Congratulations

Congratulations to the following students who have completed their Programs of Study:

• Jiaur Rahman completed his MSc in October 2017 (Supervisor - Dr. Shahidi); 
• Viswanathan Swaminathan completed his MSc in October 2017 (Supervisor - Dr. Christian); 
• Maaran Sunthamoorthy completed his PhD in Food Science in October 2017 (formerly supervised by Dr. Hoover until his passing and then under Dr. Brown’s supervision); 
• Scott Bray completed his MSc in December 2017 (Supervisor - Dr. Bertolo); 
• Welaa Al-Jaroudi completed her MSc in February 2018 (Supervisor - Dr. Bertolo).

Welcome

We would like to welcome some new students. Na T. Ngo and Lanh V. Nguyen are both new PhD students in Dr. Shahidi’s lab. Sarika Kumari, a new PhD student and Manuel Weber, a new Mannheim student, are both in Dr. Booth’s lab. Good luck to all of you with your studies.

We have a record number of MUCEP and ISWEP students this semester with a total of 43 students hired. These students are mostly in research labs but also in our computer room, in the society tutorial centre, general office, and student labs.

Upcoming Events

Do you like axe throwing? Have an axe to grind?? The Biochemistry Undergraduate Society is hosting an event at Jack Axes on Water Street on Friday, March 9th from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. Cost is $20 per person.   A great opportunity to network and socialize – all are welcome!   The Biochemistry Undergraduate Society is also hosting their Formal at Portobello’s Restaurant on Friday, March 23rd at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 each and will go on sale this week. The formal will involve a 3 course meal with appetizer of soup or salad; an entrée of chicken, salmon, or pasta; and dessert. All are welcome.  Tickets for both events can be purchased by dropping by the Biochemistry Undergraduate Society room in SN4001 or by emailing biochemistry.mun@gmail.com

The Departments annual Convocation Reception is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th at 12:00 noon. Mark your calendars and join us in congratulating our new graduates. The departmental graduation prizes will also be presented at the reception. Invitations will be sent as the date gets closer.

The 8th Annual Biochemistry Summer Student Research Symposium is scheduled for Friday, August 10, 2018 at the Johnson Geo Centre. There will be slots for both posters and oral presentations, from Graduate and Undergraduate students in our department. There will also be a visiting speaker, Dr. Mark Turner from Nottingham Trent University. His work explores the underlying causes of type 2 diabetes and inflammatory diseases, with a focus on such areas as: neuroendocrine secretory mechanisms, diet and diabetes, and immune cell signalling in inflammatory diseases. Please mark your calendars, further details will be provided as the date gets closer.

Retirement Celebration

We are sorry to say that Craig Skinner, our IT and Instrumentation support person, will be retiring on April 20th. A retirement coffee is planned for that date at 10:00 a.m. in the Feltham Room. All are welcome – come join us to say thank you to Craig for his many years of service to our department and to give him a good send of on the next phase of his life. Heather Fifield has been hired as Craig’s replacement and will start with us at the end of March.

Funding Awards

Congratulations to the following faculty members on receiving various funding awards in the past few months:

• Dr. Brown and Dr. Shahidi along with Dr. Parrish from Ocean Sciences on receiving a JELF Award from CFI to purchase a Mass Spectrometer machine to be housed in the Biotechnology building. 
• Dr. Bertolo, Dr. Brunton, and Dr. Christian were all awarded Janeway Grants 
• Dr. Cheema received funding as a collaborator with PI, Dr. S. Sen to perform analysis work for the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) Medical School 
• Dr. Christian was also awarded a Cancer Research Society grant