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POSITIONS AVAILABLE IN THE STOREY LAB
Full financial support is available for qualified graduate students.
Internal salary supplements are guaranteed for NSERC / OGS scholarship winners.
Graduate students can earn degrees in either the Department of Biology or the Department of Chemistry since
I am cross-appointed in both departments. At the graduate level students are
members of joint programs with University
of Ottawa
Projects in my lab
can be tailored to suit the interests and prior training of students with
undergraduate degrees in Biology, Biochemistry or Chemistry disciplines.
However, there is no graduate program in Biochemistry at Carleton so students
with an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry should discuss their options with me to
determine whether to apply through the Biology or Chemistry programs.
For application information and to apply online, visit the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.
There you will find information about programs, admission requirements, and how
to apply. To apply, click on the “Apply
Now" button. Step One requires you to fill in general information and
choose the program that you are applying for. Then you will receive an
application account number from the Ontario
Universities' Application Centre (OUAC). After receiving your OUAC number,
proceed to Step Two and complete the full application.
To find out about Storey lab graduate students, link to "Lab
personnel " or “Research Interests”
or “Recent
Poster presentations”. For current
students, you can view the abstracts of recent posters that they presented at
scientific meetings. For former graduate students, you can read their thesis
abstract, link to papers that they published from thesis work, and see what job
they now hold.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY OF FREEZING SURVIVAL
Positions are available
starting in September for Ph.D. students. Projects may follow one of two
routes. (1) Gene expression studies
identify genes that are turned on during freezing or thawing and that
contribute to the metabolic and structural survival of the frozen animal.
Methods of gene discovery and evaluation include cDNA array screening,
quantitative PCR, and nuclear run-off technologies as well as western blotting
and recombinant protein expression to evaluate the protein products of
freeze-induced genes and tailored studies of the functions of the individual
protein products. A new focus is epigenetics – the mechanisms of global
transcriptional suppression that contribute for metabolic rate depression while
frozen. (2) Biochemical studies evaluate the signaling mechanisms involved in
activating metabolic responses to freezing. Studies focus on reversible
phosphorylation control over the activities of metabolic enzymes and functional
proteins, the roles of protein kinases (e.g. PKA, PKG, AMPK and the MAPKs) in
regulating metabolism, and the regulation of transcription factors that turn on
freeze-responsive genes. Applied studies use the lessons taken from freeze
tolerant vertebrates to improve the cryopreservation of isolated mammalian
cells and organs.
Representative review
articles:
Storey, K.B. and Storey, J.M. 2009. Animal cold
hardiness. In: Pioneer Insects Open
New Fields in Biology. (Furusawa, T. et al., eds.) The Kinugasa-kai Foundation,
Kyoto, Japan. pp. 40-53. PDF (a general
discussion of the biochemistry of winter survival)
Storey, K.B. 2008. Beyond gene chips: transcription
factor profiling in freeze tolerance. In:
Hypometabolism in Animals: Hibernation, Torpor and Cryobiology (Lovegrove,
B.G., and McKechnie, A.E., eds.)
Storey,
J.M. and Storey, K.B. 2008. Insects in winter: cold case files. In: Hypometabolism in Animals: Hibernation,
Torpor and Cryobiology (Lovegrove, B.G., and McKechnie, A.E., eds.)
