News
Libin Institute Proudly Recognizes Trainee Research
March 2007
At its recent basic science research and holiday celebration in December 2006, the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta awarded prizes to graduate students Kevin Luykenaar and Bailong Xiao for best poster presentations and to postdoctoral fellows Drs. Kristina Hansen and Frank Visser for outstanding research achievements.
Kevin Luykenaar's research (in Don Welsh's lab) addressed "PKA and PKG Pathways Attenuate RhoA-Mediated Suppression of the KDR Current in Cerebral Arteries", while Bailong Xiao (in Wayne Chen's lab) studied "Ser-2030, but not Ser-2808, is the Major Phosphorylation Site in Cardiac Ryanondine Receptors Responding to PKA Activation Upon Beta-adrenergic Stimulation in Normal and Failing Hearts".
Dr. Kristina Hansen (awarded the Pfizer Canada Inc, Postdoctoral Prize) did her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Northwestern University in Illinois, graduate training with Dr. Paul Bartlett at the University of California, Berkeley, and has been a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Morley Hollenberg since 2002. She has received several awards, including an AHFMR Postdoctoral Fellowship, and has published 11 papers in high quality journals. Dr. Hansen's award winning research has identified serine proteinases that can play roles in vascular and gastrointestinal diseases by regulating the G-protein-coupled receptor family of proteinase-activated receptors. This work has both therapeutic and theoretical implications for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal pathophysiology.
Dr. Frank Visser (awarded the Libin Postdoctoral Prize) was an undergraduate Biochemistry student at the University of Calgary, did his graduate training with Dr. Carol Cass at the University of Alberta, and has been a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jonathan Lytton since 2004. He has received many awards, including postdoctoral fellowships from both the AHFMR and the CIHR, and has published 12 papers in excellent journals. This award recognized Dr. Visser's recent work defining the molecular basis for unique properties of different potassium-dependent sodium/calcium exchangers. These studies provided key insight that lay the foundation for understanding the specific roles of these important transporters in Calcium signaling.
