+86-186-2137-1179
ryder@ryderwhittakerhawkins.com
My next project takes me abroad to one of China's top 3 universities, ZJU in Hangzhou, home of Alipay and the beautiful Westlake. Working with Dr. Dante Neculai and Dr. Yan Lu, my project will blend my background in immunology with the Neculai/Lu labs' expertise in lipidomics and proteomics to study cholesterol as a signaling platform for T cells.
Pivoting from the immune system to the gut, I used my training in genetics, bioinformatics and cell biology to solve cases of very-early-onset IBD. In Dr. Aleixo Muise's lab, I worked with a multidisciplinary team of research associates, students, doctors and nurses on a cohort of over 600 pediatric IBD cases. My work was published in NEJM and J Exp Med. I also leveled up my Mandarin Chinese working with teams from Shenzhen 深圳, Shanghai 上海 and Hangzhou 杭州.
* Mentoring: Abigail Shin, Luna Giralt, Pranshu Maini, Merit Bartels, Michaela Riley, Nicholas Bindoo, Luie dos Banos (SSuRe summer student program, StAR program).
I graduated with my PhD from one of the top 15 immunology departments in the world. With Dr. Robert Rottapel's guidance, I embarked on an unconventional project to investigate a novel autoinflammatory syndrome caused by mutation in the Rho GTPase, Cdc42. We found that the C188Y mutation redirects Cdc42 to the nucleus where it is unable to carry out its actin polymerizing activity, thus leading to an actinopathy. I was part of the community of innovators at MaRS/UHN. I also got to apply my bioinformatics skills for the first time to analyze RNAseq, ChIP-seq and much more. I got the Cinader Prize for art and science.
* Mentoring: Munira Verdawala, Jon Lacanlale, Veronica Alba, Tommy Kim, Aisha Hamzat (Amgen Scholars program, UHN summer students, grad students).
I completed my thesis-based Maîtrise en microbiologie et immunologie with Dr. Luc Vallières. I had the chance to enrich my knowledge in immunology by studying a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, EAE. Together we discovered that neutrophils, rather than being bystanders, undergo extensive transcriptional changes during EAE. With Luc, I got the chance to publish my first paper and my first review. I was also very lucky to be able to inhabit a city with such a long and storied history, the home of Scott Ross, Cornelius Krieghoff and the Bell Company.
* Mentoring: CHUL summer students.
I majored in Biological Chemistry. Throughout my undergraduate I was fortunate to work with Dr. Drew Woolley (NSERC USRA), Dr. Angus McQuibban (NSERC USRA), and Dr. Peter Roy (MGY480).
I took French Immersion and International Baccalaureate at Colonel By. I was taught by Savita Pall.
Figure.
Portrait of the author.