Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences Annual Newsmagazine |
IN THIS ISSUE
Biochemistry & Biomedical
Sciences celebrates its
45th anniversary!
SPRING 2012
“The joy of discovery is certainly the liveliest
that the mind of man can ever feel.”
Claude Bernard (1813-1878)
04
WELCOME
04 Chair’s update
06 Retrospective by Karl Freeman
08
YEAR-IN-REVIEW
08 Undergraduate Program update
09 Graduate Program update
10 Research Program update
12
STUDENT SUCCESS
12 From student to scientist:
A word from our
undergraduate students
14 In Memoriam:
Michael Hart
15 Postgraduate students:
Ryan Mitchell
Marisa Azad
17
STAFF FOCUS
CONNECT
17 Lisa Kush
Published by the Department of
Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences
FACULTY FOCUS
18 Nathan Magarvey
19 New Faculty
POSTDOC FOCUS
21 Joe McPhee
22 Erin Westman
ALUMNI UPDATE
23 Jason Young
24 Rabia Mateen
26
GRADUANDS & AWARDS
26 Undergraduate/
Graduate awards
27 Graduands 2011
28
ON A LAST NOTE
28 Socialize
32 Lab Gab
36 BBS update/BBSS update
37 Postdoctoral update
38 Arrivals/departures
Health Sciences Centre - 4N59
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email@biochem.mcmaster.ca
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem/
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Editor/writer – Bonnie Murphy
Photography – Chantall VanRaay,
Jodi Biro, Liz Theriault
Design – Nadia DiTraglia
Printed in Canada 06/2012
COVER
Mitochondria (in red) are the powerhouse of
a cell. The intensity of the red mitochondria
(shown here) is a marker of “free radicals”
that can damage cells and impair metabolism.
Inflammation can alter this response and we
are interested in how the immune system
links obesity and metabolic disease.
Work performed by Schertzer Lab.
ERIC BROWN CHAIR
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Eric Brown in the lab.
4
Something game-changing happened
45 years ago. Maybe not as dramatic
as the first heart transplant in 1967
but significant in the world of science
nonetheless: McMaster’s Department
of Biochemistry was born.
In the last 45 years the department
has become a multidisciplinary
academic department that spans
basic and applied biomedical,
physical and life science research
and its members are enablers of
excellence in research and education.
The Department has undergone
a significant transformation since
its inception in 1967, yet it has
remained faithful to its original
principles of excellence, scholarship
and innovation. In particular, the
past decade has seen remarkable
change in the department structure
and relationships with other groups
at McMaster, other institutions and
industry partners. Most recently,
we have also been discussing new
multidisciplinary training directions
that would produce graduates with
strong discovery research skills, street
smarts and a business sense.
This issue has a retrospective
article written by former Department
Chair, Karl Freeman, Professor
Emeritus, and a few fascinating
photos from the early years. We’ve
added new profile pieces – for
graduate students, undergrads and
staff. On April 9th we migrated
Biochemrocks.ca blog site to
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
macbiochemrocks. We hope this
venue will draw interaction from all
our former, current and potential
students as well as any other past
or present members of BBS! I hope
you enjoy both the new Facebook
connection and this issue of
BiochemRocks!
Of the many research successes
over the past year there were several
critical events of note. Most recently,
in February 2012, the Marta and Owen
Boris Foundation made a $30 million
donation to accelerate the university’s
innovations in health research,
education and care. Of the total, $24
million is designated to establish The
Boris Family Centre in Human Stem
Cell Therapies, which will speed
the commercial development of
discoveries at the McMaster Stem Cell
and Cancer Research Institute. The sixyear-old institute has had several major
breakthroughs, including the ability
to turn human skin into blood. And
while this issue was nearly in press,
Bhatia’s lab published in Cell that they
have discovered a drug that destroys
human cancer stem cells but not
healthy ones – the drug thioridazine
successfully kills cancer stem cells
in humans while avoiding the toxic
side-effects of conventional cancer
treatments.
The funds will establish two senior
research chairs, one in blood stem
cells and the other in neural stem
cells; set up several fellowships and
technician positions; build the facility
and provide a fund for emerging
opportunities. Mick Bhatia, named
Innovator of the Year at the June
2011 Innovation Showcase held at
MIP, was quoted in the Daily News
as saying that “Now is the time
magic touch in state-of-the-art
structural biology. The outcome is a
better understanding of amyloids with
real prospects for advancing treatment
of amyloid-associated disease.
In August 2011 Gerry Wright, the
former Chair of the department and
currently the Director of McMaster’s
Institute for Infectious Disease
Research, reported in the journal
Nature that antibiotic drug resistance is
more than 30,000 years old. Working
closely with Hendrick Poinar in the
department of Anthropology, Wright’s
team examined bacterial DNA extracted
from soil frozen in permafrost from
the Yukon Territories to discover that
antibiotic drug resistance is ancient.
The work has huge implications for
understanding where modern clinical
drug resistance comes from and
attracted a great deal of attention from
the scientific and lay press.
In September 2011, joint member
Mike Surette, Canada Research Chair in
Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research,
received $727,419 from the Canada
Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The
funding is earmarked for Surette’s
Laboratory for Interdisciplinary
Microbiome Research in Health
and Disease, which will be a high
capacity Biosafety Level 2 facility
dedicated to culturing, characterization
and rapid molecular profiling of
microbial communities of the human
microbiome. The Surette lab will
pursue opportunities for improved
disease management, identification of
new pathogens, development of new
diagnostics and discerning how normal
microbiota contribute to health.
In February 2012 Ray Truant and
researchers from the University of
Alberta have, for the first time, found
a way to make mice with Huntington’s
disease better. The Truant lab worked
with scientists from Alberta and
discovered that by pumping measured
amounts of ganglioside GM1, a
lipid, into the sick rodents’ brains
restored normal motor functions.
Their groundbreaking paper has been
published in a recent edition of the
journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences and opens a
door for research directed at finding a
treatment for the genetic disorder.
In April 2012 Associate Chair,
Research, Lori Burrows was appointed
as the University Delegate for CIHR
(Canadian Institutes of Health Research).
The mandate of the University
Delegates’ Network is to keep the
health research community informed
of directions, initiatives and decisions
of CIHR, and solicit their active
participation or awareness. Concerns
raised by University Delegates will be
transmitted to CIHR senior management
through the Vice President, Research.
Congratulations to Lori!
The Department has been very
successful in obtaining research
funding in this difficult economic
climate with current annual funding
totalling $22 million and some
fabulous discoveries, pushing towards
ever more innovative approaches
and collaborations. I hope all our
members, both from the distant past,
who have fond memories of early
discovery and innovation, to those
novice undergrads with the dream
of discovery in their eyes, enjoy
this year’s update on department
successes and future vision without
boundaries. ■
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
to move these discoveries to the
patient”. The McMaster Innovator
Awards recognize researchers who
contributed to McMaster University’s
ongoing efforts to build a culture of
innovation, commercialization and
entrepreneurship by creating a product
or service to transfer their research
discoveries and inventions to society.
In April 2011 Brian Coombes
was awarded a Tier II Canada
Research Chair in Infectious Disease
Pathogenesis to investigate how major
enteric pathogens - the organisms that
enter our bodies and cause serious
problems with our gastrointestinal
systems - infect humans, and how
human and environmental activities
influence the evolution of these
infectious diseases.
In work that was featured on the
cover of the high impact journal,
Cell Stem Cell, Brad Doble’s research
group revealed that the protein betacatenin controls the ability of mouse
embryonic stem cells to differentiate
to, for example, neurons. The work
is an exciting development that may
ultimately be as important to efforts
aimed at controlling cancer as it
is to understanding the stem cell
programming.
In June 2011 a unique collaboration
between Joaquin Ortega and BBS
Associate Member, Marie Elliot,
brought new insight into the assembly
of ‘amyloids’ – protein aggregates that
are associated with neurodegenerative
diseases like Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s. The work is an
outstanding example of breadth and
collaboration in the department where
Marie’s creative approaches in cell
biology were matched with Joaquin’s
5
KARL FREEMAN PROFESSOR EMERITUS
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
McMaster Department of Biochemistry 1969. Back L-R: K.B. Freeman, G.R. Lawford, W.W.-C. Chan, L.A. Branda, S.T. Bayley, H.P. Ghosh.
Front L-R: D.R. McCalla, B.M. Ferrier, R.H. Hall, T. Neilson.
6
Biochemistry at McMaster –
Early Years
In 1965 I arrived at McMaster as an
Assistant Professor in the Department
of Chemistry. Two others came at the
same time, Gene Tustanoff and Fred
Ziegler. At that time the Chemistry
Department had two biochemists,
Dennis McCalla and Ian Spenser and
ran an Honours Biochemistry program.
Ian was recruiting faculty with the
aim of establishing a Department of
Biochemistry. The class that graduated
from the Honours Biochemistry
program the year before I came was
large for its time and many went on
to distinguished careers. But in 1965,
there were no students in year IV
and I spent the year demonstrating
to year I students. In addition to the
Chemistry Department there was also
the Research Unit in Biochemistry,
Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
Graduate students in the Departments
of Biology, Chemistry and Physics
with interest in these areas pursued a
degree in Molecular Biology through
the Research Unit. My original graduate
students were in this program.
But all of this was to change with
the founding of the medical school
in 1967 with John Evans as the first
Dean. Several questions had to be
resolved. Where would a Department
of Biochemistry be located: physically,
administratively, and academically?
Who would be the first chairman as
it was called then? Eventually Ross
Hall became the first chairman and it
was decided that the new department
would be administered in Health
Sciences but its academic role would be
mainly in the Faculty of Science both at
the undergraduate and graduate level.
The Research Unit was allowed to die
a natural death as its graduate students
graduated but many of us were sad to
see it go as it led to much interaction
amongst biochemists and biologists.
Hiring of new faculty proceeded
but one of the complexities was
that faculty would often be part
of more than one department and
would also participate in the many
research programs that were started.
Ian Spenser stayed in Chemistry but
Dennis McCalla became part of the
McMaster Department of Biochemistry 1990. Back L-R: D. Yang, W. Chan, G. Singh, T. Sivakumaran, D. Andrews, R. Bell, R. Epand, R. Rachubinski,
J. Hassell, J. Capone. Front L-R: C. Harley, R. Gupta, V. Ananathanarayanan, K. Freeman, H. Ghosh, G. Gerber, B. Ferrier, E. Nieboer
Hiring of new faculty
proceeded but one
of the complexities
was that faculty
would often be part
of more than one
deparment and would
also participate in
the many research
programs that were
started.
and some faculty participated in the
medical program. A graduate program
began with many of our students going
on to important careers in biochemistry
and molecular biology. We were located
in the General Sciences Building and
the Burke Sciences Building, moving
to the new Health Sciences Building
in 1972. The undergraduate labs were
in the General Sciences Building and
Bob James joined as the departmental
technician for the labs. Early support
staff who stayed for many years were
Mary Margaret Strong (41 years), Barb
Sweet (21 years) and Dale Tomlinson
(37 years).
From this small start the
department gradually expanded to its
present, much larger size. ■
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
new department. In the first years the
faculty complement grew with the
addition of Luis Branda, Bill Chan,
Barbara Ferrier, Hara Ghosh, Brian
Hillcoat, Ross Lawford and Tom
Neilson. Gene Tustanoff, Fred Ziegler
and Ross Lawford left in the early years
to be followed later by Brian Hillcoat.
Richard Epand was an important
addition in the 1970s. There were of
course associate members also.
At its start the department’s
undergraduate programs continued the
courses of the Chemistry Department:
Biochemistry 2E3, 3G6 and 3G8, and
Biochemistry 4C10. At that time there
were two B.Sc. degrees, Honours
Biochemistry and Biochemistry Major.
Gradually new courses were introduced
7
MICHELLE MACDONALD ASSOCIATE CHAIR, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Michelle MacDonald
8
Just as this year marks the Department’s
45th anniversary, this past September
marked the 10 year anniversary of
my joining the Department as a
faculty member. It also marked the
20th anniversary since I entered the
Biochemistry program as a young
undergraduate student – but who’s
counting! So I can’t help but reflect on
the past two decades and all that has
changed during that time.
Of course, the campus has changed.
There are many more buildings and
new residences that have sprung up!
The footprint of the Department has
changed dramatically in only the last
few years. Our research labs are now
spread out into the Michael DeGroote
Centre for Learning and the area
hospitals. Now teaching and learning
takes place across the entire campus
and across the city.
And the curriculum has changed.
When I began teaching, the curriculum
had been largely untouched in the
10 years that had elapsed since I had
entered the program. An exciting
new Drug Discovery course and a
Biotechnology laboratory course was
introduced with the addition of new
faculty members in that area. Under
the wise direction and guidance
of Dr. Gerry Wright as Chair of the
Department, the curriculum was
carefully reevaluated and revamped
beginning in 2001. Two new faculty
members (the first being myself)
were hired to teach and to oversee
the curriculum across the program to
ensure that it was constantly evolving,
that the students were acquiring the
necessary skills, and that faculty were
reflective about their teaching practices.
