Patrick Keeling pkeeling{at}interchange.ubc.ca Scholar, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Evolutionary Biology Program. Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator in Pathogenic Mycology. Scholar, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. 1992: H.B.Sc. (Genetics), University of Western Ontario 1996: Ph.D. (Biochemistry), Dalhousie University (with Ford Doolittle) 1996-1998: Visiting Scientist, Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, Botany School, University of Melbourne, Australia (with Geoff McFadden) 1998-1999: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, Indiana University, USA (with Jeff Palmer) Professor, Department of Botany, UBC (Botany) Scholar, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Borroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator (BWF) Pathogenomics Group, UBC Centre for Microbial Disease and Host Defence Research (CMDR) Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS)

Erick James erjames{at}interchange.ubc.ca Lab Manager

Fabien Burki burkif{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow. My main research interest is the molecular evolution of protists. We use genomic data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of several key groups of protists and look for genetic signatures that will help to make sense of the tree. Visit my website for more info: www.fabienburki.com.

Yoshihisa Hirakawa hirakawa{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow. My research interest is the evolution of secondary plastids, especially the evolution of plastid protein targeting system. I am currently studying the function of plastid-targeting signals in chlorarachniophyte algae.

Noriko Okamoto okamoton{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow.

Jean-François Pombert jpombert{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow. My main research interests are in DNA sequencing, comparative genomics and phylogenetics. My work in Dr Keeling’s lab primarily focuses on mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of tertiary diatom endosymbionts from various dinoflagellates.

Juan Saldarriaga jsalda{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow. I am currently working on the evolutionary history of histones and histone-like proteins in the dinoflagellate lineage, as well as on different aspects of the early evolution of the group.

David Smith Post-Doctoral Fellow. I use green algae and other protists to study questions on the origins of genome architecture. At present, I'm assembling the nuclear genome sequence of the non-photosynthetic green alga Helicosporidium . Many of my research endeavours are inspired by the belief that non-adaptive processes have caused much, if not most, of the genomic architectural diversity observed throughout the three domains of life.

Vera Tai taivera{at}interchange.ubc.ca Post-Doctoral Fellow. My general research interests are to understand the diversity and ecology of microbial communities. During my post-doc, in collaboration with Steve Perlman at the University of Victoria, I will be studying insect symbionts. In particular, I will be investigating microbial communities of termite guts and microsporidian parasites of mosquitoes.

Behzad Imanian behzadim{at}interchange.ubc.ca Ph.D. Candidate.

Jan Janouškovec janjancz{at}gmail.com Ph.D. Candidate I have been working on the characterization of Chromera velia, a new photosynthetic alveolate that is an intermediate between dinoflagellates and apicomplexans. Currently I am focusing on the plastid genome - its structure, sequence and implications for plastid evolution and the theory of secondary endosymbiosis. My colleagues and I are also working on the Chromera EST database and the sequence and structure of its nuclear and mitochondrial genome. We aim to describe the protein targeting mechanisms and organellar metabolic pathways as well as how RNA is processed in the organelles and the cytoplasm. An important part of our work is to reveal the exact phylogenetic position of Chromera (and its plastid) based on plastid- and nuclear-encoded genes. As a separate study we are conducting an ultrastructural analysis of the yet uncharacterized Chromera's motile stage.

Floyd Bardell erudicus{at}gmail.com M.Sc. Candidate

Todd Harper harpert{at}douglas.bc.ca Research Associate

Ruijuan Kang ruijuank{at}hotmail.com. Research Associate

Former Lab Members