Our Students, Trainees, and Staff

Team:

Team

Past trainees

Team

Past trainees

Team

Adithi Pisapati 

Name of Supervisor & Department:

Dr. Thomas Pulinilkunnil – Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Career stage:

MSc student

What did you do before coming to DMNB? 

Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology

Why did you choose to come to DMNB?

The research interests of Dr. Thomas Pulinilkunnil and Dr. Petra C Kienesberger happen to resonate exactly with my undergraduate projects. Dr. Pulinilkunnil’s work on diabetes, obesity and further cardiovascular research is extremely intriguing and DMNB provides an environment that can bring out the best of my practical skills as I am of the opinion that disposition and the ability to work in a particular field of research talks much more than the scores on a pen and paper test

What sparked your interest in scientific research?

The risk factors of metabolic syndrome such as diabetes has been a major topic of research in India because the country leads the statistics of prevalence after China. This has made me wonder about the various cellular and molecular level mechanisms which could lead to a condition that is so common in the country I belong to. So, I joined my first lab during the 2^nd year of my undergraduate program and scientific research has never ceased to amaze me since then.

What is your research about?

My research focuses on the ‘Regulation of TFEB and its role in Cardiac Metabolism and Function in Diet-induced Obesity’. In the presence of high sugar and fat environment, the ability of lysosomes to clear defective compounds decreases in the cardiac cells. This effect is due to impaired function and content of transcription factor EB (TFEB), which is a lysosome resident protein. Mechanisms by which increased fat content decrease TFEB content and function in the heart are unclear. Since TFEB is indispensable for lysosomal function, deciphering mechanisms that inhibit TFEB in the cardiomyocyte would lead to a druggable target for obesity and diabetes-related cardiomyopathy.

What excites you most about your research?

The fact that each day is different from the other is the best part of research for me. Every experiment, be it a success or failure is a learning and makes me look for excitement and happiness in the smallest of things.

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? 

DMNB being a small and closely connected organization provides space for trainees to find their niche and comfort which I think is very important to have a successful research career. 

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? 

I would tell ‘younger self’ to take trust the process and that time would take me to where I exactly need to be and that is in science.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? 

Five years from now, I see myself still very much attached to research and I hope to join a doctoral program in this field someday.

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun?

Being an international student, I find comfort in food. So, I make the best use of my spare time to cook food that reminds me of home and enjoy it with a couple friends.

MinJi Kim  

Name of Supervisor & Department:

Dr Keith Brunt, Department of Pharmacology

Career stage:

MSc student

What did you do before coming to DMNB? 

I was an undergraduate student at UNBSJ with BSc in Biology-psychology

Why did you choose to come to DMNB?

I like the research topic is translational. I can study about disease mechanisms and apply basic science discoveries into possible drug targets or treatments. Also, the lab atmosphere of the DMNB. It was team-based learning, everyone supporting with each other a lot.

What sparked your interest in scientific research?

There are so many mysteries or unknowns around us, and it is fascinating to find the answers by my hands. Feeling like looking for missing puzzle pieces.

What is your research about?

My research project is on a type of heart failure, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). It is more prone to women and currently there is no treatment for HFpEF. There are many features in HFpEF, my research project is focus on the cardiac hypertrophy feature, which is making heart muscle cells big and fat. Looking for new drug targets by finding what molecular mechanisms regulate hypertrophy in HFpEF.

What excites you most about your research?

The time to see the results. After hours or days of work on an experiment, the moment to see how the experiment turns out is excites me the most. Can’t hind the excitement to see what kind of cues does the experiments tell me about the question that I am looking for.

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? 

A day could be like growing some cells and checking them to make sure everything doing well. During waiting time of experiments, searching or reading literatures related to my research topic, design next experiments, or having lunch. Have a lab meeting with my supervisor and other trainees and present some results I got from the experiments or discuss troubleshooting that I have and find possible solutions. Sometime sit in an office and writing thesis.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? 

