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News from the Mymryk Laboratory

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2022

  • Multiple Scholarship Successes!
  • Doctoral student Mack Dodge wins an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) award!
    Doctoral student Katelyn MacNeil wins a nationally competitive NSERC CGS-D Award!
    Congratulations to both of you for winning these prestigious awards!

    curious clever

  • Two Former Members of Mymryk Lab Win CIHR Fellowships!
  • Former doctoral students Drs. Steve Gameiro and Martin Prusinkiewicz both won CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards in the most recent competition!
    Congratulations to both of these recent graduates from the Mymryk lab.
    Amazing to watch you both continue to blaze a trail of successes and great to see you both easily compete for these highly competitive national awards.

    steve and martin

  • Dr. Matthew Miller Wins a 2022 Schulich Alumni of Distinction Award!
  • Dr. Matthew Miller, a former PhD student in the Mymryk Lab and current Associate Professor at McMaster University, won a 2022 Schulich Alumni of Distinction Award!
    Matt won the Excellence in Basic Science Research Award, and completed both his BSc and PhD in the Microbiology & Immunology program here at Western.
    Matt is a marvelous guy and wholly deserving of this prestigious recognition from his alma mater.
    We are all really proud of Matt's many impressive achievements!

    The Marvelous Dr. Matthew Miller

  • Andris Evans Passes Her Candidacy Exam With Distinction!
  • Andris Evans passed her PhD candidacy exam in Microbiology & Immunology with distinction!
    She completed her exam on Wednesday, March 30th.
    Thanks to Drs. Jessica Prodger, Jimmy Dikeakos and Fred Dick for serving as examiners, Dr. Ewa Cairns for chairing the exam and Laura Cardozo for administrative help.

    Team Mymryk is very happy to have Andris around for a few more years as she completes her PhD research!
    Fantastic Work! Hopefully Andris was not too Stressed out by the experience, but its a great excuse for Desserts.

    desserts

    OR, a nice breakfast with big stacks of pancakes.

    pancakes

  • Adenovirus Graffiti!
  • Check out this note on the pink chalk board from the Spring Market at the Factory in London.
    Obvious there are a highly enlightened group of people in this city!

    Adeno Rocks!

    adenovirus rocks chalk graffiti

  • Publication Successes!
  • peer review

    We published quite a few collaborative research papers recently, including:

    Establishment of four Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines: Importance of Reference DNA is Essential for accurate genomic characterization.

    J. Laryngology & Otology

    The Impact of Surgical Resectability on Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Primary Radiation Treatment for Human Papillomavirus-Related Oropharygeal Cancer.

    Red Journal

    Tumor molecular differences associated with outcome disparities of Black patients with head and neck cancer.

    Head & Neck

    Introduction and expression of PIK3CA E545K in a papillary thyroid cancer BRAF V600E cell line leads to a dedifferentiated aggressive phenotype.

    Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery

    Prokaryotic Argonaute Protein from Natronobacterium gregoryi Requires RNAs To Activate for DNA Interference In Vivo.

    mBio

    Congratulations everyone on all this excellent research, especially the first authors Krupal, Naif, Hugh, Nicole and Jiani!
    Collectively, this represents a ton of effort by a small army of highly skilled scientists.

    2021

  • Publication Success!
  • almostfamous

    Dr. Tanner Tessier and Mack Dodge, a PDF and PhD candidate in the Mymryk lab respectively, are co-first authors of a new paper titled Almost famous: Human adenoviruses (and what they have taught us about cancer).
    This review was recently accepted by the journal Tumour Virus Research.
    As you can tell, some of us probably watch too many movies.
    The title is not intended as an insult to adenovirologists (or Kate Hudson).
    The title reflects the fact that human adenovirus is the only small DNA tumor virus without a family member that causes human cancers, thus making it "Almost Famous".
    Nevertheless, adeno has taught us a lot about cancers and this review tries to do justice to the important insights that adenovirus researchers have contributed to cancer research.
    Excellent work Tanner and co-first author Mack Dodge! Special thanks to other Mymryk lab teamates, Katelyn MacNeil, Andris Evans and Dr. Martin Prusinkiewicz, we couldn't have done it without you!

  • Scholarship Success!
  • New doctoral student Andris Evans wins a RGE Murray Graduate Scholarship in Microbiology & Immunology!
    Great job on winning this valuable studentship!
    Its really great that our graduate program has the resources to honor Dr. Murray, a truly outstanding Microbiologist.

    murray

  • OGS Scholarship Success!
  • Doctoral student Mack Dodge wins an OGS Scholarship!
    Congratulations on winning this studentship award!

    cupcakes

  • Team Mymryk Welcomes Andris Evans as a New PhD Candidate.
  • Andris joins us after completing her MSc in Immunology and Global Health at Maynooth University in Ireland.
    Glad to have you join the team!
    andris evans

  • Handsome Gift on Display in Mymryk HQ!
  • Wyatt Anderson, former MSc trainee in the lab and all-around great guy gifted me with a this lovely hand axe as a parting gift.
    With a handcrafted block of live edge London timber from woodworker extraordinaire, Dr. John Barrett, its finally proudly on display on my desk.
    Thanks very much Wyatt!
    I was already told it would be more terrifying if I had at least one 4 fingered trainee.

    axe

  • Publication Success!
  • pathogens

    Dr. Martin Prusinkiewicz, a recent PhD graduate from the Mymryk laboratory, publishes another first author review paper!
    The title is: "Metabolic Control by DNA Tumor Virus-Encoded Proteins", and it was published in the journal Pathogens.
    Martin reviews how 4 different DNA tumor viruses (Adenovirus, HPV, EBV and KSHV) can potentially reprogram cellular metabolism via their interactions with MYC, p53, and pRb/E2F.
    Congratulations Martin! Pleasure to see your work published.

    MYC

  • Mack's Paper Chosen as Highlighted Article – February 2021
  • highlight

    PhD candidate Mack Dodge's recent review in Antivirial Research was chosen as Highlighted Article – February 2021.
    Great to see the hard work of this team of authors (Mack, Katelyn, Tanner, Jason & Joe) recognized!

    authors photo

  • Katelyn MacNeil is Officially a PhD Candidate!
  • Former MSc candidate Katelyn MacNeil has successfully transferred to the PhD program in Microbiology & Immunology!
    She completed her PhD candidacy/qualification exam on Thursday, April 1st.
    Thanks to Drs. Alp Sener, Jimmy Dikeakos and Ryan Troyer for serving as examiners, Dr. Sung Kim for chairing the exam and Umera Ali for administrative help.

    Team Mymryk is very happy to have Katelyn around for a few more years as she completes her PhD research!
    Excellent Work! Hopefully Katelyn won't succumb to the dreaded PQS syndrome.

    post-candidacy slump syndrome

  • Publication Success!
  • Biomolecules

    The Mymryk laboratory had a chance to contribute to this paper recently accepted by the journal Biomolecules.
    It is titled: "Expression and Functional Analysis of the Argonaute Protein of Thermus thermophilus (TtAgo) in E. coli BL21(DE3)".
    Thank you Dr. Zhang for this chance to work with you on this interesting area of study!

  • Congratulations Dr. Tessier!
  • doc_tanner

    Tanner Tessier successfully defended his PhD thesis on Tuesday, March 23rd.
    His thesis was entitled "Characterization and Discovery of Short Linear Motifs Mediating Protein Nuclear Import".
    Many thanks to Drs. Jacques Archambault (McGill), James Choy, Steve Barr and Ryan Troyer for serving as examiners, Dr. Mahi Singh for chairing the exam and Umera Ali for administrative and technical help.

    Here is a screen shot of the Zoom defense.

    zoom exam tanner

    I would also like to thank Drs. Chris Brandl and Greg Dekaban for serving on Tanner's thesis advisory committee.
    Congratulations Tanner! Your talk was excellent and all your examiners were very impressed by your work and defense.

  • Congratulations Dr. Pruskiniewicz!
  • phinished

    Martin Prusinkiewicz successfully defended his PhD thesis on Wednesday, February 24th.
    His thesis was entitled "Metabolic Reprogramming By DNA Tumour Viruses".
    Many thanks to Drs. Jose Teodoro (McGill), Dean Betts, Steve Barr and Rod DeKoter for serving as examiners, and Dr. Weiping Min for chairing the examination.
    Thank also to Drs. Trevor Shepherd, Hon Leong and Rod DeKoter for serving on his thesis advisory committee.
    Congratulations Martin! You did an excellent job and impressed your examiners.