The entire Department rethought how
our program was being delivered. No
longer the ‘sage on the stage’, many
faculty members introduced ProblemBased Learning, and Inquiry-Based
Learning into their courses. Because of
this, our students now excel in research
and communication skills – skills that
were often not typically developed
until well into graduate studies. The
existing Biotechnology laboratory
course took on a new life in a novel
collaboration with the Department of
Chemical Engineering. Biochemistry
students work side by side with
chemical engineering students as they
learn cutting-edge techniques and skills
from differentiating mouse embryonic
stem cells to testing biomedical
materials for protein adhesion. Our
third year introductory laboratory
course moved to second year so that
students get into the lab sooner and
practice what they learn first-hand.
As you can see from the reflections
of our second year undergraduate
students (Daniel Wested, Harman
Bhatiani, Sheena Guglani), it was a
transformative experience for them!
I consider it a great honour and a
privilege to have worked with faculty
members who are so dedicated to
their craft and to passing on their
knowledge through the innovative
courses that they teach. Together, we
teach some of the very best students
on campus. Our graduates have gone
on to pursue a myriad of diverse
paths and careers, and three of
them are featured in this issue. Ryan
Mitchell (class of 2010, Biochem Coop)
is working with Dr. Mick Bhatia in
the Stem Cell and Cancer Research
Institute, Rabia Mateen (class of
2009) has completed her MSc degree
in Biomedical Engineering, and is
currently pursuing her PhD with Dr.
Todd Hoare in the Dept. of Chemical
Engineering and Jason Young (class of
1997), who did his PhD with Dr. David
Andrews, and is now an associate
professor in Biochemistry at McGill.
On April 2nd we celebrated the
next generation of bright-eyed
students who are graduating and are
eager and ready to take on the world.
From one generation to the next,
we are all different, but the same.
Only the clothes and hairstyles have
changed! I look back fondly on my
time as an undergraduate student.
It is a time for unparalleled personal
growth and development for many. I
am so proud and happy to have been
given the opportunity in my career
to have come full circle, back to my
home Department. These students are
some of the best and the brightest,
and they will no doubt leave their
mark on this world. I can only
imagine the bright futures and great
successes that lie before them.
Happy 45th anniversary! ■
BRIAN COOMBES ASSOCIATE CHAIR, GRADUATE EDUCATION
students. Meanwhile, the research
output of our students has been
tremendous, with 59 papers published
in 2011 in leading life sciences journals.
Many of these stories were featured
by local and national media outlets
and received international reach,
spotlighting on McMaster and our
program in particular.
We also completed some important
program renewal efforts that I believe
provide greater stability, value and
fairness for our students. Following
a best-practices review of graduate
programs across the country, the
program leadership decided that a
fresh look at our compensation rates
and distribution of TA workload was
in order. A dedicated team of faculty,
students and staff spearheaded this
effort to reach consensus on higher
compensation rates for MSc and PhD
students, and a redistribution of the
Teaching Assistant opportunities to
in-time PhD students. This allows MSc
students more time in the lab to get
their research off the ground and it
also gives all PhD students an equal
opportunity for value-added professional
development through a formal teaching
and mentoring experience.
I am planning some exciting
initiatives in 2012 that I hope many of
you will find useful. In particular, I’ve
set a goal of ‘50 by 15’ to have 50% of
our graduate students holding external
scholarships by 2015. To this end, I am
working on a new student peer-review
program that would see scholarship
applicants have their application
reviewed by other graduate students
currently holding the same award.
Peer-review is the mainstay of scientific
publishing and fundraising and I
Brian Coombes
believe there is much to be gained
by having more seasoned graduate
students providing constructive
feedback to their peers. It helps create
a culture of excellence, comradeship,
and places a value system on the
academic pursuit. Going hand-inhand with this, I am developing
a funding database that would
provide an integrated online source
for student funding opportunities.
Similar databases are available for
grant funding, which help faculty
plan, prioritize and coordinate their
fundraising efforts. I trust the graduate
students would find similar utility in
a database that attempts to bring key
funding opportunities to the fore.
In closing, a heartfelt thanks goes
out to Lisa Kush, our frontline Graduate
Assistant, who has been instrumental
in helping us reach our current state
of achievement. There is much that
goes on behind the scenes to keep our
program running smoothly and Lisa is
an integral part of this. As always, my
door is open to talk about program
business or to chat about science. ■
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
Reflecting back on the past year in
the Biochemistry graduate program,
we have a lot to be proud of. I’m
excited to recount some of our notable
accomplishments and to share some
exciting initiatives in progress for 2012
and beyond that I believe will galvanize
our position as one of the premier
destination programs for graduate
students in the biomedical sciences.
Strengthening our recruitment reach
through a revamped and reinvigorated
website helped welcome 34 new
graduate students to our program
in 2011 – a record number not seen
since the ‘double-cohort’ moved
through the system in 2007. Recruiting
widely from across Canada and
internationally, together with retention
of some of our brightest minds from
our undergraduate program lays the
foundation for a truly world-class
research and training environment.
For example, 40% of all our graduate
students held external scholarships
in 2011 from federal, provincial,
and private granting agencies. The
collective value is $2,351,000; that’s 17
years worth of CIHR grant funding!
These numbers have set a new
benchmark for the health and vitality
of our program. Joining our two inprogram Vanier scholars are our two
newest Vanier winners for 2012, Marisa
Azad and Branavan Manoranjan. Vanier
scholars demonstrate a high degree of
leadership and research achievement
in graduate studies, making it Canada’s
premier graduate scholarship. I believe
that a program with a strong reputation
of excellence in securing external
awards is a program of international
repute, and I’m very proud of the
financial accomplishments of our
9
LORI BURROWS ASSOCIATE CHAIR, RESEARCH
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Lori Burrows in the lab
10
The research endeavours of BBS
have been recognized over the
last year with impressive career
and infrastructure awards as well
as generous philanthropic gifts. A
number of high profile publications
in top journals showcased the talents
of our researchers and their groups.
Select highlights from 2011 include:
Dr. Mickie Bhatia, Director
of the McMaster Stem Cell and
Cancer Research Institute and 2011
McMaster Innovator of the Year for
his work that described the process
of turning human skin cells directly
into blood cells. This transformative
discovery is in the early stages of
commercialization, and has massive
potential to help patients. Continuing
their impressive track record, the
Bhatia lab published an important
paper in Cell Stem Cell showing that
pluripotent stem cells – rather than
having equal potential to become
any type of cell – contain epigenetic
modifications that determine their
preferred fate.
The timely theme of the World
Health Organization’s 2011 World
Health Day was antibiotic resistance,
a serious problem that continues to
worsen. Dr. Gerry Wright, Director
of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute
for Infectious Diseases Research
and a Tier I Canada Research
Chair in Molecular Studies of
Antibiotics, is one of the foremost
global experts in this topic, and in
recognition of his efforts, received
a prestigious Killam Fellowship
from the Canadian Council of the
Arts. His two-year award is for
research that encompasses two areas:
understanding antibiotic resistance
and developing strategies to identify
leads for new antibiotics from natural
sources. With this award, he and
his trainees have established the
Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance
Database (CARD) for researchers,
scientists and clinicians interested
in understanding and tracking
resistance mechanisms. In work
published in Chemistry and Biology,
they showed that certain cancer
drugs have the potential to inhibit
bacterial enzymes that inactivate
antibiotics. Because those drugs have
already been approved for human
use, they can move more quickly
through the regulatory process for
use in treating antibiotic resistant
bacterial infections.
One of the department’s top
young investigators and 2010 Top40-Under-40 winner Dr. Brian
Coombes was awarded a Tier 2
Canada Research Chair in Infectious
Disease Pathogenesis. His lab studies
the enteric pathogens Salmonella
and E. coli, and the ways in which
they manipulate human biology to
their advantage to cause disease.
In 2011, the Coombes lab was
part of the team – headed by Dr.
Hendrik Poinar, Anthropology –
that developed and subsequently
used new methods of capturing
archival DNA fragments to determine
the genome of the Black Death
pathogen, Yersina pestis, from the
skeletons of plague victims. Those
studies were published in PNAS and
Nature.
Dr. Yingfu Li was recently
recognized with the 2012 W.A.E.
McBryde Medal from the Canadian
Society for Chemistry for his
prolific work on DNAzymes and
aptamers. The McBryde Medal
recognizes outstanding research
by a young scientist in applied
analytical chemistry. Dr. Li’s efforts
to commercialize aptamers that can
be used for rapid identification of
bacterial pathogens was recently
funded by a Proof of Principle award
from the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research.
Dr. Ray Truant’s lab published
important discoveries about the
molecular basis for Huntington’s
disease. As noted in the Chair’s
update, a study was published in
PNAS, which showed that treatment
of mice with lipids that are normally
found in the brain, but that are
missing in Huntington’s and other
neurological diseases, improved
motor function and led to reversal
of the symptoms associated with the
disease. In another study published
in Nature Chemical Biology, they
showed that treatment of cells
expressing the mutant form of
huntington, the protein that
causes disease symptoms, with
kinase inhibitors could alter its
abnormal phosphorylation patterns
that cause it to mislocalize and
interact inappropriately with
transcription factors. Both of these
findings suggest that chemical
therapies have the potential to
dampen or reverse the symptoms
caused by the mutant protein.
The Canadian Institutes of
Health Research is a major sponsor
of research in BBS. The CIHR is
currently undergoing a consultation
process regarding proposed reforms
of the current peer review and
open grants competition structure.
The rationale for the reforms is
reduction in peer-reviewer and
applicant burden by a) making the
application process a multistage
one, with a letter of intent stage
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
like a photocopier. You put one oligo
at each end and copy the section
between them. The little bottles are
the nucleotides (kind of like letters)
and the big bottles hold the organic
reagents used to stitch the ‘letters’
together to make short ‘words’. The
‘words’ are then used (in a separate
machine) to stick to the part of the
DNA (the book) that has the right
‘sentence’ and then you can copy it.
Fascinating! ■
BBS HISTORY BITE
Hara Ghosh joined the Department
as an assistant professor in 1969,
becoming Chair of the Department from
1983-1992. His research focused on
aspects of biosynthesis. The machine
he is using in the picture (circa 1975)
is an oligonucleotide synthesizer that
makes short pieces of single-stranded
DNA chemically instead of biologically.
The oligonucleotides are typically
used in polymerase chain reaction to
copy short stretches of DNA....kind of
meant to weed out weak proposals
before they undergo a full review,
and b) development of two funding
streams, one of which is 7 years with
increased budgets, meant to prevent
successful scientists from having to
apply for multiple grants to support
their research programs. The CIHR
is wrapping up the consultation
process, which included a number
of town hall meetings with
stakeholders across Canada, at
the end of April 2012, and will
begin incorporating suggestions
into the reform process. You can
communicate your ideas through
McMaster’s CIHR University Delegate,
a position I recently took on after Dr.
David Andrews’ 3 year term ended.
Thanks to David for providing
excellent service to the McMaster
health research community for the
last several years!
Best of luck with your research
in 2012. ■
11
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
FROM STUDENT TO SCIENTIST A WORD FROM OUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
12
An exciting development in our
educational offerings this past year
was a new course called “Current
Research in Biochemistry and
Biomedical Sciences.” This course
was an experiment in exposing
first year students to cutting edge
discovery research. Students from
all walks in the University – Science,
Engineering, Business, Arts and
Health Sciences – spent class time
with 11 internationally-renowned
researchers from the department of
Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences
to explore a variety of research areas
including neurodegenerative disease,
antimicrobial drug discovery and
cancer chemotherapy. The thinking
was to give first year students an
appreciation of the excitement of
discovery in a broad variety of subject
areas important to human health.
The students showed impressive
enthusiasm throughout these 11
units and their input led to some
fabulous discussion and insights.
One of the most important aspects
of the learning experience in this
course was the self-study journal
writing components where the
students reflected on the lecture and
discussion periods. The following
report by Martin Harrison, a first year
integrated Science student (iSci) is
an outstanding example of these
contributions.
Final Reflection
The fact cannot be denied that one
of the most prevalent themes found
in this course is antibiotic resistance.
The fact that so many researchers
came in to discuss it highlights
that its popularity is not restricted
to the course, but rather is seen in
the biomedical research field as a
whole. Dr. Eric Brown was one of the
researchers who came in to discuss
the topic. His talk underlined the
importance of research in the field, laid
out exactly what is at stake, and invited
more investigation into the matter.
The field of antibiotics is a fairly
new one, beginning with Fleming’s
1929 discovery of penicillin which
was later purified for treatment
in 1940 (American Society for
Microbiology, n.d.). However,
Dr. Brown mentioned that optimism
in the 1960’s led to claims of
conquering diseases for good which
were not justified, as seen in the
bacterial resurgence during the 1990’s.
The method being used was a onedrug-one-target approach which is
now about one hundred years old,
originating with Paul Ehrlich’s cure
for syphilis: salvarsan. The idea that
one ailment should have one drug
to treat it may have worked when
antibacterial resistance was not a
factor. Now, however, this is not the
case. The one-drug-one-treatment
method has shown weaknesses that
can be solved using a method of
treatment known as combinational
antibiotic therapy.
