Jens Franck
Title: Biology Department Chair
Phone: 204.789.1411
Office: 2RC008
Building: Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex
Email: j.franck@uwinnipeg.ca
Research Interests:
My research is in the area of molecular evolutionary biology and genetics. Research in the laboratory is focused on the molecular evolution and expression of a family of intracellular calcium release channels known as ryanodine receptors (RyRs). RyRs are integral components of a signal transduction pathway that involves the release of calcium from intracellular stores which is critical in diverse cellular processes including muscle contraction. Students in my lab have revealed how the RyR gene family has undergone several gene duplication events in the vertebrate lineage leading to gene subfunctionialization, the process describing the partitioning of ancestral gene function. Using fish model systems, including zebrafish and medaka my laboratory is investigating the genetic basis for the regulatory difference in expression for the RyR genes and other genes involved in calcium homeostasis.
I am currently accepting applications from prospective graduate students or post-docs.