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Biochemistry Seminar Series | John Whitney, PhD
Dr. John Whitney is an internationally recognized expert in antibacterial toxins, focusing on how these toxins are produced, secreted, delivered into target bacteria, and how they kill competing bacterial cells. His laboratory uses molecular techniques to uncover the mechanisms behind these processes. He earned his BSc from the University of Guelph and his PhD from the University of Toronto, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Washington. In 2017, he established his research group in the Department of Biochemistry at McMaster University. Dr. Whitney has received multiple early-career awards from major scientific societies, including honors from the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (2020), the American Chemical Society (2022), and the Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences (2023). Among his lab’s major contributions are discoveries revealing how Gram-positive bacteria secrete antibacterial toxins, the identification of a unique ADP‑ribosyltransferase toxin targeting RNA, and the demonstration that the nucleotides ppApp and pppApp function as energy‑depleting metabolites in bacterial competition.