Dr. Christopher Pin, PhD


Children’s Health Research Institute
Scientist, Developmental Biology Program


Lawson Health Research Institute
Scientist, Children’s Health Research Institute


University of Western Ontario
Assistant Professor, Departments of Paediatrics, and Physiology & Pharmacology


Contact Information
Tel: (519) 685 8300 Ext. 53073
Fax: (519) 685 8186
E-mail: cpin@uwo.ca


Brief Biography

Dr. Christopher Pin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics at the University of Western Ontario in 1990. He then pursued his doctorate in Dr. Peter Merrifield’s laboratory in the Department of Anatomy at The University of Western Ontario, where he was a NSERC scholar and received the Arthur Minden Predoctoral Fellowship from the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada. Upon completion of his PhD, he received the Keith Moore Award in Anatomy at Western, awarded annually for the best Ph.D. thesis in the department. He then trained in Dr. Stephen Konieczny’s laboratory at Purdue University in Indiana as a Muscular Dystrophy Association and an MRC Research Fellow.


Dr. Pin became an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Paediatrics and Physiology and Pharmacology in 2000. He was awarded a CFI/OIT New Investigator grant in 2002 and received a CIHR New Investigator Award in 2005. His research is currently funded by CIHR and the Canadian Diabetes Association.


Research Interests

• Pancreatic development
• Genetic susceptibility to pancreatic disease
• Pancreatitis
• Diabetes
• Pancreatic Cancer


Research Activities

Dr. Pin’s research focuses on the factors that regulate pancreatic development and disease. He combines gene targeting methodology with in vitro culture models to address specific issues in pancreatic biology. Projects in Dr. Pin’s laboratory focus on (1) the transcriptional network that leads to normal development of the pancreas (2) the interplay of molecular and environmental factors that alter pancreatic function and lead to increased severity of pancreatic disease such as pancreatitis and diabetes, and (3) the factors that will enable mature acinar cells to trans-differentiate into insulin producing cells. His work has been published in journals such as The Journal of Cell Biology, The Journal of Cell Science and Developmental Biology. He has presented his work in over 25 national and international conferences and has been an invited speaker at both the national and international level. He has trained 10 undergraduate students and 8 graduate students.


Representative Publications

  1. Kowalik AS, Johnson CL, Chadi S, Weston JY, Fazio EN, Pin CL. (2007).Mice lacking the transcription factor Mist1 exhibit an altered stress response and increased sensitivity to caerulein induced pancreatitis.  American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.  In press.
  2. Fazio EN, Pin CL. (2007). Mist1-null mice have an increased resistance to streptazocin-induced beta cell damage.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.  353(3):823-828.
  3. Tuveson DA, Zhu L, Gopinathan A, Willis NA, Kachatrian L, Grochow R, Pin CL, Mitin N, Taparowsky EJ, Gimotty PA, Hruban RH, Jacks T, Konieczny SF. (2006). Mist1-KrasG12D knock-in mice develop mixed differentiation metastatic exocrine pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer Research. 66(1):242-7.
  4. Fazio E, Everest M, Colman R, Wang R, Pin CL. (2005). Mice lacking Mist1 have increased numbers of islets with decreased functionality. Journal of Endocrinology. 187:407-418.
  5. Johnson CJ, Kowalik AS, Rajakumar N, Pin CL. (2004). Mist1 is Necessary for the Establishment of Granule Organization in Serous Exocrine Cells of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Mechanisms of Development. 121(3): 261-272.
  6. Rukstalis JM, Kowalik AS, Lidington D, Zhu L, Pin CL, Konieczny SF. (2003). Mist1 regulates the expression of connexin32 in serous exocrine cells. The Journal of Cell Science. 116: 3315-3325.
  7. Pin CL, Rukstalis JM, Johnson CL, Konieczny SF. (2001). Mice lacking the bHLH transcription factor Mist1 represent a genetic model for pancreatic injury. The Journal of Cell Biology. 155: 519-530.
  8. Pin CL, Bonvissuto AC, Konieczny SF. (2000). Mist1 expression is a common link among serous exocrine cells exhibiting regulated exocytosis. The Anatomical Record. 259:157-167.