The Ahern Lab at UBC – Blog

Researcher Profile ALERT!! Presenting... STEPHAN PLESS!!

2011-09-27T22:56:00.001-07:00

My good friend and colleague Stephan is the latest researcher to be profiled here at the Ahern Lab Blog!! Follow the link to his YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGDJUTCLis0

Next year I will compile all the footage I took from Wreck Beach and we will have an even more intimate portrait of Herr Pless...

Researcher Profile ALERT!! Presenting... ANA NICIFOROVIC!!

2011-09-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

The one person who keeps it all together, the glue that prevents us from falling apart, the scientist that can't stop making mutations (because Stephan won't let her), the one and only Ana is featured in the latest instalment of Ahern Researcher profiles. Follow the link to the YouTube video!!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwXX05TvrPc

Stephan nabs the cover of Nature Chemical Biology

2011-08-17T23:38:00.001-07:00

Stephan makes it 3 in 2011 with a new paper in Nature Chemical Biology to complete his research hat-trick. Thanks to Christina for the awesome cover art, and to the lab for the excellent stuff they do everyday.

Ahern Lab Bonus Video Featurette!!

2011-08-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

As promised, here we present an extra dollop of wisdom from Dr. Sam Goodchild on the link between presenting a compelling scientific narative and producing a documentary film. No pipet tips were harmed in the recording of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3jmqn4bYYA

Researcher Profile ALERT!! Presenting... DR. SAM GOODCHILD!!

2011-08-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

At long last we get to see a senior member of the research staff in the Ahern lab, and hear some personal views on the narrative links between art and science. Also, some stuff about electrophysiology.

Here is the link to the YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ysz_aMYPE0

A trip up north

2011-08-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Rebecca, Sam & Stephan took on a lot of snow to scale Tricouni Peak last weekend www.trekbc.ca/Members/Hikes/Location/Squamish/Tricouni Peak/index.php

Happy Days

2011-06-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's official, the Ahern lab's first Nature family paper is out: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v2/n6/full/ncomms1351.html

For those less inclined to chew through all the scientific details, here is the Faculty of Medicine's take on it: http://www.med.ubc.ca/home.htm

Researcher Profile ALERT!! Presenting... SORA LEE!

2011-04-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the very first video profile of the Ahern lab members, a series which over the coming weeks will see many short vignettes and profiles of the hard-working, creative and fun people from, you guessed it, the Ahern lab! Please watch the video on the YouTube link provided, but for completeness it is posted here in a savagely degraded form.

MUCH better YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf3QMItKqV4

The Ahern Lab Introductory Video

2011-03-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a post that I'm sure many of you will enjoy, some will like and a few will shake their heads at. Be sure to check back here in the coming weeks for more video profiles and behind-the-scenes looks at the inner workings of our thoroughly modern research laboratory. This weekend some of the lab are off to Mount Baker for another ski retreat so prepare thyself for more photographs of snow-filled hijinks.

PS - here is a link to a MUCH better quality version of the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxkdmOi9oxI

joys of science

2011-03-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

thanks to dr galpin for providing 450 microliter of the good stuff - how could the week end better!?

Ricardo's first time

2011-02-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Ricardo for his first publication, an insightful piece of work that enlightens us on yet another compound that turns on TRPV1 channels - currently in press at the flagship journal of all anesthesiology-related endeavours, carrying one of the most straight forward names ever, Anesthesiology.

Utopia Retreat

2011-02-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

On the last January weekend the Ahern and Kurata empires joined forces and left cold and rainy Vancouver to search for the much coveted ‘Utopia’ (aka Mt. Baker) just south of the iron bureaucracy curtain. After a more or less smooth ride across that magic line we gathered in one of our two mansions to present each other with our latest scientific achievements – while simultaneously boring our significant (but not so scientific) others to death. After surviving this initiation rite we left all science behind and, for two days straight, indulged in enormous quantities of great food, gorgeous weather on the mountain, great skiing / snowboarding and fun times in the hot tub (sorry Jason, no nudity).

Special thanks to Pam & Chris for a heroic shopping effort; Ana, Pam and Jason for (most of) the cooking; Harley´s special talent with hillbilly tunes; our generous funding sources – and Bea for putting constant smiles on everybody’s faces!

Mt. Baker, we will be back.

First taste of the fresh and local snow

2010-11-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the Van Petegem Lab!

2010-11-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

We can't always have all the fun with our own publications so it gives me great pleasure to congratulate the neighboring lab of collaborator Dr. Filip Van Petegem for his Nature paper this week. Filip and his crew have been tackling the structural challenges of the biggest ion channel of them all, the 2.5 megadalton beast known as the Ryanodine Receptor. This structure of this channel is of interest (and importance) because it controls calcium release in skeletal and cardiac muscle. In this weeks issue of Nature, Filip presents a high resolution crystal structure the biggest piece of the N-terminal domain of the channel to date which highlights a hot-spot of cardiovascular mutations. Way to go on a beautiful bit of science.

