Name: Yiqiu Yang Major: Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Year: Third year Supervisor: Dr. Ralph Pantophlet
Q: What kind of research do you do? A: I have been doing antibody purification for evaluating the binding of neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein mimic, which is a part of HIV vaccine design.
Q: How did you get involved in this opportunity? A: I took a Biological Research course, and my professor Dr. Lam provided us with a website with projects currently available in SFU research labs. I found Dr. Pantophlet’s project very interesting and I emailed him my resume and transcript. Dr. Pantophlet replied very quickly and informed me that there were no openings. However, a few days later there was an unexpected position that opened up. Thus, I went to the interview (which was more like a chat) and got the opportunity. How lucky I was!
Q: What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you? A: It is usually about preparation for SPR which involves concentration of cell culture supernatant, antibody purification, and assessment of antibody by SDS-PAGE and ELISA. I also update lab inventory and make buffers for general use.
Q: Favourite science joke or meme from your field? A: If it’s green or it wiggles, it’s biology. If it stinks, it’s chemistry. If it doesn’t work, it’s physics.
Q: If you were a scientific lab instrument, which one would you be? A: A +4 degrees Celsius lab fridge because I would stay cool but not be cold, and I could store lots of valuable stuff!
Q: What scares you the most in the lab or the field? A: A low concentration or bad purity of the antibody because it means we cannot use it to perform any test and need to start all over again.
Name: Mariam Aziz Faculty: Biomedical Physiology Year of Study: Fourth Year Supervisor: Peter Ruben
Q: What are your career interests? A: In the future, I would like to pursue a career in medicine.
Q: How did you get involved in research? A: My friend was working in the Molecular Cardiac Physiology Group (MCPG) with Dr. Ruben and she asked him if he would accept an undergrad. I emailed Dr. Ruben and we had an interview and he was very open and welcoming for me to start volunteering at his lab.
Q: What does your research involve? A: My project that I am hoping to work on soon is looking at co-localization of NCX (sodium calcium exchanger – it brings in sodium and kicks out Ca, this helps maintain Ca levels in the cell), NHE (sodium hydrogen exchanger – it brings in sodium and kicks out H+ to maintain the cell’s pH) and CaV with NaV in the invadopodia of prostate cancer cells. I am also working on observing changes in sodium current with different mutations in the channel. CaV and NaV are voltage gate channels that open and allow the ions in when the cell is depolarized. It’s theorized that the presence of these channels at the leading edge of cancer cells is what helps them to be invasive; this invasive leading edge is called the invadopodia.
Q: What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you? A: When I get to the lab, the first thing I do is check in with the seniors and see what they have planned for their day. I ask if there is anything they need help with or anything I can learn from them. If it’s the beginning of the week I start preparing oocytes or bacterial work for experiments later in the week. Somedays there is more work than others and I have to stay longer to do upkeep in the lab, like autoclaving tools or making solutions.
Q: What’s your favourite course that you have taken so far in your degree? A: By far I can say that BPK 420 and 326 were my favorite courses at SFU, but they are both upper division classes. If I had to pick a lower division course that I really enjoyed it would be CHEM 286. These courses were all a lot more hands-on or they explored the “why” in the topics that we studied rather than scratching the surface of the topic.
Q: If you were a scientific lab instrument, which one would you be? A: Either a microscope lamp – because they are so so small yet very very powerful and if something happens to them, the work actually stops
OR
An automated pipette – just because it makes your life so much easier
Q: Who is your biggest science crush? A: Victoria Claydon because she is a great mom and an amazing teacher and she does that while maintaining the integrity of her work in the lab.
Q: What scares you the most in the lab or the field? A: Not being able to do the things that I have to do because of technical difficulties. It’s actually scarier than it sounds. You can have everything ready to go but if a shipment doesn’t come or a machine crashes there isn’t much you can do and everything is postponed for weeks.
