So you’ve picked a lab. Now what?

March 13, 2019 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

written by Anjali Balakrishnan It’s the month of January. You have made the choice for your graduate career following short-lived lab rotations. The decision was made either using lengthy pro-con lists, or perhaps you heeded the advice of fellow graduate students, or you turned to […]

Changemakers: Noah, Nero and Susan

January 28, 2019 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

written by Vaibhav Bhandari with photos by Richard Li With winter fully underway, we scurry about from location to destination to escape the bitter cold and wind. On the edges of the campus and around town, often noticeable are the city’s homeless – taking cover […]

Changemakers

January 20, 2019 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

written by Dr. Nana Lee Storytelling our impact One of the delightful aspects of my current role at U of Toronto as Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream and Director of Graduate Professional Development, are the stories I hear from many graduate students about the impactful work […]

Connell Lecture Series: Dr. Kristin Parent

December 20, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Written by Annoj Thavalingam On October 24th 2018, our Connell lecturer Dr. Kristin Parent arrived from Michigan State University to present her research on a novel mechanism of phage capsid stabilization. Transcripts decided to continue the conversation by meeting Kristin via Skype and discussing […]

Connell Lecture Series: Dr. Maria Jasin

September 24, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Written by Louis Ho Dr. Maria Jasin is a biomedical researcher at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. I asked her about her work, the field of DNA damage and the hurdles she encountered in her career as a female scientist. Dr. […]

A Brief History of the Connell Lectures

September 24, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Written by Andrew Zhai Each year, the Biochemistry department hosts the George Connell Lectures: a series of talks given by an invited researcher from outside the university about the cutting-edge research being done in their labs. We had the opportunity to chat with […]

Tunnel Vision

September 2, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Written by Annoj Thavalingam Image courtesy of Flickr Entry #1 – May 3rd 2033, 7:30 am I […]

Rotation Reflections

June 10, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Last fall, the Biochemistry Department introduced a major change in the graduate program regarding first year structure. All incoming students are now required to undergo three five-week rotations before choosing a permanent lab. The most obvious appeal of rotations is that it enables students to […]

Meet the Microbes!

January 23, 2018 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Written by Annoj Thavalingam Header image courtesy of NIH Just like people, microbes come in all varieties, too many to keep count. The eleven haikus below appreciate the far-reaching impact they exert upon human health, and remind us that regardless of our plight on Earth, […]

On the nature of the PhD and learning to be a scientist

December 18, 2017 Andrew Zhai Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

written by Dr. Justin Nodwell illustration by Nikko Torres September, 1986. I am a rotation student visiting a lab in the. Medical Sciences Building here at the University of Toronto. Students are gathered around Dr. Rob Dunn who was inspecting a piece of X-ray film bearing the results of a DNA sequencing experiment carried out…

Author: Andrew Zhai