Attendees listen to the day’s presentations at the Earl W. Davie Symposium 2021. Photo by Kitty Liu.
This November, the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) hosted its 15th Earl W. Davie Symposium, an annual event that brings together researchers, doctors, nurses, industry members and varied healthcare professionals with its exciting program. First established in 2006, this year’s event represents fifteen years of ongoing scientific learning, community connection and inspiration.
Held in a hybrid format, this event also marked a special return for lively scientific discussion and engaging in-person poster sessions for those who convened at UBC Robson Square, while still providing flexibility for virtual attendees, who joined in from around the world.
An exciting day of blood-related research
Dr. Ross MacGillivray (left), former CBR Director, with Dr. Earl W. Davie (right)
In honour of the late Earl W. Davie, the event features experts in the fields of vascular biology and thrombosis-hemostasis. Earl was a close friend of the CBR and an eminent coagulation scientist himself, well-known for his seminal work on the waterfall sequence of clotting. Earl had attended almost every symposium as a guest of honour until his passing last year, and the CBR is honoured to carry on his legacy through the event.
After welcome remarks from Dr. Dana Devine, the CBR’s Director and chief scientist at the Canadian Blood Services, the program began with Dr. Bernardo Trigatti’s presentation (McMaster University). He spoke about the role of high-density lipoprotein signaling in cardiovascular disease, followed by Dr. Paula James’s talk (Queen’s University) on challenges facing women with bleeding disorders. Drawing from a clinical case and her project “Let’s Talk Period”, Dr. James illustrated barriers for diagnosis and treatment, as well as the importance of studying women’s health more broadly.
Later in the morning, Dr. Susan Kahn (McGill University) gave a comprehensive keynote presentation on the prevention and treatment of postthrombotic syndrome, followed by Dr. Ashley Brown’s talk (North Carolina State University) on age-dependent clotting during the neonatal period, and how neonates’ hemostatic immaturity can affect treatment. Dr. Robert Brodsky (John Hopkins University) then presented the second keynote presentation on complement and COVID-19, taking a close look at how the virus might dysregulate complement and cause organ damage.
The Naiman-Vickars Professorship presentation was given this year by Dr. Victor Blanchette (University of Toronto), who summarized around 75 years of hemophilia research in just 30 minutes! Two UBC speakers rounded off the symposium’s presentations, with Dr. Alex Leatherdale (Pryzdial and Conway Labs) first sharing his research on complement activation in the blood of patients with severe COVID-19, as well as in vitro studies of complement and the virus. Dr. Muntadhar Al Moosawi (UBC) concluded with a talk on vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, including a very local perspective on British Columbia’s experience in evaluating and managing the condition.
MSc Student Alexandra Witt (far right), who presented an oral talk, poses a question to a presenter during the symposium. Photo by Kitty Liu.
Trainees shine with oral presentations and posters
From oral talks to poster presentations, trainees featured prominently in this year’s Earl W. Davie Symposium.
Five students presented oral talks, on innovative topics like leveraging lipid nanoparticle technology to improve platelets, developing safer drugs for blood clots, and evaluating post-surgery hypercoagulability in patients who are living with metastatic bone disease. The event also saw 7 in-person posters and 11 virtual posters from trainees, with in-person poster presentations taking place during the symposium’s coffee and lunch breaks.
“I was thrilled to present at the symposium this year, especially as a first-year Master’s student,” said Alexandra Witt of the Pryzdial Lab. She gave an oral talk on how a modified version of clotting factor X, which her lab is developing, could be used to more safely dissolve blood clots. “I really enjoyed engaging the live audience, and even getting the opportunity to continue chatting about my research during the breaks.”
“I was thrilled to present at the symposium this year, especially as a first-year Master’s student… I really enjoyed engaging the live audience, and even getting the opportunity to continue chatting about my research during the breaks.”
— Alexandra Witt
Tetiana Povshedna poses with one of her prizes, awarded for winning the best in-person poster presentation. Photo by Tetiana Povshedna.
At the end of the symposium, the CBR was pleased to award the best virtual poster prize to Ashley Clarke (University of Calgary), whose poster explored prolonged hypercoagulability following pelvic and acetabular fractures. The best in-person poster prize was awarded to Tetiana Povshedna of the Côté Lab (UBC), whose poster explored changes in mitochondrial network morphology after exposure to antiretroviral drugs in vitro, as a potential marker of mitochondrial toxicity.
“I appreciated the interest in my poster and was happy to interact with attendees after more than a year of talking to Zoom squares,” Tetiana said. “When I found out that I won the award, I was very surprised and thankful! All the posters were impressive and engaging – I’m sure it was a very close race and hard decision to make.”
“I appreciated the interest in my poster and was happy to interact with attendees after more than a year of talking to Zoom squares… All the posters were impressive and engaging – I’m sure it was a very close race and hard decision to make.”
— Tetiana Povshedna
With fifteen years of scientific learning and opportunities, we look forward to the inspiration and connection that next year’s event will bring.
The CBR would like to thank our event sponsors, without whom the symposium would not be possible: the Naiman-Vickars Endowment Fund, Pfizer, the Canadian Blood Services, Alexion, Novo Nordisk, and GRIFOLS.
- Watch presentation recordings from the 15th Earl W. Davie Symposium
- Read the Centre for Blood Research’s tribute to Dr. Earl Davie.
- Read the Canadian Blood Services’s blog about the event: “Earl W. Davie Symposium 2021 – a welcome return to in-person for some”
Left image: Dr. Dana Devine (left), the CBR’s Director, and Dr. Stefanie Mak (right), the CBR’s Education Program Manager, present Tetiana Povshedna (middle) with her prize for winning the best in-person poster presentation. Photo by Kitty Liu.
Right image: Ashley Clarke, the winner of the best virtual poster prize, shares their poster virtually.