Q: Favourite science joke or meme from your field? A:
Name: Sarosha Ali Faculty: Science, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (3rd year) Year of Study: 3rd Supervisor: Dr. Bingyun Sun
What are your career interests? I am interested in pursuing medicine either clinical or experimental to support the healthcare industry. I enjoy learning about cardiology, blood circulatory system, hematopoietic system, and the diseases associated with it. Hopefully, I will direct myself to pursue these branches of medicine.
How did you get involved in research? I received an email about Work-Study program and thought it as a great opportunity to gain some experience. I applied and got accepted. Soon after I found an interesting project named “Reproduction in Birds”, emailed my resume to the project supervisor, got selected for an interview (it was more like a chat tbh), and started working. I enjoyed assisting Ph.D. candidates in Dr. Tony William’s lab for 8 months. After acquiring experience, I approached Dr. Bingyun Sun to work on mammalian stem cell culture. I was assigned an independent research project and it was a turning point for myself. I gathered a lot of experience doing research in Sun’s lab which helped me acquire a co-op position at STEMCELL Technologies. Fun Fact: There is an Animal Care Research Facility at SFU (isolated into the woods). Explore!
What will you be working on this summer? I will be working as a part of the Contract Assay Services (Pre-clinical trials) department at STEMCELL Technologies. This means providing toxicity testing and immune services to meet client contractual requirements. As a co-op student, I will learn to perform cell-forming unit (CFU) assays on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (mainly erythroid, myeloid, and megakaryocyte) and its utility for toxicity screening. As a part of a contract research organization, I will be supporting the department to work with industrial and academic researchers to help answer their drug development and cell biology questions.
What have you been working on in your research so far? (What is your research about?) I conducted research on the project called “Embryonic stem cell culture, migration, and proteomics” for 2 years. In which protagonist were the Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, they are used in biological and medical research and commercially in the production of therapeutic proteins. I studied the effects of exogenous N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to CHO cells on their rate of wound closure using the scratch migration assay and on their proliferation. GlcNAc which was the antagonist in the project was found to slow down cell migration and proliferation, accompanied by cell hypertrophy of the CHO cells. It is important to study the effects of different N-glycans and respective N-glycosylation as they play significant roles in stem-cell development. It is now known that its dysregulation leads to several diseases such as diabetes mellitus, oncogenic transformation of animal cells, and metastasis of cancer cells. Previously, I assisted Ph.D. candidates for 8 months in Dr. Tony William’s Lab for the project called “Reproduction in Birds”. I helped with two sub-projects: 1) Eco-toxicology: Long-term effects of early (in ovo or perinatal) exposure to mercury in birds. 2) Physiological effects of exercise and training for increased foraging effort. This involved performing bird husbandry, setting up breeding boxes, and performing venipuncture on birds to collect blood for hematology assays to determine hemoglobin and hematocrit (red blood cells percentage volume) levels.
What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you? It typically involved a combination of cell passaging and cell counting, besides cell microscopy on a daily basis. Once or twice a week it required me to perform protein analysis such as Bradford protein assay and running SDS-PAGE electrophoresis to determine the protein concentrations of microsomal, nuclear, and cytosolic proteins of the cells. Some days are desk work including result analysis and reading articles. As a senior student, I was also responsible for lab management such as maintenance of the biosafety cabinet.
What’s your favourite course that you have taken so far in your degree? MBB 308-Molecular Biology laboratory: this course is based on modern recombinant nucleic acid methods. I really enjoyed swapping/modifying bacterial genes which produced fluorescent bacterial colonies (super cool stuff!). Although, it included some of the most crucial steps of DNA and RNA isolation, plasmid preparation, restriction enzyme digestion, DNA cloning, and polymerase chain reaction.
Favourite science joke or meme from your field?
If you were a scientific lab instrument, which one would you be? Multi-channel pipette, as I am good at multi-tasking in a lab setting with accuracy and speed.
Who is your biggest science crush? Sherlock Holmes (Forensic Scientist) because every person working in a lab setting must have his qualities of being observant all the time and being logical without jumping to conclusions.
