Division Members

Neale Ridgway, PhD (Division Director)
David M. Byers, PhD
Christopher McMaster, PhD
Kirill V. Rosen, PhD
Harold W. Cook, PhD (Former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine)
Aarnoud C. van der Spoel, PhD

Summary of Division Activities

Research and education on the biochemistry, molecular and cell biology of lipids and their role in signal transduction and membrane trafficking. Emphasis is on lipid metabolism and its relationship to human disease, including cancer, neurodegenerative, heart, and infectious disease.

Major Activities

The ARC is an internationally recognized lipid and signal transduction research group comprised of four biochemists and over 25 technicians and trainees, funded by CIHR, NSERC, NCIC and several other agencies. Much of our research is focused on the synthesis and degradation of membrane lipids, e.g. phospholipids and cholesterol, and how these processes contribute to generation of intracellular "second messengers" involved in cell communication and the ordered trafficking of cellular material in lipid vesicles. Specific projects include discovery of novel genes and enzymes of lipid metabolism, regulation of cholesterol and sphingolipid transport, antimicrobial drug design related to bacterial lipid metabolism, and apoptosis/anoikis as a tumour-specific therapeutic target. The other major activity of the ARC division is education, particularly teaching of advanced science courses related to lipid biochemistry and signal transduction. We are a resource for other researchers in the medical school, particularly in the areas of protein structure and function, yeast and human genetics, and cell signalling. The ARC also houses a proteomics core facility and is affiliated with the Chemoinformatic Drug Discovery Laboratory in the IWK Health Centre. All group members are active in university administration and national/international peer review panels.

Contact Information

Debbie Hayes, Administrative Secretary
Atlantic Research Centre
Room C-302, Clinical Research Centre
5849 University Avenue
Halifax, NS B3H 4H7

Ph: (902) 494-7066
Fax: (902) 494-1394
E-mail: arc@dal.ca

For additional information visit: http://arc.medicine.dal.ca/