Yanira Jimenez Padilla

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I received my Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Windsor, Ontario where I had the opportunity to conduct an honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Hugh Fackrell. I have always loved biology, but it was during this time that I fell in love with research.  While in Dr. Fackrell’s lab, I tested the functionality of avian antibodies labelled with gold nanoparticles. Avian antibodies offer a valuable alternative to mammalian antibodies when used as labelling tools for research and diagnosis.  

I came across the Sinclair lab website by chance and was immediately intrigued by the research being done. The more I read, the more I wanted to be part of it. I grew up in a small town in Mexico where my curiosity and observation skills for all forms of life flourished. So, when Dr. Sinclair offer me  the opportunity to work with fruit flies, I just had to jump in. I became a member of the Sinclair Lab in January, 2015.

My current research focuses on the effects exerted by gut-associated yeast on the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. There is a plethora of research demonstrating the role of bacterial microbiota in insect physiology. Yeasts are also part of this community, but their impact on traits such as cold tolerance, developmental rate or digestive performance (to name a few) have not received equal interest. My goal is to shed some light into this host-yeast interaction by comparing Drosophila performance in the presence or absence of yeast symbionts.



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Yanira