iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Here we go! The start of a 2 day symposium of talks from our undergraduate CELL499 students presenting the findings from their research projects. @ualberta.bsky.social

An undergraduate student in Cell Biology presenting their findings from their research project.

050

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Northern lights are bright in Edmonton tonight.

Sky with Northern Lights in pink and green

1110

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

I baked 💩 cupcakes for our lab meeting today.

Chocolate cupcakes with swirls of buttercream icing on top, and two sugar eyes.

180

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Seen walking in London tonight. Inspired to change the name of my lab?

A building sign saying Krikaldys testing and experiential works.

260

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

I just realized you can use Chat GPT to rewrite emails into any style you wish.

050

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

The final session of today's #CellBiology symposium honouring Rick Rachubinski, highlighting his trainees over the years. Here is Andrea Bodnar presenting their work on sea urchins and aging. @ualberta.bsky.social

040

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

In the last talk of morning session - Jennifer Smith outlines the major areas of innovation over Rick Rachubinski's career and the work of their current company PreCyte developing blood based diagnostics. #CellBiology @ualberta.bsky.social

021

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Chris Tam, talks about their 20 year journey from trainee in Rick Rachubinski's lab to therapeutic development. @ualberta.bsky.social

041

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Dr. Chris Winrow, former trainee with Rick Rachubinski lists Rick's " keys to the research game", as well as his current efforts in research commercialization working at Merck. @ualberta.bsky.social

022

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Here we see Peter Kim, as he reminisces about Rick Rachubinski's time at McMaster,the evolution of models of peroxisome biogenesis, as well presenting their current work on #peroxisomes

181

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Francesca DiCara, who worked with Rick Rachubinski while a post-doc in #CellBiology @ualberta.bsky.social is presenting their work on immno-metabolism regulation by #peroxisomes in flies and mammals.

030

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Fred Mast - graduate of the @ualberta.bsky.social #CellBiology undergraduate program and former PhD student with Rick Rachubinski tells up about kinases that regulate human #peroxisomes

031

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Suresh Subramani, longtime collaborator of the Rachubinski lab gets us going with the first talk today. @ualberta.bsky.social #CellBiology #peroxisomes

041

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

It's bittersweet as we start a day-long symposium at @ualberta.bsky.social #CellBiology to honor the career and retirement of Rick Rachubinski. #peroxisomes

051

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

One of our Cell Biology faculty, @rlhull-meichle.bsky.social gives the first talk of the Islet Cell Biology session for the Scientific Symposium: 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Edmonton Protocol and Future of Islet Replacement Therapies @ualberta.bsky.social

A professor standing in front of a screen presenting their research on islet cell biology.

010

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

The last session of the Canadian Developmetnal Biology Conference goes into overtime with a couple of last-minute talks thanks to Dr. Katia Del Rio-Tsionis (Miami University, Ohio) and Dr. Curtis French (Memorial University of Newfoundland). #justcantstop! #newts! #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

062

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Next speaker in the (sadly) final session of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference is Gabriel Bossé, Université Laval talking about “Investigating the neurodevelopmental impact of polydrug exposure using zebrafish” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

052

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Kicking off thje last session of the Canadian Developmental Biology meeting, Gurpreet Moroak, Simon Fraser University tells us about “Tumor growth in Drosophila larval epithelial tissue induces distant organ wasting through fat body metabolic dysregulation” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

052

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Continuing with the our morning session at the Canadian Developmental Biollgy Conference. Here we have Jeff Rasmussen from University of Washington telling us aobut "Building and maintaining the touch system: Insights from zebrafish skin". #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

022

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

First trainee talk for Day 4 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference. Andy Cheng, University of Alberta, telling us about how “Lipid coordination between peroxisomes, peroxins, and lipid droplets” affects early fly development. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

032

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Here we go with Day 4 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference! Starting us off is Brittany Carr, University of Alberta speaking abourt “The role of prominin-1 in photoreceptor development and disease”. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social @drbjcarr.bsky.social

072

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Last talk of a long Day 3 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference from trainee Andreas Dauter - “A Model of the Middle: How do cell behaviours shape the embryonic face?” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

A man giving a presentaiton with a picture with three bubbles+arrows containing questiona marks pointing to a baby.

011

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Update from the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Day 3! - YuXuan (Rain) Xiong, Graduate Student, UBC is seen here presenting their reserach on morphogenesis #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social (Go Oilers! - ahead 1-0 at end of the first period)

“Twisting Cytokinesis: Cell Adhesion and Cortical Flow Underlie Chiral Morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans Embryos”

033

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Jessica Feldman, Stanford University, presenting what is probably the best titled talk ever at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Day 3 #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

010

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

When you want to see the talks at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference, but Oilers are playing game 4 of the conference final! #CDBC2025

161

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Day 3 continues - Min Zhu Postdoctoral Fellow, Hospital for Sick Children, “Tissue stiffness mapping by light sheet elastography" #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

022

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

One thing I enjoy about the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference is diversity! - here is Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan, Dept Physics and Astronomy, Western University showing how “Cell divisions challenge tissue boundaries and sharpen them through tissue fluidity” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

082

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Our first trainee talk of the Day3 evening session! Maria Sharkova, Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta tells us about “Unveiling the Photoreceptor Outer Segment Cage Formed by Calyceal Processes, Müller Glia, and the Retinal Pigment Epithelium”. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

022

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

The evening session for Day 3 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference continues with a talk from Arif Ashraf, University of British Columbia entitled "Function of nuclear envelope proteins beyond the nuclear envelope". #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

132

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Evening session at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference starts with Heather Szabo-Rogers, from the University of Saskatchewan talking about "Insights from Robinow Syndrome reveal crosstalk between HH and Wnt/PCP pathways” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

011

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Canadian Developmental Biology Conference has posters.... so many intersting posters..... Here's a pic of the poster session. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

Groups of people looking at scientific posters.

051

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

And now a word from one of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference sponsors. Greg Plummer from @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social showing some of the new imaginag systems for developmental biology. #CDBC2025

022

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

The meeting is only half done, but I wanted to take the opportunity to thank our Canadian Developmental Biology Conference sponsors! #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social @biologists.bsky.social @thermofishersci.bsky.social @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social

053

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Here we have Eric Hall, University of Manitoba talking about "Uncovering cytoneme regulated signaling events in spinal cord development". Fun fact, Dr. Hall did their undergrad here at UBCO in Kelowna, the 2025 Canadian Developmental Biology Conference venue! #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

062

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Day 3 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference continues with trainee Shreyosi Bose from University of Alberta telling us about “Regulation of PP1 phosphatase in C. elegans sperm development and post-fertilization signaling” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

052

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Day 3 - Muhammed Simsek, McMaster University speaks about “Signalling dynamics required for sequential segmentation of vertebrate embryos”. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

072

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Heather Bruce, University of British Columbia speaks about “How the old becomes new: tracking morphological and gene network evolution over half a billion years” at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference - Day 3 #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

052

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

And here is Menghao Lu, University of British Columbia giving the first trainee talk for Day 3 of the Canadian Developmental Biology Confernce - “The functions of CaMKII and PKC in Wnt-dependent neurite pruning in C. elegans” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

142

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Canadian Developmental Biolgy Conference Day 3 begins here in Kelowna! Starting us off is Jessica Rosin, University of British Columbia telling us about their work into "New insights into immune regulation of craniofacial morphogenesis" #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

032

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Last talk of Day 2 at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference is from Pierre Mattar University of Ottawa telling us how “Chromatin remodelling complexes link developmental timing to neurodevelopmental disorders” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

031

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Evening session at the Canadian Developmental Biology Confernce continues with - Kevin Wei, University of British Columbia tells us about “Evolved embryonic suppression of recently expanded retroelements through heterochromatin nucleation”

032

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Next up at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference - PDF Craig Jacobs speaking about “A non-linear response to Hedgehog signalling provides a mechanism for novel directions of shape change during development” #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

011

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Next up for the evening session at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference Soeren Huettner Postdoctoral Fellow, McGill University telling us about how “CTCF is essential for limb muscle development by preventing ectopic gene expression in myogenic progenitors" #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

031

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Canadian Developmental Biology Conference - Day 2 Evening Session starts with Deniz Top, Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta speakiing about "Coordination of distinct transcription programs between different neurons regulate coherent behavior”

042

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Last trainee talk for Day 2 - Canadian Developmental Biology Conference morning sessions. Maryam Khandani, University of Alberta - “Determining the role of Moesin protein palmitoylation”. #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

Maryam Khandani Graduate Student, University of Alberta presenting their work on “Determining the role of Moesin protein palmitoylation”

061

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Here is Dr. Qiumin Tan from University of Alberta presenting their work on Capicua at the Canadian Developmental Biology Conference (and for some strange reaseon starting their talk by embarassing their department head). #CDBC2025 @socdevbio.bsky.social

091

Andrew Simmonds 🇨🇦 @simmondlab.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Next up - another trainee talk - Mara Whitford G, McGill University “Why don’t we get more cancer? Epithelial tissue architecture acts as a barrier to cancer initiation”

121