What scares you the most in the lab or the field? Weird and scary sound of an unbalanced centrifuge as it might cause damage to the centrifuge or contamination in the cell culture which means starting all over again.
Name: Michelle Chan YeeTeng Faculty: Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Year of Study: 4th Supervisor: Dr. Sharon Gorski
How did you get involved in research?
It all started in my second
year when I approached Dr. Plettner casually to ask for a volunteer position in
her lab without the intention of actually getting it. She was really nice and
supportive as a PI and always encouraged us to attend seminars and get around knowing
more people. I guess that probably is the stepping stone of my life-long career
as a researcher.
What will you be working on this summer?
I did a thesis honours with Dr. Gorski in the Spring on compensatory autophagy induced by proteasome inhibitors in breast cancer cell lines. As part of the project of VPR-USRA that I applied for the summer, I will be working mostly on the follow-up study of my research aim and potentially on characterizing autophagy regulators in Drosophila.
What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you?
Cells passaging and drug treatment. I have had weeks of Western blot and CV which are not really fun.
Favourite science joke or meme from your field?
What do you call an acid with
an attitude? A-mean-oh acid.
What scares you the most in the lab or the field?
When my cells
get contaminated because that would literally mean another futile week with no
results.
Jayme Lewthwaite, a PhD candidate who studies evolutionary biology at Simon Fraser University, enters the grand halls of the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History in Washington, DC. She walks past the elegant and elaborate exhibits, heading to the sun-lit research labs.
Above: The Smithsonian Institute of Natural History in Washington, DC. Photo by Alex Proimos.
She climbs to the floor labelled ‘Lepidoptera
Collections’ which contains over four million butterfly and moth specimens
meticulously organized and stored in 30,000 drawers. These specimens were
collected by scientists and naturalists around the world throughout the 20th
and 21st centuries.
Lewthwaite’s research combines spatial
ecology and evolutionary relationships between species to help evaluate the
biodiversity impacts of human-caused climate change. Her goal is to provide
scientific information to help governments, communities, and decision makers
prioritize conservation efforts.
She chose to study and examine these
patterns in Canadian butterflies because they have short lifespans and are
sensitive to environmental changes. Butterflies respond to changing climate
quickly in ways that are fairly easy to track. Furthermore, because butterflies
are popular organisms, insect collectors and researchers have deposited many
specimens in museum collections.
Historically, animal and plant specimens
were collected for anatomical
and taxonomic
research, allowing researchers to organize the vast diversity of life into
different classification levels. Charles Darwin is
perhaps the most famous collector. The specimens he gathered on the Galapagos
Islands allowed him to review evidence, observe variation in related species, and
formulate his theory on evolution by natural selection.
In Canada, over 40 natural history museums
contain millions of specimens in their research collections. The Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, for
example, contains diverse collections of animals, plants and fossils. In
addition, some collections specialize in particular kinds of organisms- as its
name suggests, the Canadian
National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, focuses on
invertebrates.
Lewthwaite and other scientists recognize
the wealth of information contained in such collections. With her research, she
seeks to determine how Canadian butterflies have shifted their ranges over
space and time because of climate change. She builds on past work by other
biologists in order to better understand the future.
Museums’ collections helped early scientists discover and understand the natural world; now, they provide information on our changing planet through big data research.
Above: One of the 30,000 drawers containing butterfly specimens at the Smithsonian Institute. Each specimen contains a record of when and where they were collected. Photo by Jayme Lewthwaite, used with permission.
Using
Big Data
Big
data refers to large amounts of data samples that can be used to generate mathematical models
and analyze resulting trends. The analyses are vital in exploring global changes
that span extensive spatial and temporal (time) scales.
To carry out her research, Lewthwaite must
first transfer and input 25,000 written specimen records across 130 species of
Canadian butterflies from the Smithsonian Institute into electronic databases.
Each record contains information on where and when an insect was collected.