Believe in yourself, swim at your own pace.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? 

I might be a trainee in a health care/medicine related field.

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun?

I like to swim, hiking/camping, playing musical instruments, and singing in a choir.

Maggie Pickard

Name of Supervisor & Department: Thomas Pulinilkunnil, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Name of Co-Supervisors: N/A

Career stage: Prepping for MSc Defence/Graduating MSc in October

What did you do before coming to DMNB?: I’m originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia and then before coming to DMNB, I got my honours degree in Biochemistry from Mount Allison University. That’s where I started doing scientific research!

Why did you choose to come to DMNB? Coming from a small school like Mount A, I was intrigued by attending a smaller campus where I thought I’d get a good chance to make connections and really get into research. I also was impressed by what I’d read about the core research facility and the connections between the school and the hospital that would give me the chance to make real progress in health-focused research.

What sparked your interest in scientific research? I’ve always been interested in medicine, but after studying science in undergrad, I became more and more intrigued by learning the underlying intricacies of what contributes to the health & disease that I would be working close to in medicine. I became interested in scientific research because I wanted to uncover and put the pieces together about what causes disease; I guess I’d say I was interested in learning more about the why and the how, before I could focus on the medicine itself.

What is your research about? My research is focused on the role of a small protein called Sar1b and uncovering how it impacts insulin signaling in the skeletal muscle. In the big picture, skeletal muscle insulin signaling is heavily impacted in the onset of obesity and type II diabetes, so that is the greater focus of my research.

What excites you most about your research? What’s exciting to me about research is the idea that by doing what at this point, I consider day to day work, I might be building a small piece toward what could be a big discovery that could really help people. What I mean by this is that even if I myself am not making giant breakthroughs, but every result is a step forward that could really become something. I just think that’s really special and exciting!

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? To me, DMNB is all about the people. What’s so unique about being a trainee here is that you get to work with so many other intelligent, focused researchers and trainees, technicians, and great PIs. It’s really interesting that even though we all share common interests, there’s so many different areas of research happening in one small building. It’s also such a great place to be a trainee because we get to use state of the art equipment, and are just in general exposed to a lot of cool research techniques and science.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? I’d tell myself to be more open minded when it comes to opportunities, in school and in life, and to not be so afraid to fail. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in grad school is that sometimes it’s the opportunities you least expect that turn out to be the best experiences, and that “failure” is necessary for every little bit of growth.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? In five years, I hope to working toward a career in medicine, but doing something that I get to keep my interests in research involved in it. If not, I think I’d be involved in some clinical research project. Either way, I see myself working with people, most likely in a hospital setting, and still living in the Maritimes hopefully not far from the ocean!

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun? When I’m not in the lab, or tucked away working and writing in a coffee shop somewhere, I like to spend time with my friends, most likely going out to eat at one of the best local spots uptown Saint John. I also like to exercise, play hockey, and read. Depending on the weather, I also really like to get outside so going for walks, either around town or on the trails in Rockwood park, skiing in the winter, and enjoying the beach in the summer!

Angella Mercer

Name of Supervisor & Department: Dr. Petra Kienesberger, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

Name of Co-Supervisors: Dr. Thomas Pulinilkunnil.

Career stage: Research Laboratory Technician.

What did you do before coming to DMNB? Before working at DMNB, I worked as a Lab Technician and Lab Manager at the University of New Brunswick in an Environmental-Ecotoxicology Lab.

Why did you choose to come to DMNB? DMNB offers unique research opportunities within New Brunswick. We are lucky to have state-of-the art instrumentation to help answer our scientific questions. As a technician, having access to the high-end equipment is great for career development.

What sparked your interest in scientific research? I have always been interested making the world a better place and I feel like research is a wonderful way to do this. When the opportunity became available to join the DMNB team, I did not hesitate to jump on board, the decision was easy.

