About the Lab
Principal Investigator
Trevor Moraes
Dr. Moraes is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in the Structural Biology of Membrane Proteins. He completed his undergraduate training in the Department of Biochemistry at Queen’s University in 1997 and an MSc there with Dr. William Plaxton in 1999. He obtained his PhD in 2004 at the University of Alberta, supervised by Drs. Michael Ellison and J.N.Mark Glover, followed by post-doctoral studies with Dr. Natalie Strynadka at the University of British Columbia.
Lab Members
Christine Lai, lab manager
I've been with the Moraes Lab since 2010 as a lab technician. My general interests are in understanding surface protein structure and function in pathogenic bacteria. Outside of the lab, I enjoy food, volleyball, and cats.
Chuxi Pan, technician
Chuxi defended her Master's thesis in August 2019 and is currently working as a technician in the lab.
David Curran, Research associate
Dave is a bioinformatician who completed his PhD from the University of Calgary on genomics and gene family evolution of nematodes. His main areas of expertise are software development and phylogenetics, and he works on many projects in collaboration with other members of the lab.
Epshita Islam, Research associate
Epshita is developing vaccine products against several important human and veterinary bacterial pathogens by targeting essential nutrient acquisition systems.
Dixon Ng, PDF
Dixon completed his PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary. He is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow, focusing on harnessing bacterial pathogenic mechanisms in vaccine antigen development and delivery.
Greg Cole, PDF
Greg is a biochemist with a strong background in biophysics. He completed his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He’s interested in structural characterization of challenging proteins, understanding the role of host-pathogen interactions in infection, and sampling local craft beer.
Tom Bateman, PDF
Tom completed his BSc and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He is currently studying nutrient transport in the Gram-negative pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.
Sang Minh Huynh, PhD student
Sang completed his BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He currently works on a novel class of bacterial membrane proteins called Slams, investigating their mechanism of function.
Natalie Au, PhD student
Natalie completed her BScH at UofTSc and began her PhD in Sept 2019.
Huong Nguyen, PhD student
Huong completed her BScH in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto and began her PhD in Sept 2019.
Matthew Giles, PhD student
Matt is a PhD candidate in the Joint Education Program between the University of Toronto and University of Melbourne (Chris McDevitt's Lab).
Stephanie Deng, MSc student
Steph joins us after completing an undergrad at McGill University.
Mahrukh Fatimah, MSc student
Mahrukh joins our lab after completing her undergrad at McMaster.
Caitlyn Xu, PhD student
Caitlyn joins our lab after completing an MSc in Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of British Columbia.
Yaxin Guo, undergrad
Yaxin is a 4th year Immunology SSP and Biochem Major. She is working in the lab as a Imm450 student on Neisserial antigen.
Christoph Haoxuan Qing, undergrad
Christoph is a 4th year Biochemistry SPP student. Currently, he's working on interactions between membrane transporters and their cognate enzyme.
April Yu, undergrad
April is a 3rd year Biochemistry SPP student. She is currently working on elucidating the structure and function of an SLP in Pasteurella multocida.
Lab Alumni
Cathy Horvatin (Lab manager)
Postdoctoral Fellows
- Charles Calmettes (2009-2016) - Assistant Professor at INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier
- Xiaoyun Bai (2013-2015, co-supervised with Dr. R. Reithmeier) - Visiting PDF at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, MD, USA
- Volodymyr Shnitsar (2010-2013, co-supervised with Dr. R. Reithmeier) - Research and Development Chemist, Airboss of America
- Megha Shah (2014-2020, co-supervised with Drs. K. Maxwell & A. Davidson)
- Maciej Jagielnicki (2019-2022) - Assistant Professor at the University of Miami, Frost Institute for Chemistry and Molecular Science
PhD Students
- Yogesh Hooda (PhD 2018) - PDF in the Hegde Lab at the MRC-LMB
- Anastassia Pogoutse (PhD 2019) - Strategic Research Development Officer, University of Toronto Mississauga
- Nick Ostan (PhD 2022) - Scientist at AbCellera, Vancouver BC
- Tom Bateman (PhD 2022) - PDF at University of Toronto
- Esther Shin (PhD 2023) - PDF at Stanford Univeristy
Master's Students
- Rediet Taddese (MSc 2013, Co-supervised with Dr. R. Reithmeier) - Lead Consultant at Q&C
- Andrew Judd (MSc 2013) - Research Scientist at Green Relief
- Fan Xia (MSc 2016, Co-supervised with Dr. R. Reithmeier) - PhD student in the Kelley Lab at the University of Toronto
- Alima Khan (MSc 2021, Co-supervised with Dr. K. Maxwell) - Research Associate at Triumvira
Undergraduates and Project Students
- Ali Bin Munim
- Raina Yuzi Li
- Derrick Chong
- Alex Daiejavad
- Sherwin Xu
- Doa Chaki
- Timothy Pham Ho
- Flora ZhiQi Wang
- Benjamin Zheng
- Ashutosh Gupta
- Yancheng Li
- Brandon Mitchell
- Sarah Soyoung Kim
- Royce Chun Lai
- Parnian Dolati Ardejani
- Robert Lu
- Linda En Ze Zhong
- Marim Barghash
- Alexandra Zimmer
- Weike Liang
- Judy Truong
- Adrienn Goczi
- Donghe Yang
- Michelle Quach
- Brandon Sit
- Anastasia Bosc
- River Jiang
- David Guo
- Henry Chang
- Amanda Miles
- YeeSoo Kim
- David Shen
- Anselm Hui
- Duncan Holbrook-Smith
- Hao Li
- Kang Wei David Lui
- Calvin Tang
- Olof Fahleson
- Justine Berson
Lab Events
Links
Databases
Tools
Metal Coordination Sites in Proteins
Universal Protein Resources (UniProt)
Crystallography
Pictorial Library of Crystallization Drop Phenomena
Protein Crystallography Course
TLS Motion Determination (TLSMD)
X-ray Anomalous Scattering Tutorial
Synchrotrons
Resources
Grant Agencies
Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (CIHR)
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR)
Michael Smith Foundation for Medical Research (MSFMR)
Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)