Alexander Van Nynatten
Ph.D. Student
Department of Cell and Systems Biology
University of Toronto
25 Harbord St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3B2
Email: alex.vannynatten@mail.utoronto.ca
Current Research
- Currently looking at functional evolutionary changes accompanying a transition from marine to freshwater ecosystems
- Specifically using closely related marine and freshwater fish species to identify adaptation in rhodopsin
- Have previously worked on the miniaturization of enzymatic reactions using capillary electrophoresis
Education
Ph.D. (2012 – present) — University of Toronto
PhD candidate in Cell and Systems Biology, transferred from MSc program (2013)
Advisors: Belinda Chang, Nathan Lovejoy
B.M.Sc. (2012) — University of Western Ontario
Bachelor of Medical Sciences Honors Degree
Honors Specialization in Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Awards and Grants
Cell and Systems Biology Travel Grant, 2016
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Student Travel Grant, 2016
Vision Science Research Fellowship – University Health Network, 2016
Zoology Sesquicentennial Graduate Award – Cell and Systems Biology, UofT, 2015
Vision Science Research Fellowship – University Health Network, 2015
Society of Graduate Studies Travel Grant, 2014
Cell and Systems Biology Travel Grant, 2013 – 2014
Vision Science Research Fellowship – University Health Network, 2014
University of Toronto Fellowship, 2013
University of Toronto Fellowship, 2012
Deans Honor List, 2009 – 2010
Western Scholarship of Distinction, 2008
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journals
Castiglione, G.M., Hauser F.E., Liao B.S., Lujan N.K., Van Nynatten A., Morrow J.M., Schott R.K., Bhattacharyya N., Dungan S.Z., and B.S.W. Chang (2017). Evolution of nonspectral rhodopsin function at high altitudes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114 (28): 7385-7390.
Van Nynatten, A., Bloom, D., Chang, B.S.W., Lovejoy, N.R. (2015) Out of the blue: adaptive visual pigment evolution accompanies Amazon invasion. Lett. 11: 20150349.
Hauser, F., Schott, R., Castiglione, G., Van Nynatten, A., Kosyakov, A., Tang, P., Gow, D., Chang, B.S.W. (2015) Comparative sequence analyses of rhodopsin and RPE65 reveal patterns of selective constraint across hereditary retinal disease mutations. Visual Neurosci. VNS-2015-0039.
Elbassiouny, A.A., Schott, R.K., Waddell, J.C., Kolmann, M.A., Lehmberg, E.S., Van Nynatten, A., Crampton, W.G.R., Chang, B.S.W., and N.R. Lovejoy (2016). Mitochondrial genomes of the South American electric knifefishes (Order Gymnotiformes). Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources, 1 (1): 401-403.
Other Publications
Gutierrez, E.A., Van Nynatten, A., Lovejoy, N.R., and B.S.W. Chang (2016). Sensory Systems: Molecular Evolution in Vertebrates. In The Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology, Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Oxford: Academic Press, vol. 4, pp. 33–40
Presentations
Van Nynatten, A.*, Bloom, D.D., Chang, B.S.W., and Lovejoy, N.L. Visual evolution in marine derived Amazonian fishes. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, New Orleans, LA. 9 July 2016. (International oral presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Bloom, D.D., Chang, B.S.W., and Lovejoy, N.L. Visual evolution in marine derived Amazonian fishes. Great Lakes Bioinformatics and the Canadian Computational Biology Conference 2016, Toronto, ON. 18 May 2016. (International oral presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Lovejoy, N.L., Chang, B.S.W. Naturally occurring retinitis pigmentosa mutations in the rhodopsin gene of a nocturnal family of South American fishes. VSRP Research Day 2016, Toronto, ON. 27 May 2016. (Regional oral presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Lovejoy, N.L., Chang, B.S.W. Naturally occurring retinitis pigmentosa mutations in the rhodopsin gene of a nocturnal family of South American fishes. VSRP Research Day 2015, Toronto, ON. 29 May 2015. (Regional poster presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Bloom, D.D., Chang, B.S.W., and Lovejoy, N.L. 2013.Elevated dN/dS substitution rates suggest adaptive evolution in freshwater invasion of anchovies. Evolution 2014, Raleigh, NC. 21 June 2014. (International poster presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Bloom, D.D., Lovejoy, N.L., and Chang, B.S.W. 2013. Improving identification of positively selected sites using detailed biogeographic information. International Biogeographic Society: Special Meeting, Montreal, QC. 17 Nov 2013. (International poster presentation, PhD research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Bloom, D.D., Lovejoy, N.L., and Chang, B.S.W. 2013. Effects of marine and freshwater habitats on the evolution of visual pigments. Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Annual Meeting, Chicago IL. 9 July 2013 (International poster presentation, MSc research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Yeung, K.-C., and Litchfield, D. 2012. Miniaturization of the CK2 kinase assay using capillary electrophoresis. Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology honours research final assembly at the University of Western Ontario. Apr 2012 (Local Oral presentation, bMSc research).
Van Nynatten, A.*, Yeung, K.-C., and Litchfield, D. 2012. Miniaturization of the CK2 kinase assay using capillary electrophoresis. Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology honours research project poster presentation assembly at the University of Western Ontario. Mar 2012 (Local Poster presentation, bMSc research).