News Articles
Ontario Genomics Institute Summer Fellowship Opens Research Doors for Student
Biochemistry major gains experience in genomics at Hospital for Sick Children
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Helping to tease out the genetic mysteries behind a rare inherited disorder was the goal of a biochemistry co-op student under an award from the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) in Toronto this summer.
Fourth-year student Lauren Van Der Kraak received one of five OGI Summer Fellowships worth $4,500. The award allows students to gain experience in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics during a 14-week research project. Fellows take part in a journal club, attend regular meetings with scientists and learn about genomics technology as well as ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social issues of research. They also present their findings to other scientists.
I was ecstatic, says Van Der Kraak, who used the fellowship during her eight-month co-op placement at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.
Working with ophthalmologist Elise Héon, she studied BBS9, a gene associated with Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS). This disorder, which affects one in 160,000 people, causes retinal dystrophy, obesity, extra digits, learning disabilities and renal abnormalities.
By studying DNA from patients of various ethnicities, Héon hopes to learn more about BBS and develop better detection, screening and treatment options.
Van Der Kraak used molecular biology techniques to analyse DNA and match that genetic information with the clinical signs of the disorder. This summer, the lab found five new mutations in a region of patients' DNA coding for a pertinent protein.
It looks like three of the five mutations are associated with the disease, she says.
Knowing more about the genetic underpinnings of the disorder may help in predicting symptoms and recommending treatment or lifestyle changes, or in genetic counselling. It was nice to realize that this work contributed results that will be useful, she says.
Jenea Bin, also a fourth-year biochemistry co-op student, worked in the same lab at the Hospital for Sick Children this year.
Earlier, Van Der Kraak volunteered in the on-campus lab of her father, Glen, a faculty member in the Department of Integrative Biology, and completed a co-op term in the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
After graduating in fall 2007, she plans to apply to medical school and hopes to practise pediatric medicine and conduct research.
Established in 2000, OGI is a private not-for-profit corporation that aims to build a globally competitive life sciences industry in Ontario.