- Title Instructor – Harris lab
- Education B.Sc. Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland
M.Sc. Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Ph.D. Department of Medicine, University of Alberta (Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases) - Office K206
- Email rccm@bu.edu
- Area of Interest cellular and molecular mechanisms of protein misfolding diseases
I am currently an Instructor in the laboratory of Dr. David A. Harris in the Department of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine. I hold a B.Sc. (hons) and M.Sc. from the Department of Biochemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Ph.D. from the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta, where I studied at the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases under the guidance of Dr. David Westaway.
My research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of prion disease, invariably fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases of humans and other mammals. During my doctoral work, I characterized the physiological ramifications of an interaction between the prion protein (PrP) and an auxiliary subunit of Kv4.2 potassium channels, dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-like protein 6 (DPP6). Additionally, I characterized a novel animal model of Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker Disease (GSS), a genetic form of prion disease, caused by a partial internal duplication of PrP. My work in the Harris laboratory is focused on the discovery and characterization of anti-prion compounds.
Representative Publications