Anastasiya Nyzhnyk (Anastasia Nijnik) - Assistant Professor

Department of Physiology and Complex Traits Group McGill University Life Sciences Complex (Bellini), Room 368 3649 Promenade Sir William Osler Montréal, Québec H3G 0B1  514-398-5567 anastasiya.nyzhnyk@mcgill.ca Laboratory web site: tba Graduate Student  position available Postdoctoral Position available

Research Area:  Molecular & Cell Biology

Research Description:

Hematopoiesis and Bone Marrow Function: Molecular Mechanisms Mediating Resistance to Oxidative Stress and Novel Approaches for Therapeutic Intervention.

The process of hematopoiesis in the bone marrow continuously generates all the cells of the blood and immune system and its disruption results in severe and life threatening disorders, including immunodeficiencies, anemias, bone marrow failures, and malignancies. My research group will investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of hematopoiesis, especially focusing on the following questions: (i) bone marrow ageing and the mechanisms mediating the long-term resistance of bone marrow stem cells to oxidative stress; (ii) the roles of the H2A-DUB (histone H2A-deubiquitinase) family of chromatin modifying factors in bone marrow function and stem cell resistance to oxidative stress; (iii) development of bioactive peptides for modulation of hematopoiesis and bone marrow function.

Education:  Postdoctoral Training (Visiting Researcher) -  Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, team of Prof.Gordon Dougan- British Columbia Canada - January, 2010 to April, 2011 Postdoctoral Training -  University of British Columbia, team of Prof. Bob Hancock- British Columbia Canada - October 2006 to May 2011 Doctorate (D.Phil.) - University of Oxford, team of Prof. Richard Cornall - England, UK - September 2002 to September 2006 - Genetics and Immunology Masters and BA equivalent (M.Biochem.) - University of Oxford - England, UK - October 1998 to May 2002 - Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Selected Publications:

Nijnik A, Woodbine L, Marchetti C, Dawson S, Lambe T, Liu C, Rodrigues NP, Crockford TL, Cabuy E, Vindigni A, Enver T, Bell JI, Slijepcevic P, Goodnow CC, Jeggo PA, Cornall RJ. DNA repair is limiting for hematopoietic stem cells during ageing. Nature 2007;447(7145):686-90.

Nijnik A, Dawson S, Crockford T, Woodbine L, Visetnoi S, Bennett S, Jones M, Turner GD, Jeggo PA, Bell JI, Goodnow CC, Cornall RJ. Impaired Lymphocyte Development, Class-Switching and Increased Malignancy in a Model of the DNA Ligase-IV Syndrome. J Clin Invest. 2009;119(6):1696-705.

Easton D, Nijnik A, Mayer M, Hancock REW. Potential of host defence peptides as novel anti-infectives. Trends Biotechnol. 2009;27(10):582-90.

Nijnik A, Madera L, Ma S, Waldbrook M, Easton DM, Elliott M, Mayer ML, Mullaly SC, Kindrachuk J, Jenssen H, Hancock REW. Synthetic cationic peptide IDR-1002 provides protection against bacterial infections through chemokine induction and enhanced leukocyte recruitment. J Immunol. 2010; 184(5):2539-50.

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