Silvia Albu

Supervisor:

Dr. Fred Capretta

Dr. John Valliant

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB-465E/W

E-mail:

Phone: ext. 26335

Project Title:

Naresh Balachandran

Supervisor: Dr. Paul Berti

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-A201

E-mail: balacn5@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27907

Project Title:

James Dzandzi

Supervisor: Dr. John Valliant

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB-466

E-mail: dzandzip@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27128

Project Title:

Dual Isotope Molecular Imaging of Breast and Prostate Cancer

Molecular imaging (MI) can be used to visualize diseases like cancer and diabetes non-invasively. This allows for earlier detection of tumour as well as a more accurate depiction of a tumour. An emerging area in nuclear imaging is the monitoring of two radiolabeled compounds simultaneously (also known as dual isotope molecular imaging-DIMI). In this method two radiopharmaceuticals derived from radionuclides that differ in emission energies are visualized using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) simultaneously.
My project involves the development of two probes to demonstrate the utility of DIMI for detecting prostate and breast cancer.

Patrica Edem

Supervisor: Dr. John Valliant

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-466

E-mail: edempe@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27128

Project Title:

Developing Molecular Imaging Agents for

Cathepsin B

Awards:

Chemical Biology Travel Award 2008/09

Nikolas Eleftheriou

Supervisor: Dr. John Brennan

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-A101/A102B

E-mail: Elefthn@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27715

Project Title:

Sol-gel derived microarrays for bacterial cells

Awards:

Chemical Biology Travel Award 2008/09

Erica Forsberg

Supervisor: Dr. John Brennan

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB-A101/A102B

E-mail: helde@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27715

Project Title:

John Grande

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Brook

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-359W/A301

E-mail: Grandejb@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27938

Project Title:

Ryan Kelly

Supervisor: Dr. Gerry Wright

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: HSC-4H32

E-mail: kellyrf@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 22459

Project:

There is a need for new antifungal agents in medicine and agriculture. Of the ones on the market today, there are only a few cases where the molecular targets of the compounds are thoroughly understood. In our lab there has been a platform designed to identify antifungal targets in the test organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using techniques such as multi-copy suppression, gene deletion and transcriptomics ; coupled with affinity proteomic techniques, I am looking to identify the molecular targets of known antifungal agents in the hopes that this information can be used to design new ones.

Julie Lebert

Supervisor: Dr. John Brennan

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-101A

E-mail: lebertjm@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27715

Project:

My project involves the development of highly parallel and miniaturized small molecule screening assays based on protein microarrays. My current project involves the use of sol-gel derived silica materials for the entrapment of proteins such as kinases and GPCRs. Such materials are initially in a liquid state, and thus can be printed as microspots using standard array-printing instruments. After printing the liquid condenses to form an inorganic silica matrix that entraps the protein(s) of interest. Using an overprinting method it is possible to screen small molecules against a wide range of protein targets using sub-nanoliter volumes of reagents per assay. This method is currently being applied to kinases and GPCRs associated with Alzheimer's disease, cancer and diabetes.

Awards:

2009/2010 NSERC CGSD2 Recipient

Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award 2008/09

Bonnie Leung

Supervisor: Dr. Adam Hitchock

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB-333

E-mail: leungbo@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 24864

Project:

The biocompatibility of a material is highly dependent on its surface characteristics. In particular these properties determine the composition and biological status of the protein layer which forms upon initial contact with blood or tissue and which determines subsequent cellular responses. I use a synchrotron-based X-ray photoemission electron microscope (X-PEEM) combined with near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy to quantify and characterize the amount of protein adsorbed on a model biomaterial substrate.

Awards:

NSERC CGS 2008/2010 Recipient                    Chemical Biology Travel Award 2008/09           Chemical Biology Graduate Student Impact Award 2008/09                                                                               The James F. Harvey and Helen S. Harvey Travel Scholarship 2008/09

Meghan McFadden

Supervisors:

Dr. John Brennan

Dr. Murray Junop

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB A101

                     HSC-4N20A

E-mail: mcfaddmj@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27715

                     22912

Project:

Under the guidance of Dr. John Brennan and Dr. Murray Junop, I will be working on a co-supervised project spanning bioanalytical chemistry and structural biology. The research project centres on double stranded repair proteins, which will be targets for developing LC/MS based methods for small molecule screening using sol-gel derived bioaffinity columns. Once ligands are identified, X-ray crystallography will be used to generate co-crystal structures of the proteins and a selection of bound ligands. Such studies could ultimately lead to the development of potent and selective anti-cancer therapeutics

Awards:

OGS 2009/2010 Recipient                                   Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award 2008/09

Julijana Milojevic

Supervisor: Dr. Guiseppe Melacini

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: ABB-A202

E-mail: milojej@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 26317

Project:

Awards:

2009/2010 NSERC CGSD2 Recipent

Chemical Biology Graduate Student Impact Award 2008/09

The Allan Jackson Ontario Grduate Scholarship 2008/09

Rajeevan Selvaratnam

Supervisor: Dr. Guiseppe Melacini

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-A201

E-mail: selvarr@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 26137

Project Title:

Investigation of structural and dynamial basis of allostery in cyclic-nucleotide binding proteins by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Alan Vanderkooy

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Brook

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-359W/A301

E-mail: vandea32@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 27938

Project Title:

Attempts to use gold nanoparticles for detection

Lisa Walter

Supervisors:

Dr. Fred Capretta &

Dr. Geoff Werstuck

Degree: MSc

Laboratory: ABB-465

E-mail: waltel@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext. 26335

Project Title:

With the Co-Supervision of Dr. Capretta and Dr. Werstuck, I am currently studying the enzyme L-glutamine: d-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase, GFAT, a protein of interest in hexosamine induced insulin resistance in diabetes. GFAT catalyzes the reaction of L-glutamine and fructose-6-phosphate to form L-glutamate and glucosamine-6-phosphate. Currently, I am developing an assay which measures the rate of glucosamine-6-phosphate formation from GFAT. This assay will ultimately be used to study potential inhibitory properties of a library of small molecules

Morgan Wyatt

Supervisor:  Dr. Nathan Magarvey

Degree: PhD

Laboratory: HSC 4N53

E-mail:wyattam@mcmaster.ca

Phone: ext 22188

Project Title:

Characterization of Natural Products Produced by Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetases

Awards:

Chemical Biology Travel Award 2008/09