Student: Sergio Andres Muñoz
Email: sergio0503@gmail.com
Project: Evolution comb shape of Drosophila melanogaster
Achievement: Sergio is currently at the Dalhousie University in the Biology PhD program. Co-author in PNAS publication
Student evaluations: Nicolas welcomed me as an assistant student in his lab at the University of Toronto when I was an undergraduate student at Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia. Under his supervision, I was in charge of analyzing confocal microscopy movies of the development of the legs of the fruit fly Drosophila. It is indeed astonishing to observe the dynamics of cells in tissues during development. He was an encouraging supervisor who was always happy and willing to explain the basic rationales behind the procedures I had to follow in the lab. He is also a patient scientist and also welcomes discussion in a constructive manner. I spent many hours with Nicolas discussing several different theoretical issues in evolutionary biology, some stemming directly from his on PhD research on evo-devo. This has all been very useful in my development as researcher. I certainly think of Nicolas as an role model when I have to supervise a new undergraduate, as a PhD student, in my lab at Dalhousie University. Two years later after I had left my short 6-month internship at UofT, I became part of the organizing committee for the third meeting of the Colombian Network for Evolutionary Biology (ColEvol). We invited Nicolas as a keynote speaker and he made quite an impact with his talk. Many young scientists were interested in Nicolas’ research and discussions around it followed throughout the rest of the symposium. Nicolas has since then also become an active member of ColEvol, therefore playing an important role in the development of the field of evolutionary biology in Colombia.
- Student: Jiwon Lee
Email: g1jiwon.lee@gmail.com
Project: Phenotypic analysis of various mutations perturbing sex comb development
Achievement: PNAS and JULS publication; Jiwon is currently at Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine. First author in JULS publication and co-author in PNAS paper
Student evaluations: Nicolas was a fantastic teacher and mentor. He does his best to keep the material and learning environment entertaining and interesting. I would recommend him for any student interested in the cell biology field. I start working with Nicolas as a volunteer in Ellen Larsen lab, and then I took the Research Opportunity Program with him. He mentored my project, and helped me to publish my first paper.
- Student: Helen Tan
Email: helen.yi.tan@gmail.com
Project: Cell extrusion involved in sex comb rotation of Drosophila melanogaster
Achievement: Helen is currently at New York Medical College program in Physical Therapy
Student evaluations: To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Helen Yi Tan, and I am writing to you regarding the application of professorship for Dr. Juan Nicolas Malagon.
Dr. Malagon was my academic mentor during my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, where with his guidance, I completed an individual research course for the department of Cell and Systems Biology.
As a mentor, Dr. Malagon was knowledgeable and approachable; he was always available to me when I had questions, and was proactive in making sure that he was accessible even when help was not needed immediately. Dr. Malagon was also very thorough. He would often go beyond the surface of a question to understand why I was having trouble grasping an idea, and would ensure that the root of the problem was also addressed.
During my professional interactions with Dr. Malagon, he was also incredibly patient, reliable, and dedicated to his work. Dr. Malagon is a person whom would never sacrifice the quality of his work simply to meet a deadline, and I was very fortunate to have been influenced by this great characteristic. In addition, Dr. Malagon always found different ways to engage me to new material, and encouraged me to be creative and passionate about my own work as well.
Dr. Malagon’s teachings during my independent research project helped to establish a solid foundation for me in my academic career, and allowed me to later complete my own doctoral project on the interaction of breathing and neck and low back pain.
Based on my experience with Dr. Malagon, I believe he has the academic knowledge and interpersonal traits of a great professor, and would be a valuable addition to your faculty!
Sincerely,
Yi (Helen) Tan, PT, DPT
Helen is a Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate from New York Medical College, and is currently employed with SPEAR Physical Therapy, an award winning private outpatient orthopedic practice in New York City. Under the guidance of Dr. Malagon, Helen completed an independent research project titled “Analysis of cell extrusion patterns in the first tarsal segment region of male Drosophila melanogaster, in understanding sex comb rotation.”
4) Student: Marina Wang
Email: marina.wang92@gmail.com
Project: Cell dynamics involved in the leg development of the Drosophila melanogaster female
Achievement: JULS publication; Marina is currently at University of McMaster Medical School. First author in JULS publication
Student evaluations: Nicolas was very clear on his expectations and all assignments given. I learned very much and enjoyed working with him in the course Research Opportunity Program. He also gave me freedom to develop new ideas in my project and then support and give me guidance to write a publication of my research project. He is a very good mentor with a humorous approach.
- Student: Gabilan Sivapatham
Email: gabilan.sivapatham@gmail.com
Project: Cell dynamics involved in the rotation of Drosophila melanogaster sex comb artificially selected for a low number of bristles
Achievement: Co-author in PNAS publication
Student evaluations: I first met Nicolas during my first year of undergraduate studies while engaging with my first research project. If I can highlight one feature that separates Nicolas from others, it would be the way he demonstrates his passion for his research and the promotion of learning in everyone. I remember many conversations in the early stages where Nicolas would help stimulate key conversations in a meaningful way to ensure that the questions were understandable to a first year student but also thoughtful. Engaging with the research process for the first time, I found myself thinking critically and being supported through the research question development process. I have found Nicolas to be extremely approachable and welcoming of questions and feedback. Nicolas will serve any institution well, both in engaging with academia, but also his interactions with peers and students.
