5 new BSc students join the lab today:
Olivia Boyle, Stella Chen, and Anastasija Petrovic have take up work-study positions.
Fayeza Azad returns to the lab for a CSB499 project working Fabrizio on cross-talk of cell will signaling with other pathways.
Aliya Zulaikha Mohd Zamri starts a CSB498 project working with Jordan on screening for cell wall signaling mutants.
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!
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.
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!
2 new BSc students join the lab today:
Kie Kan Nie and Olivia Boyle have take up work-study positions.
Stella Chen will rejoin the lab later in the summer with the support of her ASPB-SURF award.
Today, the McFarLab welcomes new postdoc, Dr. Eduardo Ramirez Rodriguez. Eduardo earned his BSc at Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, then his Masters of Biotechnology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, then his PhD at the University of Toronto. He will be funded by Heather’s Canada Research Chair to study molecular mechanisms of cell wall signal transduction.
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!
Today, the McFarLab welcomes new postdoc, Dr. Jordan Ferria. Jordan conducted his PhD at the University of Cambridge with Prof. Beverley Glover. Jordan joins us after his first postdoc with Prof. Arezki Boudaoud at École Polytechnique – Paris. He will join our OMAFA-funded project to identify new components of cell wall signaling. Welcome, Jordan!
The McFarLab welcomes new PhD student Rowan Brookman. Rowan joins the lab after completed his BSc at the University of Toronto (as a McFarLab undergraduate student!) and an MSc with Robin Cameron at McMaster University. Rowan will examine how cell wall signaling triggers changes in cell wall synthesis and secretion. Rowan won an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his studies. Welcome Rowan!
Today, Fabrizio Chow successfully completed his PhD transfer exam. Congratulations, Fabrizio, and welcome to your PhD!