{"id":243,"date":"2022-07-05T10:26:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/?page_id=243"},"modified":"2026-07-29T08:43:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:43:40","slug":"current-research-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/current-research-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Research Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Heather Wiebe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Principal Investigator<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Heather obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2011. She then moved to Simon Fraser University, where she received her Ph.D. under the co-supervision of Prof. Michael Eikerling and Prof. Noham Weinberg in 2018. Prior to joining Vancouver Island Unversity in 2020, Heather spent 2 and a half years as a postdoctoral research associate in Prof. Graeme Ackland\u2019s group at the University of Edinburgh, studying quantum phase changes in hydrogen under extreme high pressure. Heather\u2019s area of expertise lies in computational chemistry and modelling, with a focus on the response of complex systems to applied pressure. She is particularly interested in studying the effect of pressure on biological systems such as proteins and lipid membranes, and how these systems have adapted to high pressure in deep-sea organisms. Outside of research, Heather enjoys playing tabletop games \u2013 the more dice the better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Graduate Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are actively recruiting M.Sc and Ph.D. students. Please get in touch via the contact information located at the bottom of the page if you are interested! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Savannah Mercer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Savannah obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry with a minor in Biology at Vancouver Island University in 2024. Savannah\u2019s current work involves examining the biological activity of carfentanil analogs. This includes using molecular modeling to study the interactions between the analogs and the \u00b5-opioid receptor, which is responsible for inducing both the physiological and toxic side effects of opioids. Savannah has also worked on researching the physico-chemical mechanism of pressure-resistance in deep-sea proteins using free energy calculations. Outside of research, Savannah enjoys running and reading.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Undergraduate Students<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Marieke Jongkind<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Marieke is a second-year student studying biology at Vancouver Island University. Marieke’s work is part of a bigger project investigating the effects of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) as a stabilizing molecule for proteins in adverse conditions. Her part in this project involves running simulations on a deep-water fish (C. Armatus)<\/em>with differing concentrations of TMAO to see what effect TMAO has on the protein’s volume. In addition to her work in the lab, Marieke enjoys caring for her plants, going on walks, and listening to her vinyl records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Grounds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Brooke is entering second year of the physics program at the University of Victoria (UVic), transferring into the program from Vancouver Island University (VIU), and is planning a combined major in physics and biochemistry. She is working on simulations of the protein of a shallow water fish species (G. morhua<\/em>) in systems that have differing concentrations of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) to look into the effect that TMAO has on the protein\u2019s volume. This is in connection to a larger project investigating how proteins of deep water fish are resistant to pressure. In her free time, Brooke enjoys learning languages and baking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sahil Dhillon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Bio in progress.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Emerson McConnell<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Emerson is a\u00a0third-year\u00a0chemistry student\u00a0at Vancouver Island University. He also\u00a0serves\u00a0as the Co-president of\u00a0the VIU Chemistry Club\u00a0and\u00a0acts\u00a0as a student representative for VIU’s\u00a0Faculty of Science and Health.\u00a0Building\u00a0on\u00a0Simon’s\u00a0research, Emerson’s work investigates the\u00a0impact\u00a0of the metabolite Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in both deep-sea and shallow-water fish by assessing protein stability and dissociation free energy for LDH\u00a0across\u00a0varying\u00a0TMAO concentrations. Emerson also works on a separate project involving characterizing the physiochemical properties of 6PPDQ and its analogs. When not in the lab, Emerson can usually be found watching scary movies, drinking coffee, and organizing his CD collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Gabe Aniello<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Bio in progress.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lab Alumni<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jae Chung (USRA) 2025<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> QM\/MM calculations of the catalytic mechanism of pressure-adapted enzymes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosie Munro (VIU REACH award and CHEM 491) 2022 \u2013 2025<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Rational design of a pressure-driven unimolecular rotor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> A computational investigation of an antimicrobial motor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savannah Mercer (USRA) 2021 \u2013 2024<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> The effect of amino acid substitution on the thermodynamic stability of lactate dehydrogenase at high pressure<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Molecular docking studies of carfentanil analogues<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon Maguire (USRA, CHEM 491 and research associate) 2021 \u2013 2024<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> The effect of amino acid substitution on the volume change of unfolding in pressure-resistant lactate dehydrogenase<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Chemical fate predictions of 6-PPD quinone and analogs<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serena Jiang (VIU undergraduate) 2022 \u2013 2023<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> The effect of pressure on the dissociation of actin filaments<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Jai (VIU undergraduate) 2023<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Fragmentation patterns in prostaglandins from first principles<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea Krabbe (VIU undergraduate) 2023<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Volumetric effects of trimethylene-N-oxide on lysozyme<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Davis (VIU undergraduate) 2021 \u2013 2022<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> The effect of amino acid substitution on the volume change of unfolding in pressure-resistant lactate dehydrogenase<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diego Franco (VIU undergraduate) 2021 \u2013 2022<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Fragmentation patterns in prostaglandins from first principles<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Mahony (VIU undergraduate) 2021<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> The effect of trimethylamine-N-oxide on the dissociation of the lactate dehydrogenase tetramer complex<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Bracken (Research assistant) 2021<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Project:<\/strong> Catalytic activity of lactate dehydrogenase at high pressure from QM\/MM simulations<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Heather Wiebe Principal Investigator Heather obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2011. She then moved to Simon Fraser University, where she received…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4571,"featured_media":524,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-243","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","empty-entry-meta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":95,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":620,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/243\/revisions\/620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/wiebegroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}