This kind of exposure... is essential to better understanding your own research and different interdisciplinary ways a problem may be approached.

My project has focused on assisting the preparation of ¹⁸F-labelled PET tracers that target bacterial infection and discriminate it from sterile inflammation. This will aid the management of a variety of bacterial-induced diseases such as diabetic foot, prosthetic joint infection, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The novel radiochemical strategies I have learned over the past months allow for the low-temperature, non-basic incorporation of [¹⁸F]F^– into sensitive biomolecules. Our target precursor will be conjugated to an antimicrobial peptide, radiolabeled via direct strategies, and assessed for its binding affinity against bacterial cell cultures.

I would definitely say this was my favourite part of the trip, in addition to touring the animal facilities, medical isotope labs, and learning to build and operate hot cell tools with manipulator arms!

It is an exciting time for both the nuclear industry and machine learning, finding an intersection between these fields has been a really engaging experience for me.

I am working on leveraging the predictive capabilities of Neural Networks (a form of Machine Learning/AI) to predict the occurrence of critical heat flux in geometries applicable to nuclear reactors. The primary goals of my research are to create a higher level of prediction accuracy for safety as well as interpreting the model to possibly learn something about the underlying physics behind CHF.

I especially enjoyed the experience of visiting the site of Chalk River and seeing first-hand the breadth of exciting work being conducted!

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative to nitrogen supplemented fertilizer. It’s thus important to understand the signalling exchanges between the two partners that will allow for BNF, legume plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria known as rhizobia. I am creating a reporter construct to assess the transcriptional activity of nodd1, a transcription factor in rhizobia that induces the expression of other nod genes in the presence of host plant root exudates. I’m interested in whether bacterial strains that differ in traits (e.x coevolutionary history, exopolysaccharide production) respond differently to the same host root exudates to determine characteristics of rhizobia that will allow them to be the most beneficial partner to legume plants.

Working on a research project and engaging with researchers across various nuclear fields opened my eyes to the vast world of nuclear research!

Research from our lab have demonstrated that the exposure of ionising radiation to living tissues leads to the emission of biophotons. These biophotons have been found to disrupt the ability of Complex I in the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) to convert NADH to NAD+. This leads to decreased energy production. The project aims to investigate the efficacy of the NDI1 construct and melanin in preventing these effects. Melanin has a known ability to absorb biophotons and the NDI1 construct is an NADH dehydrogenase found in yeast that have been noted in existing literature to be able to functionally substitute ETC’s Complex 1 in studies investigating diseases associated with this complex. Experiments involve cell cultures with the NDI1 construct, melanin (M), NDI1+M, and controls exposed to biophotons. Cell colony-forming abilities, cell viability, ROS levels, ATP production, and L-lactate concentrations are investigated.

This project builds upon prior research to deepen our understanding and proficiency in safeguarding nuclear facilities amidst evolving reactor designs.

This project explores standoff neutron detection (SND) as a pivotal safeguard measure at McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) for promoting the peaceful use of nuclear material and thwarting unauthorized diversion. This research holds particular significance in addressing emerging challenges linked to the design of newer nuclear reactors, like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). With SMRs’ sealed-core configurations, existing safeguards techniques may be confounded, further exacerbated by their use in remote locations that could hinder timely inspections. As the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor was decommissioned, MNR has assumed a crucial role in conducting advanced SND experiments, focusing on establishing correlations between the reactor core’s fissile inventory and neutron detections. This project builds upon prior research to deepen our understanding and proficiency in safeguarding nuclear facilities amidst evolving reactor designs.