Faculty Profile - Dr. Boris Hinz

Dr. Boris Hinz	Dr. Boris Hinz Associate Professor Laboratory of Tissue Repair and Regeneration Matrix Dynamics Group University of Toronto Room 241, Fitzgerald Building 150 College Street Toronto, ON M5S 3E2 Canada Tel: (416) 978-6685 Fax: (416) 978-5956 boris.hinz@utoronto.ca http://ipmc.epfl.ch/page8761.html matrixdynamics.ca
Current academic / hospital appointments
since 01/2009 - Associate Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto
Education
2006 – 2008 Maître d'enseignement et de recherche (MER) (Assistant Professor level), Laboratory of Cell Biophysics, School of Basic Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland 2002 - 2006 Senior Research Scientist, Laboratory of Cell Biophysics, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland 1999 – 2002 Post-Doctoral Assistant of Prof. Giulio Gabbiani, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology, CMU, University of Geneva, Switzerland 1995 – 1998 Ph.D. thesis Cell Biology / Theoretical Biology, 1994 Diploma thesis (Master equivalent) in Cell Biology
Courses
TBA
Research interests
Pathobiology and Biophysics of fibroblasts Fibrocontractive diseases, wound healing, tissue remodeling, repair and regeneration Cell Biology, Bioengineering, Cell Biophysics and Biomechanics, Experimental Pathology, Experimental Dermatology, Theoretical Biology, Biomedical Imaging The Cytoskeleton: cell contraction and motility; actin isoforms and actin-associated proteins; cell-cell and cell-matrix contacts, mechano-transduction
Recent publications
Majd, H., Wipff, P.-J., Quinn, T., and Hinz, B.: (2009) A Novel Method of Dynamic Culture Surface Expansion Improves Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation and Phenotype. Stem Cells 27: 200-209 (Cover Page) Follonier, L., Schaub, S., Meister, J.-J., and Hinz, B.: (2008) Myofibroblast contraction is coordinated by Intercellular mechanical coupling. J Cell Sci 121:3305-3316 Hinz, B., Phan S., Thannickal, V., Galli, A., Bochaton-Piallat, M-B., and Gabbiani, G.: The myofibroblast: one function, multiple origins. (2007) Am J Pathol. 170: 1807-1816 Wipff, P.-J., J., Rifkin, D.B., Meister, J.-J., and Hinz, B. (2007): Myofibroblast contraction activates TGFβ1 from the ECM. J Cell Biol 179: 1311-1323 Goffin, J.M., Pittet, P., Csucs, G., Lussi, J., Meister, J.-J., and Hinz, B. (2006): Focal adhesion size controls tension-dependent recruitment of α-smooth muscle actin to stress fibers. J Cell Biol 172: 259-268 (Cover Page)
Editorships and Board Memberships
Scientific Board member of the European Tissue Repair Society (ETRS) Associate Editor of the Journal Wound Repair and Regeneration (WRR) Associate Faculty Member of the ‘Faculty of 1000’
Students
Lysianne Follonier, MSc in Biophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, The micro-regulation of myofibroblast contraction Presently accepting students for supervision in the areas of cell biology, bioengineering, biochemistry, cell biophysics
Current research grants
Swiss National Science Foundation: Microenvironment influences myofibroblast function, differentiation and survival Swiss Confederation’s innovation promotion agency (CTI/KTI): Development of a novel chemical entity to treat fibrocontractive diseases Swiss National Science Foundation, project grant: The role of hypoxia for myofibroblast differentiation in vitro and in conditions of chronic wounds Swiss Confederation’s innovation promotion agency (CTI/KTI): MedCapSol - Smart Coating for Implantable Medical Devices