Below you will find some of my research interests. These are general research areas which, to a certain extent, I discovered during my time as a doctoral candidate and which I pursued to a certain degree during my postdoctoral position at UBC.
Correlative light and electron microscopy
Nowadays, live imaging of immuno-labelled cellular components or fluorescently-tagged proteins is providing incredible insight into the dynamics of cellular processes. Electron microscopy (EM), on the other hand, is providing nanoscale structural detail within the context of the cell. I am interested in using these tools (as well as combining them in the new discipline of correlative light and electron microscopy) to obtain insight into cellular processes - and to couple the dynamics of live imaging with the high resolution static structural information of EM. The information obtained can in turn be implemented to improve morphological and structural cell models.
Computational modeling and visualization of biology
I am interested in developing computer/visualization tools to improve data analysis and communication of results. Building on my interest in programming and computational modeling, during the last year of my PhD I developed an interactive 3D web implementation (using HTML5 and WebGL) of a Matlab model I created of Streptomyces bacterial growth and development. My idea was to have an interactive model where a user can adjust several input variables (such as bulk oxygen concentration, growth rate or morphological parameters such as distance between branches or maximum branch length) and watch a pellet grow before their eyes.
The initial plans for my online Streptomyces model were based on a similar biological project which I find very inspiring: the OpenWorm browser.
The OpenWorm browser is a tool being developed to virtually model the worm C. elegans in order to better understand neural connections and the functioning of the brain. The code is completely open source and run by a group of volunteer scientists, engineers and interested citizens. Those involved encourage participation from all disciplines and directions in order to better create a complete cell model.
The initial plans for my online Streptomyces model were based on a similar biological project which I find very inspiring: the OpenWorm browser.
The OpenWorm browser is a tool being developed to virtually model the worm C. elegans in order to better understand neural connections and the functioning of the brain. The code is completely open source and run by a group of volunteer scientists, engineers and interested citizens. Those involved encourage participation from all disciplines and directions in order to better create a complete cell model.