Storey, K.B. 2006. Reptile freeze
tolerance: metabolism and gene expression. Cryobiology 52, 1-16. PDF
Storey,
K.B. 2004. Strategies for exploration of freeze responsive gene expression:
advances in vertebrate freeze tolerance. Cryobiology 48, 134-145. PDF
Visit
Research
Interests and New
Reviews and Popular Articles
for more information
and
Recent
Publications
to see many more journal articles
See pictures and read more about the freeze tolerant frogs and
turtles and cold hardy invertebrates
studied in the Storey
lab.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY OF MAMMALIAN HIBERNATION
Positions are available
starting next September for Ph.D. students. Research focuses on the
biochemistry of metabolic arrest, in particular the mechanisms that regulate
and coordinate the depression of all cell functions in concert to permit long
term homeostasis in the dormant state. Molecular studies include identification
of genes that are up-regulated at different stages of the hibernation-arousal
cycle and analysis of the actions of new proteins that induce metabolic
depression or preserve life in the torpid state. Signal transduction pathways
are characterized and transcription factors that control hibernation-responsive
genes is analyzed. Our newest interest is epigenetic mechanisms as the means of
global suppression of transcription during torpor. Biochemical approaches
include studies of stress-activated protein kinase cascades and reversible
protein phosphorylation control of the activities of metabolic enzymes and
functional proteins to coordinate metabolic suppression and hypothermic cell
survival. The ultimate aim of our research is to integrate strategies from
natural hibernation into medical organ transplant technology. Comparable
studies are also exploring another form of natural dormancy called estivation.
Representative review
articles:
Morin,
P. and Storey, K.B. 2009. Mammalian hibernation: differential gene expression
and novel application of epigenetic controls. Int. J. Devel. Biol. 53,
433-442. PDF
Storey, K.B. and Storey,
J.M. 2007. Putting life on 'pause' – molecular regulation of
hypometabolism. J. Exp. Biol. 210, 1700-1714.
PDF
Storey
KB. 2005. Hibernating mammals: can natural cryoprotective mechanisms help
prolong lifetimes of transplantable organs? In:
Extending the
Lifespan: Biotechnical, Gerontological, and
Social Problems (Sames, K., Sethe, S., and Stolzing, A., eds) LIT Verlag,
Storey,
K.B. and Storey, J.M. 2004. Metabolic rate depression in animals:
transcriptional and translational controls. Biol. Rev. 79, 207-233. PDF
Visit
Research
Interests and New
Reviews and Popular Articles
for more information
and
Recent
Publications
to see many more journal articles
See pictures and read more about the hibernators and estivators studied in
the Storey lab.
MOLECULAR REGULATION OF ANOXIA TOLERANCE
Positions are available
starting next September for Ph.D. students to study the regulatory mechanisms
that allow selected organisms to survive for extended times without oxygen.
Projects may follow one of two routes. (1) Gene expression studies identify
genes that are up-regulated in response so hypoxia/anoxia and also evaluate the
activity status of specific transcription factors and the suite of genes under
their control in order to determine how anoxia tolerant systems respond when
oxygen is withdrawn. Methods of gene discovery and evaluation include cDNA
array screening, quantitative PCR, and nuclear run-off technologies,
transcription factor profiling, as well as western blotting to evaluate
individual protein products with the use of phospho-specific antibodies to
analyze relative amounts of active and inactive transcription factors. (2)
Biochemical studies evaluate adaptations of enzyme kinetic and regulatory
properties that support enzyme/pathway function under anoxia and identify the
protein kinases (e.g. PKA, PKG, AMPK and the MAPKs) involved in regulating
metabolic responses to low oxygen. A variety of model animals can be used
including turtles, frogs, crayfish, mollusks and insects. The research has medical
applications for understanding and improving survival of conditions that impose
hypoxia or ischemia (e.g. heart attack, stroke) and extending viability of
isolated organs removed for transplant.
Representative reviews:
Larade,
K. and Storey, K.B. 2009. Living
without oxygen: anoxia-responsive gene
expression and regulation. Curr. Genom. 10, 76-85. PDF
Storey, K.B. 2007. Anoxia
tolerance in turtles: metabolic regulation and gene expression. Comp. Biochem.
Physiol. 147, 263-276. PDF
Storey, K.B. 2006. Gene hunting in hypoxia and
exercise. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 588, 293-309. PDF
Storey,
K.B. 2004. Molecular mechanisms of anoxia tolerance. Int. Cong. Ser. 1275,
47-54. PDF
Visit
Research
Interests and New
Reviews and Popular Articles
for more information
and
Recent
Publications
to see many more journal articles
See pictures and read more about the anoxia-tolerant species
studied in the Storey lab.