Ian Scott

Born and raised in Ottawa, Dr. Scott’s interest in biology wasn’t really piqued until he carried out his undergraduate studies at Queen’s University.

Convinced he wanted to become a biochemist by several summers of liquid chromatography, he started his PhD studies at the University of Toronto, where he was first exposed to developmental biology and the endlessly fascinating question of how a single cell becomes an organism.

Following his PhD studies in Toronto on mouse placental development, he was fortunate to be able to carry out his postdoctoral studies with Dr. Didier Stainier at UCSF. Aside from being exposed to the zebrafish model and excellent mentorship, he had the chance to participate in a full genetic screen. Countless hours of observing cardiac mutants fully tempered his scientific interests, with identification and (eventual…) cloning of the grinch mutant setting his interest in early development and cardiogenesis. On top of that, he got to live in San Francisco, and meet his future wife.

As a PI, he truly enjoys his role as a facilitator for the development of trainees as independent scientists. His best days are those where people bring him their new ideas (and of course, data) as they become masters of their own projects. Outside the lab, he enjoys family time, sports/Crossfit, reading, and playing DnD with his boys and others.

Research

Research in the Scott lab is focused on how cardiac fate is first established, and how the heart later grows and develops.  Using the advantages of the zebrafish embryo, his group employs genetic, embryological, bioinformatic, genomic and live imaging approaches to study the earliest events of cardiovascular development.

Research interests include:  

• Understanding the role of Aplnr signaling in migration of cardiac progenitors to the heart-forming region;  
• Deciphering the gene regulatory networks that govern vertebrate heart development and regeneration; 
• Modeling and examination of congenital heart disease; 
• The role of CCM3 in cranial vasculature development and stability. Ultimately, he hopes to use these models to interrogate novel therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular diseases. 

Education and experience

• 2001–2004: Post-doctoral fellow, UCSF (supervisor: Dr. Didier Stainier), San Francisco, CA 
• 1994–2001: PhD, Department of Medical genetics, University of Toronto (supervisor: Dr. Jay Cross), Toronto, ON 
• 1990–1994: B.Sc. (Hons), Department of Biochemistry, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON 

1. Stutt N, Song M, Wilson MD, Scott IC. Cardiac specification during gastrulation - The Yellow Brick Road leading to Tinman. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 2022 Jul;127:46-58.Song M, Yuan X, Racioppi C, Leslie M, Stutt N, Aleksandrova A, Christiaen L, Wilson MD, Scott IC.
2. GATA4/5/6 family transcription factors are conserved determinants of cardiac versus pharyngeal mesoderm fate. Science Advances. 2022 Mar 11;8(10):eabg0834.
3. Rosenthal SM, Misra T, Abdouni H, Branon TC, Ting AY, Scott IC, Gingras AC. A Toolbox for Efficient Proximity-Dependent Biotinylation in Zebrafish Embryos. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 2021;20:100128.
4. Liang M, Soomro A, Tasneem S, Abatti LE, Alizada A, Yuan X, Uusküla-Reimand L, Antounians L, Alvi SA, Paterson AD, Rivard GÉ, Scott IC, Mitchell JA, Hayward CPM, Wilson MD. Enhancer-gene rewiring in the pathogenesis of Quebec platelet disorder. Blood. 2020 Dec 3;136(23):2679-2690.
5. Yuan, X., Song, M., Devine, P., Bruneau, B.G., Scott, I.C. and Wilson M.D. Heart enhancers with deeply conserved regulatory activity are established early in zebrafish development. Nature Communications 9 (1), 4977 (2018). (co-corresponding author) 

See a full list of Ian Scott's publications

External funding

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
• SickKids Foundation