Teaching Faculty
Adrienne Wright
Teaching Professor
MSc University of Birmingham
PhD University of Alberta
581C Medical Sciences Building
awright@ualberta.ca
Bio
Dr. Wright has a background in toxicology and pharmacology and has been teaching in the department since 2000. Her professional duties at the University of Alberta fall into three major categories: instruction, educational research, and course design and development.
Currently, she coordinates and teaches a large multi-section introductory biochemistry class (BIOCH 200) with an annual enrolment of over 1300 students and a senior laboratory course (BIOCH 401) with an enrolment of 32 students. She is also the coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Abroad Program; students in this program have the opportunity to carry out a 6-week research project in an international laboratory.
Jonathan Parrish
Bio
Dr. Parrish has been teaching in the Department of Biochemistry since 2006, and has been a full-time faculty member since 2007. His background is predominantly in the field of structural biology and molecular modelling of viral proteinases and their inhibitors. He currently teaches a wide variety of courses in the undergraduate program in the Department of Biochemistry, including BIOCH 200, 320, 330, 398 and 401. He is also the coordinator for the 300-level biochemistry classes and is the first and second-year advisor for students in the specialization and honors BSc program in biochemistry. He has also produced molecular/structural art for Pearson/Prentice Hall and for Oxford University Press.
Rabih Abou Farraj
Bio
Dr. Farraj recently completed his PhD, where he explored the structures of proteins involved in various biological pathways, with a primary focus on DNA damage signaling pathways. His research facilitated collaborations with several laboratories and contributed to projects investigating SARS-CoV-2, Type 2 Diabetes, and Multiple Myeloma. As a graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Farraj was a teaching assistant and contributed to BIOCH 401. He also taught several guest lectures for BIOCH 200, and 320. Additionally, Dr. Farraj, under the supervision of Dr. Mark Glover, mentored BIOCH 299, 398, 498, and 499 students.