Academic and Professional Background[edit | edit source]
I graduated from the University of Windsor in 2020 with an undergraduate Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry. During my time at the University of Windsor, I was a member of the Laboratory for Advanced Biomembrane Research (LABR) group. The LABR team conducted research within the realm of biophysics, with particular emphasis on lipid and biomembrane physical chemistry. This research aimed to gain a better understanding of the biophyscial mechanisms that are driven by many relevant lipid systems in the human body. Neutron scattering and spectroscopy techniques were used to analyze biologically significant lipids and their behaviours.
I am currently pursuing a degree in Medicine from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in London, ON. Recently, I have joined Glia, a company that conducts research related to open-source biomedical device development, validation, and distribution. With the development of their open-source ECG device coming to a close, Glia will soon be conducting Phase I clinical trials to validate their model ECG device, and I will be helping in conducting these clinical trials. This is my first encounter with research in medical school and is an excellent way for me to learn more about conducting proper clinical trials and the process of biomedical device validation.
Research Interests & Next Steps[edit | edit source]
As a first year medical student, my academic career is sure to be filled with many future research endeavours. I am extremely passionate about systems-level advocacy within medicine. To me, advocacy means understanding all aspects that come together to shape our communities, and how up-stream policy and decision making has a downstream effect on community health. With that comes having a better understanding of environmental health, health promotion and prevention, and the social determinants of health. Throughout my academic career, I am determined to become better acquainted with the aforementioned topics through research and self-study. Going forwards, I will seek out projects and opportunities that will help to affect change within local and global communities in regards to health and access to quality care.
At this stage in my training, I am also highly interested in pursuing research related to the field of Internal Medicine. I specifically find the subspecialties of cardiology and nephrology intriguing, with a focus in transplant medicine and interventional cardiology.
Undergraduate Honours Thesis[edit | edit source]
My honours thesis was completed under the supervision of Dr. Drew Marquardt and the LABR team at the University of Windsor. Titled “Building the phase diagram of pulmonary surfactant mimic”, the project aimed to gain a solid understanding of the mechanisms that determine how pulmonary surfactant supports respiration in the human body. After building a mimic lipid system that was accurate to that of human pulmonary surfactant, a spectroscopy technique (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer or FRET) was used to analyze the behaviour of the lipids across different membrane compositions and temperatures. Ideally, the building of this phase diagram will bring researchers one step closer to understanding the complex interactions of these lipids with themselves and their microenvironment. This would allow for the further investigation of the mechanism behind the reduction of surface tension at the alveolar level which ultimately allows for respiration to occur.
Publications[edit | edit source]
- Frampton, M. B., Yakoub, D., Katsaras, J., Zelisko, P. M., & Marquardt, D. (2021). A calorimetric, volumetric and combined SANS and SAXS study of hybrid siloxane phosphocholine bilayers. Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 241, 105149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2021.105149