December 8, 2023: 🏠🍬 Despite not securing the top spot, our gingerbread house/scientist had its own sweet charm. Here's to the joy of creating and the spirit of friendly competition. Happy Holidays!
2024 BSC Early Career Investigator Award announced!
The Biophyscial Society of Canada (BSC) is delighted to announce that Dr. Justin MacCallum is the recipient of the 2024 Early Career Investigator Award. This award recognizes emerging leaders in biophysics who are still within 10 years of their first independent researcher appointment.
Dr. Justin MacCallum is the Canada Research Chair in Biomolecular Structure and Design at the University of Calgary. His work transcends traditional biophysical research, seamlessly integrating theoretical, computational, and wet-laboratory-based techniques to establish an integrative structural biology program aimed at enhancing our understanding of protein structure and functions. Dr. MacCallum also boasts an impressive track record of mentoring trainees, actively participating in outreach activities, and generously contributing his expertise to the scientific community.
Dr. MacCallum also boasts an impressive track record of mentoring trainees, actively participating in outreach activities, and generously contributing his expertise to the scientific community.
Source: https://biophysicalsociety.ca/news/2024-bsc-early-career-investigator-award-announced/
2023 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition Award
July 2nd 2023: We extend our congratulations to Stefan Lenz for receiving the Young Investigator Best Oral Presentation Award for his presentation entitled, “Elucidating the structures of protein complexes using AlphaFold single domain predictions and PRE and RDC experiments” at the CSC 2023.
2023 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition | Chemistry at the Edge
June 8, 2023: This past week MacCallum Lab group members attended the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CSC 2023) at the Vancouver Convention Center. It was a busy week presenting, listening to talks, connecting with colleagues, and exploring the city’s art and attractions.
Presentation list:
Justin MacCallum — Efficient Protein Structure Validation through Machine Learning and NMR Spectroscopy Integration
Stefan Lenz — Elucidating the structures of protein complexes using AlphaFold single domain predictions and PRE and RDC experiments
Tanille Shandro — Gout Biosensor: Exploring peptide interactions with monosodium urate crystals
Marielle Uy — Characterization of the temperature sensing diguanylate cyclase enzyme, TdcA
Stefan is awarded a 2021-2022 Excellence in Research for Senior Research Affiliates
September 9, 2022: Stefan was awarded the Graduate Students’ Association Excellence in Research for Senior Research Affiliates. This award honours research affiliates (Postdoctoral Fellows, research associates, lab technicians, and core facilities staff) working at the University of Calgary who assist graduate students in their research. He was nominated by graduate students in the MacCallum lab for all his help and support throughout their programs. Congratulations!
2022 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition | Diversity and Innovation in Chemistry
June 20, 2022: The 2022 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition was a busy week where 5 talks were given by members of the MacCallum group!
Justin MacCallum — Rapid validation and refinement of predicted structures using NMR and Bayesian physical modelling
Stefan Lenz — Development of Crystal Arthropathy Biosensors using a Combined Experimental and Molecular Modelling Approach
Kari Gaalswyk — A Bayesian approach to infer the quality of experimental data during integrative modeling
Tanille Shandro — Gout Biosensor: Developing a molecular-level, precision medicine diagnostic for crystal arthropathies
Milad Shamsi — Nano-porous gold electrodes for Toll like receptor (TLR)-based electrochemical biosensors
2022 Convocation
June 2, 2022: Congratulations to Dr. Kari Gaalswyk on her Convocation!
UCalgary GSA's Peer Beyond Graduate Research Symposium
February 23rd-25th, 2022: In a unique digital format on GatherTown, Tanille presented a poster presentation at the first conference of the year - UCalgary’s Peer Beyond Graduate Research Symposium.
Supporting Chemists for Inclusivity, Diversity & Equity through their STEM Together Initiative
Thursday, January 27th, 2022: To start off 2022, Tanille presented her research at the UCalgary CIDE (Chemists for Inclusivity, Diversity & Equity) STEM Together presentation series.
