Stephen did his bachelors and doctoral studies at the University of Toronto under the direction of Jeremy Carver and did postdoctoral training at Harvard University with Profs. Martin Karplus (Nobel Prize, chemistry, 2013) and Stuart Schreiber. He trained principally as a biophysical chemist, studying structures of carbohydrate-protein and protein-protein complexes, mechanisms of protein folding and protein chemistry in general. At the heart of all of his present work, protein chemistry remains central, but he has developed an eclectic and diverse research program aimed at studying the organization and dynamics of biochemical networks in living cells and how these networks compute cell-fate decisions.
Jacqueline is responsible to perform PCA large-scale robotized screenings and to monitor yeast, bacterial and plasmid collections. She trains new students and post-doctoral fellows and is actively involved in several projects of the lab. She joined the lab in 2010 after completing a Master of Science in Biology at Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada. Jacqueline also holds a Bachelor Degree in Microbiology and Immulogy from the same university and has more than 6 years of experience in research laboratories.
Philippe Garneau
Holding the fort while Jacqueline is away on maternity leave, Philippe Garneau is responsible to perform PCA large-scale robotized screenings and to monitor yeast, bacterial and plasmid collections. He is also involved in setting up large-scale screens involving mammalian cells. Philippe joined the lab in 2017 and previously had 18 years of lab experience in, among other topics, molecular microbiology, cancer research and bioinformatics. He holds a Master’s degree in Microbiology from Université Laval.
Shelly's research is focused on the relationship of the amino acid sequences in proteins to their functional and physical behavior. In particular, she focuses on intrinsically disordered and low complexity regions. She uses a variety of computational techniques including disorder and complexity prediction, amino acid composition analysis, motif analysis and machine learning. Shelly came to the lab in 2016, after receiving her Ph.D in Molecular Medicine from the University of South Florida, Florida, USA.
LP currently works on revealing the ultrafast dynamics of phosphorylation events involved in the hyperosmolar glycerol response in budding yeast. His main research interest is to further comprehend how the functional and nonfunctional phosphorylation events in this response can be separated based on biophysical and evolutionary concepts. He also works on understanding the dynamic behaviour and quaternary structure of proteins Sla1 and Sla2, two major players involved in clathrin mediated endocytosis, a cellular morphological process highly regulated by the yeast osmotic response. LP joined the Michnick lab in 2010 after he completed a Master of Science in Biology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
Seckin Sinan Isik (PhD)
Sinan's research interest embodies how memory functions through PolyQ/N proteins domain. He would like to characterize this dynamic nature of interactions through the usage of custom made image processing algorithm, imaging acquisition techniques such as Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH), Protein-Fragment Complementation assay (PCA), mutagenesis and other complementing assays. He has joined the lab in 2012 after completing his Master of Science in Optical Technologies from the University of Nurnberg-Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany. He also holds a bachelor degree in Physics from the University of Bath, Bath, England
Lidice Gonzalez (PhD)
Lidice is studying the molecular mechanisms implicated in the localization of the INO1 locus at the nuclear periphery upon activation. Several inducible genes in yeast, including INO1, relocalize from the nucleoplasm to the nuclear envelope when activated in a process suggested to be important for the efficiency of gene expression. However, the mechanism by which relocalization occurs and how this affects INO1 gene transcription remains unknown. Lidice joined the lab in May 2015 after completing her Master of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Havana, Cuba. She also holds a Bachelor degree in Microbiology from the same university..
Tina is currently interested in the mechanisms of peroxisome matrix protein import. The proteins Pex5 and Pex13, which are parts of the peroxisome protein import system, contain prion-like domains that might be involved in matrix protein import. She is currently utilizing techniques such as CRISPR in yeast to alter the prion-like domains of PEX5 and PEX13. Tina joined the lab in May 2017 as a Co-op student from the University of British Columbia. She is in the midst of completing a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Oceanography from UBC.
