Email

wdixon@ualberta.ca

Phone

(780) 492-3579

Address

2-51 South Academic Building

11328 - 89 Ave NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2J7

Degree

PhD, University of Cambridge

Job/Research Area  

Molecular Biology, and Member of AVRI Council

Major Responsibilities/Research Interests 

Research interests focus on gene expression as it relates to several fundamental cell biological processes including cell adhesion, and protein metabolism and secretion. In particular, current research involves the study of a family of four-pass membrane proteins implicated in a variety of cellular processes including adhesion and motility, platelet activation, growth factor signalling and cell proliferation. Members of this protein family are being studied in several normal and transformed eukaryotic cell systems. These studies utilize many recently developed techniques in protein biochemistry and molecular biology including cDNA cloning and expression, antibody screening of cDNA libraries, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis and DNA sequencing. An understanding of the critical factors regulating these essential biological processes will have direct application to a variety of important issues in animal science including fertilization, embryo implantation and development, parasite infection and lactation.