- Student: Waleed Khan
Email: waleedbangash.khan@mail.utoronto.ca
Project: Evolution of allometric changes in fruit fly forelegs
Achievement: First co-author in Acta Biol. Col. paper
Student evaluations: Nicolas was always willing to help and I appreciated him for not just giving me the answers, but helping me find the answer on my own. He was passionate about teaching, displaying an upbeat style and has great chemistry with his students.
- Student: Yunlong Liang
Email: Yunlong.L@hotmail.com
Project: Epithelial development in Drosophila melanogaster (Department of Cell and System Biology, University of Toronto)
Achievement: Master of Public Health candidate (Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University). First author in JULS publication
Student evaluation: I have known Nicholas for a long time and he’s been an amazing mentor for me both in academics and in life. I am very lucky to have had him as my research supervisor during my time at the Larsen lab as he is such an endearing and compassionate individual who genuinely cared about the success and well-being of his students. He was so approachable and would always find the time to help whenever I needed it. He would patiently go through the background, the rationale, and the important details of the experiment to make sure I fully understood it and it never even once felt rushed. It was also satisfying hearing him explaining things because he always manages to turn complex information into understandable terms and conveys it with such energy and enthusiasm that simply draws you in. On top of that, he often goes above and beyond what he is required to do by taking the initiative to share with us the latest articles, data, and insights relevant to our research to make sure we would do well on our poster presentations and final reports – which we could never have done so well in without his support and encouragement. In fact, several students and I enjoyed cell biology so much because of him that we opted to pursue a cell biology specialization for the rest of our undergraduate studies.
- Student: Yinglun He
Email: tingtinghe2003@hotmail.com
Project: Cell dynamics of proximal region of the 1st tarsal segments in Drosophila melanogaster Achievement: Luna is currently at the Loyola University in Chicago Law school
Student evaluation: To Whom It May Concern,
Nicolas is a great mentor. He trained me in basic and specialized lab techniques, including the use of imaging software. Nicolas values students’ input on how they would like the research projects and encouraged participation and group discussions. He is very knowledgeable and I admire how he does his best to pass that onto the students. Nicolas is also enthusiastic, energetic and has a wonderful way of simplifying more complex issues into clearly understandable language and helps students learn by creating more graphical images.
- Student: Fei, Zhonghui
Email: sue.fei.6@gmail.com
Project: RNAi genetic screening for genes perturbing Drosophila melanogaster sex comb development
Achievements: Fei completed her M.Sc. at the University of Toronto and went on to Osgoode Hall Law School at York University to pursue a career in law. She is currently articling at Torys LLP.
Evaluation: Nicolas was an amazing mentor. He patiently and effectively trained me in everything from basic laboratory techniques (e.g. drosophila maintenance, screening, and dissection) to specialized imaging software to the underlying theoretical knowledge (in genetics, developmental biology and evolutionary biology) that was crucial to my research project. Nicolas valued student input in terms of the direction of the project and encouraged participation and group collaboration. He was very knowledgeable and always did his best to pass on what he knew to his students. Nicolas was enthusiastic, energetic and always knew exactly how to simplify and effectively explain complex issues. The knowledge Nicolas imparted on me has stayed with me throughout my graduate school career and was transferred to valuable skills after that.
- Student: June, Tan
Email: june.tan@utoronto.ca, junet0809@gmail.com
Project: RNAi genetic screening for genes perturbing Drosophila melanogaster sex comb development
Achievements: June is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Toronto. Co-author in JULS manuscript
Student evaluation: When I was an undergraduate student working with Nicolas, he provided plenty of mentorship and guidance that has been a great help in my development as a young scientist. It was an enjoyable and enriching research experience working with Nicolas to analyze time-lapse movies of developmental processes. He always encouraged thought-provoking discussion— from discussions about how best to design methods to analyze the data, to discussions about data interpretation and their relevance to previous findings in the literature. Moreover, he fostered and maintained a collaborative environment among students that led to many fruitful discussions and further insights about the research topic. He was very approachable, which made me feel comfortable with asking him questions and sharing my opinions. He also often freely shared his experiences and knowledge and was a great mentor in helping me apply and prepare for graduate school.
- Student: Julian Hung
Email: Julian.hung@utoronto.ca.
Project: Cell dynamics involved in the rotation of Drosophila melanogaster sex comb artificially selected for a high number of bristles
Achievement: PharmD., MBA Candidate, University of Toronto. Co-author in PNAS publication
To whom it may concern:
I am writing this reference at the request of Dr. Nicolas Malagon who is being considered for an academic promotion to assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
I first met Dr. Malagon through my professor who wanted to take me on as a lab student for the summer. Upon meeting him in person, I quickly realized I would be in for terrific learning experience. At the time, he was my mentor for a research project that analyzed the cell dynamics in genetically modified sex combs of Drosophila. Along with the textbook knowledge he was able to teach me, he trained me in basic and specialized lab techniques, including dissections, fruit fly genetic screens and how to use imaging software. Dr. Malagon values student input on how to approach research projects, encourages participation and facilitates group discussions. He is very knowledgeable and I admire the way he is able to pass on his qualities onto his students. Nicolas is also enthusiastic, energetic and has a wonderful way of simplifying complex issues along with explaining things in a way that can be easily remembered.
Overall, Nicolas has all of the qualities that a student looks for in a great professor. Not only is he a strong mentor inside the office, but he has become a lifelong friend and associate. Through my experiences working with Dr. Malagon, I was inspired to pursue the medical sciences as a career path. I highly recommend him for the professor position at the University of Toronto and would be more than happy to have him as my professor someday. If you have any further questions regarding his background or qualification, please do not hesitate to contact me at Julian.hung@utoronto.ca.
Sincerely,
Julian Hung