Fall is the season of change

2010-11-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

With the changing of the seasons come the obvious references to life cycles in nature. Death, birth, repeat. While lab life is not so severe, we are welcoming some new members while seeing some long time labbies move on to greener pastures. Any returning visitors to the webpage (if there are such folks) will soon notice some changes to our personnel. For one, our most recent rock star undergraduates, Fayeza Islam and Ada Leung, have done some really stellar work in the Ahern lab and now that they've moved on, we thank them for their efforts and wish them the best in the endeavors ahead.

I would also like to welcome our newest member, Dr. Jason Galpin, as our in house organic synthesist. Jason is an all around great dude and an exceptional amino acid chemist who will bring his talents to help us in the production of exotic and benign residues for our ion channel research.

And lastly, after 2.5 years at the helm of this ongoing experiment of running a lab I'm now looking forward to reflecting on the transition from post-doc to PI and all the pitfalls along the way. The journey is by no means over and I'm happy that you are along for the ride. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the Official Dude-in-Residence, Dr. Sebastian Brauchi

2010-05-15T18:06:00.001-07:00

This week, with great pride, we announce the arrival of Sebastian 'Chino' Brauchi to UBC to work, teach and hold court in the lab for the next 6 weeks. Chino has been recently awarded the Life Sciences Centre Visiting Scholar Award for 2010 which affords him bragging rites, not to mention support for some research goodies in addition to travel and lodging at UBC. He is an world-class TRP-channel pro who has recently founded his lab in beautiful (and equally rainy) Valdivia, Chile. We look forward to seeing some cool and interesting things come out of his time here. Welcome to Chino, let the good times roll.

Springtime in Vancouver

2010-05-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally gotten it's act together in the pacific northwest. We took advantage of the mountains being open after the Olympics and a late snowfall to catch a last day on the slopes at Cypress. Here's Stephan and Sam coming down the Olympic snowboard pipe. Looking sweet, fellows.

Cofessions of a negligent blogger

2010-03-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, it's not enough to just say that time flies. Since my last post in November the holiday season has come and gone, as have the Vancouver Olympic games. On top of those goings on, the lab is chugging along at full speed.

News to follow.

really.

U-Vic and the bunnies

2009-11-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Dr. Raad Nashmi and the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria for having me over for a seminar this week. While the helicopter ride to the island was fun, the real impression was made while meeting one-on-one with their diverse faculty. These guys are using the infinite diversity of mother nature to better understand basic biological systems. kool stuff. Also, this was the first run thru on a talk comprised of Maen's current project and a story from my time with Spike Horn so it was great to get all the feedback from everyone.
They have a beautiful campus but what's up with all the bunnies?

Welcome to Dr. Sam Goodchild

2009-11-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

This week we welcome Dr. Sam Goodchild to the lab all the way from Bristol, UK. Sam did his PhD at the University of Bristol in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. We look for to his achievements in the lab and to his teaching us some new moves on the ski slopes. Just don't call him a hooligan.

Sarhan et al now in press at JBC

2009-10-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Congratulations and thanks to Maen for his hard work over the past year. The fruit of his labor (his original manuscript) is now in press at Journal of Biological Chemistry. Which no matter how you slice it, is a pretty good journal. The manuscript describes the results from heroic numbers of biochemical experiments, purifications and assays to show that a 'calcium sensor' molecule called calmodulin binds to the cardiac sodium channel. This feat is all the more impressive when one considers that Maen along with the Van Petegem crew started the project by setting up the biochemistry in the newly founded lab. Thanks to Dr. Van Petegem for the expert assistance, advice and encouragement. Here's to many, many more.

Summertime and the living is easy....well not really

2009-08-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

Hey, what just happened? It was just early June, the summer was ahead of us, BBQ season and everything looked so good. Summer, it seemed, would never end. If it were only so simple, and so sweet. One common misconception is that summer for academic folk is the time to relax and reflect upon the academic years accomplishments. Unfortunately, that is not the case when you are doing research to pay the rent where we actually look forward to summer all year as the time of year when the teaching loads ease up and we buckle down to in the lab to get our research programs rolling again. To add to the summer load, most granting agencies decided that the end of summer would be the best time for grant application to be due. So instead of floating our summer days away down at Wreck beach, we are (mostly) scrambling to keep the lab funded and the data flowing.

So here's a quick list of my 'highs' and 'lows' for the summer.

Low: the email message in my inbox last week from UBC with the subject header 'explosion at the Life Sciences Centre' (where the lab is housed). A blown transformer working overtime to cool the building during a rare Vancouver heat wave leads to an extended power failure and deep freezer meltdown. unfrozen reagents=bad times. Everything we use and store, lives at -80C and when it melts, doves cry.

