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Overview
Research in Gupta Lab focuses on key biological processes related to Cell Signalling, Cell Proliferation and Cell Differentiation. The questions of our interest are:
- How cells respond to external signals,
- How the timing and number of cell division are controlled,
- How cells acquire unique identities,
- How environmental signals modulate animal behavior
These questions form the basis of our work to understand the mechanisms of normal processes and diseases, such as cancer and neuronal degeneration. For this we are using two well-known nematode (worm) model organisms C. elegans and C. briggsae. These tiny animals (roughly 1 mm long) are particularly useful in discovering the roles of conserved genes and pathways in processes that are shared among all eukaryotes.
Our approach is multidisciplinary and includes techniques in genetics, genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and engineering. We collaborate extensively with other laboratories, both at McMaster and outside, to develop new tools and resources. The applied aspect of our work involves making use of basic research findings and in-house tools to carry out drug discovery projects.
Research projects in our lab are currently funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In previous years we were also supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), Canadian Research Chairs (CRC), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT), and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, comments and feedback. Thank you!
Department of Biology
Life Sciences Building, Room 322
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, CANADA
Phone: 26451 (office) / 23594 (lab)
Email: guptab[at]mcmaster[dot]ca
Timeline of 
News and Updates
New updates are now shared via twitter
February 8, 2019
Dr. Gupta delivered a keynote speech at SciGSA Alumni Social 2019.
September 4, 2018
Shane Taylor has joined our lab as a Master's Candidate. He has completed his undergrad at University of The West Indies Cave Hill. Welcome, Shane!
December 11, 2017
Avijit gave his first talk at Toronto Area Worm Meeting held at the University of Toronto.
September 1, 2016
Avijit Mallick has joined our lab to pursue his Ph. D. He has completed his undergraduate degree from the University of Melbourne and Master's Degree from the University of West Scotland. Welcome, Avijit!!
January 28-Feb 2, 2016
Bhagwati gave a talk in the 1st Indian C. elegans meeting held in Mumbai India. He was also one of the instructors of the satellite workshop.
December 10-14, 2015
Devika and Sangeena successfully defended their Ph.D. degrees within a span of 5 days. We wish them all the best in their future careers.
October 7, 2015
Simon Zhang's poster won the 2nd place in the Undergraduate division of McMaster Water Week annual event. Congratulations Simon!
September 3, 2015
Ish Jain has joined our lab to pursue graduate studies. Ish completed his M.Sc. from MKU Baroda, a well-known university in India. Welcome Ish!
April 9, 2015
All of our senior thesis undergrads, Beth, Shreya and Komal, did awesome job winning top awards in Biology and Life Sciences Undergraduate Symposia. We are proud of their accomplishments. Way to go!
January 5, 2015 [Romy is here!]
Romy Pabla has joined the lab to pursue graduate studies. She completed an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto prior to coming to McMaster. Welcome, Romy!
September 5, 2014 [Cory joins the lab]
Cory Richman is the newest member of our team. He comes through the McMaster MiNDS graduate program. Earlier, Cory completed a senior undergraduate thesis project in the lab. Welcome back Cory!
August 27, 2014 [Another farewell]
Farewell party for Justin who is now officially 'Doctor Tong'! Justin is now heading to Western to pursue a career in medicine. We wish him all the best!
April 10, 2014 [Schlumberger scholar]]
Sangeena was recently granted a Fellowship Award for the 2014-2015 Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future program. She won't need down for her pillows anymore – she can stuff them with hundred dollar bills instead! Congratulations, Sangee!!
January 29, 2014 [The Siege of Fort Knox]
Jessica (Knox) successfully defended her MSc thesis today. Way to go! We all knew you could do it. Though we'll be sad to see you go, we're all confident that you will find success wherever the road takes you!
July 10, 2013 [Remembering Brian McCarry]
Brian McCarry, who just finished two and half years as Acting Chair of Biology, passed away last weekend.
Brian was on a vacation in Reykjavik, Iceland at the time of his death. He was an outstanding person and mentor, and an excellent scientist. He will be greatly missed by so many people. Information on McMaster Daily News is here. Biology farewell photos (see here). Brian's farewell speech in Biology (YouTube video)
July 5, 2013
Kudos to Ayush for publishing in G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics!! This paper describes the role of histone deacetylase (hda-1) in C. elegans vulval morphogenesis. Keep up the awesomeness!!!
March 15, 2013
Congratulations to Sangeena and Scott for the acceptance of their paper to the new Worm journal!!!! Their paper describes the use of a microfluidic electrotaxis platform to evaluate the neuronal health of mutant and toxin-treated nematodes. Hooray!!
November 13, 2012
Congratulations to Devika and Bavi for getting their work published in G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics journal!!!! This paper describes molecular genetic analysis of 13 genes in the nematode C. briggsae that are involved in the development and function of the reproductive system. Great Job!!!!
November 9, 2012
Here are some honours and promotions that should have been mentioned earlier:
- Sangeena won an Outstanding Poster Presentation award at the FHS Research Plenary back in May. Sweet!
- Justin won Best Oral Presentation by a Masters Student at the FHS Research Plenary back in May. Cool!
- Scott successfully defended his Masters Thesis…and has returned for more, as a PhD student. Awesome!
- Justin transferred to the PhD program without finishing his Masters. Funky!
Congratulations to all, and keep working hard!
July 3, 2012
Congratulations to Jessica and Justin on winning Ontario Graduate scholarship (OGS) awards!!! In recent years competition is getting increasingly difficult due to fewer awards and more applicants. Therefore it is a huge success for our lab. Well done, Jessica and Justin!
September 23, 2011 [Lab is growing]]
We welcome three new students, Jessica Knox and Justin Tong (both M.Sc.) and Isvarya Venu (undergraduate), who formally joined our lab earlier this month. Jessica and Justin completed undergraduate degrees from McMaster earlier this year. Isvarya is currently in 4th year and will be doing a thesis project. Cheers!
September 23, 2011
Congratulations to Devika and Sangeena for successfully completing transfer exams!!! They are officially Ph.D. candidates now. Celebrations!!!
June 29, 2011 [More on worms…Hamilton Spec news]
Our microfluidics research work has featured in Hamilton Spectator newspaper today! The article describes a novel microfluidics channel setup to study dopamine neuron signalling and neurodegeneration in a C. elegans Parkinson disease model.
Read full story here. Yay!!!!!!
June 27, 2011
Our microfluidics research is featured in McMaster Daily News today! Read it here - Daily News. Keep up the good work guys!
June 26, 2011 [McMaster GSA Travel Award]
Congratulations to Sangeena for receiving the McMaster Graduate Student Association travel grant!!! This will allow her to attend the 18th International Worm Meeting at UCLA. Have fun in La La Land!
June 9, 2011
We welcome the newest member of our lab, Ayush Ranawade, who came to McMaster 3 weeks ago. Ayush was earlier working as a Junior Research Fellow at the National Centre For Biological Sciences (NCBS) in India. He has joined as a M.Sc. student. Cheers!
May 10, 2011
Congratulations to Devika for receiving the 18th International C. elegans Meeting travel grant!!! We wish you all the best in the meeting.
April 9, 2011 [BUS 2011 Award]
Congratulations to Ata Ansari for winning the best presentation award at McMaster Biology Undergraduate Symposium in Genetics section!!! Way to go Ata!
March 11, 2011 [NSERC USRA summer fellowship]
Congratulations to Nayasta for receiving the NSERC USRA 2011 summer research scholarship! This will allow her to study the regulation of lin-39 in worms.
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