Laboratory leader
Pierre M. Durand
pidurand AT gmail DOT com
Current lab members
Andrew Ndhlovu (graduating November 2020)
Ph.D. project: The metagenomics of an algal bloom
Karen van Niekerk
PhD project: The evolution of programmed cell death in dinoflagellates
Jaganmoy Jodder
Postdoctoral fellow: Palaeontological evidence for cooperation and group-level behavior in Precambrian microfossils
SoRi La
MSc. Project: Evolutionary history of Caspase–Hemoglobinase fold proteases en route to eukaryogenesis
Tutuzwa Xuma (secondary supervisor, primary supervisor is Prof Stuart Sym)
PhD project: The ultrastructure of programmed cell death in Prorocentrum triestinum
External PhD advisory committee member for
Nathalie Zeballos
Supervised by Luis Chevin, University of Montpellier
Past lab members
Postdoctoral Fellows
Santosh Sathe (2014 - 2016)
Rajdeep Choudhury (2012 - 2013)
PhD Graduates
Nisha Dhar 2016, Thesis - The molecular evolution of complexity at the origin of life
Dewaldt Engelbrecht 2015, Thesis- Plasmodium falciparum: programmed cell death in the erythrocytic stages
Jonathan Featherston 2019, Thesis - Genomic and genetic changes during the transition to multicellularity in the Volvocine algae.
MSc Graduates
Andrew Ndhlovu 2015, Thesis - An evolutionary rates database EvoDB and alignment algorithm to infer protein domain function
Jasper Grobler
MSc. Project: Biochemical characterisation of South African indigenous microalgae for biofuel production potential.
Laboratory visitors
Marcelo Barreto Filho (2019), University of Sao Paolo
Professor Alexey Grigoryevich Desnitskiy (2017), St. Petersburg State University
Mr. Abhishek Upadhyay (2015), University of Hong Kong
Mr. Nishant Garg (2015), Boston University Medical School
Professor Cristian Solari (2015), University of Buenos Aires
Professor Rick Michod (2014), University of Arizona
Mrs. Yogita Dolas (2014)
SANPCC curator: Viktor Radermacher from the laboratory of Prof Jonah Choiniere
MSc. Project: Synchrotron uCT scanning reveals novel cranial anatomy of the enigmatic Early Cretaceous South African Coelurosaur Nqwebasaurus thwazi: a reconstruction, reappraisal, and phylogenetic reassessment