Combinational antibiotic therapy
is, quite simply, using multiple
antibiotics when treating an infection
in a patient. There are many benefits
to be seen from this method of
treatment. Research has shown that it
can reliably and consistently increase
the survival rates of patients in highrisk, critically-ill, or life-threatening
situations such as septic shock
(Kumar, 2010). Additionally, there is
a reduced chance that bacteria will
be resistant to all of the antibiotics
used in the treatment. This even
helps reduce the chances of bacteria
becoming resistant to the antibiotic,
further reinforcing the reasons to
consider combinational therapy
(Bonhoeffer, 1997). When dealing with
life-threatening illnesses, the treatment
used on a patient can decide whether
they live or die in frighteningly short
timespans. Thus it is obvious to seek
therapies that are more reliable.
These results can be seen in
patients with Community Acquired
Pneumonia (CAP). Patients who
have CAP are, depending on their
health status, at risk of dying from
their infections and should consider
combinational therapies based on
their situation (Caballero, Rello, 2011).
At particular risk of contracting the
disease are those who are over 65,
smoke, consume alcohol or have
chronic lung diseases. Combinational
therapy works best on those who are
the most critically ill, so knowing a
patient’s risk factors can be important
when determining the method of
treatment.
The one-drug-one-target method
of dealing with infection is one that
has been around for quite some
time now. However well it may have
served us in the past, the time has
come to consider alternate methods
in order to save lives.
(See page 16 for works cited here).
Biochemistry
Interest
Harman Bhatiani
2nd year
Biochemistry
student
Harman Bhatiani
“I love
biochem!!!”
Advocating for humanity...
on the lab bench
Sheena Guglani
2nd year Biochemistry student
Being a huge fan of House, Grey’s
Anatomy and Scrubs, I was forced
to make a conclusion early on in my
high school career: in science you
either become a doctor…or a really
cool scientist with a slightly evil
intention wearing a lab coat, attending
to bubbling solutions spewing out of
Erlenmeyer flasks in all the colours of
the rainbow, explosions and sparks.
This was a thoroughly supported
argument as it was the message sent
out by the media and drilled into the
mind of a young and aspiring youth
with an interest in science. As ‘cool’
and appealing becoming a scientist
sounded, it wasn’t my primary choice,
with the healthcare profession holding
a bigger appeal. Thus, the former was
deprived of the acknowledgement
it deserved. The research scene
seemed a little comical (and scary?).
Of course this was entirely due to my
lack of good taste in TV and a love
for Jimmy Neutron. However, slowly
and surely my view on the scientific
world changed and I learned a very
interesting thing earlier this year; I
could advocate for humanity and
save millions of people…through gel
electrophoresis.
This particular discovery came after
a group interview with the Chair of
the Scientific Advisory Board of the
Huntington Society of Canada and
associate professor of biochemistry,
Dr. Ray Truant. It was interesting to
realize the impact of research and the
implications on managing disease. By
understanding the mechanism behind
a disease and developing a molecule
to prevent a particular pathway,
millions of lives could be saved.
Research, like many fields, is filled
with paradoxes. It is frustrating,
challenging, competitive, yet
exhilarating, rewarding, and a
collaborative process, all at the same
time. It involves a hypothesis and
using the limited amounts of tools
and technology available to design
experiments in order to prove or
(disprove) it.
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
I am a 2nd year Honours
Biochemistry student and like all the
1st year students who just entered
a new program I had my doubts
about my place in the program. But
after almost 7 months of studying in
this program, I have no hesitations
in saying to the world that, “I am
a proud Biochemist”. One of the
most interesting things about the
curriculum is the Biochem 2LO6 lab
course. This unique course gave me
an opportunity to see firsthand what
being a biochemist is, and with each
passing week I began to feel that this
program is right for me. One of the
main things I love about this course is
not the over emphasis on the results
but the process of getting to the results
and the growth and development of
a student during the process. Like
my professor, Dr. Felicia Vulcu says,
“Results are results, no matter good or
bad”. In 1st and 2nd year chemistry
labs, there is always a constant
pressure of finishing the lab and all
your marks depend on the results –
most students do not even bother to
learn the associated techniques and
just follow the lab manual with a blind
eye. When I first learned that there
was going to be a full year lab course I
became very sceptical. But the 1st day
I came into the lab it totally changed
my perspective about this program.
What I found most intriguing was
that you not only work with your lab
partner but with the entire lab bench
and soon all feel like a small family
enjoying the labs. This course not
only helped me to get to know some
other students in the program, but it
was also a great opportunity to learn
new skills and techniques which I’m
sure will be a great asset in the future.
In the end, an amazing lab course,
teaching me important lab skills,
coupled with an amazing instructor
whom I can approach without
hesitation, encourages me to say,
“I love biochem!!!”
13
IN MEMORIAM
Michael Hart
Michael Hart joined our department as an MSc student in September 2008. His keen interests and his
desire to do research that was medically relevant led him to pursue an ambitious set of goals focused on
finding new antimicrobial agents. He was extremely successful in this pursuit. Michael’s approach was
to use genetic engineering to kick-start the production of rare antimicrobial activities in newly isolated
environmental bacteria – a collaborative effort between the Nodwell, Elliot and Wright laboratories. His
biggest success involved the discovery of a novel tetrodecamycin exhibiting potent antimicrobial activity
against pathogenic bacteria. This includes pathogens having such extensive antibiotic resistance that
they cannot be treated with existing therapies. This work is ongoing in all three laboratories.
Sadly, Michael’s work was cut short by a B-cell lymphoma in 2010. After a 10 month fight Michael died at Princess Margaret
Hospital in Toronto. He is remembered for his warm personality, his humour and intelligent and dedicated drive as a scientist.
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
The Department has established a Michael Hart Travel Award in his memory, to be awarded annually to a second year BBS
MSc student who exhibits those attributes which Michael embodied: intellect, humour, drive and compassion. The award is
valued at up to $2,000 towards a conference in which the student is presenting or a research collaboration. ■
14
Dr. Truant’s lab originally started
studying polyglutamine diseases,
of which there are 9 in total, but
then focused on one particular
disease: Huntington’s disease (HD).
Very recently, McMaster University
published an article discussing Dr.
Truant’s lab. His lab, in conjunction
with another, has discovered a lipid
compound (ganglioside GM1) that
cured HD in mice. The implications
of this could be huge if the lipid
compound can be successfully
administered as a pharmaceutical
leading to an improvement (and
hopefully a successful treatment)
for the patients suffering from this
neurodegenerative disorder.
There are a lot of teens and
children that dream of becoming
a doctor one day and saving
hundreds, if not thousands, of
lives. Unfortunately, the number
of students dreaming to enroll
themselves in a biochemistry
program pales in comparison. Saving
millions of lives does not always
have to be attributed to picking up a
stethoscope – it can and should also
be attributed to picking up a pipette.
Our society has an interesting way
of depicting science to the popular
media, which is very biased towards
health care professions. Biochemistry
may not fit the mainstream definition
of glamorous, but it is nonetheless
filled with glamour and glory!
Reflection
Daniel Newsted
2nd year
Biochemistry
student
The time that
I have spent as
part of the Biochemstry Department
has certainly impacted me to a great
extent. The scientific knowledge
that has been presented, in addition
to the skills that I have had the
opportunity to develop, has stirred in
me, a novel appreciation for science.
One of the highlights of my
recent experiences in biochemistry
has been the combination of the
Proteins: Structure and Function
(2BB3) course, in conjunction with
the infamous Biochemistry 2L06.
This semester, these two courses
have cooperated in a way that makes
science so much more meaningful to
a second year student. Specifically,
Dr. Junop’s impeccable teaching
methods facilitate understanding
rather than mindless memorization.
Learning the true biochemistry of
protein folding and using software
to analyze structure, provides an
understanding of the molecular world
that is applicable across all other
fields in science that I am currently
exposed to. Even the assignments
acted as a great learning experience.
As I was introduced to PyMOL and
Daniel Newsted
other pieces of software that were
used in cooperation with experimental
data, I began to realize that fields
within biochemistry are evolving with
technology. I am now very excited to
see how science will change in this
age of technology and look forward to
being a part of this progression.
In addition to structure,
understanding the theory behind
protein extraction, purification
and detection, complemented the
techniques that were taught and
performed in 2L06. With this being
said, the weekly labs of 2L06 became
progressively more engaging and
meaningful as I began to appreciate
how readily scientists are now able to
manipulate the natural world.
In closing, the cooperation
between 2BB3 and 2L06 has
guided my new understanding and
appreciation for science. Finally
science is no longer simply a tool for
evaluation! It is knowledge that has
provided me with an entirely new
and more complete understanding of
the molecular world. ■
“Finally science
is no longer
simply a tool
for evaluation!”
RYAN MITCHELL PhD STUDENT (BY BHAVINI TAILOR AND KAITLYN CHAN),
MARISA AZAD MD PhD STUDENT (BY RABIA MATEEN)
drug treatments could be observed
in the cells while sparing the patient
from adverse effects.
Mitchell started off in Dr. Bhatia’s
lab based on a business related co-op
position alongside his management
team. He wanted to learn how to run
a large institute and was interested in
the entrepreneurial side of science.
As an undergrad, Mitchell did not
wish to go into a lab-related graduate
program. However, after noticing
the work of a number of post-docs
in Bhatia’s lab during his co-op
placement, his perspective changed.
Mitchell started off with assisting in
the lab with small screening projects
on embryonic stem cells. When Dr.
Bhatia noticed Mitchell’s participation
in the lab and positive contributions,
he offered Mitchell the opportunity to
complete a PhD in his lab.
In the next five years, Mitchell sees
himself working in a biotechnology
or a pharmaceutical firm in Toronto
to pursue his passion for business
and commercialization, while
incorporating his background in
science. His goal is to eventually
obtain an MBA and work in a capital
lending institution for ventures in
science. He hopes to be able to draw
together business professionals and
scientists.
Interviewed and written by:
Bhavini Tailor
Kaitlyn Chan
For as long as she
can remember,
Marisa Azad has
pursued both
her scientific
and artistic
endeavours
Marisa Azad
with equal zeal.
The aspiring clinician-scientist has
successfully balanced her diverse
interests, while embracing the
interconnectedness between the
seemingly distinct disciplines.
Hailing from Kamloops, BC,
Marisa spent her childhood playing
soccer and delving into her artistic
passions by writing short stories
and poems and even taking up
oil painting. When she moved
on to post-secondary schooling,
she continued these pursuits with
the utmost dedication, as best
demonstrated by her participation
in the national women’s soccer
team. Competitive soccer at the
national level was eventually pushed
to the back burner while studying
molecular biology at Thompson River
University. However, Marisa’s focus
on academics did not detract from
her extra-curricular involvement.
During her undergraduate studies, she
helped launch an online magazine
geared towards inspiring scientific
curiosity in high school students
and also established a side business
showcasing her art in the form of
poster prints.
Laboratory research appealed to
Marisa’s inquisitive nature and desire
for a challenging and evolving work
environment. Under the supervision
of Dr. Heidi Huttunen-Hennelly
and Dr. Cindy Ross Friedman,
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
Ryan Mitchell
completed his
undergraduate
degree in
Biochemistry
Specialization
Molecular
Ryan Mitchell
Biology, and
participated in the Co-op program.
He is currently completing his PhD
in Dr. Mick Bhatia’s lab working
on a re-programming strategy for
transforming skin cells into neural
progenitor cells (precursor to multiple
cells types found within the CNS
and brain). This follows a similar
strategy to their recent publication
in Nature, which demonstrates
the transformation of skin cells
to hematopoietic progenitor cells
(precursor to multiple cell types
found within the blood and lymph
tissues).
In Mitchell’s current study, he
works with skin fibroblasts and virally
transduces them with transcription
factors. This will potentially induce
the cells to differentiate into neural
cells. Ultimately, their goal is to be
able to take any cell, and force it into
a “malleable plastic state” to be able
to efficiently differentiate it into the
desired cell type.
Cellular therapy is often a common
goal of stem cell research. However,
Mitchell hopes his work will have a
significant impact on the medical field
in a slightly different manner. His
goal is to create a non-invasive prescreening strategy. This would involve
creating an external model using
harvested skin cells from the patient
and subjecting them to a variety of
drug regimens. The effects of these
15
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
MARISA AZAD MDPhD STUDENT (BY RABIA MATEEN)
16
Marisa used novel design methods
to develop antimicrobial peptides as
part of her fulfillment for a senior
undergraduate project. Her research
resulted in a publication and a
patented synthetic method for the
generation of antimicrobial peptides.
In addition to strengthening her
desire to pursue research as a career,
her thesis work helped direct her
scientific interests towards infectious
diseases. In particular, she developed
a keen interest in investigating protein
structure and function relationships
from a thermodynamic perspective.
Typical of her interdisciplinary attitude,
she attributes her knack for peptide
design to her inherent creativity and
love of art. Although it was clear that
research was her calling, Marisa began
to contemplate a career as a physicianscientist upon suggestion from her
senior thesis advisor. Despite her father
being a vascular surgeon, she says
that she had not seriously considered
a career as a physician during her
undergraduate studies. However, her
gregarious disposition and aptitude
for problem solving makes medicine a
natural extension of her interests and
skill set. From the start, Marisa was
drawn to McMaster University for its
well-established program in infectious
disease research. Although she was
offered a full scholarship to the MD/
PhD program at the University of
Illinois, she ultimately chose McMaster
for its flexible program and emphasis
on translational medicine.
Thus far, Marisa has completed her
first year of the MD/PhD program.
