M.Sc. Trainees
Berna Macin
Rainey Group
Current Degree: Master's in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Education: BSc in Chemistry (Hons) at Dalhousie University
Research: I completed an honours project with an excellence under supervision of Dr. Chisholm. The project was on mechanical changes investigation of lipid membranes induced by the interactions with gold nanoparticles in atomic force microscopy (AFM). The project was presented in Chemistry Conference 2022 Science Atlantic. Additionally, John R. Dingle Scholarship allowed me to work in Dr. Doucette's group in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University. The project I had worked on over summer of 2022 was LC-MS/MS investigation on the rates of undesired protein modifications/ side reactions that occur during enzymatic digestion at elevated temperatures.
Awards
Harvey W. Wiley Scholarship - 2022
John R. Dingle Summer Research Scholarship - 2022
E. Walter Todd Scholarship - 2021
Knop Prize in Inorganic Chemistry – 2020
Dalhousie Entrance Scholarship- 2018-2022
Nasa Invention Challenge The Best-Designed ----Apparatus Award - 2015
Bu Benim Eserim Science Project Contest Patent - 2009
The Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music --Test Certificates - 2008- 2009
Conferences
Thesis of the Honours Project conducted was presented in Chemistry Conference 2022 Science Atlantic.
The visa application challenges occurred after COVID-19 pandemic caused to not being able to attend the invitation from Association of Official Analytical Chemists to their 2022 conference. The invitation aimed to introduce an opportunity to present the honours project.
The poster of “Characterizing the kinetics of protein carbamylation during digestion for bottom-up mass spectrometry’ project conducted in Dr. Doucette’s Laboratory at Dalhousie University was presented in an undergraduate poster fair in the fall of 2022.
Fun Fact(s): I love reading poems and I used to be a reader in poem performances. Additional to that I love reading crazy romance books, doing cross stitching, baking, and most importantly I love attending the concerts of my favourite bands and singers.
Emily Burke
Speed group
Current Degree: Master's in Chemistry
Education: BSc honors in chemistry with a minor in mathematics at Dalhousie University
Research:During my undergraduate degree I worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Speed lab at Dalhousie University. Both projects involved developing a more efficient route to synthesizing 3-bromonaphthothiophene and then further derivatization of said compound. I also completed my honor project in the Speed group working on alkene and alkyne pentafluorosulfanylation using the SF5 radical from the catalytic photoredox activation of SF6. My current project is synthesizing bulky diazaphospholenes to be used in intermolecular radical reactions, some of these reactions would include SF5 addition and aryl halide addition.
Awards
Hector McInnes Memorial Scholarship (2018)
Dalhousie In-course Scholarship (2019)
Chemistry Undergrad Research Award (2020)
Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Prize (2022)
Smith, Rosemary W. Blount Academic Award (2022)
Walter J Chute Prize in Chemistry (2022)
NSERC CGS M Award (2022)
Papers
Burke, E.; Welsh, E.; Robertson, K.; Speed, A. Efficient Synthesis and Functionalization of 3-Bromo Naphtho[2,3b]Thiophene . ChemRxiv 2021.
Welsh, Erin. N.; Burke, Emily. K.; Robertson, Katherine; Speed, Alex. W. H. Short Synthesis of 1- Substituted Dibenzothiophenes and 3-Substituted Naphthothiophenes. ChemRxiv 2019
Conferences
2021 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CCCE) (virtual) presenting “Build Your Own At-Home Chemistry Lab with This DIY UV-Vis Spectrometer”
Fun Fact(s): I got into playing squash 4 years ago and am now hooked on it. I am apart of the Dal Squash Club as a drop-in night representative and love planning fun activities and socials within the drop-in community.
