Brief Biography

Dr. Lisa Robinson attended medical school at the University of Toronto. She trained in Internal Medicine at The Toronto Hospital from 1991-1992, then completed her residency in Paediatrics at the University of Western Ontario from 1992-1995. She received her Paediatric Nephrology training at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina from 1995-1999.

While at Duke University she pursued basic research training in the Departments of Immunology and Medicine, with her research interests focusing on exploring the mechanisms whereby leukocytes traffic within inflamed tissues. Lisa served on the faculty of Duke University Medical Center from 1999-2002 as a Clinician-Scientist. In 2002, she joined the Division of Nephrology at the Hospital for Sick Children as a Staff Nephrologist, as well as the Sick Kids Research Institute as a Scientist-track Investigator in the programme in Inflammation, Immunity, Injury and Repair. Her research continues to actively explore the mechanisms whereby chemokines modulate not only recruitment of leukocytes into sites of inflammation, but also the immune functions of leukocytes bearing the corresponding chemokine receptors. A complementary line of research focuses on the biosynthesis and targeting of endothelial-expressed chemokines during an immune response.

Clinical Care Activities

• Care of the renal transplant recipient
• Immune-mediated kidney disease
• Haemolytic-uremic syndrome
• General care of the child with kidney disease

Research Interests

Study of the mechanisms controlling leukocyte migration into sites of inflammation.

Research Activities

The body’s response to injury is to lure white blood cells from the bloodstream to the affected site. Once there, white cells stick to blood vessels overlying the inflamed tissue. When activated by the right signals, white cells migrate through the vessel into the injured organ, ready to combat the invader. Sometimes, however, the system goes awry, causing excessive infiltration of white cells. The resulting inflammation characterizes many seemingly different diseases, including transplant rejection, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Our studies investigate signals that “master-regulate” white cell trafficking and explore novel strategies to interrupt white cell influx into specifically targeted organs.

Previous work, including our own, has shown that fractalkine, a blood vessel wall protein that is highly produced in inflamed tissues, plays a critical role in rejection of transplanted organs and cardiovascular disease. However, very little is known about the signals that stimulate expression of fractalkine during inflammatory responses. Our work has identified several novel mechanisms by which both expression and function of fractalkine are turned on during inflammation. It is hoped that this work will aid the development of new strategies to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, as well as heart attack and stroke.

Emerging evidence indicates that many signals that direct traffic of cells within the whole organism are not, as previously thought, system- or tissue-specific, but that instead, several of these signals are conserved among organ systems. In this regard, our laboratory is also studying the processes whereby cues that guide migration of cells within the brain during fetal development also help to direct trafficking of white blood cells during inflammation. This work combines genetic and pharmacologic approaches at both the cellular and whole organism level.

Achievements

• Canada Research Chair Tier 2.  2004
• Nominee: Canada's Top 40 Under 40.  2006
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Synapse Mentorship Award.  2008
• Canada Research Chair Tier 2.  2010
• 2010 Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) Harry Jerome Health Sciences Award.  2010
• CFI Leader's Opportunity Fund, University of Toronto.  2010

Publications

Liu GY, Kulasingam V, Alexander RT, Touret N, Fong AM, Patel DD, Robinson LA: Recyling of the membrane-anchored chemokine, CX₃CL1.  Journal of Biological Chemistry 2005: 280: pp 19858-66.  SRI

Rocha PN, Plumb TJ, Robinson LA, Spurney R, Pisetsky D, Koller BH, Coffman TM: Role of thromboxane A₂ in the induction of apoptosis of immature thymocytes by lipopolysaccharide.  Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 2005: 12: pp 896-903.  C

Sweeney C, Geary DF, Hebert D, Robinson LA, Langlois V: Outpatient pediatric renal transplant biopsy - Is it safe? Pediatric Transplantation 2006: 10: pp 159-61.  C

Alexander RT, Langlois V, Tellier R, Robinson L, Hebert D: The prevalence of BK viremia and urinary viral shedding in a paediatric renal transplant population: A single-centre retrospective analysis.  Pediatric Transplantation 2006: 10: pp 586-592.  C

Durkan A, Alexander RT, Liu GY, Rui M, Femia G, Robinson LA: Expression and targeting of CX₃CL1 (Fractalkine) in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells.  Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2007: 18: pp 74-83.  SRI

Huang Y-W, Su P, Guang YL, Crow MR, Chaukos D, Yan H, Robinson LA: Constitutive endocytosis of the chemokine, CX₃CL1, prevents its degradation by cell surface metalloproteases.  Journal of Biological Chemistry 2009: 284: pp 29644-653.  SRI

Tole S, Mukovozov IM, Huang Y-W, Magalhaes MAO, Yan M, Crow MR, Liu GY, Sun CX, Durocher Y, Glogauer M, Robinson LA: The axonal repellent, Slit2, inhibits directional migration of circulating neutrophils.  Journal of Leukocyte Biology 2009: 86: pp 1403-15.  SRI

Anthony SJ, Hebert D, Todd L, Korus M, Langlois V, Pool R, Robinson LA, Williams A, Pollock-BarZiv S: Child and parental perspectives of multidimensional quality of life outcomes after kidney transplantation.  Pediatric Transplantation 2010: 14: pp 249-256.  C

Tole S, Durkan AM, Huang Y-W, Liu GY, Leung A, Jones LL, Taylor JA, Robinson LA: Thromboxane prostanoid receptor stimulation induces shedding of the transmembrane chemokine, CX₃CL1, yet enhances CX₃CL1-dependent leukocyte adhesion.  American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology 2010: 298: C1469-C1480.  SRI