The information will help her create the
following tools to help her understand and anticipate Canadian butterflies’ ecological
and evolutionary responses into the future.
Species range maps to show the
historical and modern geographic distribution of butterflies across Canada and
the US.
Species Distribution Models that
allow Lewthwaite to visualize how species have expanded or contracted their ranges
during the past century. From this, she will be able to further identify which
species are not adapting well to climate change.
Canadian phylogenetic
trees that detail the evolutionary relationships between butterfly species,
allowing Lewthwaite to identify geographic locations with distinct evolutionary
histories through phylogenetic
diversity and phylogenetic
endemism.
The resulting insights will be key to determining how to best prioritize and protect butterfly species as climate changes.
Above: A complete phylogenetic (evolutionary) tree of all Canadian butterfly species. Colours represent the different butterfly families. Figure by Jayme Lewthwaite, used with permission.
Latest
Findings
Far from the Smithsonian’s extensive butterfly
collections in Washington, DC, Lewthwaite applies her research ideas and
methods at the regional scale in British Columbia.
She uses historical records from the Royal BC Museum and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum as well as
modern records from the citizen science app, eButterfly to explore how interactions
between butterfly species in a given spatial grid have changed over time as
climate has warmed. Combining historical and modern records allows her to
analyze trends within BC without having to conduct extensive field work across
the entire province.
Her research suggests that, as climate warms, species with multiple host plants (generalist species) are adapting well compared to species that rely on only a few host plants for their life cycle (specialist species).
Above: Figures showing the relationship between increasing temperatures and generalist butterfly communities throughout British Columbia. Figures by Jayme Lewthwaite, used with permission.
It also confirms that BC’s Okanagan region has a unique evolutionary
history and diversity. Its hot, sunny, dry climate creates a desert-like
environment that allows organisms like mormon
metalmarks, rattlesnakes and cacti to thrive and, supports a rich, distinct
biodiversity. This unique ecosystem is found nowhere else in Canada, but widespread
urban and agricultural development threatens its integrity. Lewthwaite’s
research aims to provide evidence and solutions for conserving these rare
habitats.
Her early analyses demonstrate how important natural history museums are and how using their collections for big data can help visualize and predict climate effects on biodiversity across large geographical scales.
She says, however, that natural history
museums are typically underfunded and underappreciated resources. Despite the
collections’ rich scientific information, funding and grants for this type of
research are scarce. In addition, gaps in the electronic specimen databases
reduce their accessibility to researchers.
She hopes her work with butterflies will be
used to promote the importance of natural history museums to research and to
communicate the bigger messages of how changing climate is impacting wildlife
and their ecosystems.
For Lewthwaite, answers to big questions
sometimes lie in simple, pinned butterflies.
Full name: Iman Baharmand Major: Biological Sciences Year: 5th (Honours) Supervisor: Dr. Carl Lowenberger
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up? A: At this moment in time, I am captivated by the idea of being a clinical instructor and physician. It seems like a meaningful way of supporting future generations of health professionals while also staying up-to-date with medical knowledge.
Q: How did you get involved in research? A: I had some friends who were involved in research at SFU and they broke the news to me that YES, undergrads can actually contribute to research. My first step was taking BISC 298 (intro to undergraduate research) which is a “for credit” research course that you take under the supervision of a faculty member. Three years later and I have the honour of working on my Honours (lol) in the same research lab.
Q: What are you researching? A: The “leading star” in my project is the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which is the primary carrier of dengue, zika, and chikungunya viruses. I am investigating new ways of delivering gene silencing and modifying constructs to specific tissue and life-stages of this mosquito. The ultimate goal, however, is to decrease the transmission of these debilitating diseases without wiping out entire species from the ecosystem.
Q: What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you? A: My project involves a combination of molecular techniques (gels, sequencing, qPCR), microscopy, and computer work. Some days are unstructured with a lot of reading while other days are tightly scheduled with one protocol after the next.