Karin Reznikov
jackeman group
Current Degree: Master's in Chemistry
Education: BSc Chemistry at Dalhousie University
Research: In our lab, we have synthesized and investigated the properties of molecules containing a formylphenylboronic acid functionality due to the potential for iminoboronate formation with lysine residues within a target active site. An iminoboronate is a stabilized imine formed through the reversible reaction between an amino- and aldehyde functionality. The molecules were designed to interact with enzymes in the bacterial rhamnose biosynthetic pathway, a known antibiotic target. Molecules were structurally comparable in volume to thymidine diphosphoglucose and thymidine diphosphorhamnose, products of the biosynthetic pathway. In this study, we have initiated the characterization of these formylphenylboronic acid derivatives to measure pKa values, imine formation constants and diol binding formation constants using a variety of UV-visible, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopic techniques.
Presentations
ChemCon 2022 conference- speaker
Fun Fact(s): I was born and raised in Israel and I moved to Canada right after I graduated high school with my family. I am fluent in 3 languages: Hebrew, Russian and English and I am good at learning languages. I love reading, painting and exploring new places.
Mathieu Laprise
gray group
Current Degree: Master's in Biological Sciences
Education: BSc Bio-Psyc at University of New Brunswick-Saint John
Research: My research focuses on determining the absolute stereochemistry of two molecules isolated from endophytic fungi. I will be using X-ray Crystallography, NMR, VCD/EDC and chemical derivatizations to determine their absolute stereochemistry.
Awards
2019-20 Anton Feicht Scholarship (UNBSJ)
2020-22 J. Fraser Gregory Scholarship (UNBSJ)
Fun Fact(s): My hobbies include all things sports. I spend most of my time out of the office playing golf, hockey or at the gym. I also enjoy spending time hiking.
Meghan Hamilton
Bearne group
Current Degree: Master's in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Education: BSc degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Dalhousie
Research: I am focused on understanding the nature of protein-ligand interactions and the resulting influence on enzyme catalysis. I aim to investigate chemical mechanisms and measure the catalytic activity of enzymes which have therapeutic interest. Additionally, I will work to develop and characterize novel enzyme inhibitors for these enzymes.
Publications
Douglas, C. D., Grandinetti, L., Easton, N. M., Kuehm, O. P., Hayden, J. A., Hamilton, M. C., ... & Bearne, S. L. (2021). Slow-Onset, Potent Inhibition of Mandelate Racemase by 2-Formylphenylboronic Acid. An Unexpected Adduct Clasps the Catalytic Machinery. Biochemistry, 60(32), 2508-2518.
Fun Fact(s): I was a competitive figure skater for over 15 years
Olivia Roland
Sit group
Current Degree: Master of Applied Science - Chemistry
Education: BSc. Chemistry (honours) at Cape Breton University
Research: I have done summer research for four years working on various projects under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie MacQuarrie (Cape Breton University), starting in 2019. As well, I have completed my honours thesis in the MacQuarrie lab in spring 2022. The MacQuarrie lab focuses on utilizing several different waste streams, namely local crab bodies, to produce biochar via pyrolysis. For my thesis, this biochar was examined to determine its efficacy to absorb pyrolysis-syngas in order to create a more environmentally friendly pyrolysis procedure. At the moment, I am examining the efficacy of various soil supplements, including the use of the certain bacterial species, by quantitatively/qualitatively studying plant growth of jalapeno peppers. As well, I will focus on testing the efficacy of inhibitory compounds against P. destructans, the causative agent of White-Nose Syndrome in North American bat species.
Awards
ChemCon 2022 Poster Presentation Award- 3rd place overall in Organic Chemistry section
Fun Fact(s): Oil/watercolor painting, hiking, baking etc.
Ruiwen He
Langelaan group
Current Degree: Master's in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Education: Chemistry at Dalhousie University
Research: My projects are focusing on structural biochemistry. In my previous undergrade research, I worked on a potential exonuclease from zebrafish to determine its functions and structures. In my graduate study, I will continue working on this protein to get further information of it. In addition, I will work on proteins called hydrophobins, which were found from fungi. They have special self-assembly features. My project Is to discover their special feature and potential applications.
Fun Fact(s): Although I work in natural science fields, I'm really interested in computer science. I'm also a road trip and camping fan!