    Dr. Prusinkiewicz is the 12th PhD student to graduate from the Mymryk Laboratory.
    Its just like the Dirty Dozen, but none of them are convicted killers, or in the army, and this isn't WWII.

    dozen

  • Publication Success!
  • Antiviral Research

    zombie adenovirus

    Mack Dodge, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk lab is first author of a new paper recently accepted by the journal Antiviral Research.
    This is Mack's first, 1st author paper, and it covers the general field of knowledge surrounding antiviral agents potentially useful for treating human adenovirus infections.
    Excellent work Mack!
    Special thanks to other Mymryk lab teamates, Katelyn MacNeil and Tanner Tessier, as well as our collaborator Dr. Jason Weinberg.
    We couldn't have done this without your invaluable help!

  • Publication Successes!
  • Infectious Agents and Cancer

    Drs. Steve Gameiro and Farhad Ghasemi, both former trainees in the Mymryk/Nichols laboratory have published an interesting study recently accepted by the journal Infectious Agents and Cancer.

    This work identified low expression of the NSD family of protein methyltransferases (including NSD1, 2 and 3) in HPV positive head and neck cancers as a potential indicator of treatment failure.
    Congratulations on another really nice paper guys and thanks to all your coauthors for their assistance!
    This is the 15th paper from Steve's PhD and the 16th for Farhad's undergraduate medical and residency training here in London.
    Very immpressive!

    jeccr

    Dr. Hedyeh Ziai, a former trainee in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of another very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the Internation Journal of Otolaryngology.

    This work characterizes the London HPV positive head and neck cancer cohort, with an emphasis on the impact of HPV subtype on patient outcomes.
    Congratulations on this nice paper Hedyeh and thanks for including the Mymryk lab as collaborators!

    2020

  • Wyatt Anderson successfully defends his MSc thesis!
  • Wyatt has been working on the impact of HPV on expression of proinflammatory cytokines in head and neck cancer.
    Thanks to Drs. Timoshenko, Dikeakos and Troyer for serving as examiners.

    Wyatt is a huge John Wick fan, but as far as we know, he never once killed three men in a bar with a pencil.
    However, thesis exams around here can be pretty rough!
    Congratulations Wyatt!

    Wyatt Anderson

  • Publication Successes!
  • radiation oncology

    Eric Di Gravio, a medical trainee in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of a new paper recently accepted by the journal Radiation Oncology.

    This work, based on a London patient cohort in a collaboration between multiple clinical disciplines, shows that primary radiotherapy or chemo-radiation therapy provides outstanding survival for early stage disease in the head and neck, with low rates of severe toxicities. This work provides a solid reference for comparison of patient outcomes for those treated using promising newer approaches like transoral surgery.
    Excellent work Eric and thanks for including the Mymryk lab in this study!

    jeccr

    Dr. Kara Ruicci, a former MD/Phd trainee in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of another very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research.

    This work identified the TYRO3 and AXL receptors as key mediators of resistance to PI3Kα inhibitor alpelisib.
    Congratulations on another really nice paper Kara and thanks for including the Mymryk lab as collaborators!

  • Dr. Steven Gameiro Wins the 2019 Poland Award!
  • Dr. Steven Gameiro, a former doctoral student in the Mymryk lab, was recently awarded the Poland Award as top graduating PhD student of the last year.
    Congratulations on receiving our most prestigious departmental award.
    Its been a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with you, and we are all so happy to see your continued success.
    Steve, you really are the TOP GUN!

    top

  • Publication Success!
  • plosgrey

    Dr. Nicole Pinto, a recent PhD graduate from the Nichols laboratory, publishes another first author paper!
    The title is: "Flavopiridol causes cell cycle inhibition and demonstrates anti-cancer activity in anaplastic thyroid cancer models", and it was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
    Nicole investigated the effects of flavopiridol, a CDK inhibitor, on anaplastic thyroid cancer cells and found some very interesting anti-tumor effects that could have clinical potential for treating this devistating disease.
    Congratulations Nicole on another high quality publication from you PhD research and thanks for including the Mymryk lab as collaborators!

  • CIHR Grant Success!
  • The Mymryk lab was awarded a 5 year CIHR Project Grant titled "Mechanisms of Human Papillomavirus Induced Disease".
    This was a very competitive competition and I am delighted to get continued and multiyear funding to support this major focus of our laboratory.

    Dr. Anthony Nichols is a co-applicant on this grant, and he was also awarded a CIHR grant titled "Mechanisms of resistance to cisplatin and radiation in human papillomavirus (HPV) related head and neck cancer".

    Neither of these grants would have been successful without the hard work of many talented people on the Mymryk and Nichols teams and the strong collaborations between our labs and a number of other labs here in Canada and across the world.

    wheelbarrow of Canadian money

  • Publication Success!
  • scientific reports

    In a team effort by Dr. Farhad Ghasemi, Tanner Tessier and Dr. Steven Gameiro the Mymryk lab publishes a second paper on Epstein-Barr virus associated gastric cancer!
    The title is: "High MHC-II expression in Epstein–Barr virus-associated gastric cancers suggests that tumor cells serve an important role in antigen presentation", and it was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
    We report evidence that EBV associated human gastric cancers express unexpectedly high levels of the MHC-II antigen presentation system, which may contribute to the improved patient outcomes observed for these virally induced cancers.

    Congratulations to Tanner on his 9th publication as a PhD candidate, Steve on his 14th publication while a PhD student and Farhad on his 13th publication as a medical trainee!
    Thanks also to Drs. Maciver and Cecchini for their help in getting this project published.

  • Katelyn MacNeil and Mack Dodge win Murray Scholarships!
  • katelynmack

    Graduate students Katelyn MacNeil and Mack Dodge were recently awarded 2020 RGE Murray Scholarships from the MNI Department.
    Congratulations on winning these valuable awards! Your hard work has started to pay off!

    I don't have any good quotes from Dr. Bob Murray, so a quote from another famous Murray will have to suffice.

    murray

  • Publication Success!
  • biology

    Tanner Tessier, a senior PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory, publishes another first author paper!
    The title is: "Piggybacking on Classical Import and Other Non-Classical Mechanisms of Nuclear Import Appear Highly Prevalent within the Human Proteome", and it was published in the journal Biology.
    Tanner investigated the frequency of classical nuclear import signals in the human nuclear proteome and finds evidence that many human nuclear proteins traffic to the nucleus via a piggybacking mechanism.
    Congratulations to Tanner on his 4th, first author/co-first author publication as a PhD candidate!

    To think it all started with a forgotten keycard!

    piggyback

  • Publication Success!
  • JVI

    Cason King, a former PhD student in the Mymryk laboratory, and Tanner Tessier, a senior PhD candidate in the Mymryk lab, are co-first authors of a new paper recently published in the Journal of Virology.
    The title is: "Inhibition of human adenovirus replication by the importin α/β1 nuclear import inhibitor ivermectin".
    This is Cason's tenth paper, and Tanner's seventh.
    Congratulations to all the people who contributed to this interesting project looking at the potential role of nuclear import inhibition as an approach for targeting adenovirus infections.
    We couldn't have done it without your help Mack and Jason!

    ivermectin

  • Publication Success!
  • viruses

    Martin Prusinkiewicz, a senior PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes another first author paper!
    The title is: "Differential Effects of Human Adenovirus E1A Protein Isoforms on Aerobic Glycolysis in A549 Human Lung Epithelial Cells", and it was published in the journal Cancers.
    Martin examines the impact of adenovirus E1A on cellular metabolism, with some help from past and present members of the Mymryk Laboratory, demonstrating that E1A expression alone alters cellular metabolism.
    Congratulations to Martin on his 3rd, first author publication as a PhD candidate!

    During the COVID-19 shutdown, Martin has been continuing to pursue thrills and adventure, with his most recent experience as a "Human cannonball".
    Good thing Martin is married to a doctor, as he refuses to wear a helmet!

    cannonball

  • Personal Citation Landmark
  • Joe Mymryk's total career citations hit the 5000 mark this week on "Google Scholar".