What does your position entail? I specialize in Mass Spectrometry focusing on the development of analytical testing methods to meet the current research needs of our research team. I focus on creating methods that quantify various metabolites and lipids in samples for several projects within our research group and with collaborators.

What excites you most about coming to work every day? I find it exciting to see the progression and growth of the individual students as they navigate their programs. The ability to provide key data for several projects is rewarding both personally and professionally. I am also grateful that I am continuously learning new concepts, ideas, and technologies/methodologies. When that new method finally comes together, and I report data for the first time it gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

What it is like to work at DMNB? Being a trainee/research staff at DMNB is rewarding. The ability to see a project/task from start to finish enables you to see how each piece of the puzzle fits together to form the larger scientific picture.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? Learn to advocate for yourself, the sooner you can do this the faster your will reach your goals.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? I see myself continuing to work in research as a research technician. The plan is to continuously expand my knowledge and master all protocols and instruments within our facility.

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun? In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and pets. I look forward to spending time being creative (sewing, crafting, genealogy), being outdoors (camping, hiking, and biking) and traveling.

Helmi Alfarra

Name of Supervisor & Department: Dr. Tony Reiman, Department of Medicine

Name of Co-Supervisors: (NA)

Career stage: Postdoctoral fellow

What did you do before coming to DMNB? After I received my Ph.D. degree, I did 2.5 years of postdoctoral training on cancer immunotherapy in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Why did you choose to come to DMNB? When I was towards the end of my first postdoctoral training, a senior professor at Dal advised me to apply for a job at DMNB. I was told that the DMNB research lab is growing, it is a productive research environment, and it could be an opportunity to gain new experience and skills. I believe I am fortunate that I got that advice. She was right, and I want to thank her!

What sparked your interest in scientific research? When I was in high school, I came across an interesting article about genetic engineering and its promises to solve health and agricultural issues. That article sparked my curiosity in scientific research, and I wanted to make it my life-long career. So, in university, I chose the biological sciences field in the hope that I could continue in the field and one day become a scientist. Today, I am doing something I love, planned for, and working in an exciting research field hoping that the outcome of my research could contribute to a discovery that saves people’s lives.

What is your research about? I study Multiple Myeloma (MM), a deadly bone marrow cancer treated by several potent drugs. However, patients eventually relapse, and their disease becomes resistant to the drugs. Activating the immune system to attack the cancer cells is one of the exciting advancements that have been made in cancer treatment. I focus on an immune cells type called natural killer (NK) cells that can recognize and kill virus-infected and cancer cells. The main goal of my project is to study the NK cell characteristics in MM patients -check our article- and the strategies to improve the NK cell’s ability to attack the MM cells. I am focusing on several proteins on the surface of the NK cell that can receive deactivating signals from the cancer cells. These signals allow the cancer cell to escape the NK cell attack. Our studies could assist in developing strategies to block these signals, allowing the NK cells to detect and attack the cancer cells.

What excites you most about your research? Thinking about my research as a giant puzzle and filling any gap in that puzzle could guide to solve it. That excites me because it makes me feel that we the are close to solving a life-threatening issue.

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? Other than challenging my experiments, working in a shared lab of four PIs with each one having a unique research interest and applying different research techniques makes my work at DMNB a worthwhile experience. That makes me knowledgeable on various research techniques, equipment, and tools that I could use in the future. Trainees and people at DMNB are epic and interacting with them is great.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? I wish. So, I would advise the younger Helmi to do many things. Use the time adequately. Put first things first. Learn and acquire new skills. Be kind, try first to understand, then to be understood. Believe win-win and use it. Be proactive. Know it’s okay to be different, it’s okay to try a different direction, don’t be afraid of making a mistake(s). It’s okay to not know the answer, don’t be reluctant to ask. The worst they can say is “No.”