The program is structured in such
a way that the first year is spent in
graduate studies, while the second
year is focused on fulfilling the
first year requirements of medical
school. Alternating between the two
disciplines suits Marisa’s appreciation
of a dynamic learning environment, as
she claims that her intense hatred of
boredom is what drives her to pursue
different academic and recreational
avenues. Marisa is carrying out her
graduate research in Dr. Gerry Wright’s
lab, where she is working towards
characterizing proteins involved in
antibacterial resistance. She finds that
her scientific thinking crosses over to
her approach of problems studied in
medicine, often eschewing textbook
answers for a more critical analysis of
the concepts. Although her research
lies in antibiotic resistance, she has
not quite decided whether infectious
diseases will be her medical specialty.
Her academic and extra-curricular
accomplishments have been recognized
by NSERC. Before entering the MD/PhD
program, Marisa was awarded NSERC’s
prestigious Julie Payette Research
Scholarship. The day I talked to Marisa,
she was informed that she had been
chosen as a Vanier scholar. The Vanier
Canada Graduate Scholarship is worth
$50,000 per year for three years and
was established in order to encourage
talented doctoral students to continue
their studies in Canada.
Fields in medicine and science are no
longer perceived as disparate entities,
as researchers are now recognizing the
value of using multifaceted approaches
to solve problems. Equipped with
a diverse intellectual background,
clinician-scientists in training like
Marisa Azad are well-groomed to be
at the forefront of this new movement
towards interdisciplinarity. ■
CITATIONS (from pg. 12)
1. American Society for
Microbiology. “Microbiology:
A Centenary Perspective.”
American Society for
Microbiology. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.asm.
org/ccLibraryFiles/
FILENAME/0000000263/213flemingchainabraham.pdf>.
2. Bonhoeffer, Sebastian, Marc
Lipsitch, and Bruce R. Levin.
“Evaluating Treatment Protocols
to Prevent antibiotic resistance.”
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. National
Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America,
8 Aug. 1997. Web. 8 Dec.
2011. <http://www.pnas.org/
content/94/22/12106.full>.
3. Caballero, J., and J. Rello.
“Combination Antibiotic Therapy
for Community-acquired
Pneumonia.” PubMed. PubMed,
23 Nov. 2011. Web. 08 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/22113077>.
4. Kumar, Anand, Nasia Safdar,
Shravan Kethireddy, and Dan
Chateau. “A Survival Benefit of
Combination Antibiotic Therapy
for Serious Infections Associated
with Sepsis and Septic Shock Is
Contingent on the Risk of Death:
A Meta-analytic/meta-regression
Study.” Winsconsin University
Medicine. Society of Critical Care
Medicine, 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2011.
<http://www2.medicine.wisc.
edu/home/files/Safdar-A%20
survival%20benefit%20of%20
combination-Crit%20Care%20
Med.pdf>.
LISA KUSH STAFF INTERVIEW (BY MARISA AZAD)
August.” She paused to shake her head
in disbelief, her blonde hair bobbing
wildly to catch up with the head. “Oh
my god, has it really been that long?”
she asked, looking upwards into the
harsh fluorescent light.
I immediately fired with another
question: “what does your job entail?”
Kush grinned from ear to ear. “[You
have to] be smart. There are maybe 115
students in our Masters and Doctorate
programs... [and] I do everything except
wash the dishes: scholarships, graduate
applications, keeping everyone on track
to graduate on time... [making] sure
[students] have all of their requirements in
order. And I have an open door policy.”
I pounced on that last sentence. “So
you like talking to students?”
“Oh yeah.”
(A cleverly placed awkward pause
ensued). “Lisa, this is like pulling teeth.”
Kush laughed and continued, her
voice gently rolling into a reflective
tone. “[This] is a very satisfying job.
I think the reason why I do this [is
because] I like working with students.
...It’s a different job every day. There
is a different fire to put out every day.
...I like my job because I like to help
people. We know [how difficult it is]
for students, and we know that you
are starving...I feel bad for all of these
students. But when you finish, you are
all going to be wealthy, and I’m still
going to be here, old and grey.”
Despite Kush’s well defined sense
of humour – a gift that she regularly
employs to cope with administrative
challenges, and to avoid talking
about herself – she can be, at times,
remarkably soft-spoken and whimsically
philosophical. She dovetailed swiftly
into a series of soliloquies about the
purpose of life, aesthetics, and her
deeply-rooted desire to help those in
need. She discussed the importance
of authenticity, and the value of loyalty
and honesty. “I’m too honest,” she said
in an almost whisper, bowing her head.
“Honesty gets you into trouble. People
don’t want to hear what you want to
say... I say what’s on my mind, but then I
[think], damn, I shouldn’t have said that,
or, oh damn, I should have said that!”
Kush then told me (rather
nonchalantly) that she was once
petrifyingly shy.
Shy and Lisa Kush do not mix and
I pressed the issue further with an
incredulous, “Explain.”
“I was painfully shy when I first
started working here. [What changed]
was that I started working with
students more, and it forced me to talk
to people, which was good. For years,
Marisa, I never said anything. Only for
the last 10 years did I ever start really
talking to people. Playing sports was
[my] socializing network. I’ve played
sports through everything (basketball,
baseball, volleyball, track and field). I
was a runner! A sprinter! Over time,
I’ve had to [stop being shy].”
McMaster is very fortunate to have
someone like Lisa Kush. Yes, her
honesty may get her into trouble
sometimes (as it does for us all), and
yes, she certainly loves to talk (almost
as much as I do), but it is her spark
for life, spunk,
and her ability
to run – perhaps
even sprint – that
extra mile for
students that sets
her apart. ■
Marisa Azad
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
Knock, knock,
knock sounded
the closed
office door as it
wobbled under
my rapping. I
swiveled my
Lisa Kush
heels slowly to
peer through the little meshed window
that framed a computer-screen focused
Lisa Kush at her desk. In an odd way,
the scene reminded me of a modern
Vermeer: Woman, hard at work – Oil
on canvas. “One minute,” she said,
toneless. I counted three seconds
before entering and collapsed into a
chair across from her.
“Find someone else to interview,
please!” she begged.
“I have to ask you a few short
questions.”
She pulled on a leather jacket, rising
slightly in her chair.
“Are you leaving me?” I asked,
pretending to be shocked.
“Yeah, see you later.”
We both laughed.
“How long have you been working
at McMaster as a Graduate Assistant?”
I asked, forcing myself to stick to
the expected questions for at least
a few minutes. Kush narrowed her
eyes (so it was straight to business,
then?). She, like me, would have much
rather talked about what we usually
talk about when we meet within the
confines of that neatly packed, bustling
office: the philosophy of education,
what makes society and humans tick,
how much she loves her son, and yes,
what I had to do in order to graduate
on time, smile and brain both intact.
Kush leaned back in her chair before
answering. “Twenty-eight years this
17
NATHAN MAGARVEY (BY ALYSSA CANTARUTTI)
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Dr. Nathan
Magarvey is
a professor of
biochemistry
and best
known among
undergraduate
Nathan Magarvey
students for
being the resident expert on drug
discovery. He describes himself as
18
Nathan Magarvey’s lab is studying how to
better mine microbes for biologically active
small molecules and explore their roles as
human therapeutics.
passionate, energetic and curious,
all qualities that contribute to his
reputation for being an excellent
teacher and scientist.
Dr. Magarvey’s lab group is looking
at small molecules, and the roles that
they play in cellular function.
As well, he is interested in the
discovery of natural molecules that
can be used as new and innovative
therapeutic agents. The Magarvey lab’s
models for this work are based on
chemoinformatics and metabolomics.
That means that the team is able
to look at all of the small molecule
metabolites in a cell – that’s the
metabolome – and learn more about
what the cell is doing and how it’s
doing it. These libraries provide a
lot of information about interactions
between different processes in
a cell. Because of all of this, Dr.
Magarvey’s work also fits into the
chemical biology field. According to
Nathan himself, his most influential
paper was published in Nature, and
was about an alternative route for
making antibiotics. He describes his
work as both interdisciplinary and
exciting, with a natural trend towards
applications and medicine.
Dr. Magarvey notes that one of the
best moments in his career was coming
to McMaster. During his undergraduate
career, he did have other aspirations,
but he was inspired by someone he
calls an “excellent mentor” in his third
year. This was Dr. Leo Vining, who
eventually influenced him to pursue
a future in academia. Prior to this,
Nathan was also interested in business
and strategy. Now that he’s here at
Mac, he loves interacting with his
students, especially hearing their ideas
and learning from them. He also says
that his favourite thing is seeing the
“scientific fire catch on in a student’s
eye”. He cheekily tells me also that he
has a favourite course – 4H03! Overall,
he loves working with people and
helping them reach their potential.
When he’s not in the lab or the
classroom, Dr. Magarvey likes to
play ping-pong and tennis, mostly
because they’re fun to play. He tries
his best to strike a balance between
work and play, and fondly remembers
participating in both sports as a child.
Dr. Magarvey
notes that one
of the best
moments in
his career was
coming to
McMaster. He
also says that his
favourite thing
is seeing the
“scientific fire
catch on in a
student’s eye”.
He also enjoys ice-skating with his
sons in his free time.
In the future, Nathan wants to
enjoy life, continue to do “top-notch”
science, and build his laboratory. He
looks forward to adding members to
his team and staying on the cutting
edge of natural product biosynthesis
and drug discovery. ■
JONATHAN SCHERTZER, KARUN SINGH, DEBORAH SLOBODA
Karun Singh is a
Hamilton native
and has returned
to McMaster
as an assistant
professor in BBS.
He is coming
Karun Singh
to us from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) where he completed his
postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Li-Huei
Tsai using neural stem cell models to
study neuropsychiatric disorders. Prior
to that, Karun obtained his Ph.D. in 2008
from the University of Toronto where he
worked under Dr. Freda Miller examining
signaling pathways that regulate the
refinement of neural projections in the
developing nervous system.
My research will be conducted at
the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer
Research Institute and will focus on
studying neural stem cells and brain
development disorders. Continuing
from my postdoctoral work, my
lab will focus on neuropsychiatric
diseases such as schizophrenia
and autism which are thought to
have a strong neurodevelopmental
basis. The SCC-RI are leaders in
studying cancer using human adult
and embryonic stem cells, and with
my recruitment the institute will
now expand into neural stem cells
and diseases related to the brain.
Psychiatric disorders are known to
run in families, which means there
are underlying genetic risk factors for
developing mental illnesses. However,
very little is known about how these
genes affect the function of different
cellular populations in the brain,
in particular neural stem cells. This
information is vital in order to develop
novel therapeutics to combat these
devastating disorders which currently
leave patients with limited treatment
options. My lab will use novel mouse
and human neural stem cell models in
combination with in vitro and in vivo
approaches to study the function of
neuropsychiatric risk genes.
One of the main reasons I joined
McMaster is to collaborate with SCCRI investigators and take advantage
of their expertise in reprogramming
human skin cells into induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells which
can then be coaxed to become
different cell types. This technique
has changed neurological research
since it is now possible to create
neural stem cells directly from a
patient. Furthermore, my lab is also
using a new and exciting method to
directly turn patient skin cells into
functional neurons, bypassing a stem
cell state which will greatly accelerate
the pace in which patient neurons
can be generated and studied. These
methods will be used to generate
patient-derived neural stem cells and
mature neurons that carry diseasecausing genetic mutations which
will be studied using cutting edge
molecular tools to determine how
mutations disrupt neuronal function.
This includes collaborating with BBS
faculty to expand current approaches
used to characterize neural cell types.
By first understanding how the genetic
mutations cause aberrant neuronal
function, only then is it possible to
utilize the chemical biology expertise
of BBS and SCC-RI faculty to design
and implement high-throughput drug
screens that focus on correcting the
abnormal neural cellular function.
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
Jonathan Schertzer
joined BBS in
January 2012
as an Assistant
Professor and is
cross appointed in
the Department of
Jonathan Schertzer
Pediatrics.
After completing my Honours BSc
in Kinesiology at the University of
Waterloo, I stayed to complete my
MSc with Professor Howard Green
investigating biochemical adaptations
to exercise in muscle.
I completed my PhD at the
University of Melbourne, Australia
with Professor Gordon Lynch. I
was awarded the Chancellor’s prize
(for top annual PhD for my work
investigating gene therapy, muscle
regeneration and muscular dystrophy).
Subsequently, I returned to Toronto,
and completed postdoctoral training
with Professor Amira Klip at SickKids
and the University of Toronto
investigating cell biology aspects of
glucose transport related to diabetes.
I came to McMaster as the
DeGroote Academic Fellow in the
Department of Medicine.
I am interested in integrating
physiological, cellular and genetic
approaches to understanding complex
diseases. My laboratory uses physiology in
genetic mouse models coupled with cell
biology and biochemistry to understand
the inflammatory basis of metabolic
and muscle diseases. The lab strives to
understand how the food we eat and
the bacteria that colonize us can cause
(or prevent) diseases. My lab hopes to
contribute to the discovery or optimization
of therapeutics for obesity, diabetes and
myopathies such as muscular dystrophy.
19
Thomas’s research focus is on the role and regulation of muscle satellite cells, the stem cell population of
skeletal muscle, in health and disease states such as diabetes mellitus and limb girdle muscular dystrophy.
