- Shawn's paper describing the endosomal VINE complex is accepted for publication at eLife. Congratulations to all!
May 2022
- Shawn and Mia's review on SNX-BAR coat complexes in yeast and humans was accepted in Current Opinion in Cell Biology, congratulations! - Shawn and Mia presented their research at the Small GTPases in Membrane Processes Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Well done!
April 2022
- Mia completed her Comprehensive Examination in Medical Genetics and is now a recognized PhD Candidate! Great work, Mia! - Shawn completed his TA position for MEDG 505. Keep up the good work, Shawn! - Kevin and Mia were both the recipients of the CIHR Doctoral Research Award (CGS-D)! Congratulations to both of you!
December 2021
- Omer defended his thesis and obtained his Masters in Medical Genetics. Wonderful job, Omer!
November 2021
- Mia wins 1st place for best poster presentation by a MSc student at the UBC Medical Genetics Research Day! This marks the third year in a row where VRL1 project members have received this honour. Fantastic, Mia! - The annual UBC Medical Genetics Research Day was a big success. Thanks to Kevin Jeffers for organizing and running the event! - Shawn and Mia released their pre-print titled: "The VINE complex is a VPS9-domain GEF-containing SNX-BAR coat involved in endosomal sorting" (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.29.470412v1.full). Impressive!
September 2021
- The annual UBC Medical Genetics September Welcome was a big success. Thanks to Mia Frier for organizing and running the event!
May 2021
- Kevin is the recipient of a BCCHR Graduate Studentship. Nice work, Kevin!
April 2021
- Kevin gave a talk at the monthly CMMT seminar series about his work on the conserved Vps13 protein and a potential role in autophagy - Shawn is the recipient of a 3-Year Doctoral NSERC PGS-D Scholarship, congratulations Shawn!
March 2021
- Sam and Liz published their review on the Vps13 family of lipid transporters in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, congrats! - Mia wrapped up her rotations and chose to stay in the Conibear lab working on VPS9 GEFs with Shawn, welcome to the lab Mia! - Shawn gave a seminar at Camosun College on undergraduate research opportunities at UVic and UBC - Omer gave a lecture to high school students on introductory concepts in genetics and inheritance - Kevin completed his Comprehensive Examination in Medical Genetics and is now a recognized PhD Candidate! Great work Kevin!
February 2021
- Shawn gave a talk at the quarterly Vancouver Yeast Meeting
January 2021
- Omer is the recipient of a CIHR CGS-M award, congratulations Omer! - Mia Frier joined the lab as a Medical Genetics Rotation Award student, welcome aboard Mia!
November 2020
- The annual UBC Medical Genetics Research Day (virtual this year) was a big success. Thanks to Sam Dziurdzik for organizing and running the event! - Sam received the prestigious Medical Genetics James Miller Memorial Prize for her contributions to the department, congratulations Sam! - Shawn took 1st place in the basic science category for his 3MT speed-talk at UBC Medical Genetics Research Day!
September 2020
- Omer is the recipient of a UBC British Columbia Graduate Scholarship, congratulations Omar! - Shawn gave a virtual talk at the monthly CMMT seminar series about his work on Rab5-family GEFs and retromer
June 2020
- The lab moves to a work-from-home system to help curb the spread of COVID-19 - Sam is the recipient of both a CIHR CGS-D Award and a UBC Medical Genetics Four Year Fellowship! Congratulations Sam! - Shawn is the recipient of both a BCCHR Jan M Friedman Graduate Studentship and a UBC Medical Genetics Four Year Fellowship! Nice work, Shawn!
March 2020
- Shawn completed his Comprehensive Examination in Medical Genetics and is now a recognized PhD Candidate! Great work Shawn! - Kevin finished his rotations and chose to stay in the Conibear lab! Welcome to the team, Kevin! - Sydney gave a talk at the BCCHR Pitch seminar on her work with ABHD17-family proteins and their involvement in cancer.
February 2020
- Vaishnavi successfully completed her Comprehensive Examination in Cell and Developmental Biology and is now a recognized PhD Candidate. Congratulations Vaishnavi! - Kevin Jeffers joins the lab as a Medical Genetics rotation student, welcome Kevin!
