News - What's happening in our lab?
Happy Holidays!
2020 has been quite the year!
SBG hopes your holidays are full of happiness and laughter. May
all your wishes come true, and the joy of the holidays be felt all
through 2021.
We can't wait to see everyone again and embark on wonderful new
adventures in the new year!
December
In Royal Society of Chemistry's final issue of Metallomics this
year, we are proud to announce that Adyn's most recent paper is
featured with our artwork on the inside front cover.
For some cozy fireside reading, check out Adyn's work here!
Go Fred!
Our hibiscus has always been an eccentric individual marching to the beat of his own drum.
The sun takes a step back, the summer's chlorophyll departs, and Fred finally flowers - reminding us that success can happen at any time (even as the first frost approaches).
While it's true that the construction of a palace takes more time than an ordinary building, we do welcome plant insight to encourage an earlier bloom - please tweet us @MJStillmanGroup if you have any tips. Fred responds well to gentle threats sometimes.
Deep within the chemistry building
As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, SBG dives deeper into
uncharted waters to try and make a difference. Check out our new
article on the Western Science website here.
September
The new school year looks different this time! Pictured here are 30
students in a large lecture room usually used for nearly 400
students. This is Martin's Chem 2211 Metals in Life class (luckily
we are able to preserve some sense of normalcy here). On another note, metal talk continues past campus on the Western Science podcast. Check out Martin's feature here to learn how metals heal our world (they're not just precious on Lord of the Rings).
Last but not least, Elyse Hudson, our summer research student, joins us for her 4th year project! She will be working on copper binding to MT using ESI-MS methods. Welcome, Elyse! We are so happy to have you back with us!
New Cary60
It is mid-August and while the rest of the world seems to be on pause, SBG charges forward with our research and adds a powerful new tool to our arsenal!
Here Natalie and Adyn assemble the new Cary 60 spectrometer... Are you sure that piece goes there Adyn? ;)
Just another regular day
Adyn not only does protein work but also makes sure our equipment is
healthy. Here she rescues the disruptor.
National geographic better come quick
Hummingbirds drop by our office as we celebrate the end of
summer.
The first guest was actually spotted by Elyse!
Bird watch count so far:
Elyse - 1
More Reasons to Celebrate
HAPPY AUGUST EVERYBODY! We have many exciting announcements this
month! First and foremost - Daisy's Metallothionein
review was just accepted by Comprehensive Coordination
Chemistry Vol. 3 - this was a massive, tough job but DLW always
finds a way to get things done - and done well. CONGRATULATIONS
Dr. Daisy Wong!!!!! (Contact
us if you are interested in reading it but don't have access - we
will be happy to send you a copy of our newest book chapter!)
Just when we think August cannot be going any better, "Interplay
between carbonic anhydrases and metallothioneins: structural
control of metalation" has been accepted by the
International Journal of Molecular Sciences - this article is part
of the "Carbonic Anhydrase and Biomarker Research 2020" special
issue. Great job everybody!
Be sure to check out our Publications
page to read up on our work, and keep up with us on Twitter (@MJStillmangroup)
for fun facts on #MetallothioneinMondays!
July Fun
Group photo during extraordinary times.
Alice visits to talk DFT calculations and check on Fred the
Hibiscus (who is being outshined by the Bougainvillea).
We catch up, discuss pop culture, Animal Crossing gaming
strategies and take a breath of fresh air as our research strolls
along. #safetyfirst
Top: Daisy, Alice, Martin, Adyn
Bottom: Amelia, Elyse, Natalie
Congratulations Adyn!
For the first time in its history, the Southern Ontario
Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference was held virtually from
mid-June to early July. The SOUSCC
conference is an annual event for undergrads to present their
research projects.
It gives us great pleasure to announce that Adyn won the
Outstanding Oral Presentation Award in the category of Biological
and Medicinal Chemistry! Her presentation can be found here.
Adyn, we are so proud of you - your work has always been
exceptional and it is an honor that the best of the best is
amongst our midst!
To keep up with Adyn and the group's research, head over to
Twitter: @MJStillmangroup
@adynmelenbacher
June Wrap-Up
As the summer heat hits, the group gathers in Martin's garden for
a barbecue dinner. The coffee fiends test out the Nespresso
machine to jumpstart the night.
Throughout the month, we make excellent progress with our papers.
The papers on work with Prof. Zhifeng Ding and Angel Zhang are
close to being accepted, and Adyn's work on the French copper
peptide has just been submitted.
Summer research is off to a strong start and we are ready to keep
the momentum going!
In the photo: Martin, Daisy, Amelia, Adyn, Elyse, Natalie
June 2020
Our labs have re-opened and summer research is back in full
swing!
It is the boss' birthday and the team came together to organize a
little surprise. It is great to be in each other's company again
and this will be the first of many overdue celebrations.
We continue to work hard on our COVID-19 research and operate with
safety measures in place.
May 2020
Great news! We were awarded the Western Research Catalyst Grant to help fund our COVID-19 work (click here to read more about our accomplishment - it was truly a team effort)!
We begin our new research with health precautions and physical distancing measures in place to ensure the safety of our people and the community. Our essential research focuses on whether Zinc crosslinking in ACE2 controls SARS-CoV-2 spike binding.
Photo on left shows how Zn crosslinks two helices (H1 and H2) in the human ACE2 receptor that binds the spike protein of corona virus.
Last but not least, we also welcome Elyse Hudson as our 2020 USRA summer research student. She will be working on Bi3+ chemistry, following up Anne-Lena Ostertag's work.
In the photo is Elyse, Adyn and Daisy.
April 2020
Our lab has been shut down in response to physical isolation. (However, we are still hard at work! We stay connected through Zoom meetings and chat through WhatsApp.)
Fall/Winter Term 2019-2020
Anne-Lena Ostertag (completes her MSc work in January and
returned to Germany.
During the last year, we enjoyed the research of four 4th year
students: Adyn on copper MT, Amelia (moonlighting from the
Physiology and Pharmacology programme!) on our first forays into
MT3 metallation properties, Alice Jin on design of super dyes for
solar cells (continuing Angel's work) and finally Jason Zhang who
was following up Anne-Lena Ostertag's Bi3+ work.
Daisy and Natalie have also been busy. Natalie has developed work
initially carried out by Kelly Rigby (now Kelly Duncan) for her
PhD. Natalie's recent stopped flow kinetics studies have opened up
new research areas that ask questions about metal-induced folding
and the form of the apo-MT that binds the metals.
Adyn Melenbacher, Amelia Yuan and Natalie Korkola have all been awarded NSERC graduate scholarships. That's 3 for 3! They join Dr. Daisy Wong, Ms. Elyse Hudson and Alice Jin for our summer research.
In the photo (left to right): Anne-Lena, Natalie, Martin, Adyn
May 2019
Daisy Wong was awarded her PhD in May 2019, just before CanBIC-7! We were delighted that the CanBIC-7 Plenary Lecturer, Professor Angela Casini, also kindly performed the duties of External Examiner. CanBIC-7 was a great success! Without exception, we were persuaded to run CanBIC-8 with the team of Zhifeng Ding, John Dawson and Nagao Kobayashi. Very luckily, it is scheduled for May 2021.