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SFU graduand to study with 2002 Nobel prize winner
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June 9, 2003
Margaret Johnson’s chance meeting with Nobel prize winner Kurt Wuthrich has led to postdoctoral studies with the Nobel prize-winning chemist at his San Diego laboratory.
Johnson graduates in June from the department of molecular biology and biochemistry with a doctorate in biochemistry recording the highest grade point average in the school of graduate studies, 3.97 out of 4.00, earning her the Governor General’s gold medal.
Her nominator’s letter says Johnson "is the most talented graduate student that I have supervised in my career of 19 years. . . .She has advanced original hypotheses on how one class of molecules mimics another for the purposes of improved drug and vaccine design."
Johnson will take up her work with Wuthrich, who shared the 2002 Nobel prize in chemistry with two other scientists, at the Scripps Research Institute in August, supported by an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship.
She met Wuthrich last fall after he spoke at SFU and subsequently he invited her to continue her research at his San Diego laboratory. "Wuthrich gives you the freedom to work on your own ideas," says the Burnaby South high school alumna. "I’m hoping to expand my horizons in the area of protein biochemistry using advanced spectroscopic techniques."
Johnson says she likes the interdisciplinary approach to scientific research that she employed while working with her thesis supervisor, chemistry professor Mario Pinto. "I was able to bring my understanding of biology and chemistry to bear on research into vaccines and drugs for diabetes and cancer," she explains. "It gives you a good feeling working on something that will improve someone’s life."
Johnson has already published 10 articles in scientific journals and is preparing three more for submission. She entered SFU as an undergrad with a Shrum scholarship in 1992 and graduated with a BSc in biochemistry in 1997.
She plans to pursue an academic career after two years with Wuthrich. "I like teaching and research, and I enjoy working with other people," she concludes.
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Contact
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Johnson graduates in June from the department of molecular biology and biochemistry with a doctorate in biochemistry recording the highest grade point average in the school of graduate studies, 3.97 out of 4.00, earning her the Governor General’s gold medal.
Her nominator’s letter says Johnson "is the most talented graduate student that I have supervised in my career of 19 years. . . .She has advanced original hypotheses on how one class of molecules mimics another for the purposes of improved drug and vaccine design."
Johnson will take up her work with Wuthrich, who shared the 2002 Nobel prize in chemistry with two other scientists, at the Scripps Research Institute in August, supported by an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship.
She met Wuthrich last fall after he spoke at SFU and subsequently he invited her to continue her research at his San Diego laboratory. "Wuthrich gives you the freedom to work on your own ideas," says the Burnaby South high school alumna. "I’m hoping to expand my horizons in the area of protein biochemistry using advanced spectroscopic techniques."
Johnson says she likes the interdisciplinary approach to scientific research that she employed while working with her thesis supervisor, chemistry professor Mario Pinto. "I was able to bring my understanding of biology and chemistry to bear on research into vaccines and drugs for diabetes and cancer," she explains. "It gives you a good feeling working on something that will improve someone’s life."
Johnson has already published 10 articles in scientific journals and is preparing three more for submission. She entered SFU as an undergrad with a Shrum scholarship in 1992 and graduated with a BSc in biochemistry in 1997.
She plans to pursue an academic career after two years with Wuthrich. "I like teaching and research, and I enjoy working with other people," she concludes.
-30-
Contact
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca