Graduate (MSc) Student Position in the Phan Lab: Genetic Constraints on Memory
(MSc start with an option to switch into the PhD program)
Lab Website: https://grad.biology.ualberta.ca/phan
Research Focus: Learning and memory is the fundamental process through which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved from the nervous system. Decades of research have revealed hundreds of genes that are required for an organism to learn and remember normally. However, the flip side of the coin, the genes that work in opposition to constrain learning and memory processes, are surprisingly less well known and studied.
The long-term goals of the Phan lab are:
- Identify novel genes and various cellular pathways that act to suppress memory processes.
- Investigate why there is a need for such cognitive constraints, using the powerful and adaptable Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) model organism.
The Phan lab uses Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism along with multilevel approaches in the lab that range from animal behaviour, neuroanatomy, molecular biology techniques, super-resolution microscopy, and in vivo functional imaging techniques to examine neuron function in living Drosophila.
They are currently identifying and pursuing genes that limit synaptic vesicle numbers in Dopamine neurons.
Start dates are negotiable from Jan 2021 onwards. If interested, please send a CV and unofficial transcript to anna.phan@ualberta.ca.
Jan 2021