Dec 10 2010

Another Terrific Year-End Party brings 2010 to a close

The Department gathered once again at Hart House to enjoy good food and drink, the company of great colleagues as well as our ever-popular Biochemistry Idol competition.

Click here to see some photos of the party

Enjoying the entertainment at the Year-End Party

October 20 2010

The mosaic structure of ATP synthase

Prof. Sir John E. Walker of the Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit Cambridge, UK, presented the above lecture in our George Connell Seminar Series.

John Walker (right) and host John Rubinstein
relax at a wine and cheese reception following the seminar.

September 07 2010

Victorious Mutants!

September marks the end of summer baseball season for the Departmental baseball team "They Might be Mutants".

This year the Mutants enjoyed a glorious season with a WINNING!!! record (0.562) and, most importantly, a victory in the 2nd Annual Biochemistry-Immunology Challenge Match held September 7th. In our inaugural match against Immunology the Mutants were soundly trounced, so a victory this year was especially sweet.

For a few photos of the match, click here.

The Mighty Mutants
September, 2010
(click here for a hi-res photo)

30 June 2010

Tenure for Angus McQuibban!!

We were delighted to learn that President Naylor approved the awarding of tenure to Professor Angus McQuibban effective July 1, 2010.

To celebrate the event, the Department gathered for champagne, cake and many congratulations.

Well done Angus!

(And that does not mean that Fridays are now spent on the golf course!)

Although tenure was a near-certain outcome, both Chair Reinhart Reithmeier and Angus seem to be expressing their relief
(mouse-over for a view of the delcious "tenure cake")

24 June 2010

Annual Biochemistry Golf Day

This year our Golf Day was held at the very challenging Don Valley Course, a fiendish collection of narrow fairways, nasty bunkers and water hazards and ball-swallowing undergrowth.

Despite the challenges, the warm sunny day and excellent company made for a wonderful day of golf.

Click here for some photos of Golf Day

Celebrating another fun-filled Golf Day and the inauguration
of our new trophy, the Biochemistry Cup, won this year by the team of Poulsen, Tulumello, Moraes and Folinas

16 June 2010

Annelise Jorgensen celebrates retirement

After 32 years of dedicated service to the University, Professor Annelise Jorgensen announced that she will retire effective June 30, 2010.

Annelise joined the Biochemistry Department in 2002 after many years as a member of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy.She revitalized our undergraduate Cell Biology course offerings and, together with Drs. McQuibban and Siu, developed our current BCH445 (Organelles and Cell Function) and BCH446 (Membrane Dynamics of the Cell Surface) courses.

Annelise may be retiring but she keeps her scientific interests alive. She is currently working on a web-based Histology Atlas as a resource for faculty and students at U. of T. It is comprised of images collected over 60 years by the Division of Histology. She will also continue to teach in our Seminars to Medical Students.

Colleagues of Annelise joined her in a celebratory dinner on June 16th in Toronto.

Annelise is seen here toasting retirement with her husband
Bo-Yee Ngan and colleagues Reinhart Reithmeier and Liliana Attisano

10 June 2010

Sixth Annual Benjamin Schachter Memorial Lecture

The Biochemistry Grad Students Union invited back alumnus Fraser Wright for the 6th annual Benjamin Schachter Memorial Lectureship. Fraser's talk was entitled "From Academia to Industry, and Back: One Biochemist's Adventures".

Fraser discussed how his career took many twists and turns along the way, following various industrial and academic opportunities as they presented themselves. Both environments contributed to learning about the immunological challenges facing viral-mediated gene therapy, ultimately culminating in recent success in treating blindness associated with Leber's Congenital Amaurosis which has a defect in the RPE65 gene.

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.

Benjamin Schachter's daughter Bonnie Druxerman and son Dan Schachter flank Chair Reinhart Reithmeier, Fraser Wright (centre) and Fraser's PhD Co-Supervisor David Isenman

27 May 2010

Dept. of Biochemistry Annual Research Day

Once again, our Annual Research Day was held at the beautiful Old Mill Inn, Toronto.