Q: What are some of your favourite courses that you have taken so far in your degree? A: My top three in no particular order are: BISC 318: Parasitology – Learn about parasites ranging from single-cell protozoa to macroscopic tapeworms. Parasitology features a great mix of ecology, epidemiology, and medical case studies with multiple life-lessons interwoven throughout the course.
BISC 441: Evolution of Health and Disease – Apply the contemporary principles of evolution to topics like reproductive health, senescence, cancer, and infectious diseases. This course offers a new/different lens on many familiar aspects of human life.
SA301: Contemporary Ethnography – As an anthropology minor, my list wouldn’t be complete without this one. An eye-opener about the historical issues with cultural anthropology, as well as, a deep-dive into theoretical and methodological questions of current-day practices.
Q: Favourite science joke or meme from your field? A: Science Twitter at its finest:
Q: Who is your biggest science role-model? A: Professor Eva Harris (UC Berkeley) – her research group takes a multidisciplinary approach to studying dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. She is also the founder of the Sustainable Sciences Institute which works to improve public health in developing countries through building local capacity for infectious diseases research. Prof. Harris is also a MacArthur Fellow, Global Leader for Tomorrow (World Economic Forum), and Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine.
Just this past week, I was accepted to graduate school. Now, I know what you’re thinking: this must be another one of those arrogant blog posts about “FIVE EASY WAYS YOU TOO CAN BE JUST AS AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL AS ME”. I assure you, this is not one of those articles— they annoy me just as much as they do to you, and I doubt anyone has ever became successful because of them.
The reason why I’m writing this article is not to flaunt my successes; quite the opposite. I’m here to tell you about my failures. After being given the privilege to perform research for another two years, I took some time to reflect upon my undergraduate academic career. And quite frankly, I feel it was underwhelming. For example, for every successful research project of mine, I have at least three or four failed projects behind it. And that’s the reality of research — everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to fail way more often than they’re going to succeed.
Of course, academics hardly ever talk about failure. Academia is a rat race (and contain many rat races), and it can be easy for aspiring scientists to feel inferior among the deluge of academic websites and LinkedIn profiles and Facebook posts and CVs, touting the many prestigious graduate school acceptances and journal articles and conference presentations and awards of other students. As it currently stands, this form of peacocking is a necessary evil for a career in academia. But it is still an evil, and I feel it’s important for all of us to remember that failure is part of the process.
So along with my CV of accomplishments, here is my CV of my failures, listed chronologically since high school and almost surely incomplete since I’m writing this from memory. This has been inspired by the CV of failures of academics like Johannes Haushofer. I hope this serves as a helpful reminder for my peers that for the vast majority of us, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, all the time.
(March 2013) Received a participation award at the Sanofi Biogenius Competition for my research project at the Biomedical Research Centre at UBC. I honestly would have preferred that they hadn’t given me anything at all. Like what am I, a twelve year old at a softball tournament?
(November 2013) Received a predicted score of 32 out of 45 for my IB Diploma in high school, which fell short of the 34 points necessary to get a scholarship from SFU. To give some perspective, I self-predicted 38 points.
(December 2014) Didn’t receive the grade I wanted in ECON 103 at SFU that I wanted. Note that at the time, I wanted to go to graduate school in economics, but I gave up on that dream shortly after getting that lackluster grade in microeconomics.
(October 2015) Withdrew from MATH 480W at SFU, leaving a W designation on my transcript. In retrospect, it was quite silly of me to take a 400 level math class when I was in second year.
(November 2015) Failed a job interview for a prestigious mathematics research position with a governmental institution.
(January 2016) Failed to get an NSERC USRA with a machine learning professor at the University of Toronto, whom I had a skype interview with.
(February 2016) Was contacted by another University of Toronto professor to do research with him over the summer, but then was promptly ghosted.
(April 2016) Received a mediocre grade in MATH 320, an important class for graduate school in economics. This really turned me away from economics.
