01 December 2009

Biochemistry celebrates 2009 with its Year-End Party

Once again, the Department celebrated the holiday season with its year-end party at Hart House. Music from the 50s to 90s, great food and excellent company provided a terrific way to see out the final days of 2009.

Click here to see some photos of the party.

Carrie Harber, Vicki Ilgacs and Brenda Bradshaw
show off their considerable Rock Band talents at the
Year-End Party at Hart House.

02 December 2009

Biology without bias: new tools for probing biological systems

Dr. Jonathan Weissman, Professor in the Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology University of California at San Francisco and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, presented the above lecture in our George Connell Seminar Series.

After his seminar,Jonathan Weissman (left) continues
some yeast experiments with host David Williams

26 August 2009

Biochemistry Baseball Team Wraps up a Great Season!

Beautiful sunshine greeted the Biochemistry baseball team - The Mutants - for their final game of the season against the "Internationals". Improving continuously throughout the summer under the astute coaching of co-captains, Steve Doyle and Sian Patterson, the Mutants closed out the season with a 25-13 romp, bringing their average to a respectable .500 for the summer.

An unusual injury-prone season (only one 911 call though) was balanced by very enjoyable post-game sessions at O'Grady's. Spring training for the 2010 season starts next June - all faculty, staff, students and post-docs are welcome to join in!

The Mighty Mutants!
(click here for a full-sized team photo)

25 August 2009

Biochemistry Annual Golf Day

Golf Day was held this year at Dentonia Golf Course in Toronto, a tricky par 3 course with lots of blind fairways, hills, bowls and unexpected hazards. Five teams composed of both experts and beginners played a fun "best ball" format on what turned out to be a perfect day for golf - beautiful sunshine and calm winds.

At the end of the day, age prevailed with three profs taking top spot (aren't they supposed to be too busy for this game??).

Click here for some photos of Golf Day.

Golf Day 2009

17 June 2009

Fifth Annual Benjamin Schachter Memorial Lecture

The Biochemistry Grad Students Union invited back alumnus Michel Dumontier for the 5th annual Benjamin Schachter Memorial Lectureship. Michel's talk was entitled "What funding? Overcoming challenges in building a multi- and inter-disciplinary research program in Canada".

Michel's return to the Department of Biochemistry came with great interest as he had an exciting and rapid career since his Ph.D. defense. Following only a single year as a post doctoral fellow, he is currently an assistant professor at Carleton University. Graduating in 2002, Michel brought back memories of the ups and downs of graduate life and the the changes that he was vital in implementing, including the BGSU website and the idea of Research Day at the Old Mill. His advice to current graduate students was to pursue interesting research, develop practical skills, improve communication skills, to track your own progress and the most obvious, to publish! Michel stressed the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to research and life in general, getting involved and collaborating on innovative projects and searching for novel ideas to stand out from the rest.Michel is currently developing technologies to facilitate the search and integration of biochemical data accessible via the internet.

From 1934-1939 Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Schachter worked in the Department of Biochemistry conducting research on female sex hormones, isolating and identifying conjugated oestrone sulphate (Premarin).To honour Benny Schachter's memory, a donation was made to the Department by his family. The funds are being used to support an annual lectureship in his memory. The BGSU and graduate students select and host the speaker who is a graduate from our Department.

From left, Benjamin Schachter's daughter Bonnie Druxerman and son Dan Schachter, Chair Reinhart Reithmeier, Michel Dumontier and BGSU President Eden Fussner

26 May 2009

Dept. of Biochemistry Annual Research Day

The beautiful Old Mill Inn, Toronto was the setting for this year's Annual Research Day. Over 200 participants, a record number of posters, superb student and faculty talks, the ever-popular Theo Hofmann Lecture and delicious food combined to make a very successful Research Day.

Click to see some photos of Research Day.

Enjoying the Theo Hofmann lecture by Hans Vogel during the 2009 Biochemistry Research Day at the Old Mill Inn, Toronto

06 May 2009

Roles for Molecular Chaperones in Protein Misfolding Disease

Dr. Doug Cyr, Dept of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, presented the above lecture in our George Connell Seminar Series.

Doug Cyr (left) relaxes after his seminar
with Cliff Lingwood and host David Williams

29 April 2009

Optimization of folding in vivo

Dr. James Bardwell, HHMI and Dept of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan, presented the above lecture in our George Connell Seminar Series.

James Bardwell describes some of the finer points
of his work with graduate students after the seminar

20 February 2009

Joint Biochemistry and Immunology Ski Day

Despite the outcome of the Biochemistry-Immunology challenge baseball match (see September 18, 2008 entry), we invited our innate and adaptive colleagues to put the FACS machines on standby for a day and join us at Blue Mountain in Collingwood for a terrific day of skiing (and après-skiing).

It was a cold and windy day but the snow was excellent and no one seemed to mind a day away from the lab!

For some photos of the day click here.

A happy group of biochemists and
immunologists gather at the end of Ski Day

17 January 2009

Dept. of Biochemistry Graduate Open House

This year, the annual Open House welcomed attendees from 12 different universities. Prospective students learned about the admissions process, had many opportunities to discuss graduate life over lunch and dinner, and toured research facilities both on campus and in hospital research institutes.

Click here to see more photos.

John Glover hosts student tours of
his lab during Open House