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
In July 2011, Dr. Tom Hawke was named the recipient of the internationally renowned Alexander von Humboldt Research
Fellowship. This German fellowship foundation is similar to a Rhodes Scholarship, however, where Rhodes solely brings people to
Oxford, the Humboldt Foundation sponsors researchers to come to Germany or sends German scholars around the world. ■
20
Deborah Sloboda
– you are what
your mother ate.
Deb joined BBS
as an Associate
Professor in
January 2012
Deborah Sloboda
with joint
membership in the Departments of
Obs/Gyn and Pediatrics.
The complex and integrative
process of taking germ cells
and forming a physiologically,
psychologically sound individual is
one that interested me early on in
my academic career. How does the
growing embryo and fetus sort out the
vast network of maternal, nutritional,
environmental signals received during
pregnancy to ensure its growth and
survival? What are the biochemical
and molecular pathways that govern
this completely normative process
and what happens when something
goes wrong? I started on my quest of
discovery at the University of Guelph,
then completed a Masters degree at
the University of Western Ontario
and finally a PhD in Physiology at
the University of Toronto.
It was in Toronto during my training
as a fetal physiologist that some of
my questions were answered; fetal
growth and development is regulated
by the complex relationship between
the mother, the placenta and the fetus,
all of which contribute significantly to
the unique niche that the fetus grows
within. I also learned that it is during
this critical time that the fetus makes
adaptations that impact on its health for
the rest of its life. We now know that
the environment within which we grow
and develop as an embryo and fetus
influences on our health and disease
risk for life. We know that, amongst the
“We now
know that the
environment
within which
we grow and
develop as an
embryo and
fetus influences
on our health
and disease
risk for life.”
many things that can impact our health
and disease risk, nutrition is integral in
molding our physiology for life.
After my Postdoctoral studies at
the University of Western Australia, I
was recruited to The Liggins Institute
in Auckland New Zealand; a world
renowned Research Institute in Growth
and Development. Here I demonstrated
in animal studies that a pregnant mother’s
diet can “program” early onset of puberty
and obesity in her children, regardless of
what they ate after they were born. These
studies demonstrated that fetuses receive
“cues” about their future environment
– too little food, or too much, that
encourages them to store fat as adults
and develop early. I showed that rats
born to undernourished mothers went
through puberty early and showed signs
of early ovarian ageing; an important
aspect of health particularly in our society
where women are delaying the age at
which they have their first baby. I also
showed in animals that maternal obesity
influences when her children go through
puberty and compromises her daughter’s
reproductive function, and most
importantly that these effects are passed
on to the next generation.
Now in my laboratory at McMaster
University, I will continue to uncover the
mechanisms by which maternal nutrition
impacts on her children’s health and
disease risk. We will investigate fetal
and placental adaptations to maternal
obesity and undernutrition looking at
new pathways that could influence
disease risk. Using new knowledge
we can then effectively communicate
to the community the potential for
women to influence their children
and grandchildren’s health by making
sensible and balanced nutritional choices
before and during pregnancy. ■
NEW ASSOC. MEMBER
Thomas Hawke
Associate Professor, Pathology & Molecular Medicine
Associate Member, Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences
JOE McPHEE
me to work on the type III secreted
effector YopM of Yersinia and how it
contributes to virulence of Yersinia
pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis.
We were able to demonstrate that the
protein induces the anti-inflammatory
cytokine, IL-10, during host infection.
This IL-10 induction appears to be a
critical function of the protein and
may reflect a conserved mechanism
for immune evasion as this type
of activity is observed in other
pathogens as well.
“My interest in
science began
fairly typically
with an interest
in bugs, snakes
and repeatedly
asking the
question – I
wonder if this
will burn?”
On a return trip to Canada, I ran
into Brian Coombes at a CSM meeting
in Montreal. Over a few drinks at a
(fairly dumpy) Crescent Street pub
we ended up chatting about all of
the great things happening here at
McMaster, which planted a tiny seed
in my head for a return to Canada.
A little over a year later, I accepted an
offer to come to McMaster to work in
the Coombes lab on a project related
to characterizing fitness determinants
in Crohn’s disease associated strains
of E. coli. Inflammatory bowel
diseases are a major problem in
Canada and this research has great
potential for understanding how these
bacteria contribute to pathogenesis
in Crohn’s patients. In addition
to this, my previous work with
Yersinia has led to a very productive
collaboration with Hendrik Poinar
in the Department of Anthropology
in which we were able to sequence
the Black Death strain of Y. pestis.
Currently, we are further examining
whether or not changes observed
among the Black Death strain,
modern plague strains and avirulent
outgroups are associated with
observed alterations in virulence.
It would be difficult to overstate
the incredible quality and impact of
the work happening here at McMaster
and I’m tremendously excited to be a
part of it. ■
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
My interest in
science began
fairly typically
with an interest
in bugs, snakes
and repeatedly
asking the
Joe McPhee
question “I
wonder if this will burn”? Despite
this early dabbling with pyromania,
I did manage to obtain an honours
degree at St. Francis Xavier University
in chemistry and biology. While at
St. F. X., I took an introductory class
in microbiology and I was hooked.
It was like learning that there was a
whole world out there that I had been
blissfully unaware of – and I wanted
to learn more.
I began graduate school at the
University of British Columbia in Bob
Hancock’s lab, where I worked on the
regulation of cationic antimicrobial
peptide and polymyxin B resistance.
We identified the PmrAB twocomponent regulatory system in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and studied
how this system, as well as the
PhoPQ system, contributes to both
resistance and to virulence. Work
continues in Bob’s lab to demonstrate
how other signaling pathways
integrate into a larger regulatory
hierarchy that ultimately contributes
to these phenotypes.
Upon receiving my Ph.D., I moved
to Jim Bliska’s lab at Stony Brook
University in New York where I
began a biodefense related project
funded by NIAID examining how
potential bioterror agents (the agents
of smallpox, plague, tularemia,
and anthrax) interact with the host
immune system. This project led
21
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
ERIN WESTMAN
22
My research
training began at
the University of
Guelph, under
the supervision
of Dr. Joseph
Lam. I became
Erin Westman
fascinated
with molecular and cellular biology
during my undergraduate studies at
the same institution, and was eager
to explore my own projects. With
Dr. Lam’s guidance, my PhD thesis
investigated the biosynthesis of an
unusual uronic acid sugar that is
produced by Bordetella pertussis
and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for
incorporation into the cell surface
polysaccharide. After optimization,
my recombinant enzymes were able
to create the uronic acid sugar in vitro
after a simple overnight incubation,
whereas obtaining the same sugar by
chemical synthesis required several
days, 17 different steps, and ~9%
overall yield. From this, I gained a
deeper appreciation of bacterial cells
as efficient organic factories, capable
of synthesizing unusual molecules
that are challenging to create for even
the best medicinal chemists.
Dr. Gerry Wright’s group at
McMaster University also views
bacteria as a source of valuable
chemical diversity. I was drawn to
the group because of the emphasis
on antibiotic resistance strategies
among bacteria, which may modify or
degrade antibiotic drugs in order to
avoid being killed by them. Overuse
and misuse of antibiotics have led
to a dangerous rise in antibiotic
resistance levels around the world.
In response, the Wright Lab studies
antibiotic resistance mechanisms in
environmental bacteria as well as
from clinical isolates. To do this,
Dr. Wright has created a collection
of natural soil-dwelling bacteria from
across Canada and around the world.
These bacteria are prolific producers
of small molecules that are possible
drug candidates, potential inhibitors
of antibiotic resistance, or may
modulate expression and production
of molecules from other organisms.
I will evaluate
strategies and
additional
studies to
determine if this
detoxification
system
(doxorubicin)
can be applied
to reduce the
side effects of
chemotherapy.
One strain drawn from this
collection became the specific object
of my own studies because it has
the novel ability to degrade and
inactivate doxorubicin. Doxorubicin
is a cancer therapeutic drug, but
the usefulness is limited by its
cumulative toxicity. By understanding
the mechanism of doxorubicin
resistance in this strain, the hope
is to be able to eventually design a
unique co-therapy for administration
to chemotherapy patients that would
stop side effects by inactivating the
drug in all tissues except for the
cancerous tumor itself.
So far, products of the doxorubicin
degradation have been purified and
identified. Enzymatic inactivation
of doxorubicin causes the loss of
a sugar group from the original
molecule. Doxorubicin itself is toxic
to bacteria, but my tests show that
the degraded molecule without the
sugar group is non-toxic and does
not cause death even at very high
concentrations.
Having shown that the doxorubicin
is rendered non-toxic, I then wanted
to identify the enzymes responsible
and examine how they function.
Drawing on the equipment and
expertise available in the Michael
G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious
Disease Research McMaster Center
for Microbial Chemical Diversity,
I was able to purify a complex of
three proteins that together degrade
doxorubicin. Kinetic characterization
of the complex is now in progress,
and will determine the additional
cofactors that are preferred for
maximal enzyme activity. Once
this is understood, I will evaluate
strategies and additional studies
to determine if this detoxification
system can be applied to reduce the
side effects of chemotherapy. ■
JASON YOUNG (BY ANA TOMLJENOVIC AND SUZANNE OSBORNE, PhD STUDENTS)
to transfer to the PhD program he was
finally starting “to like this research
thing.” As Andrews gave Young more
freedom to try new techniques his
confidence grew, he knew he had the
skills to tackle future challenges. Young
had a breakthrough in his research
about 2/3 of the way through his project:
he was now hooked. Things began to
change and he found himself suddenly
able to keep up with his supervisor in
science conversations. It gave him a great
confidence boost and sense of freedom.
It made him want to keep going and
pursue a post-doctoral fellowship.
For his post-doctoral research, Young
knew he wanted to investigate protein
assembly and folding. He talked to a
few professors but was inspired by a
Nature publication out of Ulrich Hartl’s
laboratory. He was so interested that
he convinced Andrews to invite Hartl
to give a talk where Young was able to
engage in a brief conversation with him.
He reconnected with Hartl at a Cold
Spring Harbour conference later that
year. After showing Ulrich his poster,
Young was invited for a full interview
and successfully joined the laboratory,
then stationed at Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York, in 1997. Little did he
know that just months later he would
be following the Hartl lab to Germany,
where they established a new research
program at the Max-Planck-Institut für
Biochemie. “Germany was really neat
but everything was different; bakeries
and laundry mats were different, not
even the junk food was the same.” His
adjustment strategy was to pretend to
be German. The science was conducted
in English, so it still “felt safe.”
His research in the Hartl lab initially
focused on chaperone-assisted protein
folding of Hsp90. His work revealed
multiple chaperone binding sites as
well as characterized the ATPase
function of the protein. During his
work on Hsp90, the possibility came
up to transition into mitochondrial
research. Due to his experience
working with ER membranes in the
Andrews lab, Young felt like working
with mitochondrial membranes “didn’t
seem like too much of a change,”
despite the difficult nature of the
research. His willingness to accept
the challenge led to identifying the
essential roles of Hsp90 and Hsp70
in the delivery of pre-proteins to the
mitochondrial protein import pathway,
which was published in a seminal
paper in the journal Cell in 2003.
Upon completion of his successful
post-doctoral fellowship in Germany,
Young moved back to Canada where
he was hired at McGill University
as an Assistant Professor in their
Biochemistry department in 2004. He
was promoted to Associate Professor
in 2009. His own research program
has investigated the role of other
heat-shock proteins, such as Hsp40,
and their interaction with the Tom70
complex during mitochondrial import.
When asked what advice Young had
for other Biochemistry students that
wish to pursue academia, he told us,
“At the risk of sounding cliché, critical
thinking is an absolute must.” He also
emphasized that budding scientists
should be analytical, and above all
sceptical – of your own science, of
the literature, and even of your own
peer’s science. If there is anything he
himself has learned from his journey, it
was to “not get too comfortable. Have
confidence in yourself and be willing to
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
When Jason
Young stepped
into the
laboratory for
his fourth year
undergraduate
thesis project,
Jason Young
he was hardly
excited. He could not have foreseen
that these initial laboratory experiences
would lead to a fruitful research career.
He stayed close to home and attended
U. Toronto for his undergrad. “I did
well in my lab courses but did not
think much about it at the time.” His
perceptions of lab work gradually
changed during a thesis project at the
Banting and Best Institute. Despite
being inevitably scooped on his
project on the amoeboid slime mold
Dictyostelium, Jason began to appreciate
the independence of laboratory research.
Not really feeling sure of what career
to pursue, he decided to give graduate
school a try.
Young wanted to work on proteins
and, if possible, membranes. With
offers from several laboratories
he eventually accepted a position
with the then new professor Dr.
David Andrews in Biochemistry at
McMaster. He describes Dr. Andrews
as, “an interesting guy with a great
personality.” At first, both student and
supervisor were learning together –
Young was Dr. Andrews’ first graduate
student and his first PhD graduate. His
research project was to work on SRP
receptor assembly at the endoplasmic
reticulum. Despite some initial growing
pains, Andrews was able to keep
Young focused on the big picture
while allowing him freedom to sort out
the details. When he made the decision
23
RABIA MATEEN, (BY EMERSON MARINAS, WAJIHA GOHIR AND LILLY PARK)
try a new technique or experiment.” You
never know where it might lead you. ■
Interviewed and written by:
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Ana Tomljenovic
24
Suzanne Osborne
The Biochemistry program at McMaster
University provides opportunities to
explore hidden interests by offering a
wide range of courses. Rabia Mateen
serves as the perfect example of a
student who was able to discover her
passion due to the program’s diversity.
