at the University of Toronto
Linda Convocates!
2023-06-13
Congratulations to Linda Ren on her convocation ceremony today and officially receiving her BSc degree and parchment. We were happy to celebrate with you Linda! We wish you continued good fortune.
Roy Lab Parties (and Inspires and gets Inspired) at the Donnelly Retreat
2023-06-01
Super fun and educational retreat. Thanks Steph! Thanks Mikko! The Donnelly is awesome and we are always proud to be in an institution with so many brilliant colleagues. The retreat gives us all a chance to share stories of amazing science. See details here.
Muntasir Convocates!
2023-06-01
Congrats Muntasir- we are all super proud of you!
-the Roy Lab
News about our Selectivin Paper.
2023-05-25
Multiple sites have highlighted our Selectivin paper, including:
Nature Research Briefing- read here.
University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine- read here.
Phys.Org posted a story here.
AskByGeeks posted a story here.
Our Selectivin Paper is Published in Nature!
2023-05-24
We are very excited to see Andrew's selectivin paper published in Nature! The paper was a tour de force by Andrew Burns, along with some very fruitful collaborations with other Roy Lab members Jessica Knox and Brittany Cooke, along with many friends at the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary and the USDA. A special thanks to Anna Armstrong at Nature Magazine for shepherding our paper through the process. You can read the paper here.
PEXIL Patent is Applied For.
2023-05-23
We are excited to have applied for a patent to protect our PEXIL technology, 'METHODS TO SCREEN YEAST TO IDENTIFY XENOBIOTICS THAT TARGET PESTS, PATHOGENS AND PARASITES'. It is always exciting to have students be an integral part of the process. With this patent, we had key contributions from PhD students Jessica Knox and Brittany Cooke, and post-doc Andrew Burns, who are all co-inventors along with Peter. Another exciting development for the Roy Lab.
Our Nemacol Patent is Awarded!
2023-04-26
We are thrilled to receive the paper copy from the US Patent Office for the lab’s first US Patent for our Nemacol anthelmintic small molecule. We are super proud of Roy Lab Students Sean Harrington, Jacob Pyche, Genna Luciani, and Roy Lab post-doc, Andrew Burns, who are all co-inventors along with Peter. Way to go Team Roy!!!
Our Nemacol Paper is Featured in Nature Communications as a Top Paper
2023-04-18
We are delighted to see our Harrington et al., 2023 Nemacol paper chosen by Nature Communications Editors as a top featured paper in the field of Microbiology and Infectious Disease.
Fare-thee-Well Sean Harrington!
2023-01-27
After seeing his two papers out the door (publishing in Communications Biology and Nature Communications) Sean is moving on. We had a fun evening playing pool and going out for eats and drinks as a way to celebrate Sean and wish him the best with his future. We'll miss ya Sean!!
LC/MS Installed
2023-04-04
We are all excited that our Agilent HPLC-DAD-6545 Q-TOF instrument was installed. So happy to be able to track bioactive metabolites in right in our own lab!
Munatsir Successfully Defends!
2023-03-29
A big congratulations to Muntasir for successfully defending his PhD! He did a wonderful job at his defense, impressing all examining members. We all wish you well on the next leg of your journey.
Peter Lands a CIHR Project Grant to Fund the Pexil Project
2023-03-04
We are super happy to report being awarded a 5 year CIHR Project Grant for the project, 'PEXIL- A Novel Massively Paralleled Drug Screening Technology to Identify Compounds to Combat Multiple Human Pathogens'.
Roy Lab hosts the First Annual Departmental Table Tennis Tournament
2022-08-31
A grand time was had by all! Shown are the finalists, who are all winners (but really only one winner...)
Post-Lock Down Celebration II- Roy Lab installs new Table Tennis Table!
2022-06-08
Nothing says fun like publishing great papers and a little bit of table tennis with co-worker friends. Thanks to Sean, Levon and Brandon for putting the table together. Let the games begin!!!
NEW SCOPE ARRIVES
2022-03-22
Our new workhorse Leica DM6 fluorescent scope was installed this week. It replaces our well-loved Leica DMRA, which served us well for 19 years!
Post-Lock Down Celebration- Roy Lab installs new expresso machine.
2022-03-23
What is in-person work without caffeine eh?
SAVINA PUBLISHES IN JOVE
2022-01-31
Savina Cammalleri, a third year undergraduate student in the Roy Lab, published her first paper! Together with the help of Jess Knox, Savina successfully answered the call from JOVE for nematode-related culturing manuscripts. Congrats Savina! We are hugely proud of you.
Update: Our department recently featured Savina in an exciting press release. Read the article here.
Cammalleri, S. R., Knox, J., and Roy, P.J. 2022. Culturing and Screening the Plant Parasitic Nematode Ditylenchus dipsaci. J. Vis. Exp. (179), e63438, doi:10.3791/63438.
SEAN SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS HIS PHD!
