A journey that began in the halls of CSB buildings has brought Felix Gunawan back, now as an Assistant Professor studying cardiovascular development in zebrafish.
Previously a Group Leader at the University of Münster in Germany, Gunawan is now co-affiliated with Münster while beginning his role at U of T.
A change in perspective on CSB
Gunawan completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies here and speaks enthusiastically about the impact of CSB on those formative years.
His passion for research began in earnest as a summer research assistant in the Goring lab with support from a University of Toronto Excellence Award.
It was there that he discovered his naturally curious inclination and love of experiments. He continued to pursue research during his undergraduate studies, experiencing lab research with the CSB498 course and learning important techniques in the CSB330 course. This passion and insightful experience led him to pursue his graduate degree in the Godt lab, where he dove into the fascinating world of cell biology and cell migration.
Gunawan also enjoyed his developmental biology courses which taught him a valuable lesson for any young scientist: “Science doesn’t come out of nowhere.” Learning about older scientists and the process behind foundational discoveries was deeply inspiring and solidified this idea for him.
Since those days, Gunawan’s appreciation for the department has only grown. Now with the perspective of a faculty member, he sees the immense value in the diversity of research fields explored within CSB. Potential collaborations across seemingly distant fields abound in the department.
But it isn’t just U of T that Gunawan had missed. Having gained new perspectives on the world and the mechanics of performing science in a new country, Gunawan says he is ready to return to the hustle and bustle of Toronto, as well as its exceptionally warm and friendly people.
The Gunawan lab: a focus on cardiovascular development
The Gunawan lab at CSB will investigate “how genetics, cell behaviours and biomechanics intersect and converge to shape the heart and vasculature” using zebrafish as a model organism.
Gunawan considers zebrafish to be an excellent in vivo model for studying vertebrate cardiovascular development—and for good reason. Zebrafish embryos and young larvae are transparent, enabling scientists to view many developmental processes in action noninvasively.
As for his specific interest in the cardiovascular system, Gunawan highlights the fascinating fact that the heart needs to begin functioning in a developing organism at the same time as it continues to develop. In essence, the body is building the plane as it is flying it.
There are also translational research aspects with implications for human health. Despite the relative rarity of congenital defects overall, cardiac defects are the most common type, underscoring the need for developing a greater understanding of cardiac development.
To enable this increased understanding, the lab’s cardiovascular focus will be two-pronged. The first prong will focus on studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the formation of special structures like heart valves. Since the heart is beating during its development, there must also be an integration of biochemical, cellular, and mechanical signals.
The second will focus on cell fate plasticity. Endothelial cells of the heart—the cells lining the inside of blood vessels—can transition into many different cell types. This includes becoming blood or mesenchymal cells—cells that contribute to the valve structure in the heart, for instance—based on their environment.
The mentor-mentee relationship and day-to-day lab experience
Woven into many of Gunawan’s responses during his interview with us was his love of teaching and mentorship. “One of the most rewarding experiences in research is to see your graduate students or your trainees really grow and mature,” he mentioned at one point. As a supervisor, “you’re not just telling them what to do. It’s a feedback mechanism” that promotes growth.
Gunawan believes strongly in the importance of communicating expectations and setting his students up for success. For instance, he often involves students in parallel projects to ensure they expand their horizons with a challenging project while also taking on lower risk-lower reward projects that keep their studies moving along.
On a day-to-day basis, trainees in the Gunawan lab would be spending lots of time at the bench. Researchers would perform molecular biology techniques, work extensively with zebrafish (e.g., creating transgenic zebrafish lines to understand the genetics of cardiovascular development), and perform microscopy and imaging analysis.
From spending the pandemic in a new country to the daily trials and tribulations of research, Gunawan has taken away some core lessons: there will always be “peaks and valleys,” but always remember/appreciate that the journey is as rewarding as the end. What better place for the roller coaster ride that is research than CSB?
Welcome, Felix!