Wall of Fame

Recognized achievements of our members and colleagues during their time as graduate students at York University.

2023

Rebecca Whiley

Dr. Bergevin’s Lab

The 49th Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS People’s Choice Student Talk Award (Session 1)

“Convergent Otoacoustic Tuning Estimates in Anole Lizards”

Nicholas Bragagnolo

Dr. Audette’s Lab

The 49th Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS People’s Choice Student Talk Award (Session 2)

“Structural Studies of the Conjugative Entry Exclusion Protein TraG”

Sai Sowndarya Sundararaman

Dr. Golemi-Kotra’s Lab

The 49th Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS Student Poster Award 1st Place

“Elucidating the molecular mechanism of Staphylococcus aureus response to cell wall damage”

Megan George

Dr. Rehan’s Lab

The 49th Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS Student Poster Award 2nd Place

“Rapid urbanization - understanding the effects of land use on bee body size, abundance and foraging efforts”

Fatema Nakhuda

Dr. Zoidl’s Lab

The 49th Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS Student Poster Award 3rd Place

“The Synaptic Symphony: Examining the Role of Panx1 in Maintaining Neuronal Communication and Memory Formation Presting”

2022

Farnaz Mansouri-Noori

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice Student Talk Award

“Characterizing Slr1p as a member of LARP1 family of proteins with connections to mRNA translation and cancer progression”

Marishia Agard

Dr. Paluzzi’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice Student Poster Award

"Examining the Physiological Role of Tachykinins on the Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian ‘renal’ tubules"

Fahad Anser

Dr. Tsushima’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Best Talk Award

“Syntaxin-1A Knockout Triggers Temporary Contractile Dysfunction in the Adult Mouse Heart”

Jinghan Tan

Dr. Paluzzi’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student Poster Award 1st Place

"Characterization of the neuropeptide CCHamide2 and deorphanization of its receptor in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti"

Thomas Luong

Dr. Paluzzi’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student Poster Award 2nd Place

"Potential Regulation of The Rectum of Aedes aegypti by RYamide"

Lulia Snan

Dr. Paluzzi’s Lab

The 48th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student Poster Award 3rd Place

"Investigating the Signalling Cascade of a CAPA Neuropeptide in the Malpighian Tubules of the Fruit Fly, Drosophila melanogaster"

2021

Carly Charron

Dr. Rima Menassa’s Lab (Western University)

The 47th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student poster prize 1st place

"Production of plant-based vaccine candidates in Nicotiana benthamiana to prevent Salmonellainfection in poultry"

Jennifer Porat

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab

The 47th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student poster prize 2nd place

"The methyl phosphate capping enzyme Bin3 is a stable component of the fission yeast telomerase holoenzyme"

Theanuga Chandrapalan

Dr. Kwong’s Lab

The 47th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Student poster prize 3rd place

"Novel insight on the role of dietary iron on swimming performance and reproductive capacity in zebrafish"

Kyra Kerkhofs

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab

The 47th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice student talk prize

“Characterization of a novel atypical type of La protein in Tetrahymena thermophila (MLP1) - How can a La protein missing a highly conserved domain still binding its target RNA?”

Theanuga Chandrapalan

Dr. Kwong’s Lab

The 47th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice student poster prize

"Novel insight on the role of dietary iron on swimming performance and reproductive capacity in zebrafish"

Viswajit Vembukumar

(York University)

Symposium 2021 Lion’s Den Winner

Farnaz Farahbakhsh

(Ryerson University)

Symposium 2021 Lion’s Den Winner

Gurnoor Brar

Dr. McDermott’s Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

2020

Cindy Tran

Dr. Kubiseski’s Lab

The 46th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
First Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"Regulation of the oxidative stress response by ZTF-17 in Caenorhabditis elegans"

Jennifer Porat

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab

The 46th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Second Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"The methyltransferase Trm1p influences tRNA processing independent of catalytic activity"

Connor Gianetto-Hill

Dr. Allen-Vercoe’s Lab (Guelph University)

The 46th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Third Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"Designing chemostat media to replicate the diet of hunter gatherer communities"

Jenna LeBlanc

Dr. Bazely’s Lab

The 46th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice Student Talk Prize