2021-12-16
Like there was ever any doubt, Roy Lab PhD candidate Sean Harrington successfully defended his PhD earlier this week. It was clear that Sean impressed the examining committee with not only a beautiful thesis with tons of new discoveries, but his mastery of the subject matter as well. A big thanks to Raffi Aroian (UMASS) for serving as Sean's external examiner. Congrats Sean! Well deserved!
Harrington, S. Exploiting Caenorhabditis elegans as a Discovery Platform to Identify Nematode Parasiticides that act Through Neuromuscular Disruption. 2022.
SAVINA WINS BEST ABSTRACT PRIZE
2021-08-19
Savina Cammalleri, a second year undergraduate in the Roy Lab, wins the Donnelly Summer Research, 'Best Abstract' Prize. Bravo Savina!!!
Cammalleri, S. R., Knox, J., Burns, A.R., and Roy, P.J. Identification of Novel Nematicides to Combat Plant-Parasitic Nematodes. Donnelley Centre Summer Student Mini Symposium.
JESS PUBLISHES IN SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
2021-04-28
In a manuscript that is as beautiful as it is insightful, Jess publishes her kinase inhibitor survey in Scientific Reports. Jess's paper surveys 2040 inhibitors of vertebrate kinases to identify those that inhibit nematode orthologs. Of these, she used sequence analyses to determine which inhibitors have potential to be developed into selective nematicides. Beautiful work Jess!
Knox, J., Joly. N., Linossi, E. M., Carmona-Negrón, J.A., Jura, N., Pintard, L., Zuercher, W., and Roy, P.J. 2021. A Survey of the Kinome Pharmacopeia Reveals Multiple Scaffolds and Targets for the Development of Novel Anthelmintics. Scientific Reports. 11:9161
MUNTASIR PUBLISHES IN NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
2021-09-21
Muntasir, a Roy Lab PhD student, began his PhD with the ambition of understanding a phenomenon that has long popped up in our drug screens- some molecules visibly accumulate in the heads of worms. This paper shows that a lipid synthesis pathway is key in facilitating small molecule crystallization in the animals and is the first of several that Muntasir is planning. Really great work Muntasir!
Kamal, M., Moshiri, H., Magomedova, L., Han, D., Nguyen, K.C.Q., Yeo, M., Knox, J., Bagg, R., Won, A.M., Szlapa, K., Yip, C., Cummins, C.L., Hall, D.H., and Roy, P.J. 2019. The Marginal Cells of the Caenorhabditis elegans Pharynx Scavenge Cholesterol and Other Hydrophobic Small Molecules. Nature Communications. 10, 1-16.
JESSICA KNOX WINS TOP PHD STUDENT AWARD
2021-03-10
Jessica Knox, PhD Student in the Roy Lab, wins the Donnelly Centre's Jennifer Dorrington Award ($2K cash prize) for Top PhD Student. Read more here. Well deserved Jess!
PETER LANDS CIHR GRANT
2021-01-15
With heavy input from multiple members of the Roy Lab, including Sean Harrington and Jacob Pyche, Peter Lands a new five year CIHR grant, "The Development of Novel Neuroactive Compounds to Combat Parasitic Nematodes". Thanks to all Roy Lab members for making valuable contributions.
ANDREW NAGS AN NSERC I2I GRANT
2020-10-01
In a grant written without much help from others, Roy Lab Research Associate Andrew Burns lands an NSERC i2i Commercialization Grant, 'Novel Nematicidal Agents to Improve Crop Production'. Fantastic Job Andrew (as always)!!!
PETER AND CAROLYN CUMMINS WIN LOCAL RESEARCH AWARD
2020-04-08
Long-time collaborators Peter Roy and Carolyn Cummins win the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy New Initiative and Innovation Award. The project is focused on identifying drugs to suppress the childhood liver disease PFIC3.
JESS WINS NSERC ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
2020-01-15
Jess, a PhD student in the Roy Lab, wins a three year NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Doctoral Scholarship. Way to go Jess!
JACK WINS BEST POSTER AWARD
2019-08-15
Jack Daiyang Li, a third year undergraduate in the Roy Lab, wins best poster presentation award at the Donnelly's annual summer student research symposium. Fantastic Work Jack! We know you are going places!
Jack Daiyang Li, Sean Harrington, Andrew Burns, Jessica Knox & Peter Roy. A Systematic Survey of Potential Interactions between Novel Lead Nematicides and Commercial Nematicides. Donnelly Undergraduate Summer Student Symposium.
SEAN WINS TOP TALK PRIZE
2019-06-21
At the Toronto Visions in Pharmacology Symposium, Sean gets the Top Prize for his talk, 'Developing New Drugs to Clear Parasitic Worm Infections'. Great work Sean!
EMILIE WINS TOP POSTER PRIZE
2018-02-01
Emilie, an MSc student in the Roy Lab, wins the top poster prize at the Anthelmintic III conference in Indian Rocks Beach in sunny Florida! Congrats Emilie!