Nikta Fay

Effects of the Parvovirus Minute Virus of Mice on the host cytoskeleton

If your survival depended on your ability to take over another organism, how would you hijack the organism's parts to do so? Viruses have evolved to overcome barriers such as membranes and viscous fluids to efficiently take over cells and replicate. Based on their structure and shape, the various types of viruses must have evolved to use different strategies for entering a cell, replicating their genome, and infecting another host. My study looks at one of the smallest viruses known, a parvovirus, Minute Virus of Mice (MVM), and how it alters the cellular skeleton (cytoskeleton) of its host in order to replicate and spread infection.

Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

2012
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For Teaching

In recognition of the valuable role that teaching assistants play in our undergraduate programs, the university annually awards teaching prizes to seventeen UBC Teaching Assistants.

Best PhD Talk, Zoology Graduate Student Association Symposium, UBC

2012
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For Research

Travel Award

2011
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For Research

 American Society for Virology Conference. USA

UBC Biology Graduate Student Teaching Award

2011
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For Teaching

The Departments of Zoology and Botany recognise the outstanding teaching of Biology Graduate Student Teaching Assistants by creating two annual awards for Biology.

UBC McLean Fraser Memorial Award

2010
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For Research

Travel Award

2009
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For Research

American Society for Cell Biology Conference. USA

Best MSc Talk, Zoology Graduate Student Association Symposium, UBC

2009
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For Research

Travel Award

2009
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For Research

UBC Zoology

Nuclear entry of DNA viruses
Frontiers in Microbiology 6: 467 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.0
Fay, N., Pante, N.
2015
Old foes, new understandings: nuclear entry of small non-enveloped DNA viruses
Current Opinion in Virology 12: 59-65
Fay, N., Pante, N
2015
The intermediate filament network protein, vimentin, is required for parvoviral infection
Virology 444: 181-190
Fay, N., N. Pante
2013