Where do you see yourself five years from now? Honestly, it’s hard to know exactly where I see myself or where I will be in five years. But I do know that I love being a scientist and an educator. Researching and exploring new methods to prevent and cure diseases like cancer and transfer knowledge to students and trainees and help them understand things to solve health issues. So, in five years, I still want to do scientific research, mentoring and educating students to help them improve their skills and scientific research experience.  

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun? I love to spend my spare time at home with my children, playing board games and watching kids' animations with them and go with them for ice skating and a family swim. In the summer I love to do gardening. I find it is a good therapy and stress relief.

Logan Slade

Name of Supervisor & Department: Dr. Thomas Pulinilkunnil, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Career stage: PhD student

What did you do before coming to DMNB? Really my career started at DMNB. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of New Brunswick on the Saint John campus before starting at DMNB as a summer student in 2014, after which I completed my honors project in Dr. Pulinikunnil’s laboratory and then began graduate school here in 2015.

Why did you choose to come to DMNB? My main reason for choosing DMNB was that my research interests aligned with that of my supervisor. The project we’re working on has kept me interested every day and I feel that the research we are doing is important. I also appreciate the freedom that my supervisor has given me to pursue the questions that I find exciting even if that has meant some mistakes along the way. Lastly, I love New Brunswick and Saint John, so I was happy to have the opportunity to work here.

What sparked your interest in scientific research? There was no one spark which led me to scientific research; however I have always loved science and always had a drive to learn. Throughout my undergrad degree I was on the path towards medical school, but I gradually understood that my real passion was for discovery, and the opportunity to conduct research as an undergrad certainly helped solidify that interest.  

What is your research about? I research breast cancer, a disease that is a leading cause of death among women. Breast cancer can be divided into different subtypes, and one of these subtypes is called triple negative breast cancer which is more challenging to treat and generally has lower survival rates. Our main research goal is to understand the molecular pathways which allow this cancer to grow and use that knowledge to develop new methods of treatment to improve patient outcomes. Our current research focuses on a protein called TFEB. TFEB is important for the growth triple cancer breast cancer cells, and we are trying to understand how this protein is used by cancer, and if those functions are therapeutically targetable.  

What excites you most about your research? I always find the process of discovery exciting. Putting together small pieces of research into a bigger picture, forming a new hypothesis you can test, and sharing those results my colleagues has been rewarding. The idea that some of my research could someday provide a benefit to humanity has always motived me.

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? Training at DMNB has been wonderful. The access to state-of-the-art equipment essentially all in one room is remarkable and working closely with the other trainees in our building is great.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? The advice I would give to my younger self is one that I still am continuing to learn, which is to take chances and grasp opportunities. I often tend to stray to towards to path which is most familiar, but I find myself most often rewarded when pushing outside my comfort zone.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? In five years, hopefully I’ll be completing a productive post-doctoral fellowship and working towards a faculty position. I would like to continue doing cancer research with on focus on identifying new molecular targets for treatment.

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun? Outside of work I like to ride my bike, and I also play soccer a couple times a week. I also enjoy reading (or listening to) non-fiction and history books, and that’s always what I’m listening to while working in the lab.

Ashley Eadie

Name of Supervisor & Department: Dr. Keith Brunt; Department of Pharmacology

Career stage: PhD Candidate (5^th year)

What did you do before coming to DMNB? I was an undergraduate student at the University of New Brunswick, studying molecular toxicology, while also serving as an engineer for the Royal Canadian Navy part-time.

Why did you choose to come to DMNB? I actually chose to come to DMNB twice: first for my MSc and then as a conscious decision again for my PhD. The first time I chose DMNB was because it offered me the chance to combine research and medicine. Throughout high school and my undergraduate degree, those career paths had always been presented as separate: either you can go to med school to pursue medicine or you can be a scientist, but you couldn't do both, and that choice was something that I really struggled with. As a first-gen student, my exposure to modern biomedical research at that time was almost non-existent, and so it wasn’t until I met my now-supervisor that I began to understand exactly how a career in both medicine and research can be forged. He and DMNB were the first to show me that I could follow this path, in New Brunswick nonetheless and at a U15 research university.