    This very nice tool provided free by Google brings a little encouragement to scientists around the world, as they see their hard work being cited by others.

    google scholar

  • Candidacy Exam Sucess!
  • exam

    Undeterred by the ongoing Coronavirus apocalypse, Mack Dodge successfully completed his PhD Candidacy Exam.
    Special thanks to all the examiners (Drs. Poon, Summers and Gunaratnam) and examination Chair (Dr. Troyer) for helping out with this first time online exam.
    Congratulations Mack!

  • Jessie Tu Wins a 2020 NSERC USRA Award!
  • jessie

    Undergraduate trainee Jessie Tu was recently awarded a 2020 NSERC USRA award to work in the Mymryk laboratory this summer.
    The USRA program is meant to nurture interest and help develop student potential for a research career in the natural sciences and engineering.
    These are awarded once a year and are highly competitive.
    Jessie has been a work study student in the Mymryk lab for a while, and its great to have here join for the summer.
    Congratulations on winning this prestigious award!

  • Mymryk Lab Interview!
  • pel cbc

    Doctoral student Martin Prusinkiewicz and I were interviewed by the CBC regarding a lack of funding support for Partners in Experiential Learning (PEL).
    This is a program that allows co-op placements for London high-school students with an interest in science and medicine in research laboratories.
    Read the story here at the CBC.

  • Publication Successes!
  • stuff

    We published quite a few papers recently, including:
    High Levels of Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex mRNA Are Present in Epstein–Barr Virus-Associated Gastric Adenocarcinomas.

    Survival-Associated Metabolic Genes in Human Papillomavirus-Positive Head and Neck Cancers.

    Sex disparities in head & neck cancer driver genes: An analysis of the TCGA dataset.

    A Universal Surrogate Reporter for Efficient Enrichment of CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Homology-Directed Repair in Mammalian Cells.

    Spleen tyrosine kinase expression is correlated with human papillomavirus in head and neck cancer.

    Genomic and human papillomavirus profiling of an oral cancer cohort identifies TP53 as a predictor of overall survival.

    Congratulations everyone on all the excellent work, especially the first authors Farhad, Martin, Nana, Yongsen, Yuanyuan, Neil, and Morgan!

    cellscancers
    oral oncologymolecular therapy
    cancer head and neck

    2019

  • Steve Gameiro successfully defends his PhD thesis!
  • Steve has been working on the impact of HPV on head and neck and cervical cancer.
    His public lecture was excellent and did a great job of defending his thesis.
    Thanks to Drs. Timoshenko, Barr, Troyer and Pyeon for serving as examiners.
    Dr. Gameiro will be pursing postdoctoral studies at McMaster University in the coming year.
    Really good work Steve!

    Steve Gameiro PhD

  • Mymryk Laboratory Members Presents at IIRF!
  • Multiple trainees presented their work at the 2019 Infection and Immunity Research Forum.
    Congratulations to Martin Prusinkiewicz, Jessie Tu, Katelyn MacNeil and Wyatt Anderson on your very nice posters!

    IIRF

    martinjessie

    Katelynwyatt

  • Steve Gameiro Wins a 2019 PSAC GTA Scholarship for Outstanding Research Contributions!
  • psac

    Doctoral student Steve Gameiro was recently awarded a 2019 PSAC GTA Scholarship for Outstanding Research Contributions!
    These are awarded once/year to four members in good standing of PSAC Local 610 at Western who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to research in their respective fields.
    Congratulations on winning another prestigious award!

  • Publication Success!
  • PNAS

    We recently published a collaborative paper with Dr. Amélie Fradet-Turcotte, in the journal PNAS.

    This work provides evidence that the HPV oncoprotein E7 interfers with the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks by interacting with the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF168.
    These findings reveal a mechanism by which HPV induces genomic instability that likely fuels cancer progression.
    Congratulations to all our coauthors on this excellent paper!

    rnf168

  • Welcome to the Newbies!
  • Team Mymryk welcomes new 4th project student Sarah Denford (supervised by Martin) and PEL student Nayana Thomas (supervised by Wyatt).
    Great to have new people asking questions and contributing to the work!

    newbie

  • Welcome Katelyn!
  • Team Mymryk welcomes new MSc candidate Katelyn MacNeil!
    Katelyn arrives from the east coast and brings some new perspectives to our E1A research program.
    Looking forward to working with you!

    new_hires

  • Publication Success!
  • Molecular Oncology

    Dr. Kara Ruicci, an MD/Phd trainee in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of another very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the journal Molecular Oncology.

    This work provides evidence that inhibition of the Rictor/mTORC2 complex can sensitize head and neck cancer cells to PI3K inhibitors.
    Congratulations on another really nice paper Kara!

    rictor and mtorc2

  • Publication Success!
  • cancers

    Steve Gameiro, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes his ninth paper!
    The title is: "High Level Expression of MHC-II in HPV+ Head and Neck Cancers Suggests that Tumor Epithelial Cells Serve an Important Role as Accessory Antigen Presenting Cells", and it was published in the journal Cancers.
    In this follow-up work to his earlier MHC-I paper, Steve now shows that HPV+ head and neck cancers also express high levels of MHC-II. Importantly, this work suggests a previously unappreciated role for epithelial cells in antigen presentation that functionally contributes to the highly immunogenic tumor microenvironment observed in HPV+ head and neck cancers.
    Congratulations on your 5th, first author publication, Steve!
    This paper is once again the product of an intensively collaborative project done by talented members of the Mymryk and Nichols laboratories.

    Although Steve is also a Marvel fan, this DC universe takeoff featuring both MHC-I and MHC-II family members as the Justice League will have to suffice!

    superheroes

  • Dr. Greg Fonseca - Newly Minted Assistant Professor!
  • champagnescience

    Greg le montreal

    Dr. Greg Fonseca, a former PhD student and current Postdoctoral Fellow in the Mymryk laboratory, commences his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Mcgill University.
    Congratulations Greg!
    All the best in Montreal!
    Its been a pleasure to have you in the lab!
    (Tanner made me do one last Conan the Barbarian picture for you, just for historical consistency.)

  • Steve Gameiro Wins the 2019 Morris Kroll Award!
  • top

    Doctoral student Steve Gameiro was recently awarded the 2019 Morris Kroll Award for cancer research!
    This is a Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry wide competition for an outstanding cancer research trainee.
    Congratulations on winning this prestigious award!

  • Members of Team Mymryk Return from the 2019 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Trieste, Italy!
  • Trieste

    Group

    Group

    While attending the 2019 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting, Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Greg Fonseca and MSc candidate Wyatt Anderson presented their work orally.
    PhD candidates Steve Gameiro, Tanner Tessier and Martin Prusinkiewicz and MSc candidate Mack Dodge presented posters.
    The ICGEB is a beautiful venue for for this key meeting in the DNA tumour virus field!

  • More Publication Success!
  • DIYmethods

    Steve Gameiro, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes a new methods paper/book chapter.
    The title is: "DIY: Visualizing the immune landscape of tumors using transcriptome and methylome data", and it was published in the Methods in Enzymology.
    This chapter describes how to use TCGA based data resources to gain insight into the immunology of various human cancers.
    This is a "Do it yourself (DIY)" manual to get people started in this area.
    Congratulations on this very nice resource Steve!

    diy

  • Publication Success!
  • cells

    Tanner Tessier, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes a review!
    The title is: "Viral Appropriation: Laying Claim to Host Nuclear Transport Machinery", and it was published in the journal Cells.
    This paper covers the many different mechanisms of how viruses interact with the nucleocytoplasmic transport apparatus and really brings a lot of details into focus.
    Congratulations on this very nice summary of your field Tanner!

  • Publication Success!
  • viruses

    Martin Prusinkiewicz, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes a review!
    The title is: "Metabolic Reprogramming of the Host Cell by Human Adenovirus Infection", and it was published in the journal Viruses.
    This detailed review of metabolic changes by Adenovirus points out some really interesting work, some of which is related the proposed connection between adenovirus infection and obesity.
    Congratulations on your 1st, first author publication as a PhD student, Martin!

    fat virus

    This is also a landmark for me personally, as it is my 120th paper on PubMed!

    120 papers

  • Publication Success!
  • JCI Insight

    Farhad Ghasemi, a medical student in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of another very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the journal JCI Insight.

    Congratulations on another really nice paper, Farhad!

    smoke and oral cancer

    2018

  • Christmas Retreat
  • christmas

    The Mymryk lab retreats to the Mandarin for an all you can eat Christmas lunch.
    These guys can really eat a lot.
    What a pleasure to work with these people!

