Fraser McCready – Graduate Student, 2017-2023
From: Mississauga
Fraser McCready completed his undergraduate studies in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Guelph. His undergraduate thesis investigated how RNA binding proteins and the process of asymmetric RNA localization contributes to cell fate decisions in the developing cortex.
In the Ellis lab Fraser used patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate the molecular mechanisms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In particular, he is interested in how mutations in postsynaptic SHANK proteins can have genome-wide effects on translational regulation, and alter the connectivity and overall function of neural networks in ASD.
Fraser has an interest in amateur motorsports and enjoys repairing, modifying, and occasionally breaking old cars in his spare time.
Selected Publications:
Pradeepan K.+, F.P. McCready+, W. Wei, M. Khaki, W. Zhang, M.W. Salter, J. Ellis* and Julio Martinez-Trujillo*. 2024. Calcium-dependent hyperexcitability in human stem cell derived Rett syndrome neuronal networks. +Co-first authors. *Co-corresponding authors. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science 4:100290.
Dave BM, Chen X, McCready F, Charton CS, Morley RM, Tailor JK, Ellis J, Huang X, Dirks PB. 2023. Directed differentiation of human hindbrain neuroepithelial stem cells recapitulates cerebellar granule neurogenesis. Development, 150:dev201534.
McCready FP, Gordillo-Sampedro S, Pradeepan K, Martinez-Trujillo J, Ellis J. 2022. Multielectrode Arrays for Functional Phenotyping of Neurons from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Models of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Biology,11,316.
Zaslavsky K, Zhang WB, McCready FP, Rodrigues DC, Deneault E, Loo C, Zhao M, Ross PJ, El Hajjar J, Romm A, Thompson T, Piekna A, Wei W, Wang Z, Khattak S, Mufteev M, Pasceri P, Scherer SW, Salter MW, Ellis J. 2019. SHANK2 mutations associated with autism spectrum disorder cause hyperconnectivity of human neurons. Nature Neuroscience, 22:556-564.