Inaugural China-Canada Fish Physiology and Developmental Biology Symposium

Venue: Room 506, Museum for Aquatic Organisms, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Time: Oct.14  Monday  9:00

Physiology and Endocrinology

Dr. Tom Moon is a Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Biology. He came to the University of Ottawa in 1972 after receiving his BSc from Oregon State University, a PhD from the University of British Columbia and doing a PDF at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He served as Executive Director, Huntsman Marine Laboratory (St. Andres, NB) from 1982-85 and returned to uOttawa where he served as Chair, Department of Biology from 1987-93 and Vice-Dean Research from 2005-09 and again from 2011 to the present. He was awarded the “University of Ottawa APUO Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching” in 1981 and the Faculty of Science Researcher of the Year in 2005 before being names a Distinguished University Professor in 2010. He was honored for his “Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Zoology” by the Canadian Society of Zoologists in 2004. He has trained more than 60 graduate and postdoctoral students over his career and he and his students have authored more than 250 publications in the primary scientific literature. He has extensive international collaborations with research labs in Spain, France and Italy.

Dr. Moon is an internationally recognized comparative biologist interested in the adjustments made by animals, and in particular fish, to environmental change. His most significant contributions include the validation of the liver cell (hepatocyte) preparation for the study of fish metabolism, toxicology and endocrinology. His studies of adrenergic, cortisol and insulin/glucagon receptor binding and metabolic effects are crucial to our understanding of the phylogeny of hormones and hormone actions, to the development of more environmentally appropriate diets for aquaculture though the understanding of glucose control in carnivorous fish. His most recent work examines the impact of human pharmaceuticals on the metabolic and reproductive performance of fish and has conclusively demonstrated that even at environmental levels certain pharmaceuticals may act as endocrine disrupting compounds.

Title：Human pharmaceuticals as disruptors of fish physiology and metabolism

Physiology and Endocrinology

Dr. Perry joined the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa in 1983 as an NSERC University Research Fellow after receiving his PhD in 1981 from the Department of Zoology at University of British Columbia and subsequent postdoctoral training in the Department of Biology at McMaster University. Having served as Chair of the Biology Department (2005-2008), he held the position of Vice-Dean, Research of the Faculty of Science (2009-2011) while maintaining a University Research Chair since 2003. Currently, Dr. Perry is the Dean of the Faculty of Science. After receipt of a Killam Research Fellowship (2000-2002), Dr. Perry received the Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Ottawa in 2003. Dr. Perry has been an Editor since 2003 of the Journal of Experimental Biology, the flagship journal representing integrative comparative physiology; he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2008. In 2009, he received the American Fisheries Society Award of Excellence for Fish Physiology (lifetime achievement award) and in 2012 he received the Fry Medal from the Canadian Society of Zoologists.

Dr. Perry’s research focuses on the interactions among gas transfer, acid-base balance and ionic regulation in fish. His basic approach is to integrate techniques from molecular biology, cell physiology and classical whole animal physiology to appreciate the intricate mechanisms that allow fish to inhabit diverse, stressful and changing environments. Dr. Perry has published over 300 scholarly articles, book chapters and books since 1978.

Title：The physiology of fish at low pH: The zebrafish as a model system 

Neuroendocrinology of growth and reproduction, and endocrine disruption

Dr. Trudeau received his BSc and MSc (Animal Sciences) from McGill University and PhD (Zoology) from the University of Alberta. Dr. Trudeau is Professor of Biology and holds the University of Ottawa Research Chair in Neuroendocrinology. In 2011, he co-founded (with R.J. Denver and C. Aramburo) the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology (NASCE) and is current the Past-President of NASCE. Dr. Trudeau has received a Premier of Ontario Research Excellence Award (PREA), and the University of Ottawa Young Researcher of the Year Award. Trudeau and his team have published >195 research articles. He have given a total of 85 invited lectures worldwide, collaborates widely, and his research is often featured in national and international news media.

Prof Trudeau leads an international team (www.teamendo.ca) of students and young researchers. Current members originate from Canada, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Spain. The long-term objective of his research program is to understand how the brain and pituitary transduce environmental and physiological signals into changes in reproductive function. This deep understanding of neuroendocrinology is fundamental to understanding successful vertebrate reproduction, and for its management. His team also studies the effects of sex hormones in development and how pollutants (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, petroleum-related products) disrupt neuroendocrine control mechanisms in fish and frogs, giving a broader evolutionary perspective, and considerable added-value to the fundamental research with the goldfish model. Trudeau is also interested in the hormonal control of food intake and growth. Trudeau’s pioneering work on secretoneurin (SN) provides compelling evidence for hormonal action of this unusual granin-derived peptide. This is significant because this discovery is the foundation for a current collaborative project with Dr. HU Wei at the IHB in Wuhan.  

Title：Novel neuroendocrine actions of the peptide secretoneurin: implications for reproduction and growth