January 2020
- The lab welcomes Anson back for a directed studies project with Shawn. Anson is looking into the mechanisms of how protein aggregates are cleared in a yeast cell. - Samantha's paper demonstrating the effects of human disease-causing mutations on Vps13 adaptor binding is published in Human Molecular Genetics! Congratulations Sam on a nice paper! www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31943017
December 2019
- The lab celebrates the holiday with a potluck dinner hosted by Liz.
November 2019
- The annual UBC Medical Genetics Research Day was a big success, thanks to Sam Dziurdzik for organizing and running the event! - Shawn wins 1st place for best poster presentation by a MSc student at the UBC Medical Genetics Research Day, nice work Shawn!
October 2019
- Shawn (President), Sam (Research Day Chair), and Omer (Director of Finances) helped establish the Medical Genetics Graduate Student Association (MGGSA), a new student organization advocating for students in the Department of Medical Genetics. Best of luck to all of you. - The lab takes Second Place at the annual BC Children's Hospital Research Institute Halloween costume contest with a stunning rendition of Beauty and the Beast!
- The lab celebrates Vaishnavi's birthday with a nice cake, happy birthday Vaishnavi!
August 2019
- Annual Conibear lab BBQ was held place at Jericho Beach this year. Lots of burgers and lots of frisbee!
July 2019
- Omer joins the lab as a new MSc student in the Department of Medical Genetics. Welcome to the team Omer! - Dr. Conibear is promoted to Full Professor within the Department of Medical Genetics, congratulations Liz! - The 2nd floor CMMT labs head to Nat Bailey Stadium to catch a Vancouver Canadians game - Anson presents his research at the BCCHR Summer Student Research Program Poster seminar
June 2019
- Sam receives both a UBC 4-Year Fellowship and a BCCHRI Sue Carruthers Graduate Studentship! Well done Same! - Shawn receives a UBC Affiliated Fellowship - Master's! Great work Shawn!
May 2019
- Vaishnavi presents a talk on her research at the annual UBC Cell Biology Retreat at Loon Lake - Anson joins the lab on a 4 month co-op to work with Shawn, welcome Anson! - Liz gives an invited talk at Stanford University
March 2019
- Shawn gives an invited talk at Camosun College on the use of yeast as a model system and research opportunities available to undergraduate students - Samantha leads a PITCH seminar at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute on her VPS13 research - The lab has a belated Christmas party at the Conibear residence
February 2019
- The lab is awarded a 5-year CIHR grant to study the role of dynamic protein palmitoylation in mammalian NRAS membrane targeting - Samantha passes her comprehensive exam and is officially recognized as a PhD Candidate. Way to go Sam! - Vaishnavi gives a Cell and Developmental Biology seminar talk on the presence of Vps13-like proteins at membrane contact sites
January 2019
- Shawn is interviewed by BCCHR and discusses some of his research: www.bcchr.ca/research/stories/ - Samantha's News and Views article on Vps13 localization by competitive adaptor binding is published in the inaugural issue of Contact: journals.sagepub.com/ - Sarah accepts a position as a research technician at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. Good luck Sarah!
October 2018
- The Conibear lab wins the BCCHR lab halloween costume contest with an uncanny representation of the Wizard of Oz cast!
August 2018
- Shawn W. successfully defends his PhD thesis and accepts a position as a postdoctoral researcher at Rockefeller University! Congratulations Dr. Whitfield! - The Vps13 paper (JCB, 2018) is featured on Vancouver's Science in the City page: scienceinthecity.com/2018/08/01/
July 2018
- Bean et al., 2018, "Competitive organelle-specific adaptors recruit Vps13 to membrane contact sites" is published in the Journal of Cell Biology! - Alexis leaves the lab to start a position as an PhD student in Germany, good luck Alexis!
May 2018
- Shawn S. and Samantha are awarded CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship - Masters (CGS-M) awards! Congratulations! - Dr. Bjorn Bean leaves the lab to begin a postdoctoral research position in synthetic biology at Concordia University. Good luck Bjorn!
April 2018
- Shawn Shortill and Sydney Holme join the lab as new MSc graduate students in the Department of Medical Genetics! Welcome to the lab!