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).
