David McMullin
Associate Professor, Associate Director of the Ottawa-Carleton Collaborative Program in Chemical and Environmental Toxicology
| Degrees: | Ph.D (Carleton University) |
| Phone: | 613-520-2600 x 3644 |
| Email: | davidmcmullin@cunet.carleton.ca |
| Office: | 420 SC |
| Website: | The McMullin Lab |
The primary research interest of the McMullin Group is studying chemical interactions between microorganisms and their environment through the biosynthesis of natural products. Natural products are ecologically significant as they enable specific species/strains to compete for resources or occupy an ecological niche. While natural products are important socioeconomically, for example as drugs, often unwanted chronic exposures have adverse health effects. These effects are often poorly characterized. To facilitate toxicological experiments and exposure assessments for better hazard characterization, chemical standards are required. This involves evaluating the toxigenic potential of ecologically relevant species/strains, purifying the principle toxins and elucidating their chemical structures. This type of research can have important implications for evidence-based decision making, toxicology and chemical ecology.
Students in the group develop transferable technical skills by (1) growing microorganisms to produce metabolites, (2) purifying and structurally characterizing chemicals, (3) developing analytical or metabolomics methods, and (4) assessing the biological activity of purified compounds. We currently focus on natural products produced by cyanobacteria and fungi.
For more information, visit The McMullin Group.