Afrooz Dabbaghizadeh

I did my PhD molecular biology in Laval university. I finished my PhD in July 2018.

I was postdoctoral fellow for five years in MNI (Montreal neurological institute) and CR-CHUM (Research Center Du Chum). Now I would like to continue my career journey in the company.

I am mother of a sweet baby boy. I love my role as a mom and I love spending time in this position too.

Some of my work habits: time management, attention to details, proactive and I love to learn more 

My PhD project was about study the structure and mitochondrial function of small heat shock protein Hsp22 in Drosophila melanogaster. As a requirement of my research, I used to design/conduct protocols for expression and purification of Hsp22, small heat shock protein, in Drosophila melanogaster. The developed protocols had to be executed using a variety of molecular biology techniques (such as cloning, gene expression and recombinant protein purification, IF, SEC, enzymatic tests using 96-well plates) which I tried to master over my PhD. Finally, I was responsible to maintain our cell culture lab for four years to ensure a safe/non-contaminated environment without any interruptions in the experiments. 

My first postdoc  project was about “Enhancing the efficacy of heat shock protein” on treating neurodegenerative diseases and specifically, ALS. This project required a combination of technical and coordination skills to manage the processes in a team. My main responsibility was to determine the effect of treatment on protein quality control system including chaperone and proteasome by using different techniques including Western blotting, Immunofluorescence, and Immunohistochemistry as well as enzymatic assays and communicate the results with other involving team members and subsequently make plans for next steps. 

The other project I wan involved in was mainly about monitoring the assembly process of the neurofilament light (NFL) and effect of Sacsin domains, a protein mutated in neurodegenerative disease in NFL’s assembly. This project required applying different microscopy techniques especially electron microscopy and many image analysis.

The most recent project is about ‘Targeting IL17 as a novel treatment for liver fibrosis’, . Working on this project gave me opportunity to work with animal model (mice), flow cytometry, liver, and other mice organs as well as some pathology techniques in which I had a chance to get expert during my second postdoc.