(Summer 2016) Failed experiment after failed experiment in my NSERC USRA at SFU.
(March 2017) Journal sent back my paper with major revisions which were almost impossible to fix.
(Fall 2017) Received the worst grades of my life , which likely will make me noncompetitive for the NSERC CGS-M scholarship.
(Summer 2018) Two more failed projects during my NSERC USRA at SFU.
(October 2018) Contacted two professors at the University of Toronto for the MSc in Computer Science program for Fall 2019, and was promptly ghosted. Was also ghosted by another CS professor at the University of Waterloo. Though, she ended up emailing me back just last week actually, two months after the Waterloo CS application deadline. Oh, bother.
Wow, that was quite the list. But hey, I feel that my failures were just as formative for me as my successes, if not more so. These experiences taught me that even if I fail, I’ll be okay. That I’ll still be alive to fight another day.
So the next time you, fellow scientist, have an inconclusive experiment or a crummy test or a rejected application, remember that there are others who have failed way more than you have, like me!
Name: Deveshi Deveshi Year: 3rd Major: Health Sciences, Life Sciences Stream Supervisor: Dr. Gratien Prefontaine
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up? A: I want to work in the healthcare system, preferably in medicine as a physician.
Q: How did you get involved in research? A: Initially, I became interested in research by learning about the various research projects done in different faculties at SFU, especially in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Getting involved in research seemed as a great learning experience through which I could learn as well as apply my knowledge. So in my second year, I decided to contact various researchers to apply for research positions. However, I had very limited experience in working in a lab setting and most research projects did not have positions open so I didn’t get much response. Thankfully, Dr. Prefontaine invited me to join his Epigenetics Lab and so I got a summer USRA to conduct research in his lab.
Q: What are you researching? A: Dr. Prefontaine’s Lab focuses on the role of SmcHD1, an epigenetic chromatin remodeling protein, in gene expression and control. Over the Summer semester, I read various research papers on the topic and worked on creating different BAC plasmids with the SmcHD1 gene insert in order to use the Baculovirus Expression System which is a method used to produce recombinant baculovirus for protein expression.
Q: What’s your favourite course that you have taken so far in your degree? A: BISC 202 with Dr. Fitzpatrick! That course really fascinated me. Dr. Fitzpatrick made the course even more engaging.
Q: What scares you the most in the lab or the field? A: We had limited amount of the gene of focus so various procedures and experiments had to be done quite carefully and precisely. Initially, that was a bit scary but you learn as you go!
Q: How did you get involved in research? A: Initially, I became interested in research by learning about the various research projects done in different faculties at SFU, especially in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Getting involved in research seemed as a great learning experience through which I could learn as well as apply my knowledge. So in my second year, I decided to contact various researchers to apply for research positions. However, I had very limited experience in working in a lab setting and most research projects did not have positions open so I didn’t get much response. Thankfully, Dr. Prefontaine invited me to join his Epigenetics Lab and so I got a summer USRA to conduct research in his lab.
Q: What are you researching? A: Dr. Prefontaine’s Lab focuses on the role of SmcHD1, an epigenetic chromatin remodeling protein, in gene expression and control. Over the Summer semester, I read various research papers on the topic and worked on creating different BAC plasmids with the SmcHD1 gene insert in order to use the Baculovirus Expression System which is a method used to produce recombinant baculovirus for protein expression.
Q: What’s your favourite course that you have taken so far in your degree? A: BISC 202 with Dr. Fitzpatrick! That course really fascinated me. Dr. Fitzpatrick made the course even more engaging.
Q: What scares you the most in the lab or the field? A: We had limited amount of the gene of focus so various procedures and experiments had to be done quite carefully and precisely. Initially, that was a bit scary but you learn as you go!
I recently finished writing my honours thesis for my Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics. I proved that a computational problem arising in evolutionary biology is NP-hard and APX-hard, i.e. very hard to solve (probably), which was pretty cool. Along with my proofs, I’m also required to write a page of acknowledgements, thanking the people who’ve helped me along the way.
