Janet A.W. Elliott Janet Elliott

University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Janet A.W. Elliott joined the Society for Cryobiology in 1998 and was elected a fellow in 2018

Janet A. W. Elliott holds a Canada Research Chair in Thermodynamics, and is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta in Canada. Dr. Elliott obtained her B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (Engineering Physics Option) and her M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She has been a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics. She has served as a member of the Physical Sciences Advisory Committee of the Canadian Space Agency, the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry Executive Committee, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organ Preservation Alliance. She has served on grant selection committees for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Elliott is a member of the editorial advisory boards of The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Langmuir, and Advances in Colloid and Interface Science. Dr. Elliott’s research has been recognized nationally in science and engineering by Fellowship in the Chemical Institute of Canada (2015), the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering Syncrude Canada Innovation Award (2008), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Doctoral Prize (1998), the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers Young Engineer Achievement Award (2001), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Young Explorer’s Prize (2002) and Time Magazine’s Canadians Who Define the New Frontiers of Science (2002). Dr. Elliott has also received provincial and University awards including the University of Alberta Teaching Unit Award (2004). As one student put it, “She could convince rocks to study thermodynamics.”

Dr. Elliott’s research areas include thermodynamics, colloids, surfaces, and cryobiology. Dr. Elliott runs a collaborative, interdisciplinary cryobiology research group carrying out studies on experimental and computational cryobiology and cryopreservation of many cell and tissue types for medical and biotechnology applications. Work encompasses fundamental and applied research, from cryobiological thermodynamics and transport, to cryobiological experiments, and working towards clinical implementation.

A selection from more than 50 papers on cryobiology is given below:

N Eskandari, LA Marquez-Curtis, LE McGann, JAW Elliott, “Cryopreservation of human umbilical vein and porcine corneal endothelial cell monolayers”, Cryobiology 85, 63–72 (2018).

AB Sultani, LA Marquez-Curtis, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Improved cryopreservation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells: A systematic approach”, Scientific Reports 6 Art. No.: 34393 (2016).

LA Marquez-Curtis, A Janowska-Wieczorek, LE McGann, JAW Elliott, “Review: Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from various tissues:  Biological, clinical and cryopreservation aspects”, Cryobiology 71(2), 181–197 (2015).

RC Prickett, LA Marquez-Curtis, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Effect of supercooling and cell volume on intracellular ice formation”, Cryobiology 70(2), 156–163 (2015).

MW Zielinski, LE McGann, JA Nychka, JAW Elliott, “Comparison of non-ideal solution theories for multi-solute solutions in cryobiology and tabulation of required coefficients”, Cryobiology 69(2), 305–317 (2014).

AJF Reardon, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Fluorescence as an alternative to light-scatter gating strategies to identify frozen-thawed cells with flow cytometry”, Cryobiology 69(1), 91–99 (2014).

A Abazari, RB Thompson, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Transport phenomena in articular cartilage cryopreservation as predicted by the modified triphasic model and the effect of natural inhomogeneities”, Biophysical Journal 102 (6) 1284–1293 (2012).

NM Jomha, JAW Elliott, GK Law, B Maghdoori, JF Forbes, A Abazari, AB Adesida, L Laouar, X Zhou and LE McGann “Vitrification of intact human articular cartilage”, Biomaterials 33(26), 6061–6068 (2012).

ADH Weiss, JF Forbes, A Scheuerman, GK Law, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, NM Jomha, “Statistical prediction of the vitrifiability and glass stability of multi-component cryoprotective agent solutions”, Cryobiology 61(1), 123–127 (2010).

LU Ross-Rodriguez, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Investigating cryoinjury using simulations and experiments: 2. TF-1 cells during graded freezing (interrupted slow cooling without hold time)”, Cryobiology, 6(1) 46–51, 2010.

HY Elmoazzen, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Osmotic transport across cell membranes in nondilute solutions: A new nondilute solute transport equation”, Biophysical Journal 96, 2559–2571 (2009).

RC Prickett, JAW Elliott, S Hakda, L. E. McGann, “A non-ideal replacement for the Boyle van’t Hoff equation”, Cryobiology 57(2), 130–136 (2008).

JAW Elliott, RC Prickett, HY Elmoazzen, KR Porter, LE McGann, “A multi-solute osmotic virial equation for solutions of interest in biology”, Journal of Physical Chemistry B 111(7), 1775–1785 (2007). Republished in a Virtual Issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, B, C & Letters in honour Marie Curie’s 150th birthday, November 7, 2017.

JP Acker, JAW Elliott, LE McGann, “Intercellular ice propagation: Experimental evidence for ice growth through membrane pores”, Biophysical Journal 81(3), 1389–1397 (2001).

Services to the Society 

Associate Editor, Cryobiology, 2015 – present
Editorial Board Member, Cryobiology, 2006 – 2015
Edited Cryobiology Special Issue, “Thermodynamic Aspects of Cryobiology”, 2010
Scientific Program Co-Chair, CRYO2007, Lake Louise, Canada

Scientific Offspring

Janet A.W. Elliott has supervised more than 100 trainees and staff including research associates, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, MSc students, undergraduate research students, research engineers, and technicians. Some former graduate students who won major Society for Cryobiology Awards are listed below:

Kezhou Wu, Best Student Poster Award, CRYO2017
Michael Zielinski, Best Student Poster Award, CRYO2014
Anthony Reardon, inaugural John K. Critser Best Student Abstract Award, CRYO2012
Alireza Abazari, Peter L. Steponkus Crystal Award for the Best Student Oral Presentation, CRYO2009
Richelle Prickett, Best Student Poster Award, CRYO2008
Andrew Weiss, Peter L. Steponkus Crystal Award for the Best Student Oral Presentation, CRYO2007
Heidi Elmoazzen, Best Student Poster Award, CRYO2004