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SickKids

Walter Kahr

Title: Staff Physician, Division of Haematology/Oncology
Designations: MD, PhD, FRCPC
Phone: 416-813-7977
Email: walter.kahr@sickkids.ca
Alternate Contact Name: Ira Calvadores
Alternate Phone: 416-813-7654 ext. 414192
Alternate Email: ira.calvadores@sickkids.ca
U of T Positions: Professor, Departments of Paediatrics and Biochemistry

Research Positions

Senior Scientist
Cell Biology

Biography

Dr. Kahr received his MD and PhD (Biochemistry) from the University of Toronto in 1994. After post-graduate training in Internal Medicine (University of Toronto), Hematology (McMaster University), and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (McMaster University), he joined the Division of Haematology/Oncology at SickKids in 2003 as a Clinician-Scientist. He is currently a Senior Scientist in the Cell Biology Program of the Research Institute with a research laboratory at SickKids Research Institute. His main clinical and research interests are haemostasis and thrombosis, with a focus on the role of platelets in health and disease.

Research

Dr. Kahr's research is aimed at understanding the development and function of platelets, tiny blood cells that initiate and co-ordinate clotting at wounds. Platelets do this by adhering, aggregating and secreting a wide assortment of molecules, which helps normal clotting and can also contribute to thrombi that cause heart attacks and strokes. Many of his insights into the mechanisms of platelet development and function have come from studies of patients with inherited disorders. His particular interest is alpha granules, which platelets use to transport and secrete several hundred different proteins. His team has identified several proteins and cellular pathways involved in the development of alpha granules in the cells that produce platelets, the bone marrow megakaryocytes.

Education and experience

  • 1994: PhD, Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto
  • 1994: MD, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • 1994–1997: Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • 1997–1999: Hematology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University
  • 1999–2002: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University
  • 2003–Present: Staff Physician, Division of Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children
  • 2007–Present: Associate Member, Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto
  • 2014–Present: Senior Scientist, Cell Biology Program, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children
  • 2018–Present: Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto
  • 2018–Present: Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto

Achievements

  • 2018: Inaugural Janet Rossant Research Innovation Prize. Leader of the team recognized for interdisciplinary research arising from work conducted at SickKids.
  • 2018–Present: Executive Committee Member, National Institutes of Health, ClinGen Rare Gene Variant Curation Group, Hemostasis/Thrombosis Clinical Domain Working Group and Platelet Function Disorder Subgroup, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.

Publications

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