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!
Category: Congrats
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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.
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Welcome Callum
Callum Hayes joins the McFarLab this week as a visiting PhD student from Prof. Mike Haydon’s group at the University of Melbourne. Callum won a RN Robertson scholarship from Australian Society of Plant Scientists to support his travel, and the collaboration between the Haydon Lab and the McFarLab is supported by an NSERC Alliance International Catalyst Grant. Welcome, Callum!
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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.
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Eskandar defends his MSc
Today, Eskandar Mohammad successfully defended his MSc PhD thesis. Eski’s project examined the interplay between pectin status and cell expansion by characterising a novel Arabidopsis mutant with serious cell expansion defects. Congratulations, Eskandar!
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Heather at the CSMB meeting
This week Heather is 68th Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB) in conjunction with the 4th Biennial Conference for Proteostasis Researchers in Canada, Eh (PRinCE), hosted by the University of Ottawa.
Heather will give a plenary talk on May 27 to accept the CSMB New Investigator Award.
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Rowan wins NSERC CGS-D
PhD student Rowan Brookman has been awarded a prestigious NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship at the doctoral level. Congratulations, Rowan!
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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.
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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.
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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!