Undergraduate Research Opportunities
My research program seeks to determine the molecular mechanisms that enable cells to dynamically alter their shape and surface adhesion properties in response to specific developmental or environmental cues. Understanding the roles played by genes involved in cell shape change and adhesion is generally important to developing our knowledge of eucaryotic cell functions and cell-cell interactions in processes such as neurite outgrowth and gastrulation, for example.
The primary organism we use in our studies is the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as yeast cells offer the dual advantage of powerful genetic approaches and equally powerful cell biological approaches to understanding cell signaling and cytoskeletal remodelling and microbial adhesion mechanisms. Our projects generally involve a mixture of molecular and cell biological techniques such as plasmid cloning, PCR, cell fractionation and protein purification, and fluorescence or electron microscopy. We also make use genetic analyses whenever possible.
Restrictions: It is highly preferable that students be prepared to dedicate a minimum of two semesters to their research experience.