The second time I chose DMNB was due to the mentorship I receive(d) from my supervisor and the example that he sets in how to be a better scientist. Becoming a better scientist means better serving patients, and that’s the most important thing to me and my work. My supervisor hasn’t stopped challenging himself to grow as a researcher and I can’t help but be inspired to do the same.

What sparked your interest in scientific research? I don’t know if I could pin it on just one answer. Science is awesome and my interest is continuously re-sparked. There’s always something new to learn.

What is your research about? My research is about understanding how the heart adapts on a molecular level to different forms of stress and how we can design better therapeutic interventions to dial up these mechanisms to protect the heart from cardiovascular disease. A big part of my research focuses on a molecule called ‘heme’ and how its regulation in the heart changes with health and disease. Heme is most commonly recognized for giving red blood cells their distinct colour but also serves as an essential carrier of molecular oxygen. This function is especially important in cardiovascular disease given the heart's increased workload and its inability to deliver enough oxygenated blood to meet this demand. Understanding how heme regulation changes in the heart will enable us to design better drugs to target this pathway and benefit patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.  

What excites you most about your research? Getting to work with so many cool people: pharmacologists, physiologists, clinicians, pharmacists, epidemiologists, technologists, technicians, admin staff, entrepreneurs, and more.

What it is like to be a trainee at DMNB? For me, it's tough but rewarding. A big part of the job is failing forward: figuring out why experiments didn't work out the way we expected them to, and then following the data to find deeper answers about underlying physiological processes. If all of your hypotheses work out exactly as predicted, you might not be asking the right questions required to advance that field of research. It can be difficult to feel like you’re wrong so often, but with training you realize that it’s a necessary part of learning and bringing new discoveries closer to clinical translation. When experiments don’t go as planned, it’s especially important to have supportive teammates and mentors, and I’ve been very fortunate to find them in our lab.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your "younger self"? Life is too short to be anyone other than yourself. Put in the hard work, be kind and professional, but be authentically you.

Where do you see yourself five years from now? I don’t know, I have terrible eyesight (and jokes). The most important thing to me is to be somewhere my skillsets can benefit patients the most. Right now, I see myself working towards that as a translational scientist. Translational scientists serve an interdisciplinary role aimed at improving the development of bench-side scientific discoveries into viable therapeutic strategies for patients, and are an important part of the research between DMNB and the NB Heart Center. Generally, this role is thought of as a bridge between fundamental (or academic) research, the clinic, and sometimes industry. However, these branches of pharmaceutical development are not the only ones necessary to bring new therapeutics to patients. Regulatory agencies such as Health Canada and the FDA also play a major role in determining whether new therapeutics will make their way to patients, and yet, are not well-connected to the other branches of pharmaceutical development via translational medicine. Taking regulatory requirements into consideration when designing new therapeutic interventions and their clinical trials is important to ensuring that patients get timely access to new medicines. This is where I think my skillsets could be of service as a translational scientist, bridging the knowledge gaps between industry, academia and the clinic.

What do you like to do in your spare time for fun? I absolutely love listening to comedy podcasts. I listen to them all the time, but especially when I’m working. A big part of my work involves writing and communicating concisely, and nobody does that better than comedians. So, listening to stand-ups deconstruct their jokes word-by-word helps me to apply those lessons to my writing. Ironically, it hasn’t made my writing any funnier, but it does help me get to the crux of what I’m trying to say. I think there’s also something really cool in hearing smart people be silly.

In the summer, I also like to race sailboats. Sailing can be physically and mentally demanding (there’s a reason it’s compared to playing chess on a race car), but I like that it continually pushes me out of my comfort zone—it keeps me sharp and present. The free food after the race doesn’t hurt either.