Her academic journey is certainly one
to be noted as it began in the Health
Sciences program, then a Bachelors
of Honours Biochemistry and now
an MSc in the School of Biomedical
Engineering. Currently, Rabia is
working toward her PhD in Dr. Hoare’s
lab researching polymers for controlled
drug release.
Although she knew she wanted to
pursue research since high school,
Rabia applied to the Bachelor of Health
Sciences program due to her interests
in science as well as the program’s elite
reputation. During her first year, she
found that she was not compatible with
the heavily group-based learning style
used and also found the interactions
with a larger number of students
intimidating as a first-year student. She
realized that she did not want to become
a physician and was more interested
in learning science from a broader
approach. When the opportunity
came, she applied to transfer into the
Biochemistry program to further pursue
her interests in biology and chemistry.
Rabia’s undergraduate experience
continued under the Biochemistry
program in the former Molecular Biology
specialization, where she found a better
balance of group work and independent
study. She described undergraduate
study as busy and stressful since students
were constantly worried about their
grades and the future. Throughout her
years of study, Rabia found that she was
drawn towards physical sciences and
mathematics, taking courses in molecular
biophysics and polymer physics. She best
enjoyed the physical sciences approach
to biochemistry and cellular processes.
Eventually, Rabia completed her fourth
year thesis in Dr. Epand’s lab, focusing on
expressing, purifying, and characterizing
a membrane-bound protein.
Rabia decided to pursue her MSc in
Biomedical Engineering at McMaster
in Dr. Hoare’s lab, studying the use of
polymers for long term drug delivery.
When asked about the transition
between biochemistry to engineering,
Rabia comments, “It seemed like it was
combining my interests in medicine
and biology, but using a chemistry
approach to the problem”. In describing
her graduate student experience, Rabia
enjoyed the challenges and problem
solving involved with research, “You
are constantly exposed to new things.
You get to work on new projects and
you are always being challenged.
Sometimes it’s very frustrating, but
sometimes when things do work out,
research is a very rewarding field. You
just have to be patient”.
Currently, Rabia is still a member
of Dr. Hoare’s lab researching drug
polymers and delivery systems for her
PhD. She has also been a teaching
assistant for Biochemistry courses
such as Nutrition and Metabolism,
and Metabolism and Regulation. She
describes the experience of being a
TA as vastly different from a student,
commenting, “It’s interesting to see
how different people think about the
same thing. Everyone has a different
answer, a different perspective”.
Looking back on her interesting
academic experience, Rabia offers
current students some words of advice.
She urges students to become motivated
on taking courses by considering
the learning experience and content
instead of the resulting grades. When
asked to describe her perspective of
the undergraduate experience, Rabia
comments, “We are so afraid of getting
bad grades. You are afraid to make a
mistake and… I know I was so stressed
all the time… You learn by making
mistakes. How can you learn when you
are always afraid of making mistakes?
That prevents people from taking more
challenging courses”.
Rabia plans to continue with research
in the future. She hopes to find a place
in the pharmaceutical industry and
continue working in the biological and
physical sciences. Her unique academic
pathway truly exemplifies the different
experiences that are possible when
students follow their interests. ■
Interviewed and written by:
Emerson Marinas Wajiha Gohir
Lilly Park
BIOCHEMISTRY ESTABLISHES ITSELF IN FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING
EARLY DAYS IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Above: Biochemistry moves into the new Faculty of
Health Sciences Building – 1972.
Top right: Dr. Dennis McCalla 1968
(One of the first faculty members hired into the new
Department of Biochemistry. He later became the
Vice-President, Faculty of Health Sciences and Dean of
the Faculty of Science).
Bottom left and center: New faculty setting up first
experiments in the new Health Sciences Building – 1972.
Bottom right: The first cohort of undergraduate students
using the pristine lab for the first time!
25
UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS 2011
GRADUATE AWARDS 2011
Gabriela Panza
The Canadian Italian
Business & Professional
Assoc. of HamiltonHalton Scholarship
Sarah Allison
CIHR CGSD /
Karl B. Freeman
(1st Prize MSc)
Michael Yan
The Canadian Society
for Chemistry Prize
Jeffrey Poon
The Dubeck
Biochemistry Award
Geuneul Yang
The J.L.W. Gill Prize
Brian Hummel
The Damian Miguel
Headley Award
Ronald Ireland
Derek Chan
Anna Zhou
Brian Hummel
Michael Yan
Amanda Veri
Songbo Zheng
Michael Kim
Alexander Vlahos
Jennifer Vien
Talha Qureshi
Jordan Mah
Sharmeen Mahmood
The Dr. Harry Lyman
Hooker Scholarship
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Jordan Mah
The Pioneer Leadership
Award
Anna Zhou
The Provost’s Honour
Roll Medal
Daniel Beriault
OGS
Allison Boyd
NSERC CGSD
Sharon Cheung
The Saturn of Hamilton
East Achievement Award
Nicholas Caron
OGS
Derek Chan
The Science Class of ’97
Legacy Award
Justin Pang
The Society of Chemical
Industry Merit Award
Sanduni Liyanage
The Ernest Robert
MacKenzie Kay
Scholarship
Hyunhye Kim
The Ernest Robert
MacKenzie Kay
Scholarship
Nicholas Kim
Bingqing Li
Joseph Marinas
The Yates Scholarship
Matthew Wilusz
The JR League of
Hamilton-Burlington,
Inc. Community
Contribution Award
Morooj Ba-Akdah
Royal Embassy of
Saudia Arabia
Angela Khanna
The Rotary Club of
Burlington Central
Community Contribution
Award
Yujuan Chai
Qian Feng
Geuneul Yang
Yan Wang
Sukhmani Sethi
Elizabeth Curiel Tejeda
Omar Mourad
Maleeha Qazi
Grace Tong
Peter Mai
Ngawang Dhargyal
Kevin Kemp
Angela Khanna
Joann Ban
Silky Lee
Sylvia Andrzejewski
Michael Percival
Shashwat Desai
The University (Senate)
Scholarship
Angela Khanna
The Inter-Residence
Council Scholarship
26
Vivian Cheung
The Moulton College
Scholarship
Beverly Buzon
QEII GSST
Julienne Kaiser
OGS
Pushpinder Kanda
NSERC CGSM
Pui Sai Lau
NSERC PGSD
Wilson Lee
OGS
Branavan Manoranjan
CIHR CGSM
Lindsay Matthews
CIHR CGSD /
Karl B. Freeman
(1st Prize PhD)
Matthew Czerwinski
NSERC CGSM
Ryan Mitchell
The Nick DiPietro
OGS
Carly Desmond
OGS
Mak Moc
QEII GGST
Michelle Dowling
OGS
David Mulder
CIHR CGSD
Shannon Falconer
QEII GGST
Lise Munsie
CIHR CGSD / Impact
(1st prize)
Maya Farha
CIHR CGSD
Mark Fuller
CIHR CGSD
Leticia Gonzalez Jara
CONCICYT BecasChile Scholarship
Hafiz Sohail
Naushad
The Islamia
University of
Bahawalpur
Sarah Reid
OGS / Fred & Helen
Knight Award /
Karl B. Freeman
(2nd Prize PhD)
Kyle Salci
OGS
Matthew Sapiano
NSERC CGSM
Sanjeevan
Shivakumar
Karl B. Freeman
(2nd Prize MSc)
Yulia Shulga
Impact (2nd prize)
Leanne Stalker
CDN Breast Cancer
Award
Geordie Stewart
CIHR CGSD
Herlinder Takhar
OGS
Ana Tomljenovic
OGS
Brian Tuinema
OGS
Daniel Venegas Pino
CONCICYT
Becas-Chile
Scholarship
Robin Hallett
OGS
Ylan Nguyen
CCFF Cystic Fibrosis
/ Fred & Helen
Knight Award
Simon Huang
OGS
Sara Nolte
OGS
Pei Yu
China Scholarship
Council
Ahmad Jomaa
CIHR CGSD /
Impact (3rd prize)
Suzanne Osborne
CIHR CGSD VANIER
Soumaya Zlitni
CIHR CGSD VANIER
Justin Kale
JR Fred & Helen
Knight Award /
Thomas Nielson
Award
Monica Pillon
NSERC CGSD /
Lee Nielson Roth
Award
Lauren Wallar
CIHR CGSM
GRADUANDS 2011
PhD
MSc
JANUARY 5
Iwona Wenderska
Lori Burrows/
Gerry Wright
Small-molecule probes
of Pseudomonas
aeruginosa biofilm
formation
APRIL 20
Sarah Allison
Eric Brown
Glycosylation of wall
teichoic acids in grampositive bacteria
JUNE 9
Salma Trabelsi
John Hassell
The identification and
characterization of
protein kinase
inhibitors targeting
breast cancer
stem cells
JUNE 23
Jonathon Torchia
Nathan Magarvey
Investigation of
antimycin-type
depsipeptide
biosynthesis
AUGUST 10
Jimmy Gu
Yingfu Li
Cell selection for self
internalizing circular
DNA aptamers
AUGUST 17
Anthony Shimkoff
Lori Burrows
FimV is involved in the
function and regulation
of the twitching motility
in Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
AUGUST 26
Ashley Calder
Jonathan Draper
A lengthened G1
phase indicates
differentiation status
across multiple linages
in human embryonic
stem cells
AUGUST 26
Jessica Wong
Alba Guarne
Characterizing the
stability and mechanism
of human mismatch
repair factor MutL
SEPTEMBER
Michael Hart
Justin Nodwell
*posthumous
SEPTEMBER 2
Kirandeep Bhullar
Gerry Wright
Investigation of
antibiotic resistance
in isolated lechuguilla
cave strains
SEPTEMBER 9
Xiao Lin
Yingfu Li
Chacterization of a
GTP-binding DNA
aptamer
SEPTEMBER 14
Navpreet Rana
Lori Burrows
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa major
pseudopilin Xcpt is
incorporated into the
type IV pilus under
native conditions
SEPTEMBER 16
Yu Wang
Bernardo Trigatti
Regulation of
macrophage SR-BI
by lipoproteins and
inflammatory stimuli
DECEMBER 21
Deborah Ng
Brad Doble
Delineating the role
of TCF3 in mouse
embryonic stem
cell-renewal and
differentiation
DECEMBER 9
Arin Refat Khan
Murray Junop
Towards the structural
determination of
human aprataxin
SEPTEMBER 15
Patricia Taylor
Gerry Wright
Reversing antibiotic
resistance in gram
negative bacteria
JUNE 14
Tushar Shakya
Gerry Wright
Undercovering the
antibiotic kinome with
small molecules
SEPTEMBER 16
Tracy Tiefenbach
Murray Junop
Functional studies of
Pso2 reveals novel DNA
hairpin endonuclease
activity: Implications
for ICL repair
JUNE 15
Daniel Garden
Boris Zhorov
Theoretical study
of state-dependent
action of toxins and
drugs in a voltagegated sodium channel
AUGUST 24
Casey Fowler
Yingfu Li
The engineering of
riboswitch-based
sensors of small
molecules in bacteria
and their application
toward the study of
vitamin B12 biology
SEPTEMBER 12
Sara Andres
Murray Junop
Functional structures:
The roles of human
XRCC4 and XLF in
DNA double-strand
break repair
SEPTEMBER 13
Yu Seon Chung
Alba Guarne
Structural insights into
the roles of SeqA on
origin sequestration
and chromosome
organization
SEPTEMBER 22
Maria Kondratyev
John Hassell
Inhibition of the notch
signaling targets breast
cancer stem cells
OCTOBER 6
Aishah Al-Jarallah
Bernardo Trigatti
Insights into the
development of
atherosclerosis and
coronary artery disease:
Studies from gene
targeted mice lacking the
high density lipoprotein
receptor, SR-BI
DECEMBER 12
Colin Cooper
Brian Coombes
The virulence
chaperone network
associated with
the Salmonella
pathogenicity island
two encoded type
three secretion system
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
JULY 8
Andrew Giacomelli
John Hassell
A high-throughput
screen to identify
small molecules that
selectively target
tumor-initiating cells
in a mouse modelof
Her2-induced breast
cancer
JULY 15
Tomas Gverzdys
Justin Nodwell
The development
of protocols to
engineer and screen
Streptomyces in high
throughput to test
for the activation
of cryptic clusters
by “heterologous
expression of
pleiotropic regulations”
27
WORK HARD PLAY HARD
CELEBRATIONS!
Above: 2011 was a remarkable year in the Guarné lab crowned by the move to their new grounds in 4H32. Exhausted lab members
celebrate at the end of the big move!
Below: The fall 2011 Welcome BBQ was a huge success, with a record turnout of eager, new BBS undergrads, returning undergrads,
staff and faculty.
28
RETREAT REFRESH
AIR-TIME!
Above: The Brown Lab on retreat in the great white North.
Below: Another department picnic was enjoyed by all members on a fabulously sunny day.
