Our research efforts are focused on the development and application of proteomics, and lipidomics.

In proteomics, we are interested in developing and applying techniques for 1) the mapping of protein-protein interactions for proteins relevant to human diseases, and  2) the study of quantitative changes in the proteome when limited amount of material is available. We are currently studying the role of PCSK9 in LDLR degradation, the proteome of Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, the roles of lipin in lipid metabolism, the roles of SMYD proteins in lysine methylation, the proteome of human embryonic stem cells, the proteome of the circadian clock, and acetyltransferases and chromatin remodelling proteins in yeast. More details on our proteomic projects can be found under People and Research Projects.

In lipidomics, we are interested in developing and applying techniques for the study of changes in the lipidome during diseases.  In particular, we are targetting specific subclasses of lipids such as PC, PE, and PS and are developing techniques for other classes of lipids as well.  In collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. S. Bennett we are studying the targetted lipidome in neurodenegrative diseases. More details on our lipidomic projects can be found under People and Research Projects.

Finally, our technology development efforts are focused on developing proteomics technologies to study minute levels of proteins, the development of lipidomic technologies and the development of bioinformatic tools. More details on our technology development projects can be found under People and Research Projects.

Daniel Figeys is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, the Director of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, and a Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in proteomics and systems biology. Daniel obtained a B.S. and a M.S. in chemistry from the Université de Montréal. He obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Alberta and did his postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington. Prior to his current position, Daniel was Senior VP of Systems Biology with MDS-Proteomics. From 1998 to 2000, he was a Research Officer at the NRC-Canada. Daniel’s research involves developing proteomics technology and their applications in systems biology.