What's not to love? An opportunity to bring together over 200 members of the Department in a congenial setting with wonderful food, terrific student and faculty talks, the Theo Hofmann Lecture and a record number of posters highlighting the breadth of our research efforts. What a great day!

Click to see some photos of Research Day

Enjoying rows upon rows of great science at Research Day

19 May 2010

Marian Packham publishes new biography of Fraser Mustard

Excerpt from News @ the University of Toronto by Elaine Smith

The launch of a new biography of Dr. Fraser Mustard, Connections and Careers, at the Donnelly Centre became an occasion for former colleagues to both praise and gently roast the celebrated biomedical researcher and agent for societal change. The biography, written by retired University Professor Marian Packham, focuses on the U of T medical school graduate's ability to achieve results, no matter to which field he applied his talents.

Mustard's list of accomplishments is a lengthy one and includes:
• Being a founding member of McMaster University's Faculty of Medicine (1966);
• Serving as founding president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) (1982);
• Serving as co-chair of a 1999 Ontario government report on early learning, The Early Years Study - Reversing the Real Brain Drain, a study that led to the establishment of Ontario Early Years Centres.
• Named as one of U of T's 10 Giants of Biomedical Science

"Fraser Mustard is a national treasure and a giant in every sense of the word," said President David Naylor. "He has been a sterling success as a biomedical scientist, trans-disciplinary scholar, builder of innovative academic institutions and world-class research networks, and a visionary in health and social policy."

In the laboratory, Mustard was equally accomplished. Among the studies for which he, Packham and other research team members are remembered is an investigation of the inhibitory effect of aspirin on blood platelet aggregation and a demonstration that platelet aggregation could lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Mustard praised Packham for the extensive research that led to the new biography and his colleagues for making his work possible. "What Marian has done is write a marvelous record of what you all have done for me."

Fraser Mustard

Marian Packham

05 March 2010

David Williams honoured for 25 Years of Service

Dr. David Williams, Professor Dept. of Biochemistry, was honoured by the University for 25 years of dedicated service.

The award was presented in a ceremony at Hart House on March 5th by University President, Dr. David Naylor.

The 25 year service award normally consists of a gold lapel pin but the University departed with tradition this year and created a certificate mounted behind an elegant 0.5 kg plexiglass block - leaving David to ponder how to mount it on his lapel.

David Naylor (left) presents the
25 year service award to David Williams.

03 March 2010

Cleaning up the mess: transport of hydrophobic compounds across the bacterial outer membrane

Dr. Bert Van den Berg, Program in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass., presented the above lecture in our George Connell Seminar Series.

Bert Van den Berg (right) relaxes after
his seminar with host Trevor Moraes

10 February 2010

Beyond the double helix: reading and writing the histone code

Dr. David Allis was invited by the Biochemistry Graduate Student Union to give the above-named seminar in the 2010 George Connell Lecture series. Dr. Allis started his research program in 1981 at the Baylor College of Medicine. Currently, he is the Joy and Jack Fishman Professor and head of the laboratory of chromatin biology at the Rockefeller University.

His arrival was much anticipated as evidenced by the packed house for his lecture on histone 3.3 and its role in epigenetics. During lunch, the students were told stories of his initial struggles in the histone field when chromatin wasn't "sexy" and how the situation has turned 180 degrees. He also gave some sage advice about ordering beer in Australia. "Never ask for a glass, ask for a schooner." After a busy day and a half of visiting with U of T faculty, Dr. Allis was escorted to Union Station where he was headed to London to give a lecture at the University of Western Ontario. People can't get enough of epigenetics!

BGSU host Reagan Ching with David Allis (centre)
along with devoted histone fan and Associate Vice-President, Research, Peter Lewis