29
WORK HARD PLAY HARD
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
30
Our Department hosted the Twists and Turns event as part of the McMaster University’s Engineering and Science Olympics on October
6th, 2011. This event is extremely innovative and fun for all involved as high-school students are presented with a bag containing all sorts
of objects: from pipe cleaners to licorice and dry pasta. In teams, they are asked to put on their “thinking caps” and construct a real-life
3D model of a specific protein (in this case, a TIM barrel fold) based on a two-dimensional ribbon model. We also provide them with a
PyMOL PDB-structure of the specific protein displayed on our computer screen so they can manipulate the structure and visualize the
transformation from 2D to 3D. Students are also asked skill-testing questions throughout this process which allows them to further flex their
Biochemistry muscles. In the end, our faculty and graduate student volunteers have the onerous task of picking ONLY 3 winners: though it’s
never really about the win …
HALLOWEEN DAY!
Halloween festivities were bigger and
better than ever before with the inter-lab
competitiveness out in full force. We
saw a life size Tetris game, a full circus,
zombie invasion and the cast of Star
Wars! The Ortega lab won pumpkin
carving with their “Phage” pumpkin.
Clockwise from left: Wright lab, Brown lab and Coombes lab.
31
LATEST & GREATEST NEWS
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Ananthanarayanan News
Professor Emeritus V.
Ananthanarayanan remains active
on the research front. He was invited
to give 2 talks in December 2011:
Central Drug Research Institute,
Lucknow: “Targeting Collagen
Synthesis for Potential Tumour
Treatment” and at the Centre for
Cellular and Molecular Biology,
Hyderabad: “Molecular Chaperones for
Structural Proteins as Potential Drug
Targets.” Earlier in March 2011, he
chaired a session on Protein Folding
at the PepCon Conference in Beijing
China and presented a paper on his
lab’s work on Hsp47 inhibitors as
potential tumour drugs.
32
Andrews Lab
In a paper published in March
in Molecular Cell the Andrews
group used a method they recently
developed to measure the specificity
and efficacy of new targeted
chemotherapy drugs in live cells. This
new class of drugs target Bcl-2 family
proteins that regulate programmed
cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells.
The interactions between these
proteins at/in the outer mitochondrial
membranes determine the ultimate
fate of the cell and the response of
tumors to chemotherapy. However,
until now it was only possible to
measure the interactions of these
proteins outside of cells. In this
paper Andrews’ group demonstrated
that the new anticancer drug from
Abbott inhibits some, but not all, of
the interactions between Bcl-2 family
proteins to restore apoptosis in tumors
and make them more susceptible to
conventional therapy.
Aranovich, A., Liu, Q., Collins, T.J., Geng,
F., Dixit, S., Leber B. and Andrews, D.W..
(2012) Differences in the Mechanisms
of Proapoptotic BH3 Proteins Binding to
Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 Quantified in Live MCF7 Cells. Mol Cell. 45:754-63.
A second paper in press in J. Cell
Science describes novel post-translational
modifications on E-cadherin that
regulate cell adhesion by controlling the
interaction between E-cadherin and Type
I gamma phophatidylinositol phosphate
kinase, a protein required for recruitment
of the proteins to adhesion sites. Loss
of adhesion makes the cells much more
sensitive to a detachment initiated form
of programmed cell death called anoikis.
Geng, F., Zhu, W., Anderson, R.A., Leber,
B., and Andrews, D.W. (2012) Multiple
post-translational modifications regulate
E-cadherin transport during apoptosis. J.
Cell Science, Feb 28. [Epub ahead of print]
Justin Kale, a graduate student in
the lab, just received a CBCF PhD
studentship to work on the roles of
Bcl-2 family proteins in breast cancer.
Bishop Lab
Russell Bishop chaired and spoke
at a session at the Second European
Symposium on Microbial Lipids (FEBS
Workshop) Microbial Lipids: Diversity
in Structure and Function 16-19 May
2012, Bern, Switzerland. Graduate
student Matthew Sapiano presented a
poster.
Brown Lab
In the Brown laboratory, 2011 was
an exciting year for collaborative
research, especially with other
research groups in BBS! We’ve seen
two very energetic collaborations
bear fruit this year. After working
for more than four years with the
Ortega research group, Brown lab
graduate student Geordie Stewart
and alumnus Tracey Campbell (now
a p-doc in Princeton) have revealed
some of the first glimpses of what
assembling ribosomes look like.
This research provides new insights
for antibacterial drug discovery and
was published in two papers in
the journal RNA. Working with the
Wright and Coombes laboratories,
Brown lab graduate students Maya
Farha and Shannon Falconer have
discovered that the over-the-counter
anti-diarrheal drug Imodium® has a
cryptic capacity to make tetracycline
antibiotics more potent against drug
resistant bacteria. The exciting work
was published in Nature Chemical
Biology and received much attention
from the scientific and lay press.
Burrows Lab
Lori Burrows received a 5-year
renewal of her NSERC grant on the
role of peptidoglyan metabolism in
assembly of multiprotein complexes
in the cell envelope, and as a member
of the Canadian team, a new 4
year joint team grant on antibiotic
resistance – funded by the CIHR and
the MRC in the UK – on developing
new cell wall targets and assays.
MSc student Navpreet Rana won a
Poster Excellence award at the 2011
FHS Research Plenary for her work
on crossover between the type IV
pilus and type II secretion systems in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
MSc student Herlinder Takhar
received an OGS Graduate
Studentship to support her research
on the type IV pilus assembly
complex in P. aeruginosa.
PhD student Ylan Nguyen, who
is supported by a Studentship from
Cystic Fibrosis Canada, received the
2011 Helen and Fred Knight award,
given annually to a graduate student
who exhibits both academic and
research excellence and service to
the graduate community.
Uyen Nguyen, who is working
on identification of small
molecule modulators of Listeria
monocytogenes biofilm formation,
successfully transferred to the PhD
program, and published her first
paper on Listeria biofilm inhibitors
in Applied and Environmental
Microbiology.
Matthew Chong, a BHSc student
who did his undergraduate thesis in
the lab, received his 2nd consecutive
CFC Summer studentship to study
P. aeruginosa biofilm inhibitors, and
received early admission to McMaster
Medical School for Fall 2011.
The newest member of the lab is
PDF Dr. Ryan Lamers, who joined us
in January 2012 to work on antibiotic
resistance in P. aeruginosa. Dr.
Lamers completed his PhD at the
University of Central Florida on the
epidemiology of Staphylococcus
aureus carriage.
Members of the lab presented their
work at conferences in Boston and
Newport (USA), Lisbon (Portugal)
and Sydney (Australia).
The lab published a number
of papers in Environmental
Microbiology, Journal of Biological
Chemistry, Molecular Microbiology,
AEM and Chembiochem.
Graduates:
The most recent graduates of the
Burrows lab are Anthony Shimkoff
(MSc) and Navpreet Rana (MSc).
Anthony has joined former Burrows
lab alumni Eder Portillo and Hosam
Khalil at Invitrogen, where all three
are working in the sales force. Nav
has been working in the Burrows lab
as a technician while taking extra
courses to prepare for medical school.
Former undergraduate thesis student
Sarah Farr started her MSc degree in
the Adeli lab at Sick Kids in fall 2011.
Alumni:
PhD graduate Melissa (Ayers) Kim
is working for vaccine manufacturer,
Sanofi Pasteur, as a scientist. She and
her husband Paul were married last
year in a barefoot beach ceremony.
PhD graduate Carmen Giltner was
also married last year and she and her
husband Chris moved to California,
where she is enrolled in the Clinical
Microbiology Fellowship program at
UCLA.
Former PDF Hania Wehbi has been
working at Bioniche, a Canadian
vaccine manufacturer in Belleville,
and recently took time off to have her
second child with husband Bashar.
Coombes Lab
The Coombes lab continued on its
winning streak in 2011 with 13 papers
published, including contributions
to high-impact work published in
Nature, Nature Chemical Biology
and Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. The
lab graduated its first PhD student,
Dr. Colin Cooper in December 2011,
and we look forward to watching
his successes during his postdoctoral
fellowship. We’re proud of the many
accomplishments of our grad students
and postdocs – with everyone in
the lab on external scholarships and
fellowship, Coombes lab trainees
brought in $318,000 in funding for
2011 alone. Meanwhile, Brian was
awarded a Canada Research Chair in
2011 and was named one of Canada’s
Top 40 Under 40.
Epand Lab
My graduate student, Yulia Shulga,
presented her work at a Keystone
conference in New Mexico. She is also
first author in a review for Chemical
Reviews (impact factor 35). Yulia was
selected to be featured in the news
bulletin of the Biophysical Society
as an outstanding graduate student.
Graduate student Ken D’Souza’s recent
paper in the Journal of Molecular
Biology was featured on the cover
of that issue. Richard and Raquel
presented work at the Biophysical
Society meeting in San Diego. Richard
was invited to present the results of
some of the work of his laboratory at
Vanderbilt University, Wichita State
University and Waterloo University.
He is also a speaker at the upcoming
Chemical Biophysics Symposium at
the University of Toronto.
Guarné Lab
2011 was a remarkable year in the
Guarné lab crowned by the move
to our new grounds in 4H32. Keep
your eyes peeled for the state-of-theart equipment coming soon! Alba
gave talks at University of Alberta,
the Institute of Biomedical Research
in Barcelona and Cornell University
and was invited to speak at a Gordon
Conference in Tuscany (Italy). After
33
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
LATEST & GREATEST NEWS
34
her “tough” summer, she spent most of
her time revising blueprints, overseeing
construction, teaching and writing
grants. Our most senior graduate
student, Yu Seon Chung, also had
a whirlwind end to the year. In less
than three months, she received her
PhD degree, made us proud with an
outstanding talk at the BHT meeting,
added two more cats to her growing
family and got married. Congrats Mrs.
Gadsden! Lindsay Matthews published
a seminal work on DNA replication
proteins in J. Biol. Chem., won the Karl
Freeman award for her second PhD
seminar and is now on a mission to
turn us all into NMR spectroscopists.
Monica Pillon has added mentor to her
growing list of talents. Besides keeping
up with her aggressive research
program, Monica has discovered the
rewards of helping students. In turn,
Anna, Leanne and Michelle had the
privilege to work with one of the finest.
Monica has also received this year’s
Lee Nielson Roth Award. M.Sc. student
Jessica Wong graduated last summer
and is now working at NutriChem
(Ottawa). Last September we welcomed
Karly Uhl, who is discovering the
pleasures and frustrations of protein
co-expression and purification. Keep
up the good work Karly! We also had
a cohort of talented undergraduate
students that have contributed to the
great lab atmosphere. Of course, all
of this would not have been possible
without Melanie Gloyd who manages
to keep the lab running smoothly for
all of us and do research at the same
time. Check her last story in J. Mol.
Biol. In the coming months, we look
forward to welcoming Tamiza, Ahmad
and Amina to the laboratory.
Gupta Lab
The Gupta lab recently published a
comprehensive review describing a
reliable phylogenetic framework and
large numbers of molecular signatures
for the phylum Actinobacteria. This
group of bacteria includes several
major human pathogens and is
also the major source of antibiotics
and other natural products. The
information presented in this review
should be useful for identification and
bio-prospecting of different groups
of actinobacteria and they provide
potential novel drug targets for these
bacteria. Gao B. and Gupta RS. (2012)
Phylogenetic framework and molecular
signatures for the main clades of the
phylum actinobacteria. Microbiol Mol
Biol Rev. 2012 Mar;76:66-112.
Li Lab
Yingfu has won the 2012 W. A. E.
McBryde Medal from the Canadian
Society of Chemistry (CSC) for his
work on aptamer and DNAzyme
based biosensors. The award was
presented to him at the 95th Canadian
Chemistry Conference and Exhibition
in Calgary May 26-30, 2012, where
he presented an invited talk titled
“Exploring Functional Nucleic Acids
for Bioanalytical Applications”.
– Casey Fowler successfully defended
his doctoral thesis and is now a
postdoctoral fellow at Yale University,
USA; Jennifer Lee graduated with a
M.Sc. Degree and is now employed
by Apotex Pharmachem; Sergio
Aguirre (Research Assistant) has
entered the Business School at the
University of Western Ontario to
study for his MBA degree.
– Li Lab has recently received an
NSERC I2I (Idea to Innovation) grant
to pursue research activities towards
commercializing bacterial detection
biosensors based on the fluorogenic
DNAzyme technology developed in
his group.
Mossman Lab
Ryan Noyce (former PhD student
in BBS, now a PDF at Dalhousie
University) published a first-authored
manuscript in Journal of Virology in
2011 that was based on work he started
in my lab that was chosen as a Spotlight
Feature by the editors. Ryan also
published a first-authored manuscript
in PLoS Pathogens. He recently was
awarded a Banting Postdoctoral
Fellowship Award from CIHR.
In May, I was an invited speaker
at the 1st Li Ka Shing Institute of
Virology/Gairdner Foundation
Symposium at the University of Alberta.
Ortega Lab
During last year the Ortega lab has
seen some turnaround of people
with the graduation of Meredith Kent
who obtained her Master’s degree
last February after a very successful
defense. Dr. Andreas Korinek
finished his postdoctoral training
with us and took a position as a
Research Associate at the Canadian
Center for Electron Microscopy. The
laboratory has been fortunate to get
some new recruits. Ajitha Jeganathan
joined the team last September as an
MSc student coming to us from UofT.
