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Faculty

Alisa Piekny, PhD

Associate Professor, Biology
co-Director, Centre for Microscopy at Concordia
Concordia University Research Chair in Cancer Cell Biology, Biology


Alisa Piekny, PhD
David Ward
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext. 3428
Email: alisa.piekny@concordia.ca

Education

PhD (University of Calgary)
Post-Doc (IMP, Vienna, Austria; and University of Chicago)

Research interests

The aim of my research is to gain a stronger understanding of how the cytoskeleton is regulated during cell division, migration and polarity. I am interested in how microtubules and actomyosin control these events during tissue morphogenesis, and how they are hi-jacked in cancer cells. This includes an in depth molecular analysis of anillin, a highly conserved protein that is required for cytokinesis and crosslinks key components of the cell. I use both the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and cultured mammalian cells as model systems. I also collaborate with other groups to develop delivery and diagnostic tools for cancer cells, and to develop anti-cancer drugs.


Teaching activities

Previously worked in television and radio news, current affairs, and documentaries as, variously, an executive producer, producer, and news director for CBC Television (Saskatchewan), CTV (Saskatchewan), CKX Radio and Television (Manitoba) and CJDC Radio and Television (British Columbia).

Educaton

PhD, Communication Studies, Concordia University
MA, Journalism, University of Western Ontario
BFA, Printmaking and Art History, University of Regina
BA, English and History, University of Western Ontario

Areas of research interest

Strategic political communication, sociology of news, field theory, technology and visual culture, public sphere theory, press clubs in Canada, entrepreneurship, journalism, and the web.

Courses taught

Fall
JOUR 601 – Foundations of Journalistic Thought I
JOUR 444 – Critical Approaches to Journalism

Winter  
JOUR 532 – Broadcast Public Affairs (Documentary)


Research activities

Books / Chapters

McLean, James S. (2012 Forthcoming). Inside the NDP War Room: Competing for Credibility in a Federal Election. McGill-Queen's University Press.

Gérin, Annie and James S. McLean (Eds.). (2009). Public Art in Canada: Critical Perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

McLean, James S. (2009). The Public Part of Public Art: Technology and the Art of Public Communication. In Annie Gérin and James S. McLean Public Art in Canada: Critical Perspectives (pp. 490-514). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Refereed articles

McLean, James S. (2005). When Head Office Was Upstairs: How Corporate Concentration Changed a Television Newsroom. Canadian Journal of Communication, (30)3, 325-342.

Reviews and non-refereed articles

McLean, James S. (2009). PM Harper wanted Parliamentary budget officer Page, but he didn’t expect a renegade. The Hill Times. (989) May 5, 1 and 24-25.

McLean, James S. (2008). The Messenger is the Message. Policy Options, (29)10, 12-17. 

McLean, James S. (2003). Review of MediaThink by James Winter. Canadian Journal of Communication, 28(4), 489-492.


Selected publications

Books / Chapters

McLean, James S. (2012 Forthcoming). Inside the NDP War Room: Competing for Credibility in a Federal Election. McGill-Queen's University Press.

Gérin, Annie and James S. McLean (Eds.). (2009). Public Art in Canada: Critical Perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

McLean, James S. (2009). The Public Part of Public Art: Technology and the Art of Public Communication. In Annie Gérin and James S. McLean Public Art in Canada: Critical Perspectives (pp. 490-514). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Refereed articles

McLean, James S. (2005). When Head Office Was Upstairs: How Corporate Concentration Changed a Television Newsroom. Canadian Journal of Communication, (30)3, 325-342.

Reviews and non-refereed articles

McLean, James S. (2009). PM Harper wanted Parliamentary budget officer Page, but he didn’t expect a renegade. The Hill Times. (989) May 5, 1 and 24-25.

McLean, James S. (2008). The Messenger is the Message. Policy Options, (29)10, 12-17. 

McLean, James S. (2003). Review of MediaThink by James Winter. Canadian Journal of Communication, 28(4), 489-492.

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