Leanne Stalker, Phd Email & Phone Number

Committed to achieving excellent kidney health, optimal quality of life, and a cure for Kidney Disease. The Kidney Foundation of Canada places the highest priority on supporting, building, and disseminating the best Canadian kidney research from coast to coast.

Guelph Ontario

• Design, write and implement project grants/plans including several collaborative projects between academic laboratories• Act as departmental point of contact for the testing and purchase of high cost laboratory equipment such as a droplet digital PCR system• Identify granting opportunities and act as a liaison between collaborating laboratories• Involved in the design and implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding and inter-institutional agreements with Brazil• Maintain knowledge of university policies, procedures and requirements• Provide direct supervision to students at the graduate and undergraduate level including veterinary students and clinical veterinarians in a multidisciplinary environment • Manage and design student training requirements to maximize laboratory results while ensuring the highest standard of scientific rigor Selected presentations/publications:• Leanne Stalker, Samantha Steinberg, Samantha Clarke, Tami Martino, Jonathan LaMarre, M. Lynne O’Sullivan, W. Glen Pyle The Value of the Smallest Things: The Road to the Discovery of Serum microRNA Biomarkers in Doberman Pinschers with Naturally Occurring Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Poster presentation-ONE health conference, U of G, Guelph ON, 2018• Leanne Stalker; Non-coding RNAs in non-model organisms: Current and Future Perspectives for Reproductive Biotechnologies, Pequenos RNAs não codificantes em animals domésticos e silvestres: estado atual e perspectivas futuras em biotecnologia reprodutiva. Invited Key Note Speaker: IX CONERA: North-Northeast Congress on Animal Reproduction, Belém, Brazil, 2018• Moysés Miranda, Rodrigo de Morais, Nathália da Costa, Bruno Monteiro, Sebastião Rolim, Leanne Stalker, Allan King, Simone Santos, Otávio Ohashi; Anti-Müllerian Hormone Detection as a Predictor of the Ovarian Follicular Population in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), UFPA, Belém, Brazil; UofG, Guelph, ON. Poster Presentation: SSR Annual Conference 2018

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

The CDTRP is the only national research network of its kind, uniting over 31 institutions, collaborators and government/ industry representation across Canada, as well as numerous international partners. It is the only national program in the world that integrates surgeons, clinicians and researchers in donation, solid organ transplant and stem cell transplant, together with patients, families and donors, to put forward the innovation and technologies essential to addressing the complex challenges of organ donation and transplantation.As a Research Manager for the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program I was responsible for providing logistical and scientific support to a national network of clinicians and researchers including connection to government programs, industry, patient and family initiatives, granting opportunities and non-profit organizations. My role was to ensure that program members maximized their research potential through collaborative grant development, scientific program advancement and networking expertise.

Guelph Ontario

Develop a non-invasive, commercially marketable liquid biopsy test for pre-implantation embryo health utilizing small non-coding RNA expression as a marker of overall embryo viability• Design, write and implement a project grant/plan to benefit a multi-stakeholder environment including multiple industry partners• Act as the primary point of contact between multiple industry partners and research laboratory including organization and arrangement of meetings, sample procurement and progress updates• Involved in the presentation of the grant plan to a panel of industry experts highlighting the downstream strengths of the research project for the Ontario economy• Facilitate regulatory/ certificates required for project completion including biohazard and human ethics approvals• Responsible for the management of several independent research projects simultaneously• Provide direct supervision to students at the graduate and undergraduate level including veterinary students and clinical veterinarians in a multidisciplinary environment• Act in a laboratory management capacity including overview of general lab practice, write project plans, maintain paperwork/records • Utilize a combination of parthenogenesis and In vitro fertilization to produce bovine embryos for methodology and assay development• manage clinically derived human samplesSelected publications/Presentations:• Tscherner, A, Stalker, L, LaMarre, J; Is There A Small RNA Fingerprint of Embryo Quality and Health in Spent IVF Media? Fertility Genetics Magazine, Volume 1 2016 Featured Article• Tscherner A, Stalker L, LaMarre J. MicroRNAs in Gametes and Preimplantation Embryos: Clinical Applications. Human Reproductive and prenatal Genetics, Chapter 11, Book Chapter 2019• Tscherner A, Brown AC, Stalker L, Kao J, Dufort I, Sirard MA, LaMarre J. STAT3 signaling stimulates miR-21 expression in bovine cumulus cells during in vitro oocyte maturation. Scientific Reports, 2018 Aug 1;8(1):11527

