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Peter and the gang at Christmas lab brunch, December 2019

Its publish or perish.

Its a frosty day in …

This new lab photo was taken December, 2017. Welcome new lab members Lily Su (far right), Rahul Kumar (3rd from the right) and Emily Banks (4th from the right).


Peter in Boston enjoying tapas (and adult beverages) with Dr. Brigitte Ritter (left), his former post-doc and now Assistant Professor at Boston University and Dr. Natasha Hussain (right), his second ever graduate student and now Scientific Director of the Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University.

Peter returns to his lab after a two week sabbatical at Hogwarts Academy. Actually, he is wearing his McGill Academic Regalia as he attended his son Matthew’s graduation from McGill with a B.A., major in psychology. Congratulations Matthew!

This new lab photo was taken May 2017 during the MNI visit of Peter’s PhD advisor, Dr. Kevin Campbell (2nd from right). Dr. Campbell delivered the 2017 George Karpati lecture.

Peter and his PhD advisor, Dr. Kevin Campbell outside the Neuro, May, 2017. Note how Kevin’s Jenny Craig diet is working and Peter’s is not.

This new lab photo was taken November 2016 while celebrating the publication of a new paper from the McPherson lab on the identification of mutations in DENND5A as causative of a neurological disorder called epileptic encephalopathy (Han et al., Am. J. Hum. Gen., doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.10.006).

This new lab photo was taken November 2016 while celebrating the publication of a new paper from the McPherson lab on the identification of mutations in DENND5A as causative of a neurological disorder called epileptic encephalopathy (Han et al., Am. J. Hum. Gen., doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.10.006).

From left to right, former student Maria Ioannou, currently a post-doc at Janelia Farm, former post-doc Hatem Dokainish,  currently Clinical Scientist at Genentech with Peter and Jie Xu, current post-doc in the McPherson lab enjoying seafood at ASCB 2016

"Peter McPherson's post-doc mentor Pietro "The Big Cheese" De Camilli at ASCB 2016 after officially becoming President of the American Society for Cell Biology. Congratulations Pietro. Pictured with Pietro is Dr. Thierry Galli, who overlapped with Peter in Dr. De Camilli's laboratory at Yale.

Funding for ARSACS research

Two researchers at The Neuro have received funding to study a devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk. Learn more.

Major ALS Research Funding Announced

Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University who are playing key roles in uncovering the mechanisms underlying ALS will share in $3.9 million in research funding, part of $4.5 million from the ALS Society of Canada in partnership with Brain Canada. Learn more.

Epileptic encephalopathy linked to protein trafficking gene

Researchers have linked a debilitating neurological disease in children to mutations in a gene that regulates neuronal development through control of protein movement within neuronal cells. Learn more.

Peter and his former graduate student Dr. Andrea Marat in a dark smoky bar somewhere in Leesburg, Virginia. Peter was presenting at the FASEB Summer Research Conference at the National Conference Center. Peter was elected co-chair for the 2020 version. Andrea is currently an Associate Editor at the Journal of Cell Biology.

Peter and his former graduate student Dr. Maria Ioannou on “Headex” drive at the Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn Virginia. Peter was presenting a seminar at Janelia. Maria is a post-doc at Janelia in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz and will soon be taking a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Congratulations to Maria and Jessie!!!

McPherson lab, 2019, taken on the occasion of the graduation of Walaa Alshafie. Congratulations Dr. Alshafie

Lab lunch, September 2019

Lab picture, November 2022

Home

 

Welcome to the home page of the laboratory of Peter S McPherson, PhD, FRSC.

 

We are a moderate sized lab ranging from 10-12 researchers based at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and McGill University. The lab is part of the MNI’s Neurodegenerative Disease Research Group, of which Dr. McPherson is the Director. The lab is located in the Brain Tumour Research Centre, a modern and active research space. Our studies focus on the molecular mechanisms that regulate membrane trafficking within the endosomal system with an emphasis on such events in the nervous system.  In particular, we have focused on the formation and function of clathrin-coated pits and vesicles and the movement of proteins between the various compartments of multiple cell types including neurons. Remarkably, many of the proteins identified and characterized in the McPherson laboratory have been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Parkinson disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) and most recently, epileptic encephalopathy, a severe form of intellectual disorder. Moreover, the McPherson laboratory has demonstrated that alterations in endosomal membrane trafficking lead to various forms of cancer including breast cancer and devastating brain tumours called gliomas. The links at the top of the page will tell you more about particular aspects of the lab...Enjoy!

Contact us:

peter.mcpherson [at] mcgill.ca (Dr. Peter McPherson)
Tel: 514-398-7355 (Office)

philip.thorne [at] mcgill.ca (Philip Thorne)
Tel: 514-398-6644 ext. 00209 (Laboratory)

linda.michel [at] mcgill.ca (Linda Michel,) Administrative Assistant
Tel: 514-398-1972  
Fax: 514-398-8106

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