Similarly, at the beginning of May
this year, Dr. Lopa Homchaudhuri
from The Hospital for Sick Children
started working with us as a
postdoctoral fellow.
Schertzer Lab
I guess it is cool that since starting
in BBS in January –I have had papers
accepted in Nature and Science,
through collaborative work. The
Science paper is entitled: The ancient
drug salicylate directly activates
AMP-activated protein kinase. In a
nutshell plant products related to
aspirin have been used in medicine
since ancient times. We found that
the aspirin metabolite (Salicylate)
activates a key energy sensor in the
body and increases fat burning. This
has implications for many diseases
including obesity, diabetes and cancer.
The Nature paper: Hsp72 preserves
muscle function and slows progression
of severe muscular dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy
affects about 1 in 3,500 male births
and is a severe muscle wasting
disease that currently has no effective
treatment. We found that applying
heat stress to muscle and discovered
a new drug that targets heat stress
responses in muscle both have
significant therapeutic potential to
combat muscular dystrophy.
This paper can be found at: http://
www.nature.com/nature/journal/
vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10980.html
Truant Lab
Lise Munsie was the first ever
Canadian Chair of the Student Gordon
Research Seminars in La Barga, Italy.
Ray Truant won the award for
best presentation at 2011 CHDI
Huntington’s disease Therapeutics
Conference, Palm Springs, CA (prize:
all expenses paid for next conference).
Lise Munsie places 2nd in 2012
for presentation at 2012 CHDI
Huntington’s disease Therapeutics
Conference, Palm Springs, CA.
Randy Singh Atwal has first
author manuscript in Nature Chemical
biology. “Kinase inhibitors modulate
huntingtin cell localization and
toxicity.”, and is an author on a PNAS
manuscript, “Ganglioside GM1 induces
phosphorylation of mutant huntingtin
and restores normal motor behavior in
Huntington disease mice.” Now a postdoc at MGH/Harvard in Boston.
Lise Munsie published a seminal
manuscript, “Mutant huntingtin causes
defective actin remodeling during stress:
defining a new role for transglutaminase
2 in neurodegenerative disease.” In
Human Medical Genetics, the first
connection of Alzheimer’s disease and
Huntington’s disease pathology.
Lab received a considerable research
support award from the Krembil
Family Foundation for two years.
Truant launches “HDBuzz.net” a lay
science Huntington’s disease website
where he acts as external Scientific
Reviewer: website now has 250,000
hits a month in 12 languages.
Lise Munsie featured on ESPN
for her hockey jersey fashions and
company, “The Little Black Jersey Co.”
interviewed on “third String Goalie”.
http://thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.
ca/2010/12/third-string-goalie-holidayshopping.html
And most recently (weekend of
April 14, 2012) the annual ParisAncaster bike race took place in
the St. George to Paris race (35K),
women’s 20-29:
#1: Lise Munsie (PhD student, Truant Lab)
#2: Silvia Andrzejewski (4R09 Student,
Truant lab)
BiochemRocks!
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
We also heard from former
students in the lab: Jack Iwanczyk
took a new job as a Scientist in
Cedarlane Laboratories and Kevin
Cheung is now an Application
Support Specialist for Carl Zeiss in
Hong Kong.
There have been some trips of
Ortega lab members attending
several conferences: John
Alexopoulos attended the AAA
proteins meeting in Japan and
presented his work on the bacterial
protease ClpP. Ahmad Jomaa
attended the GRC in 3D electron
microscopy last summer and the
EMBO course in cryo-EM in London
UK last September. Finally Ajitha
Jeganathan got her hands wet on a
workshop in affinity grids in Virginia
Tech in April this year.
The group produced a number of
important publications during last
year that communicated our most
recent work in bacterial ribosome
biogenesis (two RNA papers),
bacterial proteases DegP (PLoS one)
and ClpP (Chemistry and Biology)
and the Rvb helicases (JMB), which
are essential proteins in chromatin
remodeling complexes.
Finally, there has been important
achievement from students to
celebrate: Ahmad Jomaa was
awarded a graduate scholarship
from CIHR and Dr. Andreas Korinek
received the fellowship award from
the German Society of Canadian
Studies. At the same time we are
delighted that Joaquin’s CIHR and
NSERC funding has been renewed for
five more years to continue research
efforts in the areas of bacterial
proteases and ribosome biogenesis.
35
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
36
BBSGSA UPDATE
BBSS UPDATE
Wow what a year 2011 was! We
got into the swing of things with
a spring cleaning clothing drive,
congratulations to the Coombes lab
for donating 40 articles of clothing
per person. Our official Spirit Award
competition goes to the lab that
has demonstrated the highest level
of spirit in the department. The
2011 prize went to the Wright Lab,
but don’t worry there is still time
to win points for the 2012 prize
by attending events hosted by the
BBSGSA. October was a busy month
kicked off with a day of scientific
discussion with your invitational
speaker Dr. Jamie Cate. Nominations
for this fall will be accepted in the
coming months. A new series of
professional development workshops
were introduced ranging from honing
those photoshop skills to building
phylogenetic trees. Suggestions are
welcome for future workshops.
Please contact one of our members.
Finally, the BBSGSA underwent a
major overhaul and we would like to
officially welcome the new executive
members Karly Uhl, Julie Kaiser,
Lauren Waller, Tomas Gverzdys, Uyen
Nguyen and Ryan Buensuceso. This
year we will be saying good-bye
to Jen Lee, Anna Tomljenovic and
Lindsay Kalan. Good luck with your
future endeavors.
our small but prominent program.
A combination of well-planned
events and a passionate, enthusiastic
biochemistry student caucus resulted
in a high level of participation from
both students and professors – at
both academic and social events.
A fun social night at the Phoenix
started the year met with incredible
enthusiasm from the 2nd year’s new
to the BBS program – a trend found
to be maintained throughout the year.
Our two largest academic events,
Thesis Night and Meet the Profs,
were both held in first semester to
facilitate a more logical sequence of
events for those interested in upper
year research. Thesis night was an
informational presentation about
4th year thesis options attended by
a large group of keen third year
students, which was followed by
Meet the Profs as an outlet to meet
potential project supervisors. Meet
the Profs had an exceptional turnout
with a record eleven professors in
attendance and over 120 students
throughout the evening.
The largest social event of the
year was the much anticipated
“4mol: A Murder Mystery” BS formal.
An elaborate marketing campaign
consisting of a series of videos was
released which had students itching
to know who the murderer could be.
A successful BS clothing sale early in
second semester allowed us to keep
our ticket prices down and get some
excellent prizes. With all bus seats to
the formal sold out and the welcomed
attendance of 6 professors, it was
truly a pleasurable evening of dinner,
dancing and prizes. In the end,
Dr. Murray Junop confessed to being
The 2011-12 school year has been
an incredibly successful year for
the undergraduate Biochemistry
and Biomedical Sciences Society
(BBSS). The mandate of the BBSS
is to enhance the experience of
undergraduate biochemists and to
foster a sense of community within
the murderer, which was revealed
in one last clever video.
This year we created more
intramural sports teams than ever
with a total of 7 BBS teams in
a variety of sports. We claimed
championships in both Corec C
outdoor soccer in the fall and Corec C
basketball in the spring, showcasing
the athletic talents of biochemists!
We fell short in the finals for Corec
A indoor soccer, a title which we
had captured two years previous.
Finishing as runners-up this year is
bound to give next year’s team some
added vengeance to recapture our
title!
It is hard to believe that this
year’s BBSS executive team was
composed of nearly all rookies
given the incredible success of each
and every event. The efforts of the
executive would be futile without an
enthusiastic body of students eager
for both academic success and social
interaction with their peers, which
is a hallmark of the type of students
the BBS program attracts. The
achievements and promotion from
this year generated a high level of
interest in joining the 2012-13 BBSS.
The new executive council brings
with them a range of experiences and
creative new ideas.
Thanks to all the students and
professors who participated in BBSS
events to truly create a community
of McMaster biochemists outside of
the classroom. Have an enjoyable and
relaxing summer from the BBSS – and
don’t forget to “Eat, sleep, pipette”. ■
Leanne Genge
BBSS Co-president 2012-13
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATION POSTDOCTORAL UPDATE
and in-between presented to us their
career path, along with the pros and
cons of careers in each of these areas.
Some highlights included our own
Dr. Gerry Wright, telling us why we
should (and shouldn’t) pursue an
academic career. Dr. John Wallace,
Director of the Farncombe Institute
gave an eye-opening look at starting
your own company, while Dr. Michael
Rosu-Myles from Health Canada told us
about doing science in a government
lab. Over 70 postdocs and graduate
students attended the daylong event.
In the fall we were proud to
showcase health-related postdoctoral
research at our Research Day. The day
was filled with talks from postdocs
doing world-class research and a
number of prizes were awarded.
Congratulations to Drs. Leslie
Cutherberson, Kevin Kelly, Mathieu
Morissette and Peter Bevan who won
the awards for best oral presentation
in their sessions. We were also very
grateful to have Dr. Brian Coombes
tell us a bit about his career path
and scientific work in a fabulous and
inspiring keynote seminar.
Elections were held in November
and several new members joined
the executive committee. Since the
association was formed in 2008 all
the original committee members
have moved on to other endeavours.
We are very excited to have ever
more people getting involved and we
are very grateful to those who put
in so much time and effort to start
a postdoc association. We extend
thanks to Drs. John Kelton, Stephen
Collins and Cathy Hayward, and to
the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
and Research Training for continued
financial and administrative support.
At the beginning of this year we
were very excited to collaborate with
the Health Sciences Graduate Student
Federation to host a grant-writing
seminar for both graduate students
and postdocs. It was a full house
with standing room only for our
speaker, the dynamic and engaging
Dr. Martin Stampfli who gave us
some excellent pointers.
Recently we were also able to host
an information session on available
core facilities in the Faculty of Health
Sciences.
We are looking forward to another
full and productive year. Planning
is in full swing for another Career
Day, scheduled for May 30. We are
very excited for this year’s event.
Moreover, our revamping of the
FHSPDA website is finally completed,
so please visit our new webpage
where you will be able to find
information on upcoming and past
events as well as other important
information, such as funding sources,
for new and continuing postdocs
in the FHS. http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/
fhspda/contact_us.html
We were also thrilled to
congratulate, FHSPDA executive
member, Dr. Eva Szabo, SCC-RI PDF,
for being awarded, in December
2011, the MITACS PDF Award for
Outstanding Research Achievement.
The inaugural Mitacs Awards
ceremony was held to recognize
the amazing contributions young
researchers participating in Mitacs
programs aimed at fostering research
and innovation, as well as forging
stronger bonds between academia
and businesses across Canada. ■
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem |
As many of you know, postdoctoral
fellows play a key role in driving
research forward, however excelling
in research is no longer the sole driver
in attaining a job or achieving success
in our chosen careers in academia,
industry or government. Having
recognized the limits of our training,
the FHSPDA was established to
recognize postdoctoral achievements,
bring awareness to postdoc issues, and
to provide support and professional
development. We are very excited
that we had a great year filled with
successful and well-attended events!
We kicked things off last year with
a Science Around the World Seminar
series. Science is really a global
experience and to highlight this we
invited McMaster faculty who had
worked or trained in another country
to talk about their experiences. Dr.
Tim Gilberger, a recently hired faculty
member in Pathology & Molecular
Medicine, talked about his training
and science experience in Germany.
In a follow-up seminar we were
very pleased to have Dr. Phillipe
Langella from the Farncombe Family
Digestive Health Research Institute, a
visiting scientist from France, deliver
an interesting talk. Thank-you to the
Farncombe Institute for co-hosting the
events and to both Tim and Phillipe
for fascinating talks! Many postdocs
stayed afterwards discussing their
experiences doing science abroad.
Searching for a job these days
can be a harrowing experience for
postdoctoral fellows, hence to provide
support and information on potential
career choices we proudly hosted our
annual Career Day in May. Speakers
from academia, industry, government,
37
ARRIVALS DEPARTURES
The Department of
Biochemistry & Biomedical
Sciences is very grateful for
the donations it received
from its former students.
Now you can give online at
www.givetomcmaster.ca
We are also pleased to
acknowledge the support of
IIDR HOLIDAY PARTY
Spirits were high as we said goodbye to an
old year and welcomed in a new one. Dr. Lori
Burrows belted out several heartfelt songs to
‘rock our world’.
FACULTY
Jonathan Schertzer
Assistant Professor
Joint appointment with the Department of
Pediatrics
Karun Singh
Assistant Professor, SCC-RI
| BIOCHEMROCKS SPRING 2012
Deborah Sloboda
Associate Professor
Joint appointments with the Departments of
Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology
38
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Thomas Hawke
Associate Professor, Pathology
DEPARTURES
Linda Pulcins
After 14 years with the department as the
central autoclave technician, Linda retired
on April 6, 2012.
We wish her all the best!
the following companies for
our various events on campus.
“Learning never exhausts the mind.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
McMaster University, 1200 Main St. W., HSC-4N59, Hamilton ON, Canada, L8N 3Z5
Phone: 905.525.9140 Ext. 22454
Web: http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/biochem/