Boris Hinz

PhD

Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science

Biography

Boris Hinz is Keenan Research Chair in Fibrosis Research at St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto Distinguished Professor in Tissue Repair and Regeneration. He is appointed with the Faculties of Dentistry, Medicine, and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Hinz holds a PhD degree (1998) in Cell Biology and Theoretical Biology from the University of Bonn, Germany. From 1999 to 2002, he was postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Giulio Gabbiani, Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Hinz then moved to lead a research group at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, joining Cell Biology, Biophysics, and Bioengineering. He was nominated Maître d’enseignement et de recherche (Assistant Professor level) in 2006 and moved to the University of Toronto in 2009 with Associate Professor appointment in the Faculty of Dentistry.

Dr. Hinz studies the role of contractile myofibroblasts in physiological tissue repair and in causing pathological tissue fibrosis. The findings of his lab are published in peer-reviewed journals with highest impact. His research led to the creation of two startup companies specialized on anti-fibrotic coatings for silicone implants and novel “soft” cell culture devices.

Dr. Hinz is secretary and inaugural board member of the Canadian Connective Tissue Society, board member of the International Dupuytren Society and the Canadian Dupuytren Society. He has been president and board member of the European Tissue Repair Society and was board member of the Wound Healing Society. He is Editor-in-Chief (basic science) of the journal “Wound Repair and Regeneration”, Section Editor of the “Journal of Investigative Dermatology”, Associate Editor of “Biochemistry and Cell Biology”, and editorial board member of “Matrix Biology”, and ‘Experimental Dermatology’. Dr. Hinz’ research is and has been funded by a multi-project Foundation Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), CIHR operating funds, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Research Foundation (ORF), and MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems).

Recent Publications

  1. Ågren, MS, Hinz, B, Kalogeropoulos, K, Overall, CM, Smola, H, Werner, S et al.. Ulrich auf dem Keller (1974-2023). Wound Repair Regen. 2023; :. doi: 10.1111/wrr.13118. PubMed PMID:37735982 .
  2. Ezzo, M, Hinz, B. Novel approaches to target fibroblast mechanotransduction in fibroproliferative diseases. Pharmacol Ther. 2023;250 :108528. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2023.108528. PubMed PMID:37708995 .
  3. Chen, Z, Ezzo, M, Zondag, B, Rakhshani, F, Ma, Y, Hinz, B et al.. Intrafibrillar Crosslinking Enables Decoupling of Mechanical Properties and Structure of a Composite Fibrous Hydrogel. Adv Mater. 2023; :e2305964. doi: 10.1002/adma.202305964. PubMed PMID:37671420 .
  4. Chan, B, Glogauer, M, Wang, Y, Wrana, J, Chan, K, Beier, F et al.. Adseverin, an actin-binding protein, modulates hypertrophic chondrocyte differentiation and osteoarthritis progression. Sci Adv. 2023;9 (31):eadf1130. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adf1130. PubMed PMID:37540756 PubMed Central PMC10403223.
  5. Xu, Y, Ying, L, Lang, JK, Hinz, B, Zhao, R. Modeling Mechanical Activation of Macrophages During Pulmonary Fibrogenesis for Targeted Anti-Fibrosis Therapy. bioRxiv. 2023; :. doi: 10.1101/2023.07.19.549794. PubMed PMID:37503121 PubMed Central PMC10370161.
  6. Barbour, A, Smith, L, Oveisi, M, Williams, M, Huang, RC, Marks, C et al.. Discovery of phosphorylated lantibiotics with proimmune activity that regulate the oral microbiome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023;120 (22):e2219392120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2219392120. PubMed PMID:37216534 PubMed Central PMC10235938.
  7. Schuster, R, Younesi, F, Ezzo, M, Hinz, B. The Role of Myofibroblasts in Physiological and Pathological Tissue Repair. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2023;15 (1):. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041231. PubMed PMID:36123034 PubMed Central PMC9808581.
  8. Tavallaee, G, Lively, S, Rockel, JS, Ali, SA, Im, M, Sarda, C et al.. Contribution of MicroRNA-27b-3p to Synovial Fibrotic Responses in Knee Osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022;74 (12):1928-1942. doi: 10.1002/art.42285. PubMed PMID:35791923 .
  9. Pakshir, P, Younesi, F, Wootton, KA, Battiston, K, Whitton, G, Ilagan, B et al.. Controlled release of low-molecular weight, polymer-free corticosteroid coatings suppresses fibrotic encapsulation of implanted medical devices. Biomaterials. 2022;286 :121586. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121586. PubMed PMID:35635896 .
  10. Janmey, PA, Hinz, B, McCulloch, CA. Physics and Physiology of Cell Spreading in Two and Three Dimensions. Physiology (Bethesda). 2021;36 (6):382-391. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00020.2021. PubMed PMID:34704856 PubMed Central PMC8560373.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto
  • Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
  • Department of Surgery, University of Toronto