Welcoming Dr. Gaalswyk
Tuesday, December 21, 2021: A huge congratulations to Dr. Kari Gaalswyk for completing her final PhD exit seminar and successfully defending her PhD thesis titled ‘Bayesian Approaches to Integrative Structural Biology Using Sparse and Ambiguous Data’.
Milad passed his PhD Candidacy
Monday, November 29th, 2021: Congratulations to Milad for passing his PhD Candidacy exam!
‘Lunch N Learning’ about Gout!
Tuesday, November 2, 2021: As a Graduate College scholar, Tanille presented her research at a ‘Lunch N Learn’ put on monthly in collaboration with the Calgary Public Library.
Tanille Completed her PhD Candidacy Exam
Wednesday, July 14th, 2021: Congratulations to the MacCallum lab’s newest PhD candidate, Tanille!
ConGRADulations Iulia Bodnariuc, MSc.
Thursday, April 29th, 2021: We are proud to announce that Iulia Bodnariuc successfully defended her thesis (Examination of Brain-Fatty Acid Binding Protein interaction with hydrophobic ligands and micelles) and graduated from her Master of Science in Biophysical Chemistry. Congratulations! She is now off to work as a researcher in Industry in the Netherlands. Good luck on your future endeavors Iulia, you will be greatly missed in the MacCallum lab.
Tanille was Re-elected as the Graduate Students' Association President
Tanille was Elected as the Graduate Students' Association President for a Second Term. She will continue to be the official spokesperson of the GSA and represents the collective voice of nearly 7000 graduate students at the University of Calgary at municipal, provincial and federal levels.
Read more about the election results here
The GSA is pleased to congratulate the elected officials: Keira Gunn as the AVP Labour; Mary Zhang as VP Finance and Services; Alex Paquette as VP Academic; Tanille Shandro as President; and Kabita Baral as VP Student Life.
New publication in Nature communications
Our joint work with Dr. Joe Harrison (UCalgary Biological Sciences) and many others was recently published in Nature Communications.
The Harrison Lab discovered a new temperature-dependent di-guanlyate cyclase enzyme that regulates biofilm formation in a variety of bacteria. This new enzyme is called TdcA. One of the remarkable things about TdcA is its extreme sensitivity to temperature. It changes in activity by more than 100-fold over a 10 degree change in temperature. A typical enzyme would change by 2- or 3-fold.
We’re really excited about our ongoing biophysical studies of this protein aimed at unravelling its novel mechanism. This will provide a better understanding of biofilm regulation, a potential new avenue for therapeutic development, and has potential applications in biotechnology.
The Art of Science
As part of Chinook Blast, the Art of Science exhibition features artwork done by Alberta University of the Arts students/graduates that is inspired by scientific research happening at the University of Calgary. Mary Haasdyk, a graduate of Alberta University of the Arts, partnered with Tanille Shandro from the MacCallum group to feature a mural at 136 8 Ave SE, Calgary. The mural highlights Tanille’s research identifying Monosodium Urate Crystals, the cause of gout, using engineered peptides with fluorescent properties. The project will be up until February 28th, so if you’re looking to get outside go for a walk in Downtown Calgary and check it out!
3 Minute Thesis Competition - 3rd Place Winner!
Congratulations Julia! Julia placed 3rd in the 2020 UCalgary Three Minute Thesis competition with her talk "Designing a THC roadside test using a protein from our brain".
We’re Back!
We’re back! After 85 days working remotely Maggie, Julia and Tanille received Extended Research Designation to continue their wet lab research. Don’t be fooled, behind these masks there are some very big smiles. View the following posts to see all of the exciting things that have happened while we’ve been away from the lab.
Julia moves to the finals in the 3MT Competition
Friday, June 26th, 2020: Congratulations to Julia for making it to the finals for the 2020 UCalgary Virtual Three Minute Thesis Competition. The finals will take place virtually on July 24th. For more information about the event head to: https://grad.ucalgary.ca/my-gradskills/three-minute-thesis