This got me thinking: as much as mathematics is beautiful and powerful, it was not a theorem that left the biggest impact on me these last four years, but two simple acts of compassion and mentorship. So here is what I wrote, slightly abridged to leave out mentions of my family and my friends, who are all very much important people, but not the focus of this post.
Acknowledgements
Many people can describe a memory that demarks their life into two distinct time periods: before and after. It may be an accomplishment, such as an academic degree or a first job, or something solemn, like the passing of a relative. For me, this defining memory is something perhaps more nerdy. But it’s significant to me nonetheless.
My memory is actually the summer of 2016, when I worked with the two of you on your various research projects. Perhaps it was not obvious at the time, but prior to that research term, I struggled with self-confidence. I had a hard time believing that I would be able to contribute much, or amount to anything. I made many mistakes that summer. But you two, you were patient and kind, but most importantly, you showed me discipline and mentorship. Because of you two, I now truly believe in my own ideas and that I do have the means to instigate positive change. Not only academically, but in all parts of my life.
I came to university wanting to become a professor, to gain the skills necessary to not only free myself from the shackles of my socioeconomic context, but to help others do the same as well. These shackles which were brought on by colonialism, duress, greed, the desire of men to have overwhelming power over others.
Four years later, I’m no more sure of whether I’ll be able to accomplish this goal. But you, my mentors, you’ve taught me a lesson more valuable than any of the theorems or algorithms I learned in class:
It doesn’t matter.
You two gave me the gift of self-confidence, the knowledge and the drive to build a meaningful future for myself and others, regardless of whether academia has a place for me. This is the most valuable lesson I’ve learned in university.
Full name: Quratulain Qureshi Year: Fourth Major: Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Supervisor: Dr. Ralph Pantophlet
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up? A: I hope to enter the field of medicine, either clinical or experimental. I have always enjoyed learning about pathology and hope to pursue it as part of my career.
Q: How did you get involved in research? A: Very early into my degree, I became fascinated by all the scientific research taking place at SFU and availed every opportunity to attend research seminars and thesis defenses to learn more. During my first year, I joined the Injury Prevention and Mobility Lab as a volunteer where we analyzed the biomechanics of fall events in older adults. I then took MBB322 and became exposed to and developed an interest in immunology topics. I did some research on SFU’s Immunology group and was fascinated with the research being done in the Pantophlet Lab. Seeing an opening, I decided to apply, and I was thrilled when I got an interview and a subsequent internship.
Q: What are you researching? A: Research in our lab involves HIV-1 vaccine immunology and molecular vaccine design. Historically, vaccines modeled after conserved components of an infectious agent have proven to be an effective way of priming the individual’s immune system with the right tools in case of an infection. Finding these components for HIV has been a challenge due to the high mutation rate of the virus. Our lab has identified a sugar molecule (glycan) on the viral surface that exhibits a lower level of variability and is a potential candidate. My project involves probing molecules designed to mimic this glycan for binding affinity using a class of antibodies that elicits a neutralizing effect for the HIV virus. I am also studying the efficacy of these mimetics when model organisms are immunized with them.
Q: What is a typical “day in the life” in the lab for you? A: It depends on the day, most days I perform binding assays using ELISAs or Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). These experiments usually take some time and have long incubations, so I try to keep myself organized and plan my day first thing when I come in (I realized how important this step is the hard way). I also carry out protein purifications using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and perform various recombinant DNA techniques.
Q: What’s your favorite course that you have taken so far in your degree? A: My favorite course so far has been MBB309W. It was my first Biochemistry Lab experience. I loved being able to perform the techniques we learned about in textbooks and it was always thrilling to analyze data after lab to see if our hours of work yielded good results.
Q: Favorite science joke or meme from your field?
Q: What scares you the most in the lab or the field? A: Centrifuges. I still check multiple times to make sure everything is balanced.
SFU Science Undergraduate Research Journal 