Dr. Roy Duncan, Microbiology & Immunology
$11,588 to replace essential cell-culture equipment
Dr. Roy Duncan received funding to replace aging cell-culture equipment that is essential to his study of cell-to-cell fusion, the merging of two or more cells. While cellular fusion is not well understood, new evidence suggests that it plays an important role in cancer metastasis, viral infection and many other biological processes. Dr. Duncan and his team are investigating the role that a special class of proteins known as ‘FAST proteins’ plays in cellular fusion. They aim to identify the various factors that aid the fusion process and determine how these work together to drive the spread of cancer.
Dr. James Fawcett, Pharmacology and Surgery
$30,000 for laser equipment to enhance live-cell imaging capacities
Dr. James Fawcett spearheaded the application to receive a sophisticated laser that dramatically enhances the capabilities of a recently purchased confocal microscope. The new laser enables investigators to track the activities of as many as three proteins at once in a living cell over extended periods of time. A Canada Research Chair in Brain Repair, Dr. Fawcett will use the equipment to study how synapses are formed in the developing nervous system. His findings will ultimately shed light on potential strategies for repairing nervous system damage caused by injury and disease. Co-applicant Dr. Victor Rafuse will use the equipment to study the role of certain proteins in the regulation of motor neuron axon growth, while Dr. Stefan Krueger will use it to understand the formation and remodeling of cortical synapses during development. His work will shed light on the origins of such disorders as autism.
Dr. Evgeny Pavlov, Physiology & Biophysics
$29,876 for cell culture and other equipment needed to establish a new laboratory
Experiments with cultured cells are the cornerstone of Dr. Pavlov’s research program, which is
investigating the intracellular events that lead to cell death in the event of a heart attack or stroke. He and his team aim to shed light on the role of a particular process involving the mitochondria that plays a major role in ischemic cell death. Dr. Pavlov hopes that his findings will point to new targets for therapies that could be used to prevent the death of cells in the heart and brain—and thus to prevent death and limit disability caused by heart attack and stroke.
Dr. Kazue Semba, Anatomy & Neurobiology
$14,449 for equipment used in sleep-restriction studies
Dr. Kazue Semba and collaborators Dr. Benjamin Rusak, Dr. Gail Eskes and Dr. Samuel Deurveilher are using the new equipment to study the physiological, cognitive and cellular effects of chronic sleep loss. In their initial studies, they are looking at how female sex hormones affect the body’s response to sleep loss and the ability to recover from lost sleep. This is because women are more likely than men to experience sleep problems and these are often related to the menstrual cycle and menopause. The researchers’ findings will have inform the development of strategies for improving quality of sleep—and quality of life—for women with sleep problems
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