CPS Grad Spotlight - Liam Haas-Neill

Name: Liam Haas-Neill

MSc or PhD Candidate: PhD Candidate

Location of Undergraduate Education: University of Toronto

Name of the Lab at CPS: Rauscher Lab

Select Awards: Participation Award - Intramural Volleyball

Selected Research Contributions: Joron, K., Viegas, J.O., Haas-Neill, L. et al. Fluorescent protein lifetimes report densities and phases of nuclear condensates during embryonic stem-cell differentiation. Nat Commun 14, 4885 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40647-6 

Liam, please tell us about yourself and your journey as a PhD Candidate!

How did you come to UTM? What interested you to join a lab here?

I’ve been at UofT since 2013, where I completed my physics specialization BSc. After doing several summer research projects in computational fluid dynamics, I decided it was time for a change. When I joined as a Masters student, I didn’t really know what type of physics I would get into. After seeing Sarah speak about her research at the Physics Jamboree, I met with her and it just felt like a good fit.    

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a graduate study?

When I did undergraduate summer research projects during my undergraduate degree. I enjoyed trying to figure out problems that no one knew the answer to. Graduate studies was an obvious choice after I finished my undergrad.

What are your research interests? Tell us few exciting things about your research.

My work involves investigation of perturbations to protein systems. The traditional dogma of structural biology centralizes the notion that a protein's function is determined by its 'rigid' 3-dimensional structure, which is in turn determined by its amino acid sequence and solvation environment. This idea is readily extended to disordered proteins, whose structural ensembles, rather than rigid 3-dimensional structures, are defined by their amino acid sequences and solvation environment. But how susceptible is protein structure and function to perturbations of these dependencies? On one hand, single amino acid mutations can induce structural changes that lead to loss-of-function effects severe enough to be fatal, such as in sickle-cell anemia. On the other hand, some proteins share near-identical structure in spite of highly divergent amino acid sequences. 

What is your goal when you finish your degree?

I would like to work in data science, preferably in the music space. My dream job is Data Science at Spotify.

What are some of your achievements you'd like to share?

My favourite achievement I’d like to share is the time I got to record vocals at the world famous Abbey Road studio. A record label flew me to London UK and hired me to record some of their songs at Abbey Road. It’s probably the coolest thing I ever did.

Do you have any advice for students considering to pursue graduate studies in research?

Read the literature.