Michelle has been accepted to theEMBO Practical Course on Structural Characterization of Macromolecular Complexes being held in Grenoble, France June 4-9, 2012. She is one of 20 successful candidates chosen from a field of 179 applicants consisting of PhD students, Post-docs, MSc students, undergrads and other scientists from around the world.

Michelle has provided this description of her research project: “There are more than five thousand species of Apicomplexan parasites, including Plasmodium and Toxoplasma (the etiological agents of malaria and toxoplasmosis, respectively), that together cause globally devastating diseases leading to millions of deaths every year. My research project is focused on elucidating the conserved mechanism used by these diverse parasites to invade host cells. A detailed understanding of the essential steps in invasion will provide a solid foundation for the engineering of broadly neutralizing therapeutics targeting the Apicomplexans.

Further to this, Michelle has published a paper in the prestigious Science journal, and has also recently been awarded a PEO Scholar Award for 2012-2013.

Michael McClean has been named 2012 Biochemistry & Microbiology Co-op Student of the Year. Mike has excelled in the classroom and on his Co-op placements. Dr. Francis Choy, Mike's most recent Co-op supervisor, noted "Mike exemplifies what a model co-op student in molecular biology research at UVic is about and raises the bar to a new high standard."

Mike provided the following account of his Co-op experience at the BIOC/MICR Co-op student recruiting event last year:
"I joined Co-op as a second-year student solely to enhance my medical school applications. Unbeknown to me at the time, that decision resulted in a profound and positive change in my outlook. After two work terms, I had become passionate about my studies and developed a new view of the whole UVic experience. Co-op provided me with role models and friends who have helped me out during tough times and who I know I can rely on today and tomorrow for support and advice. I gained much knowledge and many skills during my work terms but, most importantly, I gained the confidence to question and critique what I hear and read. Although many Co-op programs are optional, in my experience Co-op is a mandantory part of a successful degree at UVic. There is no downside to cooperative education. Even if you don't get the most prestigious placements, in the end you will have grown in ways you never expected and never would achieve by only attending classes."

L-R: Ausio, Spriggs, Choy
Lyndsay Spriggs graduated from UVic with a BSc Honours in 2009. She studied with Dr. Francis Choy in Biology and continued to complete her Honours degree in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology in Dr. Juan Ausio's lab. She published her research, as first author in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry:
Sprigg, L., Li, A., Choy, F.Y.M., and Ausio, J. 2010. Interaction of daunomycin with acetylated chromatin. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 53 (17), 6457-6465.
Lyndsay was awarded the International North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) research award for her work.
Dr. Choy writes this of Lyndsay:
"Upon graduation in June 2009 with an Hons. B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Microbiology at UVic, Lyndsay continued her research with the B.C. Cancer Agency in Vancouver for a year. She applied for admission to study Medicine at UBC to further advance her study in the field. Because of Lyndsay's academic and research excellence, she was admitted by UBC Faculty of Medicine in August 2011 and is currently studying Medicine at the UBC Kelowna campus. Regarding the award, the NRW Research Schools were founded as an initiative of the German federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). International networks of renowned scientists, world leading supervisors and excellent scientific environments – the NRW Research Schools provide a forum for pre-doctoral candidates with superior academic track records. In the summer of 2011, they sent the Dean of Science at UVic a flyer inviting UVic faculties to nominate outstanding undergraduate research students for this award. I communicated with Juan and we subsequently nominated Lyndsay for this award under the category Cell Dynamics and Disease (Biomedicine, Molecules and Cells). In November,we were informed that Lyndsay received the highest ratings from the adjudicating committee in this category and was given the top award."

Congratulations to Brett Eyford, winner of the 2010/11 Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology Graduate Teaching Award. Brett was presented with the award by Dr. Robert Burke, Chair of the department.

Apicomplexan parasites such as Toxoplasma. gondii (toxoplasmosis) and Plasmodium spp. (malaria) pose a major risk to human health on a global scale. To survive host immunity, those pathogens take refuge inside the protective environment of host cells. Thus, understanding the mechanisms that govern host cell attachment and invasion is central to defining parasite virulence characteristics and to controlling their pathogenesis, and is a major research focus in the Boulanger lab.

Dr. Al Boraston (pictured here with Governor General David Johnston) was one of six outstanding Canadian University faculty researchers awarded a prestigious 2012 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship.

For the next two years Dr. Boraston will be able to devote his time and resources to his research on carbohydrate-binding proteins, and their potential application in fighting microbial infections and generation of biofuels.

Photo credit: MCpl Dany Veillette, Rideau Hall © 2012 Office of the Secretary to the Governor General of Canada

Pesticides, drugs and industrial effluents are being released into the environment daily, yet we know little about their adverse effects. Biochemist Caren Helbing is working hard to change that.

Over the past decade, Dr. Helbing has provided advanced scientific tools and technical training to regulatory agencies and private sector companies to help them generate meaningful environmental assessment information. She continues to develop new technology for environmental monitoring.