandi  for a long time, with very strong basic biological science emerging from cross-talks with so-called harder sciences. All those places also had in common a remarkable engineering tradition: I love to understand how things work, and then replicate what nature does to eventually go beyond. Medicine by Design is a community that understands that interdisciplinarity is key to leveraging the expertise of everyone on campus, to maximize benefits to humanity, patients in particular. A lot of fundamental science goes into laying out the groundwork for the greatest biomedical discoveries, and having a climate that promotes transitions is invaluable. My work on “human-in-a-dish” approaches will be very much at home here.

What is one thing that people might not know about you from your CV?

I love to play the piano and sing too loudly. My future colleagues might hear random renditions of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, or Jean-Jacques Goldman on the French side, late at night in the corridors of SickKids, once I figure out where the best acoustics are. Born and raised in the Alps, I am a winter sports enthusiast: if and when I find the time, I will be visiting the legendary ski resorts Canada has to offer.