Guelph Ontario Canada

Develop a non-surgical sterilization methodology for dogs and cats by capitalizing on the PIWI system as a target for altering reproductive competency• Characterize the PIWI system in a canine and feline model systems utilizing biochemical techniques including cloning, rt-PCR, RNA-IP, ICC, IHC and western blot• Develop several novel techniques for analysis of piRNA including RNA-IP and piRNA specific PCR • Develop in vitro model system(s) to monitor PIWI biology including tissue explant and spermatogonial stem cell cultures/ primary cell lines• Provide assistance in experimental design and troubleshooting to students at the graduate and undergraduate level including veterinary students and clinical veterinarians in a multidisciplinary environmentSelected publications:• Stalker L, Molledo G, Backx A, Tscherner A, Russell SJ, Foster R and LaMarre J. Expression and Characterization of functional PIWIL1 in the testis of the domestic cat, manuscript in prep• Stalker L, Russell S, Dos Santos F, LaMarre, J. Identification and Characterization of Novel piRNAs in Male Dogs, manuscript in prep• Russell SJ, Stalker L, LaMarre J. PIWIs, piRNAs and Retrotransposons: Complex battles during reprogramming in gametes and early embryos, Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 2017 Oct; 52 suppl 4:28-38 doi 10.111/rda.13053. REVIEW• Russell S, Patel M, Gilchrist G, Stalker L, Gillis D, Rosenkranz D, LaMarre J. Bovine piRNA-like RNAs are Associated with both Transposable Elements and mRNAs, Reproduction, 2017 Mar; 153(3):305-318• Russell SJ, Stalker L, Gilchrist G, Molledo G, Bacx A, Foster RA, LaMarre J, Identification of PIWIL1 Isoforms and Their Expression in Bovine Testes, Oocytes and Early Embryos, Biology of Reproduction, 2016 Apr; 94(4):75• Stalker L, Russell SJ, Co C, Foster RA, LaMarre J, PIWIL1 is Expressed in the Canine Testis, Increases with Sexual Maturity and Binds Small RNAs, Biology of Reproduction, Biology of Reproduction, 2016 Jan; 94(1):17

Guelph, Ontario

Analysis of microRNA expression profiles in primary breast cancer cell lines and tumors• Optimize a lentiviral expression system for microRNA clusters in multiple murine cancer cell lines• Design experiments to establish mechanism of epithelial to mesenchymal transition occurring in recurrent spindle tumors/ primary cell lines including monitoring gene/protein expression using qPCR and western blot• Aid in maintenance and supervision of an extensive mouse colony, including several transgenic models• Provide guidance, supervision and training to students at both the graduate and undergraduate levelSelected publications:• Watson KL, Stalker L, Jones RA, Moorehead RA. High Levels of Dietary Soy Decrease Mammary Tumour Latency and Increase Incidence in MTB-IGFR Transgenic Mice. BMC Cancer 2015 Feb 6;15:37• Stalker L, Pemberton J, Moorehead RA, Inhibition of Proliferation and Migration of Luminal and Claudin Low Breast Cancer Cells by PDGFR Inhibitors, Cancer Cell International 2014 Sep;5;14(1):89

Hamilton Ontario

• Independently designed and implemented an experimental plan which differed from lab focus• Responsible for training undergraduate and graduate level students including project design, troubleshooting and instruction in laboratory practice• Established a model whereby murine embryonic stem cells were utilized to mirror neuro-development and embryoid body formation for the analysis of epigenetic factors during differentiation• Developed and published a novel immunoassay to detect changes in histone methylation levels, improving accuracy of standard protocols resulting in a refereed methods publication• Performed biochemical analysis of KDM5b enzymology including recapitulating enzymology in an in vitro system resulting in a refereed publication and one review paperThroughout my PhD I was awarded several scholarships including a Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Doctoral award (2009-2012), an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2009), and an award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for the best poster presentation at their Lake Tahoe conference in 2008.Selected Publications:• Stalker L, Wynder C, Evaluation of Histone Modifying Enzymes in Stem Cell Populations, Methods Mol. Biol. 2012;809:411-26• Wynder C, Stalker L, Doughty ML; Role of H3K4 demethylases in Complex Neurodevelopmental Diseases, Epigenomics. 2010 Jun;2(3):407-18 Review• Dey BK, Stalker L, Schnerch A, Bhatia M, Taylor Papidimitriou, Wynder C; The Histone demethylase KDM5b/JARID1b plays a Role in Cell Fate Decisions by Blocking Terminal Differentiation; Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2008 Sep:28(17):5312-27

As a laboratory technician at the University of Guelph I was responsible for day to day operations of a molecular biology lab. This included maintenance of basic lab stocks, ordering, inventory and lab maintenance.

As an undergraduate research assistant I was required to complete an individual research project within the confines of the laboratory's research program. After required training, I was required to perform self motivated experiments to push a research project to completion, as well as to contribute to overall day-to-day lab maintenance, including solution making, stocking, and ordering.Selected PublicationsCardiolipin controls the osmotic stress response and the subcellular location of transporter ProP in Escherichia coli. Romantsov T, Stalker L, Culham DE, Wood JM. J Biol Chem. 2008 May 2;283(18):12314-23. Cardiolipin promotes polar localization of osmosensory transporter ProP in Escherichia coli. Romantsov T, Helbig S, Culham DE, Gill C, Stalker L, Wood JM. Mol Microbiol. 2007 Jun;64(6):1455-65.

As a lab tech at PepsiCo I was responsible for on site quality control including packaging and product evaluation.On site laboratory process included measurements of salinity, texture and moisture content of all products produced. Lab technicians were required to have a working knowledge of all products within the plant, be able to communicate clearly in order to make required alterations to the production process as needed, and to possess extremely good time management and organizational skills.This position represents experience into an industry based science and provided me with valuable insight into this field.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Biochemistry And Biomedical Science

Bachelor Of Science Honours (Bsc), Molecular Biology And Genetics