Category: Congrats

Congrats

Yu defends his PhD

Today, Yu Zhu successfully defended his PhD thesis “Ubiquitin-mediated control of cell wall signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana” Yu’s thesis investigated the how protein ubiquitination plays a role in cell wall signaling. He discovered ubiquitin-mediated control of two different components of cell wall signaling, linking protein ubiquitination to cell wall synthesis and hormone transport. Special thanks to his external examiner, Prof. Chris Staiger Purdue University. Watch this space for Yu’s upcoming publications. Congratulations, Dr. Zhu!

Congrats

Natalie wins CSPB Ragai Ibrahim Award

McFarLab PhD graduate, Dr. Natalie Hoffmann, has been awarded the Ragai Ibrahim Award from the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists for the best student paper for her work in the McFarLab that was also featured on the cover of Developmental Cell:

Hoffmann, N., and McFarlane, H.E.# (2024) Xyloglucan side chains enable polysaccharide secretion to the plant cell wall. Developmental Cell, 59: 2609-2625.

DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2024.06.006

Congrats, Lab Updates

Welcome back Stella

Undergraduate Stella Chen is back in the McFarLab, this time with the support of a highly-competitive Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Society of Plant Biologists “Assessing Arabidopsis cell wall mutants for intracellular aggregations via confocal and transmission electron microscopy”. The award provides Sella with a research stipend, plus an ASPB membership and a stipend to present her summer research at Plant Biology 2026.

Congrats

Heather wins CSMB New Investigator Award

From the CSMB Website: “The Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB) New Investigator Award was established by the Society to recognize and support the next generation of scientists in Canada. The award is given on the basis of (i) excellence in research and (ii) demonstration of leadership.”

Read more about the award on the CSMB website, the Department of Cell & Systems Biology news, or on the UofT Celebrates page.

Congrats

Heather wins the Dorothy Shoichet Award

Heather has been awarded the Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence. From the UofT website: “Professor Molly Shoichet created The Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence in honour of her mother, an honorary degree recipient. This fund provides teaching-release-time funds to pre-tenure/early-tenured female professors in any of the physical or life sciences, computer sciences, statistical sciences or mathematics within the Faculty of Arts & Science.”

Read more on the Department of Cell & Systems Biology page, the Faculty of Arts & Science webpage or on the UofT Celebrates page.

Congrats, Lab Updates

Eduardo defends his PhD

Today, Eduardo Ramirez Rodriguez successfully defended his PhD thesis “Decoding the signals that shape plant cell walls” Eduardo’s thesis investigated changes to the phosphoproteome that are induced by cell wall signaling and characterized an intracellular kinase that acts in a phosphorelay to receive and then transmit cell wall signals. Eduardo gave a fantastic presentation to a standing-room-only crowd of supporters from the department. Special thanks to his external examiner, Prof. R. Glen Uhrig, from the University of Alberta. Congratulations, Dr. Ramirez Rodriguez!