If interested in joining the lab, please send Dr. Wenzel an e-mail using the contact form here.
Questions We Ask
Can replacing disease microglia with healthy microglia cure disease?
Can patient-derived models provide insight on mechanisms driving the onset of diseases?
How can we modify care systems to improve the lives of Canadians?
Current Lab Members
Our laboratory is opening in 2025. We are actively recruiting graduate students at the Master's and Doctoral level, as well as postdoctoral fellows.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Wenzel (Ph.D., B.Ed.) is an Assistant Professor, licensed Canadian schoolteacher, and healthcare advocate.
Before research, Dr. Wenzel was head of a special education department in British Columbia. In this role, Dr. Wenzel taught high school students with a diverse array of learning barriers, and created accessible lesson plans that encouraged school attendance and engagement. After school, Dr. Wenzel was a concert sound technician, mixing and recording concerts for musicians, including Juno-award winning artists. Life events led Dr. Wenzel to move 400 km away from their hometown for a doctoral program at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Wenzel was awarded their doctoral degree in 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before lock downs were in place, Dr. Wenzel was offered a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Saskatchewan to start the first stem cell laboratory at the institution, and this laboratory is currently where Dr. Wenzel and team conduct their research. When asked what made Dr. Wenzel chose this career, they often respond “serendipity” because they ended their undergraduate studies claiming they would never write a thesis because “writing over a hundred pages seemed boring”.
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In the news
Our Research
* = supervised trainee, ^ = corresponding author
a. Articles published or accepted in peer-reviewed journals
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- Wenzel TJ^, Desjarlais JD*, Mousseau DD. (2024). Original Research: Human brain organoids containing microglia that have arisen innately adapt to a β-amyloid challenge better than those in which microglia are integrated by co-culture. Stem Cell Res. 15, 258 (2024)
- Wenzel TJ^, Mousseau DD. (2024). Original Research: Brain organoids engineered to give rise to glia and neural networks after 90 days in culture exhibit human-specific proteoforms. Front. Mol. Neurosci. 18, 1383688. https://www.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2024.1383688
- Wenzel TJ^, Le J*, He J, Alcorn J, Mousseau DD. (2023). Review: Incorporating a greater diversity of cell types, including microglia, in brain organoid cultures improves clinical translation. J. Neurochem. 164, 560–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15741
b. Chapters in books
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- Wenzel TJ^, Mousseau DD. (2023). Chapter 19: Maximizing the utility of brain organoid models and overcoming their perceived limitations. Handbook of Neural Engineering: A Modern Approach. Elsevier. In Press. ISBN: . Invited by editor Dr. Stephanie Willerth (University of Victoria).
c. Conference publications
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- Wenzel TJ^, Desjarlais JD*, Mousseau DD. (2023). Microglia in brain organoids exhibit different immune responses if developed innately versus microglia integrated by co-culture. J Neurochem, 166: 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15895
- Wenzel TJ^, Le J*, Heistad R, Alcorn J, Mousseau DD. (2022). Microglia derived from stem cells exhibit a more homeostatic and adult-like phenotype in brain organoids than in a monoculture. J. Neurochem. 162: 111-65 (international conference proceedings). https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15675
Values
We believe that people from diverse backgrounds (race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, different physical abilities) with diverse perspectives and insights are integral to making breakthroughs in science.
We understand that not everyone works the same way, so we are flexible with location and time of research.
All students will have equal opportunity for professional development activities.
All personnel should be able to work in supportive and inclusive environment that is free from harassment and discrimination, and we pledge to uphold our work environment to this standard.
Training is core to our laboratory, and all personnel will have 1-on-1 support.
We understand improving equity, diversity, inclusion and teaching practices require constant review, so we always seek feedback to improve our environment.
Funding
Funding announcement in 2025!
