​
3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC
V8P 5C2
Dr. John Burke
PhD, Principle Investigator, Professor
John is originally from Oregon, USA, and received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of California (Berkeley). He obtained his PhD at the University of California (San Diego) under the supervision of Dr. Edward Dennis. He then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology under the supervision of Dr Roger Williams (funded by the EMBO/British Heart Foundation). In March 2014, he started the John Burke Research Laboratory at the University of Victoria. The laboratory is currently funded by CIHR, NSERC, CRS, and MSFHR with ongoing collaborations with industry partners
Isobel was born in Belgium and grew up in southern Ontario, where she completed her BSc in Biochemistry with co-op at the University of Guelph. During her co-op work terms, Isobel tried her hand at a little bit of everything: medical writing and editing, growing cannabis, and operating an atmospheric chemistry observatory in the high Arctic. However, none of these experiences could compete with her interest in the structure and function of signaling enzymes, which led her to pursue graduate studies in the Burke lab.
​
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS: Signaling enzymes, structural biology, protein biochemistry
​
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Baking, violin, memorizing poetry, birdwatching
Isobel Barlow-Busch
Graduate Student, BSc (Hons, Co-op) in Biochemistry
Originally from New Brunswick, Mackenzie moved to Victoria to complete her Bachelor’s degree at UVic in microbiology and biology. In the last year of her undergrad she joined the Burke lab as an honours student where she discovered her love of protein biochemistry, and decided to stay on as a graduate student. As an avid golfer she loves the mild winters and beautiful scenery on Vancouver Island, and spends a lot of her free time outside. She also enjoys hiking, reading, baking, climbing, skiing, and taking long walks beside the ocean on warm summer evenings. In the lab, Mackenzie is working on studying the interactions between Rab GTPases and their effector proteins.
Hobbies: Golf, Consuming Peanut Butter in copious amounts, Hiking.
Scientific Interests: Protein-Protein Interactions, Methods, Infectious Disease
​
Favourite Sports Team: Rory McIlroy and Nelly Korda
Mackenzie Scott
Graduate Student, BSc (Hons, Co-op) in Microbiology and Biology
Sushant is from Chennai, a warm coastal city in the south of India. He completed his Bachelor in Pharmacy from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Then, he joined the University of Copenhagen to complete his Master's degree. He found his love for proteins and HDX-MS while working in Kasper Rand's lab. During his master's thesis, he developed a method to study complex membrane proteins using HDX-MS. Having arrived in Victoria in 2021, he is excited to continue working with protein and mass spectrometry.
​
​
​
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS: Protein biochemistry, structural biology, HDX-MS
​
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Badminton, football (soccer), FIFA and biking.
​
FAVOURITE SPORTS TEAM: Manchester United
Sushant Suresh
Graduate Student, MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Alex completed her honours thesis in Dr. Chris Upton's lab in the field of viral bioinformatics. She discovered her love for proteins, specifically kinases, through a zoom lecture while in her pjs. Ever since then she has been interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of kinase regulation. Alex is currently working as a PhD student jointly between Dr. Calvin Yip's lab at UBC and Dr. Burke's lab.
​
​
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS: Oncology, Structural Biology, Drug Discovery, Cell Signaling
​
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Basketball, Cooking, Baking, Eating Potatoes
​
FAVOURITE SPORTS TEAM: Vancouver Canucks (unfortunately)
​
Alexandria Shaw
Graduate Student, BSc (Hons) in Microbiology
Meredith did her first two years of her undergraduate at Camosun College, and completed her degree at the University of Victoria. She pursued an honors degree under the supervision of Dr. Paul Romaniuk, creating a diagnostic test for Schistosomiasis that can be used in countries with limited resources. After graduating, she began working as the Mass Spec technician in the lab and continued to work as a technician for two years. In 2017 she began her Master’s degree with a thesis focused on using Hydrogen Deuterium eXchange to study lipid-protein interactions, and completed the degree in 2019. Ever since she can't seem to leave the Burke lab and is currently working as Lab Manager.
