Sheiner Lab member wins best talk at ToxoUK 2021
Published: 25 February 2022
Sheiner Lab group member Jana Ovciarikova recently won the Best Student Talk, an award sponsored by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) journal Pathogens and Disease, at ToxoUK 2021.
Sheiner Lab group member Jana Ovciarikova recently won the Best Student Talk, an award sponsored by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) journal Pathogens and Disease, at ToxoUK 2021.
Organised by the University of Cambridge's Dr Ellen Nisbet and Professor Ross Waller, ToxoUK took place on Tuesday 14 December 2021 in Cambridge, England.
Parasitology Research Assistant Jana's winning talk, titled 'Mitochondrial membrane contact sites in Toxoplasma gondii', explored the molecular players of T. gondii mitochondrial MCS uncovering significant differences in the composition and function of T. gondii MCS compared to commonly studied models.
Speaking about her research in an interview for the FEMS website, Jana said: "I chose to join a parasitology lab as a technician, which is how I ended up with the team of Dr Sheiner at the WCIP, University of Glasgow.
"I fell in love with parasites, in my case T. gondii, and all the exciting challenges that its divergent biology presented. I was happy to generate the pioneering observation of mitochondrial contact sites with other organelles in T. gondii, which has since opened an entire niche in the T. gondii cell biology field.
"I decided I’d like to peruse this exciting study of how parasite mitochondrion interacts with other essential organelles and took it on as a PhD project, which is currently in its final stages.
"I plan to stay in the parasitology field after the completion of my PhD to further explore the divergent organelles of the Apicomplexan parasites."
Dr Lilach Sheiner said: "This award and interview, courtesy of FEMS Microbiology, shines a well-deserved spotlight on our Jana Ovciarikova after winning best talk at ToxoUK2021.
"Thanks must also go to thanks to ToxoUK 2021 event organisers Dr Ellen Nisbet and Professor Ross Waller."
First published: 25 February 2022