Emil Pai, University of Toronto and Ontario Cancer Institute:
“Data generated at CLS – Crucial for research, prion disease and drug design:
A collection of short stories”

Dr. Pai will discuss three examples of research his group has done at the CLS,
including using enzymes to clean up organohalogens (a group of chemicals that include pesticides such as DDT), finding new ways to combat malaria, and understand how prion proteins can cause diseases such as BSE.

Ronghua Zhao, University of Saskatchewan:
“Characterization of esophageal tumours”

Zhao, a collaborator with U of S head of surgery Dr. Alan Casson, is using the CLS to better understand and map esophageal cancer stem cells in tumours. The work is related to recently reported research on Barrett’s Esophagus.

Ning Zhu, University of Saskatchewan:
“Characterization of nerval (sic) tissue scaffolds by the BMIT beamline”

Nerve injuries can lead to lifetime paralysis and disfigurement. Zhu and his collaborators are using  the synchrotron’s biomedical beamline to image the biodegradable scaffolds that are implanted by doctors to encourage nerve and tissue regeneration at injury sites.

Jenna Capyk, University of British Columbia:
“KshAB: A Rieske monooxygenase in the cholesterol degradation pathway of Myobacterium tuberculosis”

On average, a person dies from tuberculosis every 15 seconds. The secret to M. tuberculosis’ tenacity is its ability to harvest energy from the cholesterol naturally present in the body’s white blood cells. Capyk, a grad student at UBC, and colleagues from UBC and the CLS have determined the molecular structure of one of the enzymes the tuberculosis bacterium uses to process cholesterol – making it a key target for future drug treatments against TB.

Glen Hamonic, Bishop Grandin High School:
“High school students on the beamlines:
Investigating natural and synthetic chelates”

Hamonic, a student at Bishop Grandin High School in Calgary, will present the results of his team’s comparison of the nutrients in a mineral supplement  with the minerals found in natural fruit juices. The project was one of the finalists in the CLS Students on the Beamlines program, which gives students the opportunity to conduct their own original research at the CLS.