High: Visit to the East Coast for a Gordon Conference in June. Not only did we shore up some good collaborations state-side, the trip did double duty for a visit to see my sister and nephews in Upstate NY. Always a treat!

Low: Summer cells. One downside of doing molecular biology is the use 'real' cells. While our need for data is not diminished in the summertime, for reasons currently unexplained, cells are just not right in the warmer months. go figure.

High: The completion of the first Ahern Lab manuscript that is currently under review at an undisclosed Journal. WooHoo!

Low: August grant deadlines. What cruelty. A grant deadline on August 30th? Don't they understand what this does to our August vacation plans?

High: Visit by long time friend, Brad Neu, in July. A few good hikes and road bike rides up the local mountains confirmed my truly horrible physical condition. While I was pushed to my career best Grouse Grind time, I spend most of the trip on the ropes. I got one word for you Bradley: Rematch.

The First Ahern Lab BBQ of the Summer

2009-06-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

In order to celebrate a few good weeks in the lab, it was decided that a bbq down at Jericho Beach would fit the bill. This was our first shot of the year, so we will be fine tuning our skillz as the season wears on but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Summer is here!

2009-06-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

After a long winter, summer is finally upon us. The struggles of the past year seem like distant memories as we enter a period of long sunny days and a fully functional lab (knock on wood). Summer is my favorite time of year on the academic calendar. My teaching duties ease and grant deadlines are off in the distant future. Now is the time to get some things done in the lab and shed some of my 'winter coat/belly' as it were. As a first start, I've been relearning the sacred art of 'patch-clamping' which is a great stress reliever when you want to get a project finished. Maen has been making fantastic progress on his project and I was called in as a hired gun to add an electrophysiological component. As a second start, Filip, Guy and I tackled the Grouse Grind this morning. 835 meters straight up the side of Grouse Mountain. Holy! That was a fitness wake-up call. I guess patch-clamping doesn't bring about climbing fitness. We don't need to discuss the times of those involved but lets just say that we have left some room for improvement.

Lab life, part one.

2009-05-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

One goal of this blog-experiment is to keep friends, family and anonymous web folks entertained and up to speed on the goings on out here in Vancouver. I would also like to provide a feel for how the lab works and, better yet, how science sometimes gets done. So with that in mind, I'll try to give a little background through a series of installments on the workings of our little lab at the University of British Columbia. A common misconception of how we go about our daily business is tainted by images of Dr. Who, late-nite transformations from Jekyll to Hyde (and hopefully back) or better yet, thoughtful, pointy-headed academics in lab coats discussing esoteric nonsense. In actuality, the real life of a scientist is somewhat less interesting than those options. (I should mention that late nights in the lab are all but unavoidable when working with cells, DNA or other such molecules that don't have the '9-to-5-then-happy hour' schedule.) In short, running and working in a research lab is something akin to any other start-up tech company looking for venture capital. In our case we compete with other labs for the two things that keep us running: data and grant money. Without either one, we cease to be. So while some days we take off early, we generally never stop working. If we aren't at work, then there is a good chance we are thinking about some aspect of the experiment of the week that doesn't seem to work out. Most other scientists I know work the same way. Why is that? One obvious motivating factor can be found by looking a the 'modern' approach to science which relies on fierce competition between labs, such that only the hardest working stay funded. But to look at it that way would be missing a more central point. And that is, what drives most scientists is the very real sense that our trade, like most creative endeavors, is a labor of love.

sunshine=mtn bike riding time

2009-04-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is well known as a rainy, pacific northwestern city and that is often the case thru most of the winter. But springtime can bring good things and we are presently entering our 10th day of sunny skies. To celebrate the occasion, Filip and I are bailing from work early for a mtn bike ride in the Pacific Spirit park adjacent to UBC. I'll pay the time back when the clouds return!

Dr. Pless wins big in Canada

2009-04-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome (or welcome back) to the Ahern lab blog. First order of business is to send out a gigantic thank you to Christina Lauer for getting the site up and running. You go girl! Anyone who would like to utilize her talents should give her a shout.

It has been a good couple of weeks ... lab newbie and uberPost-Doc, Stephan Pless, was awarded a juicy fellowship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (who also support yours truly, thanks to the HSF). This two-year award will support Stephan and his pilgrimage to the Biophysical Society's Annual Meeting (yes, I know you're jealous!). Stephan had a very productive PhD with Joe Lynch in Queensland and is now reaping the benefits of his hard work. Prost to Dr. Pless!

2009-04-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the blog at the Ahern lab at the University of British Columbia. Make us a bookmark for this to be the source for up to date happenings for all things lab (and not-so-lab) related. We'll keep you posted on our high-jinxs, breakthroughs and set backs. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions on how to make this process more informative. Check ya later.