​
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS: Mass spectrometry and crystallography, Rab GTPases
​
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Tennis, Rugby, skiing, painting, biking, volleyball, video games
Meredith Jenkins
Lab Manager, MSc Biochemistry, BSc (Hons) in Microbiology
Giselle grew up in the lower mainland and moved to Victoria to study Neurobiology at the University of Victoria. She completed her honours thesis in Biology in the Nashmi Lab quantifying and localizing cholinergic neurons in the mouse cerebral cortex. During her undergraduate studies, Giselle also worked a co-op term at Xenon Pharmaceuticals where she quantified voltage-gated potassium channels using LC-MS/MS and discovered her interest for mass spectrometry as an analytical tool for quantifying proteins. Since then, she decided to pursue graduate studies in Proteomics to gain a better understanding of the different techniques that can be used to study protein structure, function, and interactions.
Scientific interests: mass spectrometry, protein-protein interactions, neurodegeneration
Hobbies: weightlifting, video games, baking
Giselle Klynsoon
Graduate Student, BSc (Hons, Co-op) in Biology with Neurobiology concentration
Hunter was born and raised in Victoria and completed his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Victoria. His interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms of signalling lipids and protein-protein interactions led him to the Burke lab where he got the opportunity to work as a lab technician, specializing in utilizing HDX-MS. Outside of the lab you can find Hunter paddling his canoe through Victoria’s inner harbour.
Hobbies: Paddling, hockey, squash
Scientific Interests: Protein Biochemistry, HDX-MS, drug development
Favourite Sports Team: Vancouver Canucks
Hunter Nyvall
Mass Spec Technician, BSc in Biochemistry
Fascinated by science for as long as he can remember, Jeet was born in Toronto and raised in Victoria from a young age. His interest in human health and the mechanisms of cell signalling led him to join the Burke lab as a co-op and honours student, where he is excited to learn more about proteins and research as a whole. You can typically find Jeet biking along one of Victoria’s bike trails.
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS: Protein biochemistry, cell signalling, health, and medicine
HOBBIES: Cycling, soccer, hiking, video games, technology, and Rubik’s cubing
FAVOURITE SPORTS TEAM: Toronto Maple Leafs
Jeet Chapani
Honours Student
Meet the Team
Alumni
What Are They Up To Now?
Damilola Akintola (Lab Technician & Honours: 2022-2024)
Stefania Ceschia (Directed Studies, Lab Technician & Honours: 2022-2024
Sol Snir Shaool (Lab Technician & Honours: 2023-2024)
Noah Harris (MSc Student and Lab Technician: 2019-2023)
Matthew Parson (Lab Technician: 2020-2023)
John Evans (Honours & Lab Technician: 2022-2023)
Harish Prasad (MSc Student, 2020-2022)
Matthew Thibodeau (Honours & Lab Technician: 2021-2022)
Manoj Rathinaswamy (PhD Student, 2016-2021)
Kaelin Fleming (Honours & Lab Technician: 2019-2021)
Brandon Moeller (Lab Technician; 2019-2020)
Edward Meier (MSc Student, 2020-2021)
Joseph Dobbs (Directed Studies; 2020)
Jacob McPhail (PhD Student, Honours, & Coop; 2014-2020)
Gillian Dornan (PhD student; 2014-2019)
Jordan Stariha (Coop, Honours & Lab Technician; 2016-2019)
Reece Hoffman (Coop, Honours & Lab Technician; 2016-2019)
Emily Martin (Coop & Honours; 2018-2019)
Tyler Brown (Directed Studies & Coop; 2017-2018)
David Hamelin (Coop & Lab Technician; 2017-2018)
Braden Siempelkamp (Coop, Honours & Lab Technician; 2015-2017)
Taylor Lee O’Brien (Directed Studies; 2016)
Erik Ottosen (Coop; 2015-2016)
Melissa Fowler (Lab Technician; 2014-2015)
Ainsleigh Hill (Undergraduate Researcher; 2014-2015)
​
​
Education Program at University of Victoria
Graduate Student at Yale University
Medical Student at UBC Vancouver
​
PhD student at UBC
Scientist, Calico Life Sciences
MSc in Public Health at UBC
Nursing at UBC Okanagan
​
Working at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
R&D Scientist at StressMarq Biosciences Inc.
Postdoctoral fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology
Medical Student at the UBC Vancouver Fraser Medical Program
Graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley
Ophthalmic Assistant
Honours Student in the Hof Lab at the University of Victoria
PhD student at University of Montreal
Medical Student at the UBC Island Medical Program
​
Masters Student in Physiotherapy
Medical Student at the University of Calgary
Data Scientist