Emerging Voices in Research: New Professor Lectures
Spring 2024
May 1, 2024 — 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Embrace the unfolding brilliance at the Faculty of Science's Spring Lecture Series, showcasing captivating talks by our freshest minds.
Every spring, we celebrate the ingenuity and knowledge of our newest additions to the faculty. This series serves as a gateway for science enthusiasts and scholars to immerse themselves in the forefront of discoveries and perspectives our talented new professors bring forth. Mark your calendars for May 1, 2024, and seize the opportunity to be part of this enlightening occasion, where wisdom intertwines with innovation.
Description
Celebrate three distinguished new professors' most recent research pursuits. Presenting our esteemed speakers for this occasion:
- Gilda Stefanelli, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
- C.-M. Michael Wong, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
- Oliver Warr, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Gilda Stefanelli
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
H2A.Z and its chaperones: a novel epigenetic mechanism in neurodevelopmental disorders
Summary
Neurodevelopment is a highly regulated process that relies on the precise regulation of gene expression. Numerous epigenetic mechanisms contribute and cooperate to ensure the proper execution of developmental gene expression programs. Indeed, disruption of the molecular machinery regulating the deposition or removal of epigenetics markers is associated with numerous neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities.
Among the various epigenetic marks that are fundamental for brain development, research has recently begun to focus on the role of histone variants and their associated chaperone proteins. Replication-independent histone variants can replace replication-dependent canonical histones in neuronal chromatin, giving nucleosomes unique properties that allow them to influence transcription.
The deposition and removal of histone variants into neuronal chromatin are controlled by chaperone proteins that are integrated into chromatin remodelling complexes. Several studies report that the deposition and removal of histone variants by chaperone proteins from genes during development is pivotal for the regulation of gene expression, suggesting they are fundamental for neurodevelopment. Our research focuses on histone variant H2A.Z and its specific chaperones: Anp32e and Srcap.
Biography
Gilda Stefanelli received her bachelor’s degree in biotechnology at the University of Naples Federico II (Naples, Italy). Afterwards, she earned her master’s in molecular biotechnology at Vita Salute San Raffaele University in Milan. She then moved on to a PhD in Neurobiology at Insubria University (Italy), where she focused on how post-translational modifications of the MeCP2 protein can influence its functions during brain development.
For postdoctoral training, Gilda moved to the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, under the supervision of Dr. Iva Zovkic, where she studied how histone variants can influence memory formation and the molecular pathways that regulate their turnover in neurons. She joined uOttawa in 2023 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, where she focuses on epigenetic mechanisms driving brain development.
C.-M. Michael Wong
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Knots, surfaces, spaces, and spacetimes
Summary
Low-dimensional topology is the study of spaces in dimensions 0 to 4. For example, it includes knot theory, the study of 1-dimensional knots in 3-dimensional spaces. The modern study of knots began with Lord Kelvin’s vortex theory, which posited that atoms were knots in the luminiferous aether; after vortex theory was abandoned, knot theory became more of an esoteric subject in pure mathematics for almost a century.
In a wonderful twist of history, however, the last few decades have seen the advent of both theoretical connections with and applications to biochemistry via DNA topology and physics via topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). These connections, in turn, have led to new methods to study low-dimensional topology. For instance, TQFTs associate algebraic structures not only to knots and space but also to their trajectories as they evolve; with the time dimension added, these trajectories are 2-dimensional surfaces in 4-dimensional spacetime. These algebraic structures themselves enjoy beautiful structures that are of great mathematical interest.
In this talk, we will explore how these various ideas fit together in my research program, which seeks to better understand both the topological spaces and the modern tools that we use to study them.
Biography
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Mike Wong studied in northern Italy for the last two years of high school, before moving to the US. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Princeton University in 2012, and studied low-dimensional topology under the guidance of Peter S. Ozsváth and Robert Lipshitz at Columbia University, receiving his Ph.D. degree in 2017. He held postdoctoral positions at Louisiana State University from 2017 to 2020, and Dartmouth College from 2020 to 2022, where he worked with David Shea Vela-Vick and Ina Petkova respectively.
In January 2023, he joined uOttawa as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. While he continues to work on fleshing out the theoretical aspects of Floer invariants for 3-manifolds, knots, links, tangles, and their cobordisms, his research also concerns the applications of these invariants to Legendrian and transverse knots, as well as cobordisms between them, in the context of contact geometry. He also works on exploring Floer theory in the context of categorification. In his free time, he enjoys photography, contract bridge, classical music, and literature.
Oliver Warr
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Noble gases: tracing the past, present, and future
Summary
Fluids are ubiquitous to all environmental settings. Their present-day observed geochemical compositions are intrinsically tied to their formative processes, coupled with subsequent biogeochemical and physical processes. Thus, they serve as environmental, geologic, and biogenic archives. When deciphered correctly, these archives can be applied to investigate key environmental research problems and paleo-reconstruction on local, regional, and global scales.
As a low-temperature fluid geochemist focused on Environmental Geosciences, my primary research goal is to apply noble gases in natural settings to unravel this rich and complex geochemical tapestry. This exploration aims to understand fluid origin, evolution, and fundamental mechanisms occurring in natural systems, and how these can intersect, interact with, and be influenced by anthropogenic activity. The scope of this research is extensive and incorporates aspects such as hydrogeology and fluid migration, anthropogenic waste disposal sites, biogeochemical and environmental habitability, (paleo) environmental reconstruction, and the formation of (un)conventional hydrocarbon, hydrogen, and helium resources.
Biography
Oliver Warr completed his combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in Geology at the University of Leicester, UK in 2008. In 2013, he received his PhD. in Environmental Geochemistry and Geomicrobiology from the University of Manchester, where he worked on analyzing and interpreting the role of noble gases as geochemical tracers in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) research.
Once he received his PhD. he first moved to the University of Oxford, UK, and then to the University of Toronto, Canada, where he investigated the complex biogeochemical history of crustal systems worldwide using a combination of noble gas, stable isotope and emerging geochemical analytical techniques. He joined the University of Ottawa as an Assistant Professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences in the fall of 2022. His research interests and program focusses on applying the latest in field-based mass spectrometry and high-precision analyses to develop noble gas and stable isotope geochemical frameworks and models aimed at understanding the fundamental processes surrounding geologic fluids and how they intersect with society.
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