"Making lemons from lemonade: PhD research in a pandemic"

Kyra Kerkhofs

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab

The 46th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
People’s Choice Student Poster Prize

"Characterization of a novel atypical type of La protein in Tetrahymena thermophila (MLP1) – How can a La protein missing a highly conserved domain still bind its target RNA"

Eleni Fegaras

Dr. Forer’s Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

Nicholas Bragnolo

Dr. Audette’s Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

Farnaz Mansouri-Noori

Dr. Bayfield’s Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Department of Biology Moens Family/AGSBS Graduate Award

Community Involvement and Leadership

For her involvement and leadership in the student community and in graduate student organizations at York University

2019

Malory Owen

Dr. Lortie’s Lab

The 45th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
First Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"Metrics for Avian Double Mutualistic Interactions with Cactaceae: A Preliminary Analysis towards Network Interactions in a Desert Ecosystem"

Eleni Fegaras

Dr. Forer’s Lab

The 45th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Second Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"Chromosome movement to one pole in the absence of kinetochore microtubules in Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes"

Theanuga Chandrapalan

Dr. Kwong’s Lab

The 45th Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Third Place Winner for a Poster Presentation

"The interplay of dietary iron exposure and trace metal homeostasis in developing zebrafish"

2016 – 2017

Myat Ma

Cheung Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

The 43rd Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS
Best Poster Presentation
"Characterizing functional roles of endogenous H2A core histone variant isoforms, H2A.Z1 and H2A.Z2, via insertion of epitope tag using CRISPR-Cas9"

Jyotsna Vinayak

Bayfield Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Department of Biology Moens Family/AGSBS Graduate Award

Community Involvement and Leadership

For her involvement and leadership in the student community and in graduate student organizations at York University

Tehmeena Chaudhry

Stutchbury Lab - Ecology

3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Award - Department of Biology

Best Presentation at MSc Level

Mohamed Salem

Peng Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Award - Department of Biology

Best Presentation at PhD Level

David Miller

Benchimol Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

Uzma Nadeem

Peng Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

Benjamin Voloh

Womelsdorf Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Marian Regan Prize - Centre for Vision Research at York University

Best Master’s Thesis in a Vision-related Topic

"theta-gamma coupling in the frontal cortex"

2015 – 2016

Eleni Fegaras

Forer Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

The 42nd Annual Biology Symposium - AGSBS

Best Poster Presentation

"Cytokinesis in the absence of kinetochore microtubules in Mesostoma ehrenbergiispermatocytes"

Thuc-Nghi Pham

Benchimol Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Richard Jarrell Award - Faculty of Science

Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level

For her excellence in fostering intellectual growth, deepening of critical thinking, creative student engagement and more.

Miranda Chen

Sharma Lab - Ecology

Science @ 50 - Biology Day | Poster Award

Best Student Poster Presentation

"Panic at the Cisco: Predicting the effects of climate change on Cisco distributions in Ontario"

Dayana D’Amora

Kubiseski Lab - Molecular & Cell Biology

Department of Biology Moens Family/AGSBS Graduate Award

Community Involvement and Leadership

For her involvement and leadership in the student community and in graduate student organizations at York University

2014 – 2015

Gabriela Krivdova

Hudak Lab - Molecular Biology

Faculty of Graduate Studies - Thesis Award

Recognition of Outstanding Work

"Inhibition of HIV-1 Vif by Pokeweed Antiviral Protein and Its Impact on Cellular Immune Defence"

Miranda Chen

Sharma Lab - Ecology

American Fisheries Societies (Ontario) - E.J. Crossman Award

Best Student Oral Presentation

"Panic at the Cisco: Predicting the effects of climate change on Cisco distributions in Ontario"

2013 – 2014

Samantha Stefanoff

Thomas van Zuiden

Miranda Chen

Sharma Lab – Ecology

The 41st Annual Biology Symposium – AGSBS

Best Presentation

“Fishmageddon: How will climate change influence the future distributions of three predatory fish species in Ontario?”

2013 – 2014

Olga Egorova

Sheng Lab - Molecular Biology

The 40th Annual AGSBS Symposium

Best Poster Presentation

"Structural and Functional Characterization of the Active Site of the Human Mdm2 RING Domain"