  • Christmas Party
  • christmas

    Members of the Mymryk and Nichols lab (and their significant others) enjoy themselves at the Lawson Research Institute's annual Christmas party.
    Great to see these hard working scientists enjoying a bit of down time!

  • Multiple Papers Accepted!
  • viruses

    Former student Ali Zhang and current student Tanner Tessier are co-first author of a paper published in "Viruses".

    plosone

    Current PhD student in the Nichols lab, Nicole Pinto is first author on a collaborative paper published in "PLoS One".

    ijc

    Former PhD student in the Nichols lab, Dr. Kara Ruicci is first author on another collaborative paper published in "Int. J. Cancer".

    Congratulations to all of you for this really excellent work. You guys Rock!

    aliali
    nicolekara

  • Dr. Cason King Wins the 2017 Poland Award!
  • Former Doctoral student Cason King was recently awarded the Poland Award as top graduating PhD student of 2018!
    Cason, you really are Top Dog, Cream of the Crop, King of the Hill, etc
    Congratulations on receiving our most prestigious departmental award!

    top

  • Steve Gameiro Presents at IIRF!
  • Doctoral student Steve Gameiro presented his work at the 2018 Infection and Immunity Research Forum.
    Steve scored one of eight coveted talks at the MNI 2018 IIRF in Stratford Ontario.
    Congratulations on an excellent presentation!

    IIRF

  • Welcome Dr. Han!
  • Dr. Myung Woul Han joins the Nichols/Mymryk laboratory as a Visiting Scientist for one year.
    Dr. Han (MD/PhD) is an Assistant Professor/Clinician Scientist and Head & Neck Surgeon from Ulsan University/Ulsan University Hospital, South Korea.
    Its a real pleasure to have your expertise and skills in the lab.
    Looking forward to the upcoming year.

    Dr. Han

  • Welcome to the New Guys!
  • Team Mymryk welcomes Wyatt Anderson and Mackenzie Dodge as new MSc candidates.
    Looking forward to working with you.

    (Remember to play nice!)

    Wyatt and Mack

    play nice

  • Members of Team Mymryk Return from the 2018 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Madison Wisconsin!
  • Madison

    Group

    PhD candidates Martin and Steve presented their work in Madison while attending the 2018 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting, while soon to be graduate students Mack and Wyatt soaked up wisdom and lore from their senior colleagues.
    A wonderful chance for all to meet and network with their peers and colleagues, while having a great time in the lovely city of Madison!
    Note the members of the Mymryk lab are wearing Hawaiian shirts in the photo above.

  • Publication Success!
  • oncoimmunology

    Steve Gameiro, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk laboratory publishes his fifth paper!
    The title is: "Treatment-naïve HPV+ head and neck cancers display a T-cell-inflamed phenotype distinct from their HPV- counterparts that has implications for immunotherapy", and it was published in the journal Oncoimmunology.
    This work shows that patients with HPV+ head and neck cancers that have high levels of immune exhaustion markers and/or CD39 have excellent overall survival. We suggest that exhuastion marker expression could be used to predict clinical outcome and that these patients may likely benefit from first line treatment with less toxic immuno-therapy approaches.
    Congratulations on your 3rd, first author publication, Steve!
    This very nice paper is the product of an intensively collaborative project done by talented members of the Mymryk, Nichols and Vareki laboratories.
    Excellent work!

    rambo

  • Publication success!
  • ras

    Kara Ruicci, an MD/PhD student in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of a very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the journal Oral Oncology.
    This paper describes how HRAS mutant epithelial cells are resistant to PI3K inhibition, likely because of persistent mTOR activity. They suggest that mTOR inhibition alone or in combination with MAPK pathway inhibition could be a promising therapeutic strategy for some tumors

    Congratulations to all the researchers involved in this nice paper!

  • Former Members of Team Mymryk Return for a Visit!
  • julyvisit

    Drs. Ahmed Yousef and Greg Fonseca were back in London at the same time this July and dropped by for a visit with their old supervisor.
    Both of these excellent young scientists did their PhDs in the Mymryk lab and have gone off to conquer the world of science.
    Its always a real pleasure to have former trainees come back to the lab with interesting stories about their experiences.

  • Publication success!
  • prostate

    The Mymryk laboratory published a nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the journal Prostate.
    This paper describes how the E1A proteins from some adenovirus types can antagonize androgen receptor function, undermining prostate cancer cell survival.

    Congratulations to all the researchers involved in this nice paper!

  • Dr. Cason King Convocates!
  • Former Doctoral student Cason King donned the super-cool Western PhD regalia for the 2018 convocation.
    Great to see you come back from Madison on that special day.
    Congratulations!

    convocation

  • Steve Gameiro Wins Another Presentation Award!
  • Doctoral student Steve Gameiro wins the top poster presentation prize at the 2018 Oncology Research and Education Day.
    Congratulations!
    (Steve is the tall guy in the centre)

    oredwinner

  • Hanna Maekebay Wins A Presentation Award!
  • High-school student Hanna Maekebay wins a poster presentation prize at the 2018 Oncology Research and Education Day.
    Hanna has done outstanding work done with graduate student mentor Martin Prusinkiewicz.
    Congratulations to both you and Martin on a job well done.
    What a great way to end her co-operative education experience!

    oredwinner

  • Schulich Awards of Excellence Dinner
  • I received my "crystal trophy" at the Schulich Award of Excellence dinner in recognition of my faculty mentoring activities.
    What a wonderful evening to celebrate so many wonderful people.

    award

  • Department of Otolaryngology Residents Research Day.
  • I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 Residents Research Day for the Western University Department of Otolaryngology.
    This is always a very well organized and interesting event that showcases the excellent research done by the hard working and talented residents in the Otolaryngology program.
    Its a pleasure to be associated with this top-notch group of medical researchers.
    The picture below was taken with the Dr. John Barrett, who we work with closely in the area of head and neck cancer.

    research day

  • End of an Era
  • end of an era

    Dr. Cason King has left the Mymryk laboratory to commence Postdoctoral studies with Dr. Andrew Mehle in Madison Wisconsin.
    Its certainly been a pleasure for all of us to work with Cason these last few years while he earned his doctorate degree.
    Good luck in America!

    coming to america

  • Another paper in Oncotarget!
  • oncotarget

    Farhad Ghasemi, a medical student in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of another very nice collaborative paper recently accepted by the journal Oncotarget.

    This paper describes a high-throughput robotic screen of ~1400 biologically- and pharmacologically-relevant compounds against 6 HPV-positive and 20 HPV-negative head & neck cancer cell lines to identification compounds with therapeutic potential.

    Congratulations to an excellent team for a very nice paper!

    HNSCC

  • Publication Success!
  • mBio

    Dr. Cason King, who just completed his PhD studies in the Mymryk laboratory, is first author of a new review recently published in mBio.
    The title is: "Hacking the Cell: Network Intrusion and Exploitation by Adenovirus E1A".
    Congratulations on your eigth publication, Cason!
    Thanks to the other authors, Ali Zhang, Tanner Tessier and Steve Gameiro for their help.
    This review features some really nice artwork, such as the figure below.

    E1A interactome

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk wins the inaugural Schulich Faculty Mentorship Award!

    I received a 2018 Award of Excellence from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in recognition of my faculty mentoring activities.
    I am really honored to win this award, and am grateful for the letters of support from so many of my former mentees.
    Over my career, its been a pleasure to watch so many of these talented individual achieve so much success!

    viral award

  • 3D Printed Adenovirus!
  • adeno

    Adam Tepperman, one of our highly motivated MNI4200B students made up this 3D printed model of adenovirus for us.
    Proudly on display in my office and guaranteed to be 100% non-infectious.
    Thank you Adam. You did a great job!

  • What a great lab environment!
  • crazy

    Dr. Cason King gifted me with this little gem as he thought it accurately reflected the Mymryk lab environment.
    Although I am not sure it completely covers all aspects of our lab culture, it certainly is a good start.
    Thank you Cason. I will treasure it always!

  • Cason King successfully defends his PhD thesis!

    Cason has been working on the role of adenovirus E1A as a viral A kinase anchoring protein (AKAP).
    He gave an great public lecture and did an excellent job of defending his thesis.
    Thanks to Drs. Barr, Dick, Mullarkey and Summers for serving as examiners, and Dr. Timoshenko for chairing the exam.
    Dr. King will be pursing postdoctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in the spring.
    Job well done!

    Cason King PhD

  • Publication Success!
  • JVI

    Cason King, the senior PhD student in the Mymryk laboratory, is first author of a new paper recently published in the Journal of Virology.
    The title is: "Mimicry of cellular A kinase anchoring proteins is a conserved and critical function of E1A across various human adenovirus species".
    This is Cason's seventh paper, and a strong follow up to his initial work published in PLoS Pathogens.
    Congratulations to all the people who contributed to this interesting project!

    This is also a landmark for me personally, as it is my 110th paper on PubMed!

    110 paper

    2017

  • Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos is granted promotion and tenure!
  • My wonderful colleague and collaborator Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos just got his official notification of promotion and tenure.

    Dr. Dikeakos joined the Microbiology & Immunology Department in 2012, and he has been a tremendous asset and resource.
    Jimi's laboratory is also on "Fire" scientifically.
    His new title of Associate Professor comes into effect July 2018.

    Congratulations and Rock On!

    Dr. Jimi Dikeakos

  • Jessica Hill successfully defends her MSc thesis!
  • Jessica has been working on characterizing the interaction between human adenovirus E1A and STING.
    During her Tim Hortons and Subway fueled research efforts, she put together a nice thesis and delivered a strong defense.

    Thanks to Drs. Shepherd, Koropatnick and Barr for serving as examiners, and Dr. Kim for chairing the exam.

    Congratulations Jessica!

    Hill MSc

  • Fun at IIRF
  • corvette

    Doctoral student Martin Prusinkiewcz chaired the organizational committee for this year's Infected Immunologist Research Forum (A.K.A. Infection and Immunity Research Forum/IIRF).
    This is the annual research symposium run by the graduate students in the Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology.
    A great time was had by all and our invited guest speaker was Dr. Ann Palmenberg, from Madison Wisconsin, who gave a truly outstanding talk on her research on Rhinovirus infection and its connection to severe asthma attacks.

    Congratulations to all those involved in putting the day together and to all the students who presented their excellent research.

    Below is a picture of Dr. Palmenberg with Martin, acting in his role as chauffeur.

    airport

  • Presentation Award Successes!
  • corvette

    Doctoral student Cason King wins the 2016 Dr. RGE Murray Graduate Seminar Award.
    This award annually rewards the top student presentations in the Microbiology & Immunology student research seminar series.
    Continuing his Stupendous Adventure in Graduate Education, this is Cason's FORTH (!!!) win in a row for his annual talk.
    Amazing! Its a Hat Trick Plus One!

    See the award picture below for Cason and Nina Hunt (who won the MSc Presentation Prize) with Dr. Murray.
    Congratulations to both of these excellent speakers!

    award

  • Scholarship Successes!
  • Doctoral student Steven Gameiro wins a 2017 RGE Murray Graduate Scholarship!
    Congratulations to Jacklyn, Robert, Steve and Ermela for their success in winning this year's RGE Murray Graduate Awards!

    studentship

  • Matthew Wong joins the Mymryk lab.
  • After a crazy summer on Wall Street, Matt has returned to Western to complete his BMSc degree.
    Matt is starting as a 4th year undergraduate thesis project student in the lab.
    Welcome to Team Mymryk!

    wall street

  • Farewell to Kristianne and Ali!
  • summer

    As the summer comes to a close, its farewell to MSc graduates Kristianne Galpin and Ali Zhang.
    Kristianne is pursuing PhD studies at the University of Ottawa.
    Ali is pursuing MD/PhD studies at McMaster University.
    We are all going to miss both of you.
    Looking forward to following your successes!

  • Steve Publishes Another Paper!
  • viruses

    Steve Gameiro publishes his second first author paper in the journal Viruses.
    The title is: "Analysis of Class I major histocompatibility complex gene transcription in human tumors caused by human papillomavirus infection".
    Congratulations to all the people who contributed to this interesting project!

    Cart

  • Scholarship Success!
  • Steve Gameiro, a PhD student in the Mymryk lab, wins another Cancer Research & Technology Transfer (CaRTT) Studentship!
    Steve will be supported in part for one year by the CaRTT program.
    Congratulations on winning the "CART" Steve. Its a sweet ride that could easily be featured in a future Fast and Furious movie (with a little Nitrous)!

    Cart

  • Members of Team Mymryk Return from the 2017 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Birmingham UK!
  • Birmingham

    Group

    Martin and Steve presented their work in Birmingham while attending the 2017 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting.
    A wonderful chance to meet and network with their peers and colleagues in this amazing venue!

  • Publication Success!
  • oncotarget

    Steve Gameiro, a PhD student in the Mymryk laboratory, is first author of a very nice paper recently accepted in the journal Oncotarget.
    The title is: "Human papillomavirus dysregulates the cellular apparatus controlling the methylation status of H3K27 in different human cancers to consistently alter gene expression regardless of tissue of origin".
    This is Steve's first paper, so its extra special and certificate worthy. (Sorry Steve, we ran out of gold stars)
    Congratulations to all the people who contributed to this interesting project!

    little stevie

  • Scholarship Success!
  • Tanner Tessier, a PhD student in the Mymryk lab, wins another Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
    Way to go Tanner!

    toast

  • Team Mymryk returns from the 2017 ASV Meeting in Madison!
  • madison

    young scientists

    Steve Gameiro and Cason King, two PhD students in the Mymryk lab, presented their work in Madison while attending the 2017 ASV Meeting.
    This was an excellent meeting and everyong loves Madison!
    Its always nice to catch up with Dr. Megan Spurgeon, a Staff Scientist in the Lambert lab.

  • Ali Zhang successfully defends his MSc thesis!
  • Ali has been working on Short Linear Interaction Motifs in adenovirus E1A and put together a really nice thesis.
    Thanks to Drs. Boffa, Dikeakos and Leong for serving as examiners, and Dr. Heinrichs for chairing the exam.
    Ali will be starting MD/PhD studies at McMaster in the Fall.
    All the best with your future career!

    Ali Zhang MSc

  • Kristianne Galpin successfully defends her MSc thesis!
  • Kristianne has done some very nice work on viral mimicry and put together an excellent thesis.
    Thanks to Drs. Summers, Dikeakos and Choy for serving as examiners, and Dr. Kim for chairing the exam.
    Good luck with your future studies!

    Kristianne Galpin MSc
    (BTW check out the nice new sign for the Department!)

  • The Nichols lab publishes a paper in Oncotarget.
  • oncotarget

    Farhad Ghasemi, a medical student in the Nichols laboratory, is first author of a very nice paper recently published in the journal Oncotarget.
    This collaborative work shows that albendazole, a drug commonly used to treat infection by parasitic worms, inhibits the growth of some head and neck cancer cells.
    Based on this work, we suggest that further study of this drug is warranted for use as a potential chemotherapeutic agent for patients suffering from head and neck cancer.
    I am very happy to be involved with this interesting project.
    Congratulations on some very nice work to an excellent team!

    worms

  • Cason King and Steve Gameiro Obtain Student Membership Status with the American Society for Virology.

    ASV Logo

    Cason and Steve, two PhD students in the Mymryk laboratory, successfully obtained student membership status with the American Society for Virology.
    Welcome to the club!

    shirt

  • The Mymryk and Nichols laboratories coauthor a paper in Nature Genetics!

    NG Logo

    As part of a collaborative effort between a number of excellent laboratories, we coauthored a paper that was recently published in Nature Genetics.
    This elegent work defines subsets of head and neck cancers based on altered DNA methylation.
    One of these subsets of cancer appears to be caused by mutations in the histone methyltransferase NSD1 or in the target lysine of its substrate, histone H3.
    We are all very pleased to be associated with this excellent work in the field of epigenetics, which links altered chromatin modification with cancer.

    genetics

    2016

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk wins a teaching award!
    I received an Award of Excellence for the 2015-2016 year from the University Students Council in recognition of my high teaching evaluations.
    I deeply appreciate this recognition, and am very pleased to see so many of my wonderful colleagues also receive this recognition.
    viral award

  • Dr. Anthony Nichols and the Translational Head & Neck Cancer Laboratory Featured by the Schulish School of Medicine and Dentistry!

    laboratory

    The successes of Dr. Anthony Nichols were recently celebrated on the Schulish School of Medicine and Dentistry website.
    Congratulations on this well deserved recognition!

  • Presentation Award Successes!

    double play

    Doctoral student Cason King and MSc student Ali Zhang both win the 2015 Dr. RGE Murray Graduate Seminar Award.
    This award annually rewards the top senior and junior student presentations in the Microbiology & Immunology student research seminar series.
    This is Cason's third win in a row for his annual talk (Its a Hat trick!), and Ali's first time at bat!
    Congratulations to both of you for your excellent presentations!

    Hat Trick

  • Color Us Infected - Publication Success!

    infected crayon

    Cason King, the senior PhD student in the Mymryk laboratory, is first author on another Spotlight paper in Trends in Microbiology.
    PhD Candidate Tanner Tessier also contributed to this work.
    Excellent work guys!

  • Candidacy Exam Sucess!

    high IQ

    Although he probably doesn't actually have an IQ of 216, Martin Prusinkiewicz still did well on his PhD Candidacy Exam.
    Special thanks to all the examiners for all their effort in this process.
    Congratulations Martin!

  • Scholarship Success!

    party

    Tanner Tessier was recently awarded a prestigious RGE Murray Scholarship in Microbiology & Immunology.
    This is a highly competitive and valuable award that was established by the late Mrs. Marion Isabelle (Luney) Murray in honor of her husband, the eminent Dr. Robert George Everitt Murray.
    Its a little known fact that Tanner is the world's biggest fan of Lightning McQueen, so we all got together to have a Cars Theme Scholarship Party!
    Congratulations Tanner. What a well deserved accomplishment!

  • Team Mymryk returns from the 2016 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Montreal!

    Montreal

    Montreal

    Kristianne, Martin, Steve, Sahil and Ali all presented their work in Montreal while attending the 2016 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting.
    This is the key meeting of the year for our field and a fantastic opportunity to meet the international DNA tumour virus community.
    What a great bunch of young virologists!

  • CIHR Grant Success!
    The Mymryk lab was awarded a 5 year CIHR Project Grant titled "Molecular genetic analysis of adenovirus E1A function.".
    This was a very competitive competition and I am delighted to get continued and multiyear funding to support the major focus of our laboratory.

    Unlike the film with Mr. Fox in 1987, my success was built on the high quality work of my outstanding trainees, with a lot of help from my excellent collaborators.

    secret of success

  • Steve Gameiro Wins A Presentation Award!

    Doctoral student Steve Gameiro's hard work wins him a poster presentation prize at the 2016 Oncology Research and Education Day.
    Excellent Work!

    Other great posters were presented by other Mymryk Lab trainees, including graduate students Kristianne Galpin and Ali Zhang and Highschool Co-op student Bowen Zhang.
    A fantastic day was had by all at this citywide event.

    oredwinner

  • Cason King Wins Another Award!

    Doctoral student Cason King wins a Nellie Farthing Award!
    This award recognizes and rewards excellence in research performed by a PhD student in the Schulich School of Medicine.
    Great to see you get this well earned recognition and cash prize.
    Awesome!

    secret agent

  • Dr. Mike Cohen Convocates!

    Former Doctoral student "Magic" Mike Cohen donned the super-cool Western PhD regalia for the 2016 convocation.
    Great to see you and your family on that special day.
    Congratulations!

    convocation

  • Department of Otolaryngology Residents Research Day.

    I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 Residents Research Day for the Western University Department of Otolaryngology.
    This was a very well organized and interesting event that showcases the excellent research done by the hard working and talented residents in the Otolaryngology program.
    What a pleasure to be associated with this top-notch program.
    The picture below was taken with the Department Chair, Dr. John Yoo, who was instrumental in getting my laboratory working in the area of head and neck cancer.

    research day

  • Publication Success!

    scientific reports

    Our collaborative work with Professor Walter Becker was recently accepted by the journal Scientific Reports!
    Former Mymryk lab PhD graduate Mike Cohen and current Mymryk lab PhD candidate Cason King contributed to this excellent research story.
    Superb work by a great team of investigators! Really pleased to see this important work accepted for publication.

    champagne

  • Publication Success!

    Doctoral student Steve Gameiro writes an article published in The Londoner!
    This is part of a continuing series of monthly articles written by the Research Information Outreach Team (RIOT).
    Very nice work Steve!

    RIOT

  • Scholarship Success!

    Doctoral student Steve Gameiro wins an Ontario Graduate Scholarship award!
    Congratulations Steve!

    livelong

  • Welcome!

    Team Mymryk welcomes Jessica Hill as a new MSc candidate.
    Looking forward to working with you.

    welcome

  • Cason King Publishes Two More Papers!
    Cason King, the senior PhD student in the Mymryk laboratory, is first author on two new papers.

    Trends in Microbiology
    The first paper is in Trends in Microbiology.

    PLOS Pathogens
    The second paper is in PLOS Pathogens.

    Excellent work Cason!
    Special thanks to the many others who contributed to these papers, including past and present members of the Mymryk lab, and the Dikeakos lab.
    This was a team effort and we couldn't have done it without your help.

    Cason will soon big putting together his "Big Book of Virology" (aka his PhD thesis), and he has a pretty good start!

    bigbook

  • NSERC Grant Success!
    The Mymryk lab was awarded a 5 year NSERC Discovery grant titled "Identification of short linear peptides that function as protein interaction motifs and confer nuclear import".
    I am delighted to get continued and multiyear funding to support this interesting project

    success quote

  • Dr. Anthony Nichols is recognized for his excellence!
    Dr. Anthony Nichols, our close collaborator, received a Dean's Award of Excellence from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in recognition of all his recent achievments.
    Wonderfull to see Anthony get this well deserved award.
    excellenceexcellence

  • NSERC Studentship Successes!
    -Martin Prusinkiewicz wins a prestigious NSERC Alexander Graham Bell PhD Studentship!
    This is the "Big Fish", with three years of support at $35,000/year!

    -Ali Zhang wins a prestigious NSERC MSc studentship. This slightly "smaller fish" still gives him one year of support at $17,500!

    Congratulations to both of you!. What great achievements!

    . mbigfishafish

  • Sahil Gandotra joins the Mymryk lab as an undergraduate summer student.
    Sahil worked with us as a 4th year honor thesis project student and we are very happy that he is staying on this summer.
    Congratulations are also in order, as he is entering dental school in the Fall!
    Welcome to the laboratory for the summer!

    dentistry

    2015

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk wins a teaching award!
    I received an Award of Excellence for the 2014-2015 year from the University Students Council in recognition of my high teaching evaluations.
    I deeply appreciate this recognition (unless of course, its just a mistake).
    Cautionary Tale

  • Doctoral student Cason King wins the annual RGE Murray Graduate Student Seminar Award in the Dept. of M&I!
    This award is for the best oral presentation by a PhD student in the student seminar series.
    Cason wins for a 2nd year in a row!
    seminar

  • Tanner Tessier and Martin Prusinkiewicz win FW Luney Graduate Fellowships!
    These competitive departmental entrance awards are worth serious money.
    Wonderful news!
    tannermartin

  • Mike Cohen (AKA Dr. Magic Mike) successfully defends his PhD thesis!
    As always, Mike did an excellent job.
    Thanks to Drs. Leong, Rodenhiser, Branton and Summers for serving as examiners.
    Good luck with your future endeavors!
    Mike Cohen PhD

  • Team Mymryk welcomes Martin Prusinkiewicz as a new PhD candidate.
    Although Martin does not drive an Aston Martin, he did win the Dean's PhD Stipend for Graduate Research.
    This prestigious and competitive award is worth up to $25,000/year for up to 4 years.
    What an excellent start to his PhD studies!
    Looking forward to working with you.

    martin

  • Team Mymryk returns from the 2015 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Trieste Italy!

    Trieste

    Trieste

    Kristianne, Cason, Steve and Tanner (with adopted guest adenovirologist Sandi from Manitoba) pose in Trieste while attending the 2015 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting.
    This is the highlight meeting of the year for our field and is a fantastic learning experience for all.
    What a great bunch of young virologists!

  • LINA software mentioned in Nature!

    I was recently interviewed by Dr. Jeffrey Perkel for a news article on laboratory inventory software for Nature.
    The LINA software mentioned in the Nature News article was developed by several talented ex-graduate students, including my former PhD student Dr. Ahmed Yousef.
    I am quoted it the article on how it "saved my bacon"!

    bacon

  • CIHR Grant Successes!

    grant

    Both the Mymryk and Nichols laboratories receive 5 year CIHR operating grants!
    Fantastic news in these tough times to have each of us get additional funding for our collaborative research in the The Translational Head and Neck Cancer Program.
    Dr. Anthony Nichols was interviewed by CTV in a story of recent grant successes at Western.

  • Congratulations also to Dr. Matthew Miller, a former graduate student in the Mymryk lab, for also obtaining his first CIHR operating grant as an independent investigator!

    calm

  • Ali Zhang wins a CaRTT Studentship!
    Ali, an MSc student in the lab, will be supported for one year by the CaRTT program.
    Congratulations Ali on winning this competitive award!

    winner

  • ASV Meeting Success!
    The 2015 American Society for Virology meeting at Western this July was a lot of fun.
    Members of Team Mymryk served as volunteers and presented their work at this one of a kind meeting.
    Check out this shot of many of the dedicated volunteers!

    volunteers

  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef's first graduate student convocates!
    Ahmed was a former doctoral student in the Mymryk lab and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Masdar Institute.
    Congratulations to you and your first graduate student, Ahmed!
    It was pointed out to me by Dr. Kathy Spindler that this sort of makes me a Grandfather!

    grandfather

  • Jessica He wins the Western Gold Medal for the Honors Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology.
    Jessica was a former Scholar's Electives student in the Mymryk lab.
    Congratulations on this well deserved recognition for your outstanding academic achievements, and good luck in your future endeavors.

    Jessica

  • Ali Zhang joins the Mymryk lab (again).
    After completing a wildly successful World Poker Tour, Ali has returned to commence his MSc studies.
    Ali was a former summer student and 4th year undergraduate student in the lab.
    (We can only speculate that some people can't get enough punishment)
    Welcome to Team Mymryk!

    poker

  • Vivian Lac joins the Mymryk lab as an undergraduate summer student.
    She is supported by an NSERC USRA award.
    Congratulations Vivian on winning this competitive award and welcome to the laboratory!

    summer of science

  • Doctoral student Cason King wins another Ontario Graduate Scholarship award!
    Congratulations Cason!

    Roll Up to Win

  • Its official, Tanner Tessier and Steve Gameiro are now PhD students!

    tough questions

    Despite some really tough questions (such as the one above), they did really well.
    Special thanks to all the examiners for their help in the exam process.

  • Doctoral students Cason King (Mymryk lab) and Nicole Pinto (Nichols lab) obtain prestigious platform presentations at London Health Research Day
    Well done!
    They share a few hints for presentation success below.

    presentation

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk was the designated "Wolfe Sitter" for Dr. Nathan Wolfe, the keynote speaker at London Health Research Day
    It was nice to have a few minutes to chat with this prominent virologist.

    wolf

  • The Mymryk lab was awarded a one year NSERC Discovery grant "Identification and analysis of non-conventional nuclear import signals".
    Very glad to get some money to support this interesting project

    NSERC money

    2014

  • Cason King, a PhD candidate in the Mymryk Lab, wins again!
    Cason's hard work wins him an oral presentation prize at the 2014 Infection and Immunity Research Forum.
    You really are a King!

    goldkingaward

  • Dr. Biljana Todorovic, a former PhD student in the Mymryk Lab, starts her new career as a Medical Liason Officer with an international pharmaceutical company.
    Congratulations Biljana! Glad to see you get your dream job.

    newjob

  • Dr. Matt Miller, a former PhD student in the Mymryk Lab, starts his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University.
    Congratulations Matt! Genuine Science Forever!

    Genuine Science

  • PhD Candidate Nicole Pinto in the Nichols lab publishes a review on anaplastic thyroid cancer.
    This represents my 100th paper on Pubmed!
    Thanks Nicole!

    100th paper on Pubmed

  • Former Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Peter Pelka, now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Manitoba, publishes a paper in Journal of Virology..
    Kris James, MSc graduate from the Mymryk lab also contributed to this work.
    Congratulations Peter and Kris!
    J. Virology

  • PhD candidates Mike Cohen and Cason King's paper is published in Virology.
    Thanks to Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos for his help with this work.
    Way to go guys!
    Virology

  • Doctoral student Cason King wins the annual Danone Award in the Dept. of M&I!
    This award is for the best oral presentation in the student seminar series.
    Well done!
    seminar

  • Team Mymryk welcomes Kristianne Galpin as a new graduate recruit.
    Glad to have you join the team!
    Welcome to London

  • Team Mymryk in dress uniform, having fun (as usual) at the 2014 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Madison.
    What a great group of virologists.
    Excellent jobs on your presentations!
    Team Mymryk2014
    From left to right: Cason King, Mike Cohen, Steve Gameiro and Tanner Tessier

  • Doctoral student Mike Cohen is selected as the winner of this year's Nellie Farthing Award!
    This award recognizes and rewards excellence in research performed by a PhD student in the Schulich School of Medicine.
    Great to see you recognized for all your hard work!
    Farthing Award

  • Former doctoral student Greg Fonseca is selected as the recipient of this year's Poland Award!
    This award recognizes the outstanding achievements of a graduating PhD student from the M&I program.
    What a fantastic way to end your graduate studies. Congratulations!
    Poland Award

  • Doctoral student Cason King wins an Ontario Graduate Scholarship award!
    Congratulations Cason, you are the King!
    King CasonI felt bad about the burger king picture,

  • Former Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Peter Pelka, now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Manitoba, wins a Manitoba Health Research Council grant.
    Congratulations Peter!
    Winnipeg

  • Former PhD student Greg Fonseca wins a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship for his work with Dr. Christopher Glass.
    Its great to see Greg's excellence rewarded with this prestigious award.
    When it comes to science, Greg truly is fearless. However, unlike Conan he will not likely be fighting ice demons in San Diego CA.
    Congratulations Greg!
    Greg the Fearless

  • Mike Cohen gives his award lecture and receives the M&I annual Thomas Award!
    Below is a picture of Mike and I with a member of the Thomas family who presented the award.
    Very nice work Mike!
    2013 Thomas Award

  • Ali "Baba" Zhang joins the Mymryk lab as an undergraduate summer student.
    He is supported by CaRTT and SURF studentship awards.
    Congratulations Ali on winning TWO competitive awards!
    Looking forward to working with you this summer, although there are not actually 40 scientists in the lab and we actually found the lost scimitar.
    Ali Baba Zhang

  • Jay Loftus wins a Dean's Awards of Excellence!
    A long time ago, Jay (a.k.a. Ninja Jay) started in the Mymryk lab as a lowly work study student. Over the years, he climbed the career ladder to dizzying heights, eventually obtaining the coveted and highly sought after position of Phantom Technician. After obtaining what could have been considered the achievement of a lifetime, Jay left the Mymryk laboratory to pursue a career as a Ninja of Distance Education.
    Nobody knows how many degrees Ninja Jay holds, but it is rumoured to be too numerous to count.
    Congratulations Jay, on this well deserved recognition for your outstanding contributions.
    Ninja Jay

  • PhD graduate Greg Fonseca's latest paper is published in Journal of Virology!
    This strong paper was also selected by the editors as a "Spotlight", a feature in the journal that highlights research articles of significant interest from the current issue.
    Excellent work Greg! Glad to see the final chapter of your thesis in print.
    Greg the Indomitable

  • PhD candidate Mike Cohen wins an Ontario Graduate Scholarship!
    Winning this highly competitive award is a reflection of Mike's hard work and achievements and will help support him over the next year of his graduate studies.
    Congratulations on your success Mike. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.
    Late addition: this award was pulled because of some eligibility issue, but Mike is still a winner in my book!
    Applause

  • MSc graduate Kris Marshall's paper is published in Virology!
    Kris left the "Mymryk Toy Shoppe" for a rewarding career in dentistry.
    With the help of many other talented members of the group, his second first author paper was recently accepted.
    Thanks to everyone for helping to finish off this very nice piece of work.
    Best wishes in your career Kris! We all hope you give us a discount on any future work!
    Dentist

  • Drs. Miller and Yousef return to the Mymryk laboratory for a visit!
    These two former graduate students happened to be in London on the same day and it was wonderful to catch up with these great guys over a tasty Shawarma.
    Its always a treat to hear about all the exciting science that these two are doing in New York (Miller) and Abu Dhabi (Yousef).
    What a privilege it has been to work with these excellent people.
    Lunch

  • The Mymryk and Nichols laboratories are awarded a 1 year operating grant for $100,000 by the CIHR Institute of Genetics for the project "Targets of the human papillomavirus E7 oncoprotein and their role in oropharyngeal cancer".
    In this tough funding climate (only 397 of 2527 applications were funded through the core CIHR budget), we are delighted to have these resources to support our work.
    Success

  • PhD candidate Michael Cohen is awarded the Department of Microbiology & Immunolgy's Thomas Award!
    This award is given annually to an outstanding senior PhD student.
    Very pleased to see you get recognition for your excellent work Mike!
    outstanding

  • PhD graduate Biljana Todorovic's paper is published in Journal of Virology.
    Way to go Biljana! This was the final chapter of her PhD thesis and its wonderful to see this work in print.
    JVI


    2013

  • Former PhD candidate Greg Fonseca moves to San Diego to start his post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Glass at UCSD.
    Greg is struggling to survive in the harsh and forbidding climate of Southern California.
    We all know that he is missing those mild Canadian winters, but its a sacrifice he had to make for the sake of his career.
    Best wishes for this next stage of your scientific adventure!
    beach

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk wins a teaching award!
    I received an Award of Excellence for the 2012-2013 year from the University Students Council in recognition of my high teaching evaluations.
    I deeply appreciate this recognition (unless of course, its just a mistake).
    Golden Apple

  • Former MSc graduate Vishnuka Arulsundaram's paper is published in Journal of General Virology.
    Very nice work Vishnuka! Thanks to all of our excellent collaborators for helping to make this paper happen.
    JGV

  • Dr. Joe Mymryk visited the University of Alberta in Edmonton to act as external examiner for David Sharon's PhD defense.
    Congratulations on your excellent defense David!
    I had a wonderful time during the visit, which was hosted by Dr. Mary Hitt.
    U of A

  • Kris James successfully defends his MSc thesis!
    He did an excellent job defending his thesis and has minimal corrections.
    Special thanks to his examiners (see below) for investing some of their valuable time for this exam. They did a great job grilling Kris!
    Kris James MSc

  • New MSc candidate Steve Gameiro wins a CaRTT Scholarship!
    Super job on winning this competitive studentship!
    Super Steve

  • PhD candidate Mike Cohen's paper is published in Journal of Virology.
    Magical work Mike!
    Magic Mike

  • Welcome to Tanner Tessier as a summer student and future graduate student in the laboratory.
    welcome

  • Its official, Greg Fonseca is now Dr. Greg Fonseca!
    Defense
    Despite a tough panel of hard case thesis examiners (see picture above), Greg defended his PhD thesis on the 24th of June and did a great job.
    Special thanks to all the examiners for their help in the thesis defense process.
    Greg has been a real asset in the Mymryk lab and it was a pleasure to see him complete his PhD studies on such a strong note.

  • Update on CHSRF 2013
    PhD candidate Greg Fonseca wins an honourable mention award for his poster at the 26th Annual Canadian Student Health Research Forum.
    Excellent work for a national competition!
    CSHRF Poster

  • PLOS Pathogens
    PhD candidate Greg Fonseca's latest paper is published in PLOS Pathogens.
    Magnificent work Greg!
    Greg the Magnificent

  • Dr. Ahmed Yousef, a former Post Doctoral Fellow/PhD student/MSc student in the Mymryk Lab, starts his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.
    Congratulations Ahmed! Victory is yours!
    Victorious

  • PhD candidate Greg Fonseca is heading to Winnipeg this week to represent the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the 26th Annual Canadian Student Health Research Forum.
    What were they thinking? Will the city survive?
    Catastrophe
    Seriously though, Greg is a great choice for this task.

  • Biljana Todorovic successfully defended her PhD thesis on May 28th.
    Congratulations Dr. Todorovic! An excellent thesis defense and a big day for the Mymryk lab!
    Special thanks to Drs. Barr, Koropatnick, Shepherd and Melendy for serving as examiners.
    She kept her cool and made it look easy.
    PhD

  • PhD candidate Michael Cohen is awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship! Congratulations Mike!

  • Welcome to Steve Gameiro as a summer student and future graduate student in the laboratory.
    welcome

  • Cason King, a graduate student in the lab, successfully completed his transfer to the PhD program "with distinction".
    Way to go Cason! Glad to have you stick around to do your doctorate.
    Congrats

  • I was recently promoted from "Senior Oncology Scientist" to "DISTINGUISHED Oncology Scientist" at the Cancer Research Laboratory Program
    Rest assured that this has not gone straight to my head.
    BTW, the picture below is a sneak preview of my new labcoat!
    new lab coat

  • The Mymryk lab was awarded a renewal for our NSERC grant "Identification and analysis of non-conventional nuclear import signals".
    In addition, former Post-doctoral fellow Dr. Peter Pelka was awarded his first nationally competitive operating and equipment grants by NSERC as new faculty at the University of Manitoba.
    Excellent work Peter!
    NSERC

  • PhD candidate Greg Fonseca won one of 8 prizes for his platform oral presentation at London Health Research Day.
    London Health Research Day
    Over 350 trainees presented their work at the London wide event.
    Really happy to see Greg get more recognition for his excellent work.

  • Greg Fonseca's paper has been recommended as being of special significance in its field by Ganes Sen and Saurabh Chattopadhyay from the F1000 Faculty
    Wonderful to see this paper is getting noticed! Great work Greg!

  • Dr. Anthony Nichols, the clinician scientist/head & neck surgeon who we collaborate intensively with, wraps up Manuary with ~$25,000 in raised funds.
    Fantastic effort for a worthy cause.
    manuary
    From left to right: Anthony Nichols, Alyson Nichols, Leigh Sowerby, David Wyatt and Rossana Wyatt.

  • Anthony was also recently awarded a Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute Quality of Life Research Grant to conduct a phase II randomized trial examining quality of life following treatment for early-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx: radiotherapy vs. trans-oral robotic surgery (ORATOR).
    What an outstanding achievment in this difficult funding climate!.

    2012

  • Former PhD trainee Dr. Matthew Miller wins the 2011 Poland Award in recognition of his outstanding graduate achievments.
    The award was presented at the 2012 Infection and Immunity Research Forum. Really proud of you Matt!

    Matt wins Poland Award
    From left to right: Keynote speaker Dr. Peter Palese, Matt Miller and Joe Mymryk

  • Audience in rapt attention of Dr. Palese's seminar.
    Rapt Attention
    From left to right: Biljana Todorovic, Greg Fonseca, Mike Cohen and Matt Miller

  • Biljana Todorovic publishes another paper in Journal of Virology. Nicely done!

  • Mike Cohen wins an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) award. Congratulations Mike!

  • Team Mymryk in uniform, having fun (as usual) at the 2012 DNA Tumour Virus Meeting in Montreal.
    What a pleasure to work with these people!
    Excellent jobs on your presentations!
    Team Mymryk
    From left to right: Kris James, Cason King, Mike Cohen, Greg Fonseca and Biljana Todorovic

  • Other shots of Team Mymryk with friends at the conference.
    DNATV 2012
    From left to right: Kris James, Cason King, Dr. Dohun Pyeon, Mike Cohen, Greg Fonseca and Biljana Todorovic

    DNATV 2012
    From left to right: Mike Cohen, Megan Spurgeon, Greg Fonseca, Adam Rogers and Biljana Todorovic

  • Dr. Peter Pelka (right), a former Post Doctoral Fellow in the Mymryk Lab, starts his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Manitoba.
    Congratulations and best wishes on your new position!
    Peter Pelka

  • Dr. Matt Miller (centre) convocates. Dr. Miller is continuing his scientific training as a Post Doctoral Fellow with Dr. Peter Palese
    He was successful in obtaining a very competitive CIHR Fellowship Award to help support his training. Keep up the great work!
    Matt Miller

  • Mike Cohen (right) Wins a Poster Prize at Oncology Research Day.
    Way to go Mike!
    Mike Cohen

  • Biljana Todorovic is awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship! Congratulations!

  • Greg Fonseca wins the Drs. Madge and Charles Macklin Fellowship for Publication in Medical Sciences for his recent paper in Cell Host & Microbe.
    This earned him a well deserved and very respectable cash prize. Don't spend it all in one place, Greg.

  • Greg Fonseca (right) publishes his research in Cell Host & Microbe. See the press release here.
    Best paper ever! Fantastic achievment!
    Greg Fonseca

  • Biljana Todorovic (right) wins the John A. Thomas Award.
    Wonderful work Biljana!
    Biljana Todorovic


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