Professor

John Parkinson

Molecular Genetics

PhD

Location
SickKids - Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning
Address
686 Bay Street, 21-9709, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 0A4
Research Interests
Bioinformatics and computational biology, Evolution and phylogenetics, Functional genomics and systems biology, Global health, Mouse models, Parasites, Infectious disease and microbiology, Intestinal health, Microbiome, Metabolism, Protein-protein, DNA-protein, and RNA-protein interactions, Single cell and spatial biology, Technology development

With over 20 years of expertise, the Parkinson Lab combines computational and genomic approaches to study the impact of microbes on human health. These microbes include bacterial pathogens such as Neisseria gonorrhea, the causative agent of gonorrhea, as well as parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium falciparum, and Brugia malayi the causative agents of toxoplasmosis, malaria and elephantiasis respectively. More recently the Parkinson lab has been studying the role of complex microbial communities (microbiomes) in a host of chronic diseases including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and malnutrition. Key to these analyses is “systems-based” methods, such as metabolic modelling and network biology, that allow researchers in the Parkinson lab to understand how genes are organized into the biochemical pathways that drive infection. The application of these methods has allowed the identification of novel drug targets, helping drive the development of novel therapeutics that are urgently needed to combat the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

Courses taught

  • BCH428: Genomics of microbial communities in human health and beyond

Cross-